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AEW Dynamite
January 13, 2021

by Samoa Rowe

Taped from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur are on the call.

Eddie Kingston (with Butcher, Blade, and Bunny) vs. Pac (with Lucha Bros)

Pac charges in with shotgun dropkick and tope. Pac continues with a missile dropkick, but Kingston shakes it off for a leaping knee. Pac rolls to ringside for Bunny to ambush with an eye rake. All the backup hovers while Eddie hits an overhead suplex on the floor. Pac comes back with rapid strikes and a snap German suplex. Eddie answers by targeting the neck and hits a backdrop suplex for 2. Enziguri by Pac sets up a superplex for 2. Eddie is battered but manages a lariat. Pac blocks a DDT and dropkicks the face. Black Arrow ends it at 9:34. Bruising, physical opener, ***.
Winner: Pac

Pac isn't satisfied and puts Kingston in the Brutalizer, which invites Butcher & Blade and Lucha Bros. in for a standoff. Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) joins the party, and the bad guys retreat. Pac isn't thrilled to see Archer, and Jake demands they get on the same page.

Chuck Taylor (with Orange Cassidy) vs. Miro (with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford)

If Chuck loses, he must serve as Miro's Young Boy until Kip and Penelope's wedding. Taylor makes Miro pay for taking him lightly and smashes him into the stage wall. Miro retreats and eats Taylor's somersault plancha. Taylor sidesteps to send Miro crashing into the post, and hits a foot stomp off the apron. Sabian knocks down OC, Taylor helps with a mule kick, but Miro regroups for a Samoan Drop. Miro unleashes an onslaught and I'm starting to think they dropped the stipulation set last week, as there's been no mention by commentary. Miro finishes with Game Over at 3:25! This is the type of short, TV-friendly match that I wish more companies would present, **.
Winner: Miro

Taylor now must be Miro's "butler" for the next month or so.

Dasha interviews Matt Hardy and Private Party backstage. Hardy continues to make this all about him and Private Party finally push back at him a little. Matt orders them to shut up and do what he says.

Chris Jericho leads the Inner Circle to the ring so they can share their New Year's resolutions with us. Jake Hager wants championships. MJF wants to strengthen his bonds with his stablemates and get rid of all fat people. Ortiz wants to perfect a family recipe. Jericho wants to win the Tag Team Championships with MJF. Santana doesn't like that, as he and Ortiz are supposed to be the tag team of the group. Sammy Guevara chimes in, calling Jericho a tag team slut for switching partners yet again. Jericho calms everyone down. Since they are all sexy hooligans, any of them can team up at any time, but they'll have some kind of vague match next week to determine the official championship seeking team of the group. MJF leads the group in a middle finger salute.

Backstage interview with the Dark Order to discuss what's next for the group. They are acting much more like their BTE selves and pull in Hangman Page for a jovial recruitment pitch. Page seems to find them much more endearing than in the past and says he'll give them an answer next week. I like this direction for the Dark Order and the unexpected evolution from what they were originally supposed to be. It reminds me of how New Day went from unironic positive church boys to arrogant heels to over the top unicorn and cereal loving goofballs.

Video package highlighting the extensive backstory behind Allin vs. Cage. It all started back in the early spring, when Darby didn't want to take Taz' advice, which lead to Taz recruiting Cage and Starks as henchmen, and then the surreal arrival of Sting. The video package rules and I'd like to see more like it in 2021.

Dasha interviews AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, and Don Callis backstage as they prepare for action. They are happy to have the band back together. Omega and Callis head to the ring and take over ring announcement duties, and swerve us by introducing Omega's best friends and partners as the Good Brothers.

AEW World Champion Kenny Omega (with Don Callis) and Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) vs. Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.) and Danny Limelight

Omega and Good Brothers jump the job squad before the bell. Limelight surprises with some token offense on Omega, but gets spun around by Gallows' clothesline. Varsity Blondes clear Gallows out and take the fight to Omega with quick tags. Omega answers with the Kotaro Crusher on Limelight. Anderson tags and pummels Limelight with a hard Irish whip. I guess we're not getting a squash match as they head to commercial. Back from break, Omega is still abusing poor Limelight. Omega's German is blocked and Limelight hits an enziguri. Hot tag to Pillman Jr. Varsity Blondes hit a Hart Attack style neckbreaker for 2. Garrison gets triple teamed with a neckbreaker, but Pillman saves the match. Anderson's running boot gets 2. Limelight returns but springboards into Anderson's spinebuster. Magic Killer finishes Limelight at 9:29. While I would have preferred a 3 minute squash, the jobbers hanging on so long did make for a compelling story, and there really wasn't every any doubt that Omega and the Good Brothers would pull off the win, **½.
Winners: Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers

The celebration is cut short by Jon Moxley's music. Moxley eagerly runs into a 3 on 1 situation and gets overwhelmed. Lucha Bros. run in to fight the Good Brothers, leaving Moxley an opening to pummel Omega until the crew runs in to break it up. Moxley breaks free to hit a tope on Omega, but the Young Bucks arrive to reason with him. Lucha Bros. drop the Bucks with superkicks, and then get jumped again by the Good Brothers. Omega and Callis retreat while everyone else continues fighting.

Rebel (not Reba) and Dr. Britt Baker host the Waiting Room! This segment has been a fixture on Dark as of late, and is making it's Dynamite debut. Britt pranks the wrestlers in the crowd by making them think someone special could be under their chairs, and Rebel offers over-the-top laughter, making this entire deal feel unworthy of primetime. They welcome their special guest, Cody Rhodes, and provide sparklers in lieu of pyro. Britt congratulates him on fatherhood, but digs that his kid will get an action figure before she does. Britt surprises Cody by bringing in Jade Cargill. , who yanks a mic and gets right into Cody's face. Jade is tired of waiting for an opponent and palms Cody. Red Velvet arrives and trades slaps with Jade, leading to another pull apart brawl. Britt gets bored and plays footage of her beating up Thunder Rosa, which is then interrupted by Rosa on the big screen to challenge her to a match at Beach Break. Britt doesn't like this one bit. This segment was a complete disaster and diminished everyone involved.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, with Tully Blanchard)

This match came about because Stunt is an easy target for FTR's bullying ways. Stunt is brave at the opening bell, but does need Jungle Boy's support. Stunt gives a double bird salute but soon gets devoured by FTR. Jungle Boy tags and hits atomic drops to set up Stunt's enziguris. JB monkey flips Stunt into a rana on Wheeler. Stunt takes FTR down with a dive, followed by JB's moonsault. Commercial! Back from break, FTR seem to have Stunt right where they want him. The beatdown actually goes far longer than I would have guessed, usually the babyface makes the hot tag right after returning from commercial. Jungle Boy eventually gets the inevitable hot tag and looks good while running wild. Jungle Boy hits Harwood with a super rana but Wheeler saves the match. Brainbuster by Jungle Boy and he slams Stunt onto Harwood. Harwood blocks Marko's Sliced Bread. Harwood gets carried away with a beatdown in the corner, and Stunt desperately hits a Sliced Bread for 2. Tully knocks Marko into the ring post, and Wheeler throws JB into the rails. FTR finish Stunt with the Big Rig at 12:26. Good match that allowed FTR to showcase their seamless teamwork and ruthless nature at Marko's expense, **¾.
Winners: FTR

NWA Women's Championship:
Serena Deeb © vs. Tay Conti (with the Dark Order)

They start with some chain wrestling, which favors Deeb. Conti has better luck with a Judo throw. Conti looks for a triangle choke, Deeb breaks out with a head kick. Conti's devastating bicycle kick sends Deeb through the ropes just in time for a commercial break. Conti dominates throughout the ads. Deeb counters with a Stretch Muffler and big time ribbreaker. Deeb applies a Gory Special in the buckles, but Conti hits another bicycle kick. Deeb counters into the De-Tox for the win at 9:12. Enjoyable match, but most of it took place during the commercial, **½.
Winner and still NWA Women's Champion: Serena Deeb

AEW TNT Championship:
Darby Allin © vs. FTW Champion Brian Cage (with Team Taz)

Allin immediately shotgun dropkicks the knee and then dives Cage into the barricade. Cage reverses a second dive into a power slam on the floor. Allin makes a good rag doll as Cage throws him over the ring post over the ropes and through a table. Allin is busted open and Cage carries him up the steps and slams him back into the ring. Cage unleashes a total onslaught that lasts through a commercial break. I keep anticipating Darby to make a counter, but then Cage kills him again. J.R. pulls out "Stop the damn match!" after Cage powerbombs Darby onto the stage. Cage hits a vertical suplex back into the ring but Allin kicks out at 1. Allin finally retaliates with a Coffin Drop onto the steel steps! Darby makes a scrappy comeback with slaps, biting, and a Stunner. Code Red by Allin gets 2. Starks interferes, so Sting teleports in and clocks him off the ramp with a bat. Allin's crucifix bomb finishes Cage at 12:48. This was a series of trainwreck bumps, would have benefited from an arena crowd to feel sorry for Darby, ***.
Winner and still TNT Champion: Darby Allin

Team Taz regroup on the stage while it snows in Jacksonville. Allin and Sting remain in the ring, seemingly united.

Final Thoughts: Routinely good episode of Dynamite, although not one I feel particularly passionate about. I hope we don't see the Waiting Room on Dynamite again, as the entire concept was badly exposed in the TNT setting. Looking forward to seeing the Revolution card take shape in the coming weeks.

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