The February 1st edition of AEW Dynamite included Jon Moxley versus “Hangman” Adam Page, title defenses for Jade Cargill and Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson versus Timothy Thatcher, plus The Acclaimed, Konosuke Takeshita, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Brian Cage.
Highlights:
- In the show’s main event Darby Allin defended his title in a Falls Count Anywhere Match against Samoa Joe that was everything promised and more starting with Darby coming to the ring in a hoodie covered in thumbtacks, to Joe throwing Darby down the arena steps and bouncing him off steel chairs. The ending involved Darby disassembling the ring leading to a Joe earning the win with a Muscle Buster off the middle rope on to the exposed boards of the ring. Joe is your new TNT Champion, although a returning Wardlow may have something to say about that.
- Following up on events from next week, we got a hard-hitting match between Konosuke Takeshita and Brian Cage with Takeshita finally getting a big win on television.
- Starting in the crowd, Jon Moxley and “Hangman” Adam Page battled both in and out of the ring with solid near falls for both. Moxley kicked out of both of Hangman’s finishers. Page would take control late in the match but Moxley earned the win via roll up which didn’t sit well with the cowboy suggesting one more match between the pair, likely at Revolution.
- Bryan Danielson defeated Timothy Thatcher, who continued to work on Danielson’s injured arm, on his road towards a match with MJF. Konosuke made a save preventing MJF from interfering in the match as the pair continued to fight backstage leading to an announcement by Renee Paquette of an eliminator match between the pair next week. Will Konosuke get a win over the champ, possibly with Danielson’s help, setting up title shot later down the line? Very interesting. Follow up backstage segment with MJF paying Rush to beat Danielson next week.
- Jade defeated Red Velvet to earn her 50th straight win. Weakest of the night’s matches, with a clunky spot or two, but Jade looked strong in victory and it did give Velvet a close near fall where if the ref had been in proper permission she may have gotten the win. I don’t see Velvet taking the belt off of Jade, but the match did elevate her in the short-term (now AEW just needs to find something new for her to do).
Lows:
- While you couldn’t see the blade in the shot, a bad camera cue cut to Moxley during his match while he was blading. Whoops.
- Pre-taped interview from Swerve and his group. Less convoluted than usual but I still have no idea where this is going (or a single reason to care).
Less Notable:
- Video package hyping the Darby Allin versus Samoa Joe match.
- Backstage interview with The Bunny (with Butcher & Blade in tow) challenging Jamie Hayter for match next week before jumping to video of Saraya and Toni Storm attacking Britt Baker backstage (offering an on-camera explanation for some time off to nurse her injury). Short follow up involving Ruby Soho attempting to check in on Britt only to get the cold shoulder.
- The Acclaimed made quick work of a pair of local jobbers before an in-ring confrontation with the Ass Boys riling up their father and setting up title shot for next week. More awkward than it needed to be, we’ll see if we get a swerve next week or if this rivalry will finally end.
- Backstage interview with Jungle Boy declaring JungleHOOK is officially over (too bad as the division could use another team) and his plans to chase singles gold in 2023.
- Backstage interview with the JAS setting up a gauntlet for Ricky Starks to fight through the Society for another shot at Chris Jericho.
- Pre-taped interview with The Elite in a high school gym offering a response to Top Flight only to be interrupted by the Firm getting their own match for AEW Rampage.
