By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)
AEW Dynamite on TNT
Aired live on November 6, 2019 from Charlotte, North Carolina at Bojangles Coliseum
The show opened with the announce crew of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, and Excalibur welcoming the audience to Charlotte. Private Party will face Dark Order to determine who will face The Lucha Bros and SCU at Full Gear. Jamie Hayter and Emi Sakura will face Riho and Shanna, and Cody Rhodes will make an announcement. The main event is Hangman Page and Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho Guevara. For the first match, Pac made his entrance, followed by Trent for the first match of the night. He was joined by Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy.
1. Pac vs. Trent: Both men tied up and grappled to start, trading reversals until Pac separated and stared down Trent as he laid on the canvas. Pac then attempted to intimidate Orange Cassidy, but that opened the door for Trent to hit a forearm smash, followed by a kick to the back and some chops. Pac retreated to the apron, but Trent brought him back in with a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count.
The action spilled outside, and Trent was run into the barricade several times. They then spilled up the ramp, where Trent was dropped across the top of the barricade, and slammed Trent into the steel plate head first. Pac then entered the ring to break the count, and did a twisting dive over the top onto Trent on the floor. In the ring, Pac hit a splash from the top for a one count, and then moved into a headlock.
Trent fought back to his feet and hit a chop, but Pac cut him off with some forearm shots and a german suplex for a near fall. Trent tried to string together some strikes, but Pac cut him off and tossed him back to the floor. Orange Cassidy then entered the ring as Chuck distracted the ref. OC did his weak strikes bit, and Pac killed him with a kick. Trent then entered back into the ring and hit a series of lariats. He then hit a half nelson suplex and hit a somersault dive onto Pac on the floor. He then tossed Pac into the barricade.
Trent followed and hit a spear on the outside, and sent Pac back in the ring. Trent then hit a running knee to the back of the head of Pac for a near fall. Both men then ended up on their feet, and Trent hit another big Lariat. He then hit a swinging DDT for a near fall. Pac rolled to the outside, and Trent pursued, but Pac hit him with a brainbuster on the floor. Pac then placed Trent back in the ring and climbed to the top. He then landed Black Arrow and Trent kicked out. Pack quickly applied the Brutalizer and Trent passed out in a suspiciously quick amount of time.
Pac defeated Trent at 13:38
After the match Pac grabbed a mic and told the crowd to shut up. He said he heard what Hangman Page said, and it won’t make any difference. He said this Saturday in Baltimore he would make an example of him again. Cody’s announcement is up next…[c]
My Take: A really good performance from both men. Working Chuck and Orange Cassidy in the match actually took away from the experience, in my opinion. They didn’t need it. I am surprised Trent kicked out of the Black Arrow. It looked like it might have been a mistake. Either way, Pac gets another strong win and Trent hopefully put himself on people’s radar.
The lights in the arena went black, and Cody Rhodes had his elaborate entrance. Tony Schiavone joined him in the ring for the interview. Tony got the cheap pop for announcing Charlotte, and then brought up Cody vs. Chris Jericho for the AEW Title. He said Cody had a more pressing announcement, and gave him the floor. Cody said the Inner Circle has taken a scalpel to The Elite, but they were expecting them, and looking for a group that could match up with them.
Cody mentioned Eddie Graham, Bill Watts, and Dusty Rhodes, and said all of them were Titans in the business both in the ring and at the box office. Cody said that they were controversial because they were competitors and management. He said he has told everyone who would listen how proud he was of AEW and the schedule, the pay, and the all inclusive nature. He then said he’s heard the criticism about him being both talent and management, and it was impossible to ignore. Rhodes started to announce something, and then soaked the crowd in for a minute. He finally got out that if he does not defeat Chris Jericho at Full Gear, he will never challenge for the AEW Championship again.
He recalled Jericho calling him an entitled millennial bitch. He said in Jericho’s book, that you can get for $3 on Amazon or in flea markets, you can read that he was the son of a wealthy Hockey Player. He said they share the same silver spoon, and called Jericho a carnie succubus for surrounding himself with impressionable youth that he needs more than they need them. Cody said it’s not about his father, it’s about his sister, his wife, and his entire family. He then told Jericho that at Full Gear, he would bring the best of his generation and eat him alive…[c]
My Take: A strong promo from Cody, who got teary at a couple of moments and brought clear passion to his delivery. You could nitpick the insider nature of his motivation for the stipulation, but the promo was excellent and did far more right than wrong. He managed to make the program more about generational differences than anything in the end, and that will resonate with the audience.
The Lucha Bros entered during the break and joined on the Spanish announce table. The Dark Order then made their entrance, followed by Private Party. The ref held up the third place medals, which will apparently be awarded to the winner for their place in the Tag Tournament.
2. Private Party vs. The Dark Order: Uno started the match with Quen. Uno dominated the early going, but Private Party turned things around with Grayson tagged in. Kassidy entered the ring, and they hit some kicks and double team offense that caused Dark Order to retreat to the floor. Grayson fired back with a Uranage on Kassidy, and then tagged in Uno.
He entered and choked Kassidy on the bottom rope. Grayson entered again and he and Uno attempted a double clothesline, but Kassidy avoided it and hit Uno with a kick. Grayson took control with strikes and placed Kassidy on the apron. He then hit a springboard senton onto Kassidy from inside to outside. He then taunted the crowd with the rest of The Dark Order at ringside…[c]
Kassidy hit a vertical suplex on Uno and made a tag to Quen, who ran into a big lariat from Uno. Grayson then came off the top with a big elbow for a near fall. They then tried for the Fatality, but Quen avoided it, and sent Grayson to the floor. He then hit a double stomp on Uno, who also rolled to ringside. Quen then dove on them both, and tossed Grayson back in the ring. Quen hit a springboard crossbody on Grayson for a two count.
Kassidy entered for a double team, but Grayson avoided it and hit both men with a Pele Kick. He tagged Uno, who entered and hit a neckbreaker. Quen broke up the fall. Grayson and Uno worked over Quen with some double team strikes. Grayson then suplexed Quen into Kassidy in the corner. Grayson then hit a 450 for a near fall. They set up for the Fatality on Kassidy, but Quen broke it up. Kassidy hit Uno with Silly String, and Quen tagged in. Private Party hit Grayson with Gin and Juice and got the win.
Private Party defeated Dark Order at 11:26
After the match, Private Party celebrated and Dark Order licked their wounds. SCU and the Lucha Bros got into the ring and they faced off to hype their match on Sunday. The announce team then threw to a Chris Jericho video package, where he mocked Cody Rhodes latest video basically shot for shot.
It showed Virgil, the inner circle, and an actress pretending to be Jericho’s aunt. They said he was the youngest AEW Champion of all time, and called him the greatest of all time. His “Aunt” said he would beat the shit out of Cody at Full Gear. Hager just stared at the camera and did nothing. Jericho lamented finding the best place to find bubbly while Cody was in all of his meetings.
Footage was then shown of last week’s attack on the Rock n’ Roll Express by Santana and Ortiz, along with the Young Bucks. The announce team then went over the Full Gear card.
My Take: The Dark Order just doesn’t do it for me. They are clearly very talented, but they just don’t seem like a threat in the ring. Fighting for third place medals in a tag tournament felt a lot less important than the title shot that the announcers didn’t make much mention of. This was the case of a decent match that felt bogged down by some haphazard storytelling. Jericho’s video mocking Cody was pretty funny, and a nice counterpoint to the very heavy tone of Cody’s web video from last week. Though, I have to ask, how many TV viewers had actually seen Cody’s video?
Jamie Hayter made her entrance, followed by Emi Sakura. We then got the entrances of Riho and Shanna.
3. Riho & Shanna vs. Emi Sakura & Jamie Hayter: Riho started with Sakura, and they chain wrestled to a stalemate. Sakura pulled some hair and hit a chop. She then tossed her by her hair, and occupied the ref so Hayter could enter and hit a knee strike. Riho hit a knee of her own on Sakura, and tagged in Shanna. She entered and hit an arm drag and a low dropkick for a one count. She then hit a flipping neckbreaker for a two count. Riho tagged back in and she and Shanna hit some tandem offense. They hit a double bulldog and an assisted splash. Riho tripped Sakura onto the second rope, and went for a 619, but Sakura blocked it. She then grabbed Riho for a double underhook backbreaker. Hayter then tagged in and stomped on Riho…[c]
Sakura tagged back in during the break and applied a surfboard to Riho. She then tagged Hayter back in, who forced a smile from Riho and gave her a double wet willie while she was in position for a Camel Clutch. She then alternated between body slams and a rear chinlock. Riho took Hayter down with a head scissors, but Sakura entered to cut her off. Riho fired back with a double stomp. Riho crawled and tagged to Shanna, who entered and hit some running forearms on Jamie Hayter for a two count.
Shanna called for Sliced Bread, but Hayter blocked it. Shanna hit a Jawbreaker, but Hayter recovered and hit a Uranage backbreaker and tagged out. Sakura entered and hit a splash in the corner. She then went for a Vader Bomb, but Shanna blocked it. She crawled to make a tag, but Hayter pulled Riho off the apron. Shanna sent Sakura to the outside with a head scissors and climbed to the top. She then dove on both Hayter and Sakura, and played to the crowd.
Shanna hit Sliced Bread on Sakura, and then a Double Underhook DDT for a near fall. Shanna then grabbed a full nelson, but Sakura fought out and hit a reverse neckbreaker. Hayter entered and hit a shining wizard on Shanna for a two count. She then hit a Michinoku Driver for another two count. Shanna went for another double underhook DDT, but Hayter avoided it and hit a series of lariats. She covered, and Riho was late to break up the tag. The ref just stopped counting.
Sakura tagged in and grabbed Shanna for a double underhook backbreaker. She then hit a Vader bomb, but Riho broke up the pinfall with a double stomp. After a series of rather weak pinfall reversals, Emi Sakura got the pin with a La Magistral.
Emi Sakura and Jamie Hayter defeated Riho and Shanna at 13:35
We got another Brandi Rhodes video package. She was drinking wine on a red and black set, and we got a lot of camera cuts to Awesome Kong. She said she doesn’t get enough credit for her intelligence because of her relationship with Cody, and said people would quickly realize how big of a mistake that was. She said with her body (Kong) and my brains, we have the power to tear through the women’s division. She closed by asking who the bullies were now…[c]
My Take: AEW’s women’s division is a bit of a mess. Riho got a pretty good reaction, and popped for the impressive spots in the match, but they started telling the story for the Riho and Sakura match far too late to let the crowd get invested. They have to start working through getting some of these characters over before this title will really begin to mean something.
Brandon Cutler was in the ring. Shawn Spears then made his entrance with Tully Blanchard:
4. Shawn Spears vs. Brandon Cutler: Spears reversed a wrist lock and landed a lariat on Cutler. Spears pushed the action, but Cutler avoided him with some agility, and hit a leg drop onto Spears on the apron. Cutler got cut off and tossed into the barricade on the floor several times, while the announce team put over Tully Blanchard. Spears hit a nasty chop back in the ring, and Cutler responded with some kicks. Cutler went to the top, but Spears easily avoided his flying nothing, and landed a kick and a Death Valley Driver for the win.
Shawn Spears defeated Brandon Cutler at 3:27
After the match, Tully slid the chair in the ring. Spears was going to hit another DVD onto the chair, but Joey Janela ran him off by running into the ring…[c]
My Take: There’s something off about Brandon Cutler. You can see the talent there, but his offense just doesn’t visually have much impact on screen. I was really hoping we’d get something less one dimensional from Shawn Spears in AEW, especially with Tully at his side, but so far The Chairman gimmick isn’t landing with me.
We got a video package for Moxley and Omega. We got some footage of their previous encounters, along with Moxley’s promo from last week. Kenny also responded that Moxley isn’t on his level in the ring, and said he shouldn’t complain about the match being hardcore because it’s not like he could chain wrestle with him. Moxley said he’s looking for an opponent to bring the worst of him. Omega said he was glad they were going to that Dark Place, and he’d see him there. We then got ring entrances for the main event…[c]
My Take: A good video package for Omega and Moxley. I really wish we could have gotten more promo work from both men heading into Full Gear.
5. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega vs. Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho: The match began with Guevara and Omega, after Jericho teased entering the match and backed off. There are nearly 20 minutes left in the show, so I’m guessing we are getting a big Elite/Inner Circle Brawl to close out the show. Guevara applied a front facelock, and they traded reversals for a moment until Omega landed a set of chops to the chest and back of Guevara.
Omega hit a jumping back elbow in the corner, and a back suplex before tagging Kenny Hangman Page. They hit a bulldog and standing shooting star press combo for a two count. Page then took over the assault on Guevara. He hit chops and a knee strike, followed by a bridging suplex for a near fall. Guevara hit some knees and a double axe handle and made a tag to Jericho. Hangman hit a big boot to Jericho, but he recovered quickly and hit a dropkick and some strikes.
Jericho then picked up Page for a vertical suplex. Guevara tagged in briefly to run across the ring and hit Omega. Jericho then came back in and ate a lariat from Page. Omega and Guevara were back in the ring, and Omega went back to work with the chops. He then landed a forward roll slam and a moonsault for a two count. Guevara fired back with some kicks and hit the top rope, but Omega took him out of the air with a dropkick. Omega appeared to be going for a dive, but was intercepted by Jericho. Omega dealt with him and sent him to the floor, but Jake Hager landed a shot to the back of his head from the floor to stop his momentum. Jericho and Guevara then took over on Omega…[c]
Jericho and Guevara worked over Omega during the break. Omega escaped by flipping away from them both out of the corner and making a tag to Page. He entered and hit a fallaway slam on Jericho, and then splashed Guevara on the outside. Page went for Deadeye, but Jericho escaped. They traded counters until Jericho was on the floor. Guevara entered and attacked Omega, but he was quickly sent to the floor and caught by Jake Hager. Omega dove to the outside onto Hager and Guevara.
Page then hit a moonsault off the turnbuckle onto Jericho. He tried to toss Jericho back in the ring to capitalize, but he was hit by a low blow by Pac on the apron. Jericho then hit the Judas Effect on Page for the win.
Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara defeated Kenny Omega and Hangman Page at 14:07
After the match, The Inner Circle beat down Page until Cody made the save. He ended up hitting CrossRhodes on Guevara. Jericho tried to escape up the ramp with Hager, but MJF stopped them. Jon Moxley then walked in from the crowd, and he and Omega had a standoff with their weapons. Jericho and Cody brawled up the ramp. Santana and Ortiz came down and assaulted Moxley and Omega, but the Bucks ran down and made the save. A wild brawl ensued, but Moxley and Omega helped The Bucks get the best of Santana and Ortiz before turning on each other and brawling backstage.
Matt Jackson ended up climbing on top of the entrance area and diving on the Inner Circle, who retreated back to the ring. The Elite eventually followed, and the show closed with a madness continuing in the arena.
My Take: I think I could have lived with an interference finish there rather than Jericho getting another win over Page. It worked out anyway because nobody remembers who lost the match at this point, but it’s one of those situations where the outcome of the match didn’t matter for the angle they were going to run afterwards. We got a better mix tonight between video packages, promos, and matches, and for the most part it was successful. I still think they can afford to shorten some of these matches a bit and get a few more talents a bit of exposure and a chance to raise their profile.
That promo from Cody was next level. Wow!
Slurp!
You deserve to slurp on something yourself.
“how many TV viewers had actually seen Cody’s video?”
All of them. It aired on Dynamite.
Jericho’s Cody video parody had me in stitches brilliant stuff.
Man you missed it. The old lady wasn’t playing Jericho’s aunt, she was playing “Jericho’s aunt’s friend from church”!