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AEW Dynamite
December 11, 2019

by Samoa Rowe

From the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur. The building looks full on the camera side and the fans are loud as they go on the air.

Jon Moxley vs. Alex Reynolds

Moxley plows into Reynolds and finishes with the Paradigm Shift at 0:14, breaking his own record for fastest win in AEW. Crowd loved his entrance and appreciated the squash.
Winner: Jon Moxley

Reynolds's buddy, John Silver, eats a Paradigm Shift too. Crowd chants "Moxley" as he stands tall, but he's soon joined by Le Champion Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle. The censors fail to block a "F*ck him up, Moxley" chant so Jericho orders the fans to watch their language. Jericho claims he just wants to have a nice conversation with Moxley. Jericho reminisces about the time a decade ago when Moxley came to him with his Kurt Cobain haircut and asked for help getting over. They would go on to become enemies, but then Jericho claims he helped navigate him to AEW. Jericho goes on to attempt to recruit Moxley into the Inner Circle. Jericho leaves him with an Inner Circle t-shirt to think it over. Crowd chants "NO!" while Moxley seems unsure. Personally, I would have had Moxley reject it on the spot and shove the shirt down Jericho's throat, but let's see where this goes.

VIdeo package building up tonight's street fight between Proud n' Powerful and The Young Bucks. Excalibur talks about how crazy the Jacksons get when there's no rules as we are treated to highlights from their indie career.

The Butcher and the Blade (with The Bunny) vs. Cody and QT Marshall

AEW has some ‘splaining to do as they haven't made it all that clear on Dynamite yet that MJF recruited The Butcher and Blade to take down Cody, as well as Marshall being in this match because he was hand-selected by the heels because he's the lowest guy on the totem pole. MJF clears it all up for the casual viewers during Cody's entrance. Cody tags himself in immediately to lock up with the Blade (AKA Pepper Parks). Cody's powerslam gets 1, prompting a quick tag to the intimidating Butcher (AKA Andy Douglas). Cody lets QT have a turn, and he seems to hold his own except the Bunny distracts long enough for Blade to hit a somersault plancha. CUE THE COMMERCIAL! They're back with The Butcher and Blade working over poor QT, who is struggling just to survive. Desperation back handspring enziguri by Marshall, and he avoids Blade's splash to make the hot tag. Cody storms the ring to a big pop and hits an uppercut on his back and a Disaster Kick. Cody's flying crossbody gets 2. Cody hits a springboard cutter but Blade kicks out! The Bunny interferes with an eye gouge, Marshal tags himself in, and sadly hits a sloppy back handspring twisting senton to ringside, but the fans pop for it anyway. Cody serves Blade up for Marshall's sloppy Cross Rhodes. Cody wipes Butcher out with a dive, leaving Marshall to hit a twisting senton, but Blade kicks out again! QT finds himself alone against Butcher and Blade and takes a stunner and lariat. Butcher and Blade finish him with a suplex/backstabber combo at 11:07. Great debut for Butcher and Blade, and I dug the story they were telling here, but QT didn't quite hold up his end of the bargain, **½.
Winners: The Butcher and The Blade

Darby Allin storms past Butcher and Blade to help a sulking Cody off his feet. I like this development.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Wardlow come to the ring to talk. MJF orders one of the ring crew guys into the ring and yells at him for laughing when Cody belittled him last week. MJF demands the man kiss his ring, which he does, only to suffer a Cross Rhodes. MJF says that Cody attacking him on the mic is like throwing rocks at a guy with a machine gun, and MJF's bullets don't miss. MJF takes exception to Cody calling him a knock-off Chris Jericho. The only thing real about Cody is his "sh!tty little lisp." MJF dares Cody to fire him, knowing he won't, because he knows that would rob the fans of their inevitable match. MJF is willing to face Cody, but only if he agrees to a list of stipulations that he refuses to name in Garland. MJF demands the camera zoom in to him so he can make sure Cody understands that he is better than him and he knows it. This was a total money promo, all aboard the MJF bandwagon!

Alex Reynolds looks bored in his hotel room. A hotel promotional video takes a dark turn, as the host asks him if he's tired of being a jobber. Reynolds is in danger of joining the Dark Order when John Silver walks in to snap him out of it.

Big Swole vs. Emi Sakura

This is my first look at Big Swole, who has been popping up all over my Twitter feed as of late. Sakura is still doing the Freddie Mercury cosplay act, which doesn't seem to be doing her any favors. Crowd chants "Swole" at the opening bell. Swole quickly gains control and plays mind games while pausing before hitting a heel kick. Sakura snapmares her by the hair. Swole answers with a back hand but Sakura uses a drop toe hold to set up a surfboard stretch. Crowd applauds as Sakura rolls her around in the hold. COMMERCIAL TIME! They return just in time for Swole's comeback. Swole's DDT and back elbow blow gets a good 2 count. Sakura cuts her off with a DDT and hits a crossbody block in the corner. The Tiger Driver Backbreaker is good but she wastes time getting her mic stand. The ref tries to take the weapon, but she sings while applying an abdominal stretch. Ref grabs the stand, but Swole takes it and pretends to be James Brown. Sakura counters with a double underhook backbreaker off the bottom rope. Sakura's twisting Vader bomb gets 2. Sakura misses a moonsault and they exchange blows. Swole's thrust kick gets a nearfall. Swole's spinning elbow finishes Sakura at 10:25, which is sure to move her up the ranks. Hikaru Shida was watching from ringside and looks impressed. This was humming along just fine until they seemed to run out of tricks in the late minutes, **¾.
Winner: Big Swole

Pac is interviewed backstage. He issues a final warning to Kenny Omega, he wants a rubber match or won't be held accountable for what he does next.

Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) and Shawn Spears vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega

I'm about to complain about the lack of mic time for Blanchard, when I'm interrupted by a side screen promo by Blanchard, who suggests that Sabian and Spears should become a fulltime tag team. The Garland fans missed the memo that AEW has ruined Kenny Omega and give him a superstar ovation. Spears forces Sabian to start against Page, but does provide a distraction from ringside. Sabian rolls into Page's thrust kick. Omega and Page double team Sabian with chops. Page ignores Omega's double high five offer, so he hits Sabian with a backbreaker for 2. Page avoids a double team and dropkicks off of Spears to moonsault onto Sabian as they head to COMMERCIAL. They return with Page fighting out of getting isolated. Omega gets the hot tag and knocks Spears down with double sledgehammer blows. Omega dropkicks the knees of Sabian and Spears and puts them down with double bulldog leg drops. Ford hops on the apron to block Omega's dive, and Sabian sneaks in for a backstabber. Sabian's missile dropkick gets 2. Omega absorbs a rana and enziguri, but Sabian misses a running kick on Page. Ford bails him out with a hurricanrana on Page at ringside. Sabian nearly steals a pinfall off the interference. Sabian serves Omega up for Ford's back handspring elbow and nearly finishes him with a Fisherman suplex. Omega comes back with V Triggers! They tease a count out but the lights suddenly go out. Tully Blanchard is tied up on the stage, with Joey Janela standing over him. Spears rushes to save his mentor, and brawls to the back with Janela. That leaves Sabian all by his lonesome, and Omega crushes him with a snap Dragon suplex. Omega's running V Trigger serves Sabian up for Page's buckshot lariat, and it's over at 11:32. Good action, but the "lights out" interference has become a bit of a crutch in AEW's booking, ***.
Winners: Hangman Page and Kenny Omega

Brandi Rhodes promo in a darkly lit hotel bar room. She doesn't think much of the AEW women's division. She still wants Kris Statlander to join her and her newly bald cohorts in the Nightmare Collective. This is easily the weakest ongoing angle in AEW.

Le Champion Chris Jericho and Jake Hager kick Excalibur and Shiavone off of commentary and join Jim Ross. Jericho says J.R. is the only man that matters.

Sammy Guevara vs. Luchasaurus (with Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt)

Jericho deadpans "Luchasaurus is not a legit dinosaur, you can't convince me otherwise." Sammy slaps the face and hits a quick dropkick and enziguri. Sammy blocks a chokeslam but Luchasaurus big boots him off the top rope. Luchasaurus bashes Sammy around ringside as J.R. informs us that we're heading to the "beloved picture in picture break" and we're off to commercial. They return with Sammy blocking another chokeslam and hitting an enziguri. Luchasaurus hits another bog boot, but Sammy answers with a high impact DDT. Sammy misses a pair of moonsaults and Luchasaurus blocks a standing SSP by grabbing the throat. Luchasaurus power slams Sammy for the win at 6:29. This was merely okay, and too short to justify the commercial interruption, **¼.
Winner: Luchasaurus

Chris Jericho and Jake Hager rush the ring, but the Jurassic Express fight them off. Jungle Boy catches Jericho in a pinning predicament to gain a visual pinfall to add some heat to their big showdown next week.

PPV ANNOUNCEMENT! On February 29th, AEW returns to Chicago for Revolution. Ah man, that is the most generic PPV name imaginable. I am already missing the novel event names like "Fyter Fest" and "Fight for the Fallen."

Texas Street Fight:
The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) vs. Proud n' Powerful (Santana and Ortiz)

THis is falls count anywhere, so expect some crazy stunts. PnP ambush the Bucks during their entrance and the bell rings while they brawl on the stage. PnP powerbomb poor Brandon Cutler through the stage. Sammy Guevara arrives to help set up a table. Matt saves his brother from a splash off the entrance tunnel and the Bucks kill Sammy with a modified Meltzer driver. They superkick Ortiz onto the table and Nick flies off the tunnell for a somersault senton! Ortiz kicks out, LOL. The Bucks catch Santana with an elevated dropkick at ringside. Santana blocks a double Razor's Edge and grabs the baseball sock for some vicious blows. PnP wrap a Jackson in a trash can for a series of weapon shots. Matt returns with a Dallas Cowboys helmet and nails a double spear. Santana takes the helmet and spits on it, but Matt hits rolling Northern Lights suplexes and sends Santana crashing to a ringside table. Ortiz nails a cannonball dive to put Nick through another table. I sense a COMMERCIAL. They're back with the Bucks piling a trash can on Ortiz for Nick's 450 splash. Hager pulls the ref out to avoid the 3 count! Dustin Rhodes runs in to neutralize Hager. Ortiz suffers More Bang for Your Bucks, but the ref is still out. Referee Aubrey Edwards runs in for a late 2 count. Santana dropkicks Nick off the ropes and through a table. Matt is alone against PnP and he goes through a bent up trash can via Street Sweeper, but Nick pulls Aubrey out of the ring! PnP angrily deliver more weapon shots while standing chairs near the buckles for another Street Sweeper attempt, but Nick makes the save. Santana is shoved through another ringside table. Ortiz takes a bulldog onto the chairs and is helpless for a SUPERKICK PARTAY! A Meltzer Driver onto the chair finishes Ortiz at 14:34! The Young Bucks pick up another big win for the second week in a row, seemingly answering the AEW critics who complain that the Elite guys lose too much. Good stunt show that should let any casual fans watching know exactly how ruthless the Young Bucks can be, ***½.
Winners: The Young Bucks

SCU enter the rings to remind the Bucks who the champions are. They meet for the gold next week.

Final Thoughts: I continue to very much enjoy and appreciate this show, but there are some booking patterns settling in that are kind of annoying me. I'd like to see fewer commercial breaks during matches, a total hold on the lights going out before someone interferes in goofy fashion, and the Brandi Rhodes stuff to be toned waaaay down. Otherwise, I like all the story threads surrounding Chris Jericho's title reign, the slowburn Cody vs. MJF feud, and I'm glad to see the Elite guys getting heated up again.

Final Thoughts: This flew by and was awesome all the way through. Excuse me while I mark out. Thumbs Up.

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