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AEW Dynamite
November 20, 2019

by Samoa Rowe

From Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Looks like a good sized crowd. Try saying that 3 times fast. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur.

Matt Jackson vs. Rey Fenix

Nick Jackson is hurt, so Matt is wrestling his first singles match since 2015. Crowd is RED HOT for this at the opening bell. Matt's shoulder block is answered by Rey's dropkick. Matt backflips off the apron to avoid a 619. They block arm drags off the apron and slide into the ring for stereo dropkicks to reach a stalemate and get a standing ovation for their effort. They trade chops and Fenix hits a back handspring headbutt, followed by a springboard headbutt. Matt retreats before hitting a spin heel kick, but he wipes out on a dive and Fenix drops him with a cutter at ringside! Fenix's 450 splash only gets 2. Fenix misses a tightrope walk kick, and Matt nails a bulldog and running knee to the head for 2. Fenix blocks a superkick with a stiff kick to the leg and they wobble to the top rope where Matt scores a big time super rana! They sprint through a fast exchange and trade SUPERKICKS! Both guys hit the canvas for another ovation. Fenix tightropes on the middle rope to hit a rana to the floor! Fenix misses a moonsault but rebounds with a cutter for 2! They duel on the ring frame until Matt hits a dead lift German suplex! Matt's springboard face butter sets up a DESTROYER but FENIX KICKS OUT! Matt goes right for the sharpshooter but Fenix crawls into the ropes. Fenix comes back with a superkick and spins Matt around for the Fenix Driver for the win at 11:55! This was awesome, with great action, a hot crowd, and a starmaking performance by Fenix, ****.
Winner: Rey Fenix

Matt offers a handshake but Fenix blows him off.

Dr. Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida

Crowd gives both women a polite reception before the bell. Baker scores a shoulder tackle and armdrag, but Shida answers with one of her own, and almost hits a knock out blow. Britt looks for the Lockjaw early, but Shida blocks. The action continues on a split screen as the show takes a commercial break. Shida takes control during the break, ramming the doctor into the guard rail. Shida sets up a chair to launch herself into a knee strike. Britt is fighting through a bloody nose but manages to arm drag Shida off the top ropes and hit a pump handle facebuster for 2. Baker hits the pendulum DDT for another 2 count. Shida desperately hits a knee strike to the jaw. Shida's hip toss sets up a fireman's carry backbreaker for a nearfall. Shida's running knee to the face looks nasty, but Baker rolls her into a Lockjaw attempt. Shida blocks the hold with the ropes, and Britt hits a neckbreaker for a super close 2 count. Shida thumbs the eyes and almost wins via inside cradle. Shida's Falcon Arrow gets 2, but she finishes Baker off with another knee to the head at 9:54. Good action here with Shida overcoming Baker's winning streak to pull off a minor upset, ***.
Winner: Hikaru Shida

A poor fat guy gets his glasses broken on the subway. A motivational video plays on a screen, inviting him to join an exclusive club. The punchline is that the club is the Dark Order and this is how they gain their followers. This was cute. I've been asking AEW to tinker with the Dark Order's gimmick, and it appears they got the memo.

12 Man Battle Royal:

Featuring Hangman Page, Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy, Kip Sabian, Jimmy Havoc, Jungle Boy, Marko Stunt, Pentagon Jr., Sonny Kiss, Joey Janela, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, and Billy Gunn The final two men will meet next week in a match for a diamond ring! That's a different sort of midcard prize. Crowd is awfully happy to see Gunn and give him a “holy sh!t” chant. Christopher Daniels dresses up as Rey Fenix to sneak up Pentagon and get him eliminated instantly. Sonny Kiss shakes his butt at Gunn, who looks to return the favor, but MJF breaks the moment by tossing Kiss. Gunn, at 6'5, is huge compared to the others, and gets piled up on and tosses them all off as if he was Big Show. Havoc grabs his staple gun and goes on a stapling spree. Referees swarm Havoc and kick him out. Order is restored as they cut to commercial. During the break, Shawn Spears runs in and knocks Janela off the top with a chair to eliminate him. Sabian chops Gunn, who shoves him down before knocking out everyone else. Orange Cassidy saunters over and puts his hands in his pockets before lightly kicking Gunn in the shins. MJF tosses Cassidy to massive crowd heat. MJF turns around and slaps Gunn's finger away, which earns him a “suck it” and Fame-asser. Crowd loves this. Gunn tosses MJF, who manages to hang on. Wardlow arrives on the scene for a distraction, and Page hits Gunn with the buckshot lariat and eliminates him, and the crowd boos Hangman for it. We're down to Page, Taylor, Jungle Boy, Sabian, and MJF, as Sabian gets some shine before dropkicking Taylor out. Sabian kisses Penelope Ford at ringside, allowing Jungle Boy to dump him with a rana. MJF pulls Jungle Boy off the apron, making him and Page the winners at 10:20. I have to give them a ton of credit for making this a far more interesting than usual battle royal, but I think Gunn got way too much offense on too much of the roster. I also could have lived without MJF doing the hack heel 101 trope of hiding under the ring to make us forget he's in the match, **½.
Winners: MJF and Hangman Page

MJF and Page try to brawl it out, but are quickly separated. They will face each other next week for the super fancy, custom diamond ring that we're all supposed to care very much about.

Chris Jericho hands a hard hat to Jake Hager as they head through the back. They cut to commercial, but we can see them bothering Peter Avalon and Leva Bates on the split screen.

Le Champion Chris Jericho and Jake Hager come to the ring for a special announcement. Crowd gives them a big ovation but Jericho tells them to sit down and shut up so he can speak. Jericho says he was fined for destroying things during a temper tantrum last week but can't quite get himself to apologize, so he makes Hager do it for him. His big announcement is that next week in Chicago, he's going to get a thank you from TNT and AEW officials. Aw, I thought it would be something cool. Jericho is glad the party will be in Chicago, because they have more sports teams than Indianapolis. His party will have it all, including an aquarium and clowns. Okay, now I'm interested. They're interrupted by SCU. Scorpio Sky takes a mic and says Jericho has proven to be a Paragon of Virtue for apologizing. Sky reminds us that he pinned Jericho to cause the tantrum in the first place. Sky partied all weekend and even has a date with his highschool crush! Jericho doesn't accept Sky's apology, and says Sky's girlfriend has gained a lot of weight since high school, to which Sky proclaims his love of big butts. Jericho thinks it's “cuter than Baby Yoda” that Sky pinned him, but says they're not in the same league. Jericho wants a singles match with Sky so he can wipe the floors of the arena with him. Christopher Daniels interrupts, saying they need a month or two for a training camp first. Jericho refuses, and wants the match next week. Frankie Kazarian helps stir Jericho up into making it a title match. Sky pulls Jericho into a handshake and gets serious, stating that he's been waiting 15 years for a match like this, and will turn “Le Champion into Le Bitch.” This results in a brawl, and the ring fills with Inner Circle members to put the boots to SCU. Santana and Ortiz handcuff Kazarian and Daniels to the ropes, while Hager serves Sky up for a Judas Effect! Jericho poses with the title and seems ready to stand tall, when Marko Stunt randomly runs in for a botched save attempt. Jungle Boy follows suit, as does LUCHASAURUS! The Inner Circle retreat, except for Hager, who stands nose to nose with the dinosaur. Hager has second thoughts and backs off. The bit with Hager apologizing for Jericho was brilliant, and the SCU rebuttal worked, but this got way too busy once the Jurassic Express got involved. Fun segment overall.

Luchasaurus (with Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt) vs. Peter Avalon (with Leva Bates)

Avalon says Luchasaurus looks healthy, so "life found a way." Better than his usual cheap heat. Luchasaurus catches him immediately with a reverse powerbomb for the win at 0:28. This was fine.
Winner: Luchasaurus

Proud n' Powerful (Santana and Ortiz) vs. Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy)

Private Party pay tribute to the late Matt Travis by draping his t-shirt on the ropes before the bell. Refreshingly, Ortiz and Santana don't attempt to get any cheap heat from the moment. Kassidy fights an uphill battle against Santana as they wrestle through a commercial break. They return with Quen attempting to avoid getting double teamed in Proud n' Powerful's corner, but gets caught with an avalanche Russian leg sweep! Santana's dead lift German suplex needs a save from Kassidy. Santana lifts Quen into a delayed vertical suplex and passes him to Ortiz to continue the hold! Crowd LOVES this. Ortiz finally slams Quen for only 2. Ortiz pulls Quen's jacket off so he can properly rake his back. Ortiz applies a Boston Crab, Santana fakes a double stomp, and simultaneously applies a chinlock! They unfortunately cut to a second commercial, which is a first for AEW. They return with Quen popping out of a bear hug to make the hot tag. Kassidy runs wild through Proud n' Powerful, complete with an Asai Moonsault to pop the crowd. Kassidy's Code Red would have ended it but Santana pulls the ref's leg. Quen dives over the ref to wipe Santana out on the floor. Quen's back gives out while helping Kassidy with the Silly String, and Proud n' Powerful catch Kassidy with a roundhoues kick/powerbomb combo for 2. Kassidy eats a superkick/cutter combo but still kicks out. Santana gets his sock full of weapons, but Matt Jackson runs in to steal it. This allows Private Party to surprise Santana with Gin n' Juice for the win at 15:15! This was a great 10 minute match stretched to fill 15 minutes, it's hard for a match to remain interesting with two commercial interruptions, ***¼.
Winners: Private Party

Sammy Guevara runs in to ambush Jackson. Dustin Rhodes storms the ring to attack Ortiz and Santana, and fends off Guevara. The Inner Circle has made so many enemies, and it makes for an exciting product.

Kenny Omega is lifting weights but takes a break to talk to the camera. He says the fans have seen him do a lot of strange things lately and worries he's lost his marbles. Omega lays the blame on losing to Pac at All Out. Next week will be the start of his redemption, as he plans to beat Pac in the city where it all started, Chicago. Omega resumes lifting weights. This was good, I think we need to hear more from Omega.

Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley

Allin is carried to the stage in a body bag, which is such a cool touch. He emerges with skateboard in hand and rides to the ring, making him officially the coolest guy in wrestling. Moxley enters through the crowd and Allin catches him with a shotgun suicide dive! Allin blocks a suplex over the rail and leaps the barricade for a flying tackle! Moxley slams Allin back into the ringside area and drives him into the ring post. Moxley hits a belly to belly suplex on the floor and hauls Allin into the ring for the official opening bell. There's a dueling chant as Allin hits a shotgun dropkick, but Moxley deflects a flying shoulder tackle. Moxley's own dropkick turns Allin inside out. Moxley remains on offense as they wrestle through a commercial. They return and Allin survives a chinlock. Moxley ducks to send a charging Allin flying recklessly to the floor! Allin blocks a back suplex and stomps the hand before driving him into the ring steps. Moxley looks for a superplex to the floor, but Allin blocks via stepping on fingers. Moxley shoves Allin off for another awkward tumble. Moxley hits a powerbomb despite Allin clawing at his fingers again. “This is awesome” chants set in. Moxley goes for the body bag, but Allin blindsides him with a torpe suicida. Moxley answers with a lariat and puts Allin into the bag. Moxley stomps on the helpless, bagged Allin, and the ref threatens to disqualify him. Moxley opens the bag, and Allin bites his fingers to hit a stunner variation. Moxley rebounds but can't hit the Paradigm Shift, and Allin rolls him up for a close 2. Allin's flip powerbomb gets another good 2 count. Moxley counters the Coffin Drop with a rear naked choke, but Allin rolls over for a great nearfall! Allin tries to bite the fingers again, so Moxley bites his nose and hits a top rope Paradigm Shift for the win at 11:12! This was a creatively violent and nasty bit of business and it was awesome, ****.
Winner: Jon Moxley

Final Thoughts: Having AEW Dynamite air live every week in front of large hot crowds is a privilege and I hope to enjoy this for as long as it lasts.

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