By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 109)
Independence, Missouri at Cable Dahmer Arena
Aired live November 3, 2021 on TNT
[Hour One] The broadcast team of Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone checked in while Alan “5” Angels was already in the ring. Kenny Omega made his entrance for the opening match…
1. AEW World Champion Kenny Omega (w/Michael Nakazawa) vs. Alan “5” Angels in a non-title match. Angels worked without his mask. He dropkicked Omega to start the match. Angels was dominant early on and the broadcast team wondered if he had Omega’s number. Angels went for a splash from the ropes, but Omega put his knees up.
Omega performed a buckle bomb and followed up with a spinebuster for a near fall. A short time later, Omega put Angels down with a V-Trigger knee to the head and then made a cocky cover, which allowed Angels to kick out at two. Omega fired away with additional V-Triggers and then pinned Angels clean.
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defeated Alan “5” Angels in 8:00 in a non-title match.
After the match, Omega stood over Angels and asked Nakazawa to pass him a chair. The crowd chanted “Cowboy Shit” while Omega set up for a One Winged Angel on the chair.
“Hangman” Adam Page made his entrance. Omega dropped Angels and focussed on Page, who took out Nakazawa at ringside. Omega grabbed the chair, but Angels took it away from him. Page went for the Buckshot Lariat, but Omega avoided it and escaped to ringside.
Page looked at the AEW World Championship belt that was still in the ring. Page told Omega over the house mic that he forgot something. He put it on the apron and told Omega he better hold on tight to the belt because he only had ten more days (until their title match at Full Gear)…
The broadcast team ran through the previously advertised matches. Miro was announced as Jon Moxley’s replacement in the tournament match against Orange Cassidy. Ross hyped CM Punk appearing…
A Malakai Black video aired. He asked why men of power always think that their decisions serve more than their own interests. He said Cody Rhodes’s decision to ban him from ringside during his match against Andrade El Idolo won’t affect the match. He said that when Julius Cesar was assassinated, it wasn’t just Marcus who betrayed him… [C]
Powell’s POV: An entertaining opening match. No complaints this time around. Their first match was really well worked too. My issue at the time was that Omega didn’t seem to be clicking with a lot of fans who didn’t follow his pre-AEW work, so it seemed like a strange call for him to go out there and have such a long and competitive match with a fairly unknown wrestler. That said, they’ve built up a rivalry in these two matches and it’s something they can revisit. I like the idea of Miro replacing Moxley in the tournament, and I really liked the Black tease that someone could betray Rhodes. By the way, I’m filling in for Jake Barnett tonight, but Jake will be replacing me on WWE Smackdown coverage on Friday.
CM Punk made his entrance in non-wrestling attire. Once Punk was inside the ring, the fans chanted his name. Punk said that’s not the name he wanted to hear right now. He said there were two people who weren’t there and one of them had a very good reason. Punk said one of them was Jon Moxley and that’s the name he wanted the fans to chant, which they did.
Punk said he could spend all of his time listening to that chant. Punk said he has history with Moxley and they’re not best friends. He said he got a call while he was driving to the show the night before. He said he knows what it’s like to think you have to go and go and go. Punk said he didn’t want anyone to criticize Moxley “because I am damn proud of him.” Punk said that if anyone watching was in a place where they needed help, they should ask for it. He said there’s nothing harder to do and nothing more courageous.
Punk said the second person who wasn’t there was Eddie Kingston. Punk recalled Kingston interrupting him last week and said he doesn’t like being interrupted. Punk said he would fight him, but he wasn’t there. Punk said Full Gear was an option, but he also said that St. Louis was right up the road and he would be there to accept Kingston’s apology. Punk said that he was going to fill Moxley’s spot in the tournament, but he blamed Kingston for thinking he’s somebody and said he would find out on Friday just who he is…
Powell’s POV: A good mix of Punk speaking from the heart regarding Moxley and then going to work to set up his angle with Kingston.
A pre-taped Miro promo aired. He said he cursed his God, he warned his god, and he threatened his god. He said the word came that he is in the tournament. Miro said “it is you who needs to prove yourself to me just as I need to prove myself to her.” Miro said he would be champion, he would be forgiven, and he would be loved… [C]
Alex Marvez interviewed Adam Cole, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson backstage while Brandon Cutler stood by. They were boasting about being tough guys when Christian Cage showed up. Matt pointed out that Cage was outnumbered. Luchasaurus showed up. Matt said they weren’t looking for a fight and they would be in their office. Matt turned and took a swing at Luchasaurus, who blocked it.
The brawl spilled into the arena. The Elite members got the better of it until Jungle Boy ran out and performed a flip dive off the stage onto them. Matt climbed onto the stage where Cage speared him. Cage set up for his finisher, but Nick recovered and superkicked him.
Luchasaurus stopped the Jacksons from leaving and eventually chokeslammed Nick onto Cole on the stage. Jungle Boy put Cole in the Snare Trap. Cage showed up with two chairs and placed one under Cole’s head. Cage performed a Conchairto on Cole…
Powell’s POV: The brawl felt like it went on a little longer than it needed to. I’m surprised they didn’t save the Conchairto for when/if Cage turns on Jungle Boy.
A video package aired on Ruby Soho and Kris Statlander with both women talking about their match. Soho said she doesn’t need a title belt to be a leader, but a little gold couldn’t hurt…
2. “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler (w/Tully Blanchard) vs. Samuray Del Sol and Aerostar for the AAA Tag Titles. The entrances of both teams were televised. The challengers hit dives onto FTR at ringside and then did the Lucha House Party “lucha, lucha, lucha” chant routine briefly. Back inside the ring, FTR took offensive control going into a break. [C]
Del Sol and Aerostar picked up a near fall following a double huracanrana. Darby Allin was shown watching the match. Harwood broke up a pin and pulled Del Sol to the floor where he put him down with a brainbuster. In the ring, Aerostar rolled Wheeler into a pin for a near fall, then Wheeler rolled him over and held the ropes while stealing the pin…
“FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler defeated Samuray Del Sol and Aerostar in 8:30 to retain the AAA Tag Titles.
Footage aired from last week of Schiavone presenting Hikaru Shida with the trophy for winning her fiftieth match in AEW. Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero interrupted. Rose said Shida is hitting a roadblock because she has to face her in the TBS Title tournament. Guerrero said she and Rose should go celebrate because it would be an easy win for Rose… [C]
Powell’s POV: The tag match was pretty good. There were a couple of slow developing spots, but it was still entertaining. For those who don’t know, Del Sol worked as Kalisto in WWE, so that’s why he did the LHP chant. It was cute once, but if he’s sticking around then I hope he’ll drop it. The less people associate him with LHP the better given how they were booked on the WWE main roster.
Inner Circle members Chris Jericho, Santana, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager made their entrance while the crowd sang along with Fozzy’s “Judas.” Jericho recalled Guevara successfully defending the TNT Championship last week to set up the ten-man Minneapolis street fight at Full Gear.
Dan Lambert and the rest of American Top Team made their entrance. Lambert handed the contract to referee Aubrey Edwards, who ran it to the ring. The crowd chanted “shut the f— up.” Lambert introduced Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, Andrei Arlovski, Junior Dos Santos, and a pair of Bellator fighters. Lambert said it was time for Jericho to pick his poison.
Jericho explained that the open contract gives them the right to choose their opponents. Hager selected Dos Santos and pointed out that he lost his last MMA fight in 71 seconds (why?). Santana selected Arlovski.
Lambert recalled Jericho badmouthing Paige VanZant, who then said her calendar was open on November 13 and said the Inner Circle didn’t have the balls to take her on. She said she could take on all five of them by herself.
[Hour Two] “You want to take on all five of us by yourself?” Jericho asked with a smile. Jericho said she could put it on her Only Fans page. Jericho said they knew they had to choose one more person. Jericho recalled Lambert stating that he was the first member of ATT and selected him as an opponent. Lambert threw a fit. Jericho had the fans chant “fat-faced dipshit” and then said they would kick Lambert’s ass at the pay-per-view…
Powell’s POV: Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are the other two members of Lambert’s team at Full Gear. You had to know where this was going, but it was still fun getting there. Lambert has great heat and the fans will definitely want to see the Inner Circle members get their hands on him. I wonder if we’ll get some type of Jericho vs. VanZant intergender match. Before you laugh it off, just remember that you probably would have done the same thing if someone had told you at the beginning of the year that Jericho would face Nick Gage in a death match.
Tony Schiavone spoke with Matt Sydal, Lee Moriarty, Dante Martin, and Lio Rush backstage. Sydal congratulated Martin for beating him and said he doesn’t mind that Martin wants to train with Rush, because Moriarty wants to train with him. Sydal challenged the duo to face him and Moriarty, which Rush accepted…
3. Anna Jay vs. Jamie Hayter (w/Britt Baker, Rebel) in a TBS Title tournament match. Both entrances were televised. They cut to break early in the match. [C] Jay performed a DDT for a near fall coming out of the break. Jay applied the King Slayer. Rebel distracted the referee while Baker grabbed Jay’s leg, causing her to break the hold. Hayter hit Jay from behind, then put her down with a lariat and pinned her…
Jamie Hayter defeated Anna Jay in 5:30 to advance in the TBS Title tournament.
The heel trio went after Jay until Tay Conti made the save. Conti was eventually outnumbered, but Thunder Rosa ran out and dropkicked Hayter. The heel trio left the ringside area while Excalibur pointed out that they made a hasty retreat once the numbers were even. Excalibur pointed out that Rosa will face Hayter in the next round of the tournament…
Powell’s POV: Meh. I could have done without the distractions. Jay is still early in her career and could have simply taken a loss. They could have gotten to the same place with Conti by simply having the heels attack Jay after the match.
Backstage, Mark Sterling said Jade Cargill has a bye in the tournament due to her amazing undefeated record. Sterling said they would watch the Red Velvet vs. The Bunny match closely. Cargill said it didn’t matter and she would make her match with the winner short and sweet…
MJF made his entrance. He called for the production team to cut his music and then addressed Darby Allin. MJF said all the fresh faces in the company were sweating bullets early on, but not them because they are pillars and the company doesn’t work without them.
MJF entered the ring and said that they have been top guys, whereas the other two pillars are great, “but they’re not us.” MJF said the fans know who they are and know that they will become legendary. MJF asked why the fans boo him and cheer Allin. He said it used to make him mad and he lost sleep over it. A loud “Darby” chant started.
MJF said it hit him. He said he reminds the fans of their perfect and successful boss, brother, or ex. He said Allin is one of them in that he’s an outcast. MJF said Allin acts like he’s too cool for school, but he knows that he can’t be a normal functioning member of society. MJF said the dark and brooding Allin goes away once he enters the ring. MJF called him a glorified stuntman.
MJF said Allin will lose to him because he’s weak. “At Full Gear, you will lose because I’m better than you, and you know it,” MJF said. He added that he’s a better wrestler than Allin. He said no one has beaten him in the middle of the ring because he’s that damn good. MJF said that people who are good as him on the mic are typically not very good in the ring, but he’s going to break that mold.
Allin stood up with a mic and said that he’s an outcast and everything that MJF called him. He said he wouldn’t use his skateboard at the pay-per-view and they would have a wrestling match. Allin said that’s because he was going to let his anger out now. Allin headed toward the ring, but MJF started to leave.
Sting walked out with a group of men who wore Allin masks. Sting led MJF back to ringside. The production team missed it initially, but other Pinnacle members came out and fought with Sting’s crew. Allin attacked MJF and they ended up fighting in an empty spot behind the fans on the main floor. Allin whipped MJF into the barricade. Allin backed up and got a running start before clotheslining MJF, which sent them both to ringside. Allin rolled MJF into the ring. Allin went up top for his finisher, but MJF rolled away and ran into the crowd… [C]
Powell’s POV: Another good angle from MJF and Allin. It didn’t really need the Pinnacle brawl with the masked guys, but I guess that was there way of getting Sting involved briefly. I’m really looking forward to their Full Gear match.
Andrade El Idolo and his assistant Jose made their entrance. Cody Rhodes made his elaborate entrance and was joined by Arn Anderson on the stage. The broadcast team congratulated the Atlanta Braves for winning the World Series…
Powell’s POV: I’ll bet AEW officials are especially happy that the Braves won in six games. Had there been a seventh and deciding game, it would be running tonight opposite this show. Congrats, Braves fans. But I’m still not sorry about that whole Kent Hrbek and Ron Gant thing from 1991.
4. Andrade El Idolo (w/Jose) vs. Cody Rhodes (w/Arn Anderson). Andrade slapped Cody to start the match. Cody got upset and worked over Andrade, who eventually came back, but leapt from the ropes into a Rhodes dropkick. Cody ran up the ropes and was shoved to ringside by Andrade heading into a break. [C]
Andrade performed the Three Amigos suplexes, which drew an Eddie chant. He sent Rhodes into the ropes with the final suplex. Andrade hit Cody with double knees in the corner and covered him for a two count. Rhodes came back a short time later with some punches and got some boos, then delivered a big elbow while taking a page out of his father’s playbook.
Andrade came back and put Rhodes in a figure four, taking a page out of his future father-in-law’s playbook. Cody rolled it over. Andrade reached the ropes to break the hold and then rolled to the floor. Joe climbed onto the apron. Anderson pulled him down and punched him. Cody went for a suicide dive, but the FTR duo of Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler appeared and held up the AAA Tag Title belts, which Cody crashed into. Andrade brought Cody back inside the ring and hit the hammerlock DDT and then pinned him.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Cody Rhodes in 11:00.
After the match, Tully Blanchard came out and joined the post match celebration. FTR held Cody and then Andrade blasted him with a boot to the head. FTR threw punches at Rhodes. Anderson entered the ring and shoved Blanchard. The former tag team partners jawed at one another. Blanchard removed his jacket.
Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, and Alex Abrahantes ran out. Penta and Fenix entered the ring and roughed up FTR while everyone else headed to ringside. The Lucha Brothers set up to hit Harwood with their finisher, but Wheeler broke it up and dragged his partner to the floor… [C]
Powell’s POV: An enjoyable match with some fun tributes to Flair vs. Dusty. Cody wasn’t booed as loudly as he has been recently, but there were still some boo birds. The post match angle had a little too much going on. Was Black talking about FTR in his promo earlier? I took it as someone turning on Cody, but perhaps that’s not what he was going for. Or perhaps there’s still a turn coming? If so, my money is on Pharaoh. He’s probably still pissed about that whole pyro thing and he wouldn’t be the first dog to get jealous of a baby.
Tony Schiavone interviewed John Silver and told him that he hopes he kicks Adam Cole’s ass on Friday’s Rampage. Silver said he it would be Silver vs. Budge. He said Cole would be getting “the meat man” and added that he would kick some Budge ass…
Powell’s POV: As someone who doesn’t keep a close eye on Being The Elite or the Dark shows, I have no idea what the hell Silver was talking about.
Cole vs. Silver, Punk meeting Kingston face to face, and The Bunny vs. Red Velvet was hyped for Friday’s AEW Rampage in St. Louis… A video package set showcased the Bunny vs. Velvet match…
Bryan Danielson joined the broadcast team for the main event and then entrances for the match took place…
5. Miro vs. Orange Cassidy in an AEW Eliminator tournament semifinal match. Cassidy had his ribs wrapped and started the match with his sunglasses on. He used his speed to avoid Miro, who eventually caught him and suplexed him on the floor. [C]
Cassidy dove onto Miro and put him through a table. Cassidy returned to the ring, and then Miro barely beat the referee’s ten count. Cassidy got a near fall and then Miro took offensive control. Miro kicked Cassidy and then stomped him. Miro applied Game Over and got the submission win…
Miro defeated Orange Cassidy in 7:25 to advance to the finals of the AEW Eliminator tournament.
After the match, Bryan Danielson left the broadcast table and walked to the ring where he had a staredown with Miro. Danielson offered a handshake, but Miro left him hanging while Ross closed out the show…
Powell’s POV: I’m not sure if the show was running long or if they wanted Miro to go over in fairly short order. It worked either way. While it’s disappointing that we won’t be getting Bryan vs. Moxley at Full Gear, it’s obviously understandable given the circumstances, and Bryan vs. Miro is a great replacement match.
Overall, it was a very busy, yet entertaining episode. They did a nice job of adding additional hype and/or storytelling build to the key pay-per-view matches. I will be back shortly with my same night audio review of Dynamite for Dot Net Members. Let me know how you felt about the show by grading it below.
Hrbek is innocent!
Great words from Punk about Jon Moxley. I was hoping they would have Miro run through Cassidy with ease to reestablish himself bearing in mind he is obviously going to lose to Bryan Danielson.