By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 193)
Washington, D.C. at Capital One Arena
Aired live June 14, 2023 on TBS
[Hour One] The Dynamite opening aired… Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone were on commentary, and Justin Roberts was the ring announcer… Entrances for the eliminator match took place…
1. AEW World Champion MJF vs. Adam Cole in an eliminator match. Excalibur explained that if Cole wins the eliminator match, he will receive a shot at the AEW World Championship. MJF performed an early leapfrog and then pointed at his head. When he turned around, Cole was set up for a superkick, which caused MJF to fall to the mat and roll outside the ring.
MJF teased leaving through the crowd. He took a popcorn from a fan and tossed it, then argued with another fan and knocked his hat off. MJF returned to the ring and was serenaded with asshole chants. MJF tossed Cole into the corner, then went to the middle rope and mugged for the crowd.
MJF dropped down and jawed at Cole, who grabbed him and pulled him into the turnbuckle pad. Cole stood over MJF in the corner and threw ten punches at him while the crowd counted along. Cole sent MJF to ringside. Cole went for a slide kick, but MJF pulled the apron skirting out and trapped Cole inside. MJF slammed Cole’s left hand on the ring steps. MJF stood on the same hand and stomped it.
MJF continued to target Cole’s left arm while Excalibur assumed he was setting up for his Salt of the Earth finisher. MJF performed a pump-handle cradle slam and got a two count. There were dueling chants for both men with the Cole fans winning out.
MJF went to the corner and tuned up the band. MJF walked into a superkick from Cole. MJF came up bleeding from the mouth. MJF went to the corner of the ring and slid his hand under the apron skirting for a moment. Cole threw an enzuigiri kick and followed up with a Backstabber for a near fall.
Cole went to the ropes and went for the Panama Sunrise, but MJF caught him and placed him on the apron. MJF wrenched the arm of Cole over the top rope. Cole stuffed an MJF move, but then MJF avoided the Boom knee strike. Cole performed a ushigoroshi for a near fall.
Cole performed another ushigoroshi and immediately clutched his knee while lying over MJF to get a two count. MJF rolled to the apron. Cole followed and went for a straightjacket suplex, but MJF countered him into tombstone piledriver position. Cole threw knees to MJF’s head to escape. Cole went to the ropes, but MJF cut him off and performed a tombstone piledriver on the apron. Both men rolled to the floor with MJF selling knee pain as the show cut to a picture-in-picture break. [C]
MJF stood over Cole and called him a nobody coming out of the break. MJF spat on Cole, who stood up and hit him with a forearm. MJF and Cole traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Cole faked a superkick and then hit MJF with two kicks before superkicking him. Cole ran the ropes and ate a lariat clothesline.
Cole caught MJF in a crossface. MJF rolled him into a pin for a two count, then applied his Salt of the Earth finisher. Cole rolled out of the hold and then applied an ankle lock. MJF reached for the ropes, but Cole pulled him back to the middle of the ring. MJF rolled out of it and applied a crossface and an armbar before Cole reached the bottom rope with his foot.
MJF caught Cole on the apron and performed a Heat Seeker piledriver into the ring, which resulted in a near fall. MJF rolled to the floor and cleared the timekeepers table. MJF placed Cole on top of the table and then returned to the ring and removed the inner turnbuckle pad. MJF performed an elbow drop from the top rope that drove Cole through the table.
MJF returned to the ring and the referee counted. Cole beat the count by returning to the ring at nine. MJF flashed a look of disbelief. A “fight forever” chant broke out for at least the second time. Cole caught MJF a kick on the apron and then hit him with a straight jacket German suplex.
Back inside the ring, Cole set up for his finisher on the middle rope, but MJF fell to the mat and rolled away. MJF caught Cole with a kick and then targeted his elbow with a move from the middle rope. MJF and the referee took turns shoving one another. Cole rolled up MJF, who kicked out, causing Cole to run into the referee. REF BUMP!!!
MJF smiled and headed to ringside where he grabbed his title belt. MJF brought the belt back inside the ring and tossed it to Cole, who caught it. MJF flipped off Cole and then fell to his back. The referee stayed down. A “you f—ed up” chant broke out. Cole hit MJF with the belt and then the Boom. Cole covered MJF. The referee recovered and made a slow count, but MJF kicked out at two. Cole flashed a look of disbelief.
Cole set up for his Boom again, but MJF fell face first to the mat before Cole could hit him. Cole approached MJF from behind. MJF grabbed the referee and while kicking Cole below the belt. MJF put the Dynamite Diamond Ring on his finger. MJF tried to hit Cole with it, but the referee stopped him. Cole superkicked MJF and then hit him with the Panama Sunrise. Cole performed the Boom to the back of the head. Cole covered MJF and had the pin, but the bell sounded. Justin Roberts announced that the 30-minute time limit had expired and therefore the match was a draw.
AEW World Champion MJF fought Adam Cole to a 30-minute draw in an Eliminator match.
Cole rolled to the floor and grabbed a mic that he brought back to the ring with him. “Five more minutes,” Cole said before tossing the mic to MJF, who was clutching his title belt. MJF went face to face with Cole while both men were on their knees and then rolled out of the ring…
Powell’s POV: A really good match with a clever finish that I wasn’t even thinking about when the bell rang for a 30-minute draw. I like that MJF didn’t take an actual pinfall loss in a rare television match. This should also help people who don’t order the pay-per-views see that MJF isn’t just a pest heel, but rather a terrific in-ring performer in addition to his elite mic skills. It will be interesting to see if they do the rematch at Forbidden Door or if this is something they are saving for All In or All Out.
The broadcast team plugged the company’s daily fantasy sports partner and then an ad from the partner aired… [C]
A CM Punk video aired. Punk said the only thing certain about him now is that nothing is certain. He said he’s coming back to AEW for the same reasons he came in the first place. He said he has scores to settle and there are still things left to do. Punk said he won’t know what he’s going to do or say until he has the microphone in his hand. Punk said he has a lot of things to get off his chest on Saturday’s AEW Collision…
Powell’s POV: That’s more like it. There’s a chance that Punk won’t be able to talk about Brawl Out and that will annoy some fans, but it’s still a strong hook for the show.
Renee Paquette stood in the ring and introduced Sammy Guevara, who came out dressed in street clothes. Guevara spoke about experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Guevara said he and his wife Tay Melo are having a girl. He said the low was coming close to the AEW World Championship and coming up short. Guevara said he would have his wife by his side, his baby in one arm, and the AEW World Championship in the other. There were some boos. Guevara said he has to make some changes before that can happen.
Darby Allin made his entrance and entered the ring. Allin congratulated Guevara on the baby news and said he meant it. Allin said it sounded like the people were staring to love Guevara again, which led to a positive reaction. Allin asked Guevara if he would stand on his own or continue to live in the shadows as part of Jericho Appreciation Society.
“Judas” played and then Chris Jericho walked out holding his baseball bat. Jericho barked at Allin and then took issue with Guevara not calling him once during the month leading up to the Four Pillars match for the AEW World Championship. Jericho said Guevara would be champion had he asked for his help.
Guevara said he wondered why Jericho didn’t call him and said maybe he wouldn’t have lost to Adam Cole twice. Jericho assumed Guevara was having delusions of grandeur and said he would give him a chance to apologize to him. “I’m not apologizing for shit,” Guevara said. Jericho said Guevara needs to remember the dynamic in JAS and reunite their tag team. Jericho said Guevara needs to remember who the boss really is.
Allin stepped up and told Jericho that when he steps in the ring, the magic is gone. Jericho asked if Allin really wanted this and then said that maybe he and Guevara should beat his ass two-on-one. “I’m not really alone,” Allin told Jericho.
Sting made his entrance carrying his own bat. Once in the ring, Sting went face to face with Jericho, who put his bat up to Sting’s throat. Sting lowered Jericho’s bat with one hand and put his own bat at Jericho’s throat with the other. Jericho yanked his bat away. Jericho backed up and pointed at Sting with his bat. Sting took a swipe at Jericho bat with his own bat and then Jericho exited the ring… [C]
Powell’s POV: Wait, no gender reveal party on Dynamite?!? While I’m not sold on going back to Guevara as a babyface when he’s such a pure heel, I also can’t rule out the possibility of another swerve. Either way, I enjoyed the segment and the legends moment between Sting and Jericho.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada was featured in a video. He spoke in Japanese and subtitles were shown. Sanada said he would hold an open challenge for his championship at Forbidden Door and he looks forward to seeing who steps up. “See you next time,” Sanada said in English…
Powell’s POV: It looked like a hostage video, but I like the message and the use of subtitles. By the way, Dot Net staffer Colin McGuire is in attendance at the show and said there are far more boos than cheers for CM Punk when he’s shown on the big screen.
Keith Lee and Dustin Rhodes made their entrance followed by Orange Cassidy. The rest of the wrestlers in the eight-man tag match were already in the ring or at ringside…
2. Darby Allin, Sting, Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee (w/Dustin Rhodes) vs. Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Leona, and Bishop Kaun (w/Prince Nana). Cage wore face paint. Allin and Cassidy performed not so stereo suicide dives onto the heel team at ringside to start the match. They cut to an early PIP break. [C]
[Hour Two] Daniel Garcia was shown watching the match on a backstage monitor. Lee and Strickland ended up in the ring together. Lee placed Swerve on the ropes, but he was cut off by Swerve’s partners. Cage, Leona, and Kaun held up Lee. Strickland flipped off Lee and then double stomped him.
They did a series of rapid fire spots that concluded with Sting performing an inverted atomic drop and Kaun before punching him. Leona roughed up Sting. Lee dumped Leona and Kaun to ringside. Swerve kicked Lee, who then slammed Lee to the mat. Allin performed a Coffin Drop onto Leona and Kaun on the floor.
String put Cage down with a clothesline and then set up for his finisher, but Cage hoisted up Sting on his shoulders. Cassidy blasted Cage with an Orange Punch. Sting followed up with the Scorpion Death Drop and then pinned Cage to win the match. Garcia was shown looking unimpressed as he watched on a backstage monitor…
Darby Allin, Sting, Orange Cassidy, and Keith Lee beat Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Leona, and Bishop Kaun in 8:35.
Powell’s POV: There was no mystery regarding the outcome, but it was a crowd pleaser due to the popular babyfaces. At this point, they’ve taken so long that I’ve stopped caring about seeing Swerve and Lee in a singles match. I hope they find a way to heat that up again.
Highlights aired of Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn helping Jay White beat Ricky Starks. Excalibur said they’d received no clarification regarding the Gunns’ status with Bullet Club Gold…
Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn were interviewed on the backstage set and played dumb when Paquette asked about their relationship with Bullet Club Gold. They said they are the best brother team in AEW. They challenged Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy for next week in Chicago…
Powell’s POV: Please don’t let anyone’s contract be at stake.
Wardlow made his entrance and was jumped from behind by his opponent Jake Hager. Arn Anderson walked out while Hager continued to attack Wardlow and eventually threw him inside the ring…
3. Wardlow (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Jake Hager for the TNT Championship. The referee rewarded Hager’s pre-match attack by calling for the bell the moment that both men were inside the ring. Wardlow eventually dumped Hager to the floor and then clotheslined him heading into a PIP break. [C]
Matt Menard and Angelo Parker came out. Arn simulated pulling a gun out of his jacket. Brock Anderson came out and hit Parker and then Arn punched Menard. The Andersons chased Menard and Parker to the back. Hager took advantage of the distraction, but Wardlow rallied and performed the Powerbomb Symphony before scoring the clean pin.
Wardlow defeated Jake Hager in roughly 7:00 to retain the TNT Title.
After the match, Christian Cage and Luchasaurus appeared on the big screen, but the audio initially didn’t play in the arena or on television to start. Once they got the audio fixed, Cage announced that Luchasaurus was accepting Wardlow’s challenge for Saturday on AEW Collision. Cage asked what Wardlow would do when his new daddy wasn’t there. The camera showed a bloody Arn seated next to Luchasaurus…
Powell’s POV: I guess Luchasaurus isn’t afraid of Arn’s finger gun. Where did Brock go? Wait, has anyone ever seen Luchasaurus and Brock together? You don’t think… Okay, not really.
A subtitled Hiroshi Tanahashi video aired. Tanahashi said the AEW World Championship won’t shine like it should while MJF has it. He recalled coming close to beating Jon Moxley to win the title at the last Forbidden Door, and then challenged MJF to face him for the title at this year’s Forbidden Door…
Backstage, Paquette informed MJF that his match with Tanahashi was official for Forbidden Door. MJF mocked the idea of facing Tanahashi and then said it wouldn’t be the first time that he’s no-showed… [C]
Orange Cassidy was interviewed by Paquette on the backstage set. She asked him about upcoming title matches. He said she knows how this works, someone will walk onto the set and challenge him. Right on cue, Zack Sabre Jr. showed up holding his NJPW TV Title and spoke about his desire to become a double champion.
Daniel Garcia showed up and asked Cassidy where his buddy Katsuyori Shibata is. Cassidy said Shibata wasn’t there this week, but he would be next week. Cassidy challenged Sabre and Garcia to face him and Shibata on next week’s show…
4. Toni Storm (w/Ruby Soho) vs. Skye Blue for the AEW Women’s Championship. Both entrances were televised. Blue hugged her mother, who was in the front row. Soho brought a Saraya cardboard cut-out with her while Excalibur said Saraya refused to step foot in Washington, D.C.
Blue performed an early crossbody block from the ropes for a two count. Blue avoided a hip attack from Storm and then hit Storm with one of her own. Blue’s mother stood and did the L sign to the heels. Storm sprayed spray paint in Mama Blue’s face. Blue took out both heels with a suicide dive heading into another PIP break. [C]
Blue performed a head-scissors takedown and then worked over Storm with a knee and a kick. Blue charged Storm, who sent Blue to ringside. Storm went to the floor and hugged Soho before tossing Blue back inside the ring. Storm grabbed the can of spray paint and walked past the referee, who then argued with Soho like an idiot.
Blue pulled out a can of spray paint of her own and beat Storm to the punch. Blue performed a Destroyer and had the pin, but the idiot referee was still caught up with Soho. Blue superkicked Soho off the apron. Storm took advantage of the distraction and hit Storm Zero, which only led to a near fall. Storm acted shocked and then applied a cloverleaf and got the submission win.
Toni Storm defeated Skye Blue in roughly 7:00 to retain the AEW Women’s Championship.
The heel duo attacked Blue afterward, but Willow Nightingale came out and scared them off…
Powell’s POV: Blue outsmarted the heels at times, yet wasn’t smart enough to have Willow or someone else in her corner to counter Soho. I’m not a fan of Blue kicking out of Storm Zero. There are other ways to make her look resilient without making Storm’s finisher look weak. I’m also not a fan of making the referee look so incompetent. At some point, the heat that should go to the heels is lessened when the referees look this bad.
Backstage, Jack Perry and Hook were interviewed by Paquette. Perry said he was feeling rather naked standing next to Hook, who was holding the FTW Championship. Perry said that’s why he was accepting Sanada’s open challenge for Forbidden Door. Perry told Hook that he’s his best friend and asked him to have his back at Forbidden Door. Hook bumped firsts with Perry…
Powell’s POV: Perry laid it on pretty thick. This won’t end well for one of them, and I assume it’s Perry who will be turning heel on Hook.
Excalibur narrated a video package on the AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view and read through the advertised matches…
Excalibur set up a video package for AEW Collision. Jay White and Juice Robinson spoke, as did Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler…
Excalibur announced the following matches for Saturday’s AEW Collision: CM Punk and FTR vs. Samoa Joe, Jay White, and Juice Robinson, Miro in action, Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus for the TNT Title, Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue vs. Toni Storm and Ruby Soho, and Buddy Matthews vs. Andrade El Idolo…
The Blackpool Combat Club members made their entrance through the crowd… [C] Hangman Page and The Young Bucks made their entrance coming out of the break…
5. Hangman Page and “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta. Bryan Danielson sat in on commentary. Page and the Bucks were dominant to start. Moxley grounded Matt and worked him over with punches heading into the final PIP break. [C]
Moxley tagged out while selling his elbow. Yuta kicked out of a pin. Danielson said he would have preferred to see Yuta a stronger kick out (funny). The babyfaces hit rapid fire moves. Moxley returned and seemed fine. Yuta executed a German suplex into a bridge and got a two count on Matt.
Moxley tagged in and ran Page into the ring steps. Moxley and Castagnoli performed a Doomsday Device on Matt for a near fall. Moxley threw rapid fire elbows to Nick’s head and then Castagnoli did the same to Page. Nick returned with a Swanton onto the back of Moxley.
The Bucks threw double superkicks at all three opponents. Page powerbombed Yuta. The Bucks hit a BTE Trigger on Yuta and then Page hit him with a Buckshot Lariat and pinned him. Schiavone repeated his line from earlier in the match when he said that it had been over a year since a Blackpool Combat Club team that included Moxley had lost a match.
Hangman Page and “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson beat Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta in roughly 12:00.
Afterward, the BCC members worked over the babyfaces. Eddie Kingston made his entrance and ended up clearing Castagnoli from the ring. Moxley and Kingston went face to face. Before anything between them could happen, Matt hit Moxley from behind. Kingston stopped Matt from kicking Moxley. Kingston and Moxley bickered.
Konosuke Takeshita came out and cleared the Young Bucks from the ring. Kenny Omega’s music played and he ran to the ring and squared off with Takeshita. Omega caught Takeshita with a V-Trigger knee. The Bucks returned to perform a double superkick on Takeshita. Omega put Takeshita down with a snap dragon suplex. The Bucks dove onto opponents on the floor. Omega ran the ropes and hit Takeshita with a V-Trigger.
Will Ospreay appeared in the ring and superkicked Omega. Ospreay stood over Omega and pointed at his own head, then blasted him with an elbow. The fans chanted “holy shit.” Ospreay picked up Omega and put him down with a Storm Breaker. A graphic listed the Omega vs. Ospreay match for Forbidden Door.
[Overrun] Danielson stood on the stage and applauded Ospreay, who sat on the top rope with his arms crossed while looking down at Omega. Don Callis also came out and applauded. Excalibur hyped a bunch of things, including that Ospreay will be wrestling on Friday’s AEW Rampage. Ospreay dropped off the ropes and then hit Omega with a Hidden Blade to close the show…
Powell’s POV: The main event was another live crowd pleaser with nonstop action from bell to bell. There was a little too much going on in the post match angle for my taste, but I like Eddie Kingston returning from ROH Purgatory (can Athena be next?) and Ospreay showing up and dominating Omega to set up their match. But did we really need to see Omega get the better of Takeshita?
Overall, the bookends were hot with with the highly entertaining MJF vs. Cole match to start and the frantic finish to the show. I will have a lot more to say about Dynamite in my weekly same night audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of Dynamite by grading it below.
I am expecting a lot of complaining tonight about the term “eliminator match” as we did with “championship contenders match” back last year 😉
You’re late to that party.
@jason. Now THAT made me laugh!!
Still should be a good match. Despite his injuries cole is one of my faves and I think (hope) he can get a great performance out of MJF
I’m not sure if it’s me riding high from that opening match but this whole show so far has felt like a course correction. Every segment has had purpose and all the players are progressing along logically.
Also, I really haven’t been into anything Cole has done since he arrived other than his big return promo – but I really noticed tonight how great he is at bringing the crowd into what he does. Cole and MJF have a really refreshing classic heel/babyface dynamic.
Jesus. I love Mox walking by one of the Bucks setting up the powerbomb into the apron on Yuta, doing nothing but watching. It’s the beginning of the match, there’s no reason for him not to stop him other than he’s supposed to take a dive on the other side in a minute.
I love watching everyone fly around doing cool moves but I wish they’d take more care to not make it look like everyone isn’t just standing around waiting for their turn. The whole first few minutes all just looked silly.
They’re all more than capable of making this be really cool and still make sense, I just wish it was more important to them to do so.
I had a tough time keeping up on that chaos so I missed the Moxley spot you mentioned, but I’m going to watch the match back before I do audio tonight.
I know this will make people angry but I am just not a fan of MJF.
But I will explain it like this. Back in the day a lot of people really liked Andrew Dice Clay. To me I thought his humor was sophomoric at best, uncreative and repetitive. But a lot of people really liked him and that’s cool too. Same with MJF. I feel like he relies on cheap heat and insults in his promos and I just don’t find him entertaining in the ring (to his credit he doesn’t rely on ref bumps and cousin based interference every time he wrestles tho. Ahem). But a lot of people think he is great and that’s cool too
(Two notes. Yeah I’m showing my age with the reference. You can insert “Dane Cook” too if that makes you feel better. And also I like Jim Gaffigan so you now all know I am not only old but lame!)
Little Boy Blue. He needed the money!
Okay, Dane Cook is pretty lame, but he was red hot briefly back in the day. Jim Gaffigan is fantastic. Clean or dirty makes no difference to me as long as I laugh. He’s tremendously talented. Hot Pockets…
MJF is Bobby Heenan with better in ring skills. He should be the manager for heels who can’t talk who interferes, takes good bumps, and who fans will pay money just to see someone get their hands on him. He’s just not big enough to be the guy despite the mic and ring skills.
To DK’s point about the main event, and specifically about Moxley, he’s simply not professional. Whether it’s shitty brawling, sophomoric fake tough guy promos, blading on camera, or what he did tonight, he clearly doesn’t give shit about being a good pro wrestler. He’s the ultimate garbage match indie star. Without a boss who will make him at least try to do things the right way, he just does whatever moronic bullshit comes to mind.
Jim Gaffigan is brilliant, much like Brian Regan was for so many years.
Why wasn’t the big hardcore match at the ppv the end of the bbc vs elite
Jason, when you’re rewatching that match also notice during the ending run ins, when Kingston is in the ring, the camera catches Mox outside the ring casually walking up to Matt Jackson, saying something to him, Matt nods, then Mox walks off.
When you’re only filling 1/4 of a nearly 20k seat arena, it’s easier to just ignore all semblance of pro wrestling as simulated sport in favor of it being a terrible art form that makes no attempt at allowing you to suspend disbelief.