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AEW Dynamite -Fight for the Fallen
July 15, 2020

by Samoa Rowe

From a closed-to-the-public Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Taz, and Excalibur. Tony Shiavone is at home waiting to find out if he has COVID-19.

TNT Championship:
Cody © (with Arn Anderson) vs. Sonny Kiss

Kiss has recruited some Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders for an extra special dancing entrance. Bell rings and Cody instantly takes control with a running big boot. Cody shows off with pushups, which allows Kiss to throw him over the ropes, but Cody bounces back for a glancing Disaster Kick. Arn tells Cody to “get his head out of his @ss and win the match” which instantly backfires when Kiss goes on the offensive. Cody blocks the back hand spring slap and locks on a Full Nelson. Kiss breaks free with a split and hits an overhead suplex. Cody looks hapless as he can’t hit an armdrag and Kiss nails a rana. Kiss drapes Cody in the ropes for an axe kick for a good nearfall. Kiss misses a leg drop and lands in a split, but he reverses Cross Rhodes for 2. 450 splash by Kiss but Cody kicks out! Cody unceremoniously dumps Kiss onto the stage and hits an Alabama Slam. Cody busts out a Gory Bomb, but KISS KICKS OUT! Cody can’t win with a superplex either, while J.R. buries him for not properly making covers. Cody is aggravated when Kiss breaks a crossface in the ropes and pummels him with closed fists. Cody exposes a steel buckle but Kiss reverses for a facefull of steel and a 2 count. Cody comes back with Cross Rhodes to win at 10:45. Strong showing for Kiss, but the real story here is Cody’s shift to the dark side, ***½.
Winner and still TNT Champion: Cody

Cody isn’t completely evil just yet, as he embraces with Kiss and seems to put over his effort.

Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix, with the Butcher and Blade) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)

Butcher and Blade drive Lucha Bros. to the ring in FTR’s stolen truck. J.R. wants to know why local authorities haven’t taken action yet. Bell rings and Harwood and Pentagon tear into each other with chops. Superkick by Pentagon must bother FTR on multiple levels. Lucha Bros. have a miscue on their way to hitting a tandem wheelbarrow splash. FTR show them up with a tandem elbow drop/backbreaker. Tully Blanchard watches FTR cut the ring in half. Lucha Bros come back with a catapult superkick and Fenix hits a slick shotgun dropkick off the apron. They cut to commercial. They come back with Harwood getting a hot tag and running wild with suplexes. Dax suplexes Fenix into the buckles and hits a falling uppercut for 2. Fenix hits a splash off Pentagon’s shoulders, followed by a Pentagon leg drop for 2. FTR avoid the spike piledriver and hit an electric chair bulldog on Fenix for a good nearfall broken up by Pentagon. Harwood hits a superplex and both teams block dives in novel fashion. The match breaks down into a brawl. Wheeler and Pentagon battle on the apron until Wheeler busts out a SUICIDE DIVE! Fenix hits a high top rope crossbody onto Cash! Fenix and Harwood duke it out until Dax pulls off the mask and scores the easy pinfall at 13:25! This absolutely rocked after the commercial. I liked seeing FTR have to play by Lucha Bros’ rules to survive, only for them to take the easy way out by going for the mask, ***¾.
Winners: FTR

The Young Bucks ambush Butcher and Blade with superkicks and return the truck keys to FTR. Kenny Omega arrives with a cooler, seemingly ready to make peace after last week’s incident. Omega proposes a toast, but FTR dump their drinks over his head. The Bucks hold Omega back from an attack, while FTR casually leave in their reclaimed truck. Or they would, but Cash can’t seem to start it, hahaha. Live TV, folks.

Chris Jericho and Inner Circle members Jake Hager, Ortiz, and Santana come to the ring to talk. Jericho congratulates himself for winning one of Dynamite’s greatest matches ever against Orange Cassidy. Even better, Jericho won the “ratings war” because of the 18-49 demo, and declares himself to be the “Demo God.” That’s a t-shirt. Everybody wants to see Jericho vs. Cassidy part 2, but he refuses. The wrestlers chant’ You scared?” Jericho toasts a half gallon of orange juice for the match and his dead career. Orange Cassidy saunters out through the stands with hands in pockets. Jericho calls OC a lazy, entitled, sloth, and declares that he will never get a rematch, so he should just shove his sunglasses up his @ss and get the hell out of his arena. OC gives a thumbs down, and on cue, orange juice spills from the rafters onto the Inner Circle. Ortiz comically slips and slides around while Jericho screams about his ruined jacket. Jericho demands a towel, and someone tosses one with OC’s face all over it. This was fun and all, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for AEW to make an angle out of when they lose overall viewership to NXT but still win the demo, and the falling liquid gimmick feels like something straight out of WWE’s bag of tricks. The punchline with the Cassidy towel totally puts this over the top.

Backstage interview with Jurassic Express ahead of their match with The Elite. Stunt thinks it’s hilarious that Inner Circle stood in the ring like idiots and got doused with juice. Luchasaurus calms his friend down, because after 65 millions years, he gets to face The Elite, and there’s nothing funny about that.

Jericho joins commentary and continues to have a full blown tantrum. "LOOK AT ME, I REEK OF OJ, OL’ J.R.!"

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Marko Stunt) vs. The Elite (The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega)

Nick Jackson trades holds with Jungle Boy to start. Jungle Boy blocks a face buster and backflips to show Nick what’s up. Meanwhile, Hangman Page enjoys a cold one at the bar. Stunt tags himself in to square off with Omega, who disrespects him with a handshake fakeout. Stunt’s feelings are hurt so he slaps the face and takes the fight to Omega, hitting a flurry of dropkicks and ranas. Luchasaurus and Matt Jackson tag in and the big man hits a sick spinning kick for 2. Jungle Boy throws Stunt at the Young Bucks to overwhelm them, and in the chaos Stunt hits a dive. Stunt spends too much time celebrating, and Nick hits a penalty kick from the apron. Everyone gathers on the floor for Omega’s soaring plancha. They cut to commercial. They come back with Jungle Boy getting tossed over the ropes only to catch a Jackson with a rana on his way down. Springboard DDT by Jungle Boy! Hot tag to Luchasaurus, who vents 65 million years’ worth of frustration on The Elite. Chokeslam by Luchasaurus and a standing moonsault gets 2 on Nick. Meanwhile, FTR join Page at the bar. In the ring, Luchasaurus and Omega slug it out. Omega delivers some V-Triggers and a Snap Dragon! Stunt flies into a Snap Dragon, and Jungle Boy takes one too for good measure. Jurassic Express launch Stunt into a rana on Omega! They hit the Extinction Effect but the Bucks save the match. Young Bucks invite Luchasaurus to a SUPERKICK PARTAY and Omega assists with a triple powerbomb for only 2. Jungle Boy plants Nick with a rana for a 450 splash from Stunt! The Elite send Jurassic Express to the stage, but Stunt climbs over JB and Luchasaurus’ shoulders for a BIG TIME DESTROYER! Omega is sick of Stunt and hits a Snap Dragon. Luchasaurus tries to shield Stunt and they both take a V-Trigger. Stunt blocks One Winged Angel and rolls up Omega for a scary nearfall. Omega fires away a brutal V-Trigger and One Winged Angel to win at 15:01. I’m going to totally overrate this one and say it’s **** and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Winners: The Elite

Omega is so furious that he continues beating up Stunt. The Young Bucks call Omega off, and he seems to come to his senses. Omega tries to make nice, but Jurassic Express aren’t in the mood to hear it.

Alex Marvez interviews AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida backstage. With most of the top contenders unavailable for action, Shida is happy to give Nyla Rose her rematch for the title.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is really pissed off about a great many things, but tonight he gets to purge his emotions when he defends his title against Brian Cage. According to Taz, Moxley won’t be able to hit the Paradigm Shift, so perhaps instead he’ll just rip him apart.

Kenzie Page and MJ Jenkins vs. The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes and Allie, with Dustin Rhodes)

Brandi’s quest to find a productive and fulfilling roles in AEW continues. She gets the better of Page and tags in Allie for a low clothesline. Brandi tags herself in, and despite some bickering with Allie, manages a Sling Blade on Page. Tags are made and Allie dominates Jenkins with a clothesline. Brandi sneaks in to DDT Page, while Allie hits an inverted DDT to finish at 1:59. This was fine, certainly beats the "Nightmare Collective" in terms of watchability.
Winners: The Nightmare Sisters

AEW toys are coming to Walmart! Grab your mandated masks and go get ‘em!

Nyla Rose comes to the ring to unveil her new manager and it’s none other than Vickie Guerrero! Apparently she regained the right to say "Excuse Me" because she’s once again shrieking the catchphrase for all it’s worth. They put Hikaru Shida on notice. I love that managers are making a comeback in AEW.

AEW World Championship:
Jon Moxley © vs. FTW Champion Brian Cage (with Taz)

Moxley enters in a Danny Havoc t-shirt to pay tribute to his fallen friend. Cage starts swinging before the bell and quickly lands a clothesline. Cage blocks an armbar and casually tosses Moxley over his head. Moxley answers with a missile dropkick and goes to work on Cage’s surgically repaired arm. Cage blocks an armbreaker and pummels the face. Moxley snaps the arm on the ropes and drives Cage headfirst into the ring post. Suicide dive by Moxley, but Cage blocks a ringside armbar, and smashes the champ around the stands. Moxley wraps Cage’s arm in a rail for a kick. Moxley leans a rail against the ring frame for a Paradigm Shift, but Cage hits a belly to back suplex through the steel! They cut to commercial. Cage can be seen slamming Moxley onto the rail again in picture-in-picture. Back from break, Cage hits a torture rack slam for 2. Cage follows with a reverse suplex through a standing chair! Moxley desperately looks for quick pin attempts, but Cage hits a power slam, but misses a moonsault! Moxley puts together a sequence of hits and hits Paradigm Shift for only 2! Moxley hits a superplex for 2 and goes straight into a Kimura! Cage counters into a buckle bomb, and follows with a vertical suplex off the bottom rope! Moxley blocks Drill Claw and rolls into a cross armbreaker. Moxley picks at the fingers and kicks the head for extra punishment and readjusts the hold to pull the arm back at a sickening angle, AND flip Taz off in the process. Taz throws in the towel and Moxley retains at 15:10! They told a strong and straightforward story that supported the weeks of TV build. I think the finish worked well here, Cage doesn’t lose anything and Moxley can brag about this win without sacrificing any credibility, ***¾.
Winner and still AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley

Cage and Taz look for some measure of payback, but the lights go out. They return with Darby Allin and his skateboard perched on the top rope! Allin hits a flying skateboard shot right at Cage's throat! Taz implores Cage to back off while Moxley and Allin size each other up.

Final Thoughts: Really strong episode of Dynamite with many guys and gals being put back into positions and roles to maximize their strengths.

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