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AEW Dynamite
May 27, 2020

by Samoa Rowe

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From Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, in front of a sparse crowd of wrestlers and their friends. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur. Double or Nothing seems to have been a hit this past weekend, but COVID-19 still runs the show.

Chris Jericho tries to cheer up his Inner Circle buddies with a pep rally later tonight. For now, they're stuck with boxes and boxes of useless "Stadium Stampede Champions" t-shirts. Ortiz and Santana reveal an entire truckload of junk shirts and Jericho seems to lose his composure.

Matt Hardy is still overjoyed about winning Stadium Stampede and is thrilled to be teaming up with the Young Bucks. Hangman Page quickly excuses himself, and Kenny Omega follows him. The Bucks politely ask for a different version of Matt, and he morphs into a more Team Extreme version of himself and asks if they're ready to be "spot monkeys." I'm dying.

Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) and Joey Janela vs. Matt Hardy and The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson)

Matt is sporting a broken rib and is moving gingerly from the get-go. Despite the setback, the Bucks swarm Private Party, and Nick hits a high crossbody on both guys. Janela's save attempt fails and he gets tripled teamed with enziguris and takes Poetry in Motion. Kassidy surprises Nick with a springboard cutter and Quen takes him off the apron with a rana. Janela nails a suicide dive and follows with a suplex on the floor. Nick is in trouble and gets worked over by the situational bad guys. Nick avoids Silly String and misses a superkick on Janela, hitting the Blade instead. Matt knocks over Butcher while assisting in the crowd. Nick hurts himself hitting Janela with a facebuster on the ramp, but manages a Destroyer on Kassidy. Hot tag to Hardy. Kassidy kicks out of a Side Effect. Hardy blocks a bulldog and puts Private Party down with double DDT's. Hardy drops a charging Janela and piles them together for a moonsault! All three guys kick out at once and I'm grinning. Matt Jackson hobbles in but Janela cheap shots the ribs. Double missile dropkick by Janela, but he gets hung on the ropes for a SUPERKICK PARTAY! Private Party make the save via stereo dives. Quen is hurt, but Kassidy manages a slingshot DDT on Hardy for 2. Matt Jackson superkicks Kassidy and sets him up for Hardy's elbow and More Bang For Your Buck finishes at 8:53. All action by a talented bunch of spot monkeys (and I use that term endearingly). Some will love this, others will be infuriated and go on diatribes about killing the business, but I say ***½.
Winners: The Young Bucks and Matt Hardy

The Butcher and Blade take the opportunity to beat down the Young Bucks. Just then, an antique truck pulls in, and THE MEN FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE REVIVAL ARRIVE! The wrestlers chant "Holy sh!t" as Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler size up the situation but then decide to beat up Butcher and Blade! The Bucks cautiously stand up, not sure what to do, but end up stopping Butcher with a superkick, serving them up for "FTR." The newcomers leave, satisfied for now, happy to leave the Jacksons wondering where they stand. I am SO HAPPY that FTR is there, it's a shame they could not have debuted in front of a real crowd.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley makes his full entrance and joins commentary. He puts over his fight against Brodie Lee as the toughest of his career, but now he needs to turn his attention to Brian Cage, who won the Casino Ladder match for a title shot.

Brian Cage (with Taz) vs. Lee Johnson

Cage assaults Johnson before the bell and tosses him across the ring. Release German suplex by Cage, which seems to please Taz. Powerbomb by Cage, followed by a Buckle Bomb. Drill Claw Piledriver finishes at 1:22. Great squash.
Winner: Brian Cage

Taz takes a mic and puts Moxley for grinding his way into a top spot. At Fyter Fest, Moxley will have to deal with the machine that is Cage, which will require all the grit and heart he has. Beat Cage if he can, survive if he lets him. Speaking of Fyter Fest, when and where and how can I watch this?

Dr. Britt Baker is wheeled onto the stage to address her injury status. She has a Rules of Being a Role Model presentation ready for our enlightenment, and gets snippy with Tony Shiavone for not being enthusiastic enough. Britt's third rule is "Don't hurt the role model." She thinks the tandem assault she suffered last week was a conspiracy, maybe planned from the start of AEW. Kris Statlander being an alien is a crock of sh!t. Hikaru Shida is a fraudulent champion and a cheater. Nyla Rose broke her knee on purpose. Britt orders her lackey to get the board, which appears to connect all the dots to name Aubrey Edwards as the master conspirator. Britt vows to be back by All Out. This promo was a homerun.

AEW action figures are coming in August, which coincidentally will be when my bank account hits zero.

Chris Jericho's angry interview is interrupted by Orange Cassidy just wanders through. Jericho grins and says "See ya later, Orange" before heading out.

Christi Jaynes vs. AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida

Shida is flying high after defeating Nyla Rose for the Women's title at Double or Nothing. Jaynes slips out of some tough situations and shows off with some dancing. Shida tries to get in on the fun and Jaynes cheap shots with a kick. Jaynes hits a flippy arm drag and tells the "fans" to kiss her rear. Shida goes for the hair and delivers a running knee strike. Backbreaker by Shida, followed by a Camel Clutch. Shida's vertical suplex gets 2. Top rope enziguri by Jaynes and flying sunset flip and kick isn't enough. Jaynes misses a Lionsault and Shida hits running knees for another 2 count. Shida finishes with a Falcon Arrow at 5:21. This was a good exhibition when a total squash was called for, **.
Winner: Hikaru Shida

Video recap of Cody beating Lance Archer for the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing. A shirtless Mike Tyson award him the unfinished title belt.

TNT Champion Cody and Arn Anderson come to the ring for a victory interview with Tony Schiavone. Cody compares himself to Tom Brady, another athlete who wasn't a first call pick, but became a champion anyway. Cody is the champion of the world's greatest network, but this isn't nepotism. He learned grit from his mother and is able to outwork anyone. Cody declares his intent to defend the TNT title every week in open challenges. He addresses the pandemic era, they are without live fans, but the fans blew away their projections for Double or Nothing, and he's going to do this for the people watching at home. Good stuff from Cody that sets the stage for his next chapter.

Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) and Jimmy Havoc vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky)

The winners get a Tag Team title match next week. Sabian and Havoc attack before the bell, but Kazarian knocks them together, and Sky pulls Havoc to ringside. SCU drop Sabian with double shoulder blocks and swarm him with quick tags. Havoc tags, but gets double teamed as well. It's a total SCU squash until Havoc catapults Kazarian into Sabian's enziguri. Havoc and Sabian take over and pick Kazarian apart, including a catapult into an eye poke. CUE THE COMMERCIAL! Unfortunately, they save the chinlock spot for the home audience. Sky gets the hot tag and runs wild. Havoc saves Sabian from a dragon sleeper, and hits a DVD to set up Sabian's diving double stomp. Kazarian helps with a guillotine leg drop on Sabian, and hits Havoc with a swinging DDT for 2. SCU clear out Sabian and look to finish Havoc when Ford interferes. Sabian and Havoc finish Sky with a running dropkick/Michinoku Driver combo. Cheap win by the scoundrels to cap off a good match, ***.
Winners: Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc

MJF and The Wardlow are hanging out in a green screen lounge. MJF questions why he hasn't received a title shot in AEW despite all his accomplishments. He and Wardlow will be in the battle royal for a shot at Cody's TNT title, and he fully expects Wardlow to let him win, which doesn't quite sit well with the big guy. MJF laughs it off as a rib, but he's only fooling himself.

Battle Royal for a Shot at the TNT Championship:

Featuring MJF, The Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Marko Stunt, Jungle Boy, Colt Cabana, Brandon Cutler, Christopher Daniels, Billy Gunn, Luther, Sonny Kiss, Peter Avalon, and Orange Cassidy.
The match starts before OC can arrive, and he gets ambushed by Santana and Ortiz. MJF hides behind Wardlow while everyone else dukes it out. Luther knees Stunt in the face, which earns him Luchasaurus' attention. Luchasaurus destroys Luther with a chokeslam onto the apron. Kiss builds a little steam so Wardlow dumps him out, and MJF takes some cheap shots just because. Colt builds a little steam and Gunn tosses him. Colt takes the loss hard and is handed some literature by the Dark Order's representative. It's all punchy/kicky stuff leading into the commercial. During the break, Avalon and Cutler eliminate each other like the jobbers they are. Back from break, Stunt catches Wardlow with a missile dropkick. Daniels blocks Stunt's dive, but it's reversed into a rana over the ropes! Wardlow press slams Stunt to Daniels at ringside. Wardlow saves MJF from Luchasaurus and they duke it out. MJF chop blocks Luchasaurus' knee, but Gunn breaks it up. Gunn and Luchasaurus brawl, but get dumped by Wardlow and MJF (who piles it on with a "s*ck it!"). We're down to MJF, Wardlow, OC, and Jungle Boy. OC casually puts on his sunglasses and lazily shoves MJF. MJF misses a punch with the his diamond ring and clocks Wardlow. Jungle Boy clotheslines MJF out, and helps OC double team Wardlow for another elimination. They keep a quick pace and OC hits a pair of Superman punches. Jungle Boy recovers with a head scissors takedown over the ropes to win at 11:42! This seemingly sets up a slew of story threads that I'm not sure I'm ready to see yet, **½.
Winner: Jungle Boy

"Sometime this summer" Jon Moxley defends the AEW title against Brian Cage. Okay, that's a bit too bush league of an announcement even for me.

It's time for Chris Jericho's Inner Circle pep rally! The Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders are here for the festivities. Vickie Guerrero grabs some pom-poms and introduces the Inner Circle, while still working on getting "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" over as a catchphrase. Even though this was all his idea, Jericho looks downtrodden. He declares that the Inner Circle will rise again, like five sexy phoenixes. This is really all for the "fans" and they toss their obsolete champions t-shirts into the crowd. Sammy Guevara is hobbling on crutches and unveiled participation trophies for his pals. They continue exchanging gifts and being a tad too pleased with them (Jericho fawns over a framed Marc Anthony portrait). Jericho gifts a hilariously tiny scooter to Guevara to replace his crutches. Hager's gift is a handwritten poem, which goes from adorable love letter to menacing threats to the Elite, and I'm dying. Jericho shifts his attention to Mike Tyson, still sore over a betrayal from "a Monday night in 2010." Guevara couldn't get Tyson's head on a platter, but has a cheese platter, but unveils an empty bottle of the bubbly. Mike Tyson and his sizable entourage arrive on the scene. Jericho is unfazed and continues running his mouth. Tyson interrupts to call Le Champion a "sucka." Jericho demands an apology, prompting Tyson to rip his shirt off to reveal his good old man physique. They exchange shoves and all hell breaks loose for a pull apart brawl.

Final Thoughts: All nitpicking aside, this was a stellar reset episode coming out of the pay-per-view. They set the table well for numerous stories and feuds heading into Fyter Fest and All Out.

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