Reviews by Dave
Show air date: July 29, 2020
This was the first Dynamite that gave me a “Booked by WWE” feel. Nothing really bad but not one thing was as good as it looked like it might be on paper. A show with a cruise control feel from start to finish.
Jurassic Express, The Best Friends, and Orange Cassidy defeated The Inner Circle
If there was ever a “same old shit” AEW match, it was the opening ten-man match with the Inner Circle losing to Best Friends and Jurassic Express, down to Sammy Guevara taking the pin and not one of the veterans like Chris Jericho (who took a fall to Orange Cassidy here would have made too much sense) or Jake Hager. Matt Hardy interfered, causing Guevara to get pinned by Luchasaurus, so I guess that’s back on.
Cody (c) defeated Warhorse for the TNT Championship
CODY defended his TNT Championship against indy star Warhorse in a nice match but it never seemed to get out of second gear. After his win, CODY is attacked by Alex Reynolds and John Silver of the Dark Order but is saved by the debuting Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder of WWE fame), who looked jacked. I’m thinking and hoping Mr. Brodie Lee has a comment on this next week. It’s time for someone to actually chase the TNT title.
FTR Signs with All Elite Wrestling
FTR officially sign their AEW contracts. What did this have to do with Arn Anderson, I do not know. Hangman Page toasts his former Mid-Atlantic cohorts with some cheap whiskey. Good segment.
Hangman Adam Page and Kenny Omega (c) defeated The Dark Order for the AEW Tag Team Championships
Evil Uno and Stu Grayson of the Dark Order finally get a tag title shot at Kenny Omega and Hangman Page but came up short in a good match. The dominance over every steady tag team in the company for Page and Omega continues unabated. Glad to see Page shook off his buzz from earlier. Mr. Lee (not the rapper) is furious and calls out the rest of the DO to jump them, but the champs are saved by FTR. Eh. Someone really needs to tell Lee that suit is not for guys with his body shape.
Dr. Britt Baker Segment
Very fun promo by The Roll Model, Dr. Britt Baker where she tells her rival, Big Swole, that she will have to be an opponent of her choice before they face off. Honestly, any choice but Nyla Rose or Awesome Kong will be silly.
Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Diamante for the AEW Women’s Championship
After a decent promo from Diamante, she loses a decent match with Women’s champion Hikaru Shida. They just looked awkward with each other so it wasn’t nearly as good as Diamante’s match with Ivelisse last week.
Gurl Hi! Ariane Makes Her AEW Debut
Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero find out Ariane, making her debut, will be her partner for the Women’s Tag Team Tournament and neither seem happy. Short but good segment.
MJF State of the Industry Address
The MJF “State of Wrestling” address was like a lot of AEW matches: way too long. He tried to slip in every one-liner/punchline he could think of. Shorten this and you have a great heel promo. Ultimately, it’s just him announcing he’s challenging Jon Moxley for the World Title at the All Out pay-per-view.
Main Event: Jon Moxley and Darby Allin defeated Brian Cage and Ricky Starks
The main event sees champion Moxley team with Darby Allin to face “The Machine” Brian Cage and Ricky Starks. For whatever reason, they went right to a promo with Taz’s boys after Moxley’s introduction. Made no sense but Stark’s was very good. The match was fast-paced and pretty good even though it seemed like half of it was during Picture In Picture. Allin with the win, pinning Starks after diving on him with a skateboard with tacks on the bottom.
These kinds of matches show why AEW needs to do a better job structuring tag matches and enforcing rules. What were the real differences in this no-DQ, Tornado tag match, and most tag team matches they have? Tacks? At the end, it’s announced Moxley will defend his title next week against Allin. Was Jim Ross on loudspeaker or something? Moxley and Allin were reacting to the news like they heard Ross announce it when it’s something both should have known going in. Just odd close to the show.
