AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash aired live from the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. CM Punk, Darby Allin, and Sting faced MJF & FTR in this week’s main event. Kyle O’Reilly made his AEW debut tonight during the match between Adam Cole and Orange Cassidy.
Dynamite Results
- Adam Cole def. Orange Cassidy
- Wardlow def. Shawn Dean
- Ruby Soho def. Nyla Rose to advance to the finals of the TBS Championship Tournament
- Malakai Black def. Griff Garrison via submission
- CM Punk, Darby Allin & Sting def. MJF & FTR
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Kyle O’Reilly Debut, Undisputed Era Reunites
Adam Cole faced Orange Cassidy in the first match of the night. The two traded poses to start off the match. Cassidy took Cole down and applied a Headlock. Cole broke free and connected with an Arm Drag before applying a Headlock of his own. Cassidy rolled up Cole for a two count and got him in another Headlock.
Cole broke free and booted Orange in the midsection. Orange applied a Wrist Lock and then hit another Arm Drag. Cassidy rolled Cole up for a two count before Adam got Cassidy another Headlock. Orange broke free but Cole caught him with a Backstabber.
Adam launched Cassidy into the turnbuckle and then perched him up on the top rope. Cole set up for a Superplex but Cassidy blocked it and shoved him to the canvas. Orange hit a Crossbody and followed it up with a Tornado DDT for a near fall. Orange climbed to the top turnbuckle but Young Bucks and Brandon Cutler came to the entrance ramp for a distraction.
Cassidy hit Cutler with a Splash as Matt & Nick battled with Best Friends. Cassidy hit everyone with a Suicide Dive before Best Friends & Young Bucks battled to the back. Cole launched Orange Cassidy into the steel steps and went for a running knee but Orange got out of the way. Adam bashed his knee into the steps and fell to the floor as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Cassidy and Cole traded shots. Cassidy hit the lazy kicks before following it up with an actual Superkick. Cole shrugged it off but Orange caught him with another one. Cole battled back with a Brainbuster and went for the cover but Orange kicked out at the last moment.
Adam hit a boot to the face but Cassidy responded with the Stundog Millionaire. Cassidy climbed to the top rope and hit the diving DDT for a two count. Cole connected with a Back Body Drop and boot to the face. Cole set up for Panama Sunrise but Cassidy backed away. Cassidy hit a Michinoku Driver for a two count.
Cassidy put on his shaded and put his hands in his pockets. Orange leaped right into a Superkick and Cole followed it up with Panama Sunrise. Cole put his hands in his trunks and went for the cover but Cassidy kicked out at two. Cole went for the Last Shot but Cassidy ducked and hit an Air Raid Crash for a near fall.
Cole rolled out of the ring as Cassidy set up for the Orange Punch. Bobby Fish then trotted to the ring and hopped on the apron for a distraction. Kyle O’Reilly showed up and attacked Orange Cassidy from behind. Cole then hit the Last Shot on Cassidy for the pinfall victory. Cole and O’Reilly then battled Best Friends.
Fish joined in on the beatdown in an Undisputed Era reunion. O’Reilly and Fish hit the High/Low on Trent. Young Bucks made their way down to the ring and wondered what was going on. Cole left with Fish & O’Reilly as Matt & Nick watched on.
Hangman Page & Danielson Will Battle Again On The TBS Premiere Of Dynamite
Tony Schiavone interviewed AEW Champion Hangman Page tonight in the ring. Tony noted that Hangman probably would have defeated Bryan Danielson if he had a minute more. Page said that after the match he had never felt less of a champion after the time limit draw.
Bryan Danielson interrupted and called Hangman an “entitled millennial cowboy”. Danielson laughed at Hangman for being disappointed about still having the title. Bryan claimed that the AEW fans should be disappointed because he is not champion after kicking Page’s ass for an hour.
Danielson noted that the rematch is on January 5th (TBS debut) and vowed to kick his ass again. Bryan claimed that he hurt his leg in the match against John Silver and would have destroyed Page if he was completely healthy. Danielson said he won’t make that mistake again and won’t wrestle until January 5th. Bryan suggested that they have judges on January 5th in case Hangman tries to stall for an hour ago. Hangman said that Danielson dragged him out into deep waters but in the seconds that mattered the most, and would have drowned Bryan if he had just a couple more seconds.
Hangman told Danielson to get some judges if he wants to get old timers a payday. Page added that he didn’t come this far to have some prick tell him he’s a B+ player. Hangman closed the promo by saying if the question is “can Hangman Page beat Bryan Danielson in under an hour, on January 5th the answer is yes”.
Wardlow Dominated
Wardlow faced Shawn Dean tonight on Dynamite. Wardlow absolutely dominated and planted Dean with four Powerbombs for the pinfall victory. After the match, Shawn Spears hit Dean with the chair a couple times. Wardlow was angry that Spears tried to steal his spotlight and walked away.
Dan Lambert Took A Shot At Cody
Dan Lambert and Men of the Year cut a promo in the crowd. Lambert boasted about the most successful MMA gym on the planet and put over Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page. Lambert joked Tony Khan gave him the impossible assignment of trying to get Cody cheered. Lambert said that he’d never get anyone to cheer for Cody Rhodes he’s a bigger dick than him. Lambert shouted that he just cares about Sky or Page being next in line to get a title shot to end the promo.
Ruby Soho Advanced To The Finals Of The TBS Championship Tournament
Nyla Rose faced Ruby Soho in the TBS Championship Tournament. Vickie Guerrero accompanied Nyla to the ring for the match. Nyla attacked Soho and beat her down. Ruby’s hand was actually stuck in her jacket sleeve and they embarrassingly tried to get her hand out for the first minute of the match. Nyla took control and sent Soho into the steel steps as Dynamite went to a break
When Dynamite returned, Ruby hit a Clothesline but Rose didn’t go down. Ruby climbed to the top rope but Vickie shoved her down. Nyla hit the Knee Drop across the top rope for a near fall. Nyla followed it up with the Beast Bomb for another near fall. Ruby connected with the Pele Kick after Nyla climbed to the top rope. Ruby covered Rose for the victory and advanced to the finals of the TBS Championship Tournament. Jade Cargill will face Thunder Rosa next week in the semifinals. The winner of the match will battle Ruby Soho on the January 5th episode of Dynamite to crown the first TBS Champion.
Malakai Black Tapped Out Griff Garrison
Malakai Black faced Griff Garrison tonight on Dynamite. Brian Pillman Jr. was in Garrison’s corner for the match. Black caught Griff with a kick to the face to the begin the action. Malakai got distracted with Pillman and Griff capitalized. Malakai quickly battled back and applied a Figure Four butGarrison got to the ropes to break the hold. Black unloaded some more kicks and locked in a Half Crab for the submission victory. After the match, Pillman broke it up but Malakai leveled him with Black Mass.
CM Punk, Darby Allin, Sting Picked Up A Win In A Wild Main Event
MJF & FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) battled CM Punk, Darby Allin, & Sting in a Trios Match in this week’s main event. Sting was wearing a CM Punk shirt and has his face painted with his logo. Taz joked about Hook outselling Punk’s t-shirt and Punk had Sting facepainted like surfer Sting as well.
MJF tagged out instead of fighting Punk and posed outside the ring. Harwood and CM Punk started off the action as the crowd chanted “CM Punk!”. Harwood brought Punk to the canvas with a takeover and went for a Headlock but Punk broke free. Dax leveled Punk with a shoulder tackle but CM responded with an Arm Drag.
Cash Wheeler tagged in and Punk hit him with a Body Slam. Darby Allin tagged in and got Cash in a Headlock. Wheeler escaped and leveled Darby with a shoulder tackle. Allin hit a Dropkick and followed it up with an Arm Drag of his own. Cash scamped to the corner and tagged in MJF.
Darby tagged Punk and he chased MJF around the ring. MJF tagged out again and posed for the booing crowd. Cash tagged back in and then Punk tagged Sting to a massive pop from the crowd. Sting went to work on Cash’s arm and sent him to the corner. Sting went for the Scorpion Death Lock but Cash retreated out of the ring.
MJF tagged in and went for a chop but Sting no sold it. Sting dragged MJF to the corner and tried to tag in Punk but MJF held him back. Sting hit a Clothesline and tagged in Punk but MJF once again retreated out of the ring. Punk chased MJF through the crowd and up the stairs into the concourse area. MJF ran back to the ringside area and Punk was right behind him. MJF tagged Harwood again and hid behind FTR. Darby Allin leveled FTR with a ridiculous dive as Dynamite went to a break.
Allin and Dax were battling in the ring when Dynamite returned. Wheeler dumped Darby out of the ring and Dax sent him into the barricade. Dax tagged in and continued to beat Darby Allin down. MJF spat water at CM Punk and retreated back to the corner. MJF got Allin in a Headlock as the crowd got behind Darby.
MJF hit a Body Slam and tagged in Harwood. Dax hit a Body Slam as well and tagged in Wheeler. Cash hit another Body Slam before tagging in MJF. Maxwell hit a Body Slam before tagging out. Dax delivered another Body Slam and tagged in Wheeler. Cash went for a Body Slam but Darby countered into a roll-up. Cash kicked out and Darby finally hit a Body Slam of his own.
The Icon Sting tagged in and bounced Dax’s head off the turnbuckle several times. Sting delivered a Back Body Drop to Cash and then a Spinebuster to MJF. Sting hit FTR with a couple Splashes and then Punk followed it up with a knee strike. Sting hit another Stinger Splash on Dax and went for the Scorpion Death Lock. MJF broke it up as Cash distracted the referee. Dynamite went to a final commercial break with MJF and FTR in control.
Sting battled back when Dynamite returned and hit a Clothesline. Dax tagged in and kept Sting in the corner. Harwood sent Sting into the turnbuckle and went for a Splash but Sting countered into a slam. MJF tagged in but Sting slammed him down. Sting fell down and delivered a headbutt to MJF’s “yam bag” as Taz called it.
CM Punk tagged in and beat FTR down. Punk hit Wheeler with a knee to the face and did the same to Harwood. Punk hit a Bulldog/Clothesline combo and then a Suicide Dive to Harwood. Punk climbed to the top rope and hit Wheeler with a Crossbody for a near fall. CM signaled for the GTS but Dax broke it up.
Harwood tagged in and walked into a Neckbreaker from Punk for a near fall. Cash tagged in and hit Punk with a Splash off the top rope for a close two count. Dax knocked Sting off the apron as Tony Schiavone wondered where MJF was. Punk rolled up Harwood for a two count as something off camera happened at the timekeeper’s table (would have been nice to see it). MJF was apparently hiding behind the table and Darby caught him with a dive.
Dax and Punk traded punches in the middle of the ring. Punk went for the GTS but Harwood blocked it. FTR hit the Big Rig and went for the cover but Sting broke it up. MJF crawled into the ring and hit Sting with a DDT. Sting got right up and MJF tried to run away. Sting sent MJF out of the ring and FTR couldn’t catch him. MJF landed on his head but thankfully was alright.
Sting hit a Splash on everyone off the top rope outside the ring. CM Punk hit Dax with the GTS, Sting hit the Splash, Darby followed it up with the Coffin Drop. Punk then covered Harwood for the pinfall victory. MJF joined commentary and shouted that Punk was afraid of him the entire match. MJF added that Punk was running like a bitch as Punk posed with Sting & Darby to close the show.
