By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 201)
Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena
Aired live August 9, 2023 on TBS
[Hour One] The Dynamite opening aired… Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone were on commentary…
Jericho Appreciation Society members Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Anna Jay, Tay Melo, Matt Menard, and Angelo Parker were in the ring. Menard introduced Chris Jericho, who came out to his “Judas” theme for the JAS mandatory meeting.
Jericho started by saying “good one, guys.” He said they came to the ring without him and didn’t tell him, but he came out as their friend. Jericho said he knows they’ve had a lot of problems, but he was interrupted.
Garcia cut off Jericho and told him to stop talking and listen to what they had to say. Garcia recalled being hit with a baseball bat and being pinned by Jericho last week. Garcia spoke about how he chose Jericho over his idol. Garcia said that Jericho isn’t choosing him, so he could not longer choose Jericho. Garcia danced in Jericho’s face and then left the ring and headed to the back.
Hager spoke about going all over the world with Jericho and said Jericho has made him a lot of money. Hager said that it’s okay if they have to cut ties. Hager said they have a lot of options. He said everyone knows he likes his hat. Hager said he wanted everyone to know that he doesn’t appreciate Jericho. Hager left the ring.
Jericho told the remaining JAS members that they have to admit they are in a better place than they would have been had it not been for him. Jericho spoke about Jay having a title match. Melo said she used to be proud to be in a group with Jericho. She said now she feels sick. Melo said it seemed like Jericho couldn’t make a decision. Melo said she was going to go have her baby and come back and become a champion without him because she quit.
Jay said Jericho has helped them out a bit, but tonight she was being selfish because she learned from the best. Jay said it was about winning the AEW Women’s Championship and it’s not about appreciating Jericho. Jay dropped the mic and left the ring.
Parker spoke of the pride he takes in being in JAS. Parker said he’s given Jericho everything he had, then asked what Jericho has given him. Parker said he didn’t want to do it, but Jericho gave him no choice. Parker said he had nothing left to give Jericho and then exited the ring.
Menard said Jericho was his childhood hero. He said he bought a Jericho t-shirt with his first paycheck. He recalled having no job while his wife was eight months pregnant and being invited to Jericho’s home, which led to him getting his job. Menard said the time in JAS has been like a dream for him. Menard wondered why guys he came up with like Kevin Steen and Eddie Kingston hate Jericho’s guts, and then said now he knows why. Menard left the ring.
Guevara slapped the mic out of Jericho’s hand and told him that he needed him to listen for once. Guevara said he had Jericho’s back. He said he went from challenging for the world title to fighting another one of Jericho’s battles. He said he put Sting through a table, not because he wanted to, but rather because he did it for Jericho. Guevara said he’s loyal and he wasn’t walking out on Jericho. Guevara said it seemed like Jericho had a lot to work out and once he did, maybe he’d be there. Guevara exited through the crowd…
Excalibur hyped The Young Bucks vs. The Hardys for after the commercial break… [C]
Powell’s POV: Finally! The wrestlers are played their parts well and the segment was solid. I like that Guevara still showed some loyalty to Jericho so that it wasn’t a case of everyone doing the same thing. I enjoy watching many of the JAS wrestlers, but the joke got old in a hurry and the faction overstayed its welcome. Furthermore, AEW has more factions than it needs. I get that Don Callis is launching the Callis Family and that has real potential, but I’m hopeful that we won’t see the others join factions or form new factions.
Jericho was shown walking somberly backstage when Renee Paquette approached him for comment. Don Callis interrupted and said he was sorry if he had anything to do with what happened. Jericho said it was fine. He also said he made up his mind regarding the idea of joining the Callis Family and said they could make the announcement next week…
Powell’s POV: Good episodic television. There was no reason for Jericho to give his answer tonight when it can serve as a strong hook for next week’s Dynamite.
Highlights aired from AEW Collision of FTR challenging the Young Bucks to face them at Wembley Stadium… The Young Bucks made their entrance followed by The Hardys and their crew…
1. “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson (w/Brandon Cutler) vs. Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy (w/Ethan Page, Brother Zay). Excalibur spoke about how few tag team matches the Bucks have worked recently. The Bucks were in offensive control heading into a PIP break. [C]
Jeff hit both Bucks with a Whisper in the Wind and covered Nick for a near fall. The Bucks came right back with superkicks and ended up getting a two count on Jeff. The Hardys rallied with Twists of Fate. Jeff hit Nick with a Swanton Bomb and covered him, but Matt Jackson broke it up.
Moments later, Jeff went to the ropes and was caught with a superkick to the ankle from Matt Jackson, which knocked him off the ropes. The Bucks hit a BTE Trigger on Matt Hardy and then Nick pinned him…
“The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson defeated Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy in 11:15.
After the match, the two teams shook hands and hugged. Cutler used his cold spray on both Hardys as they exited the ring. Nick took the mic and said “FTR.”
The FTR theme song played. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler made their entrance and joined the Bucks inside the ring. “There’s some bad blood, let’s be honest,” Taz said while the teams jawed at one another. “All In,” Nick said before dropping the mic. The FTR duo held up their tag titles belts and exited the ring.
Excalibur said Tony Khan (drink) just made the match official for All In at Wembley Stadium…
Powell’s POV: It’s about damn time! The actual match was solid at this stage of the Hardys’ careers. It’s more than time for the Hardys to do their thing while Page and Zay go separate ways.
Excalibur recapped Hikaru Shida beating Toni Storm to win the AEW Women’s Title last week. He announced that there will be a tournament (drink again) to set up a four-way for the title at All In. Toni Storm exercised her rematch clause to be in the match.
Graphics listed Shida vs. Jay for later in the show, Saraya vs. Skye Blue on Friday’s Rampage, and The Bunny vs. Britt Baker on next week’s Dynamite to fill out the remaining spots in the four-way match.
Powell’s POV: So it’s going to be Shida vs. Storm vs. Saraya vs. Baker?
Highlights aired of MJF informing Adam Cole that they would face one another for the AEW World Title at All In…
Footage aired from “last week” of Adam Cole saying he was taking MJF out to celebrate their All In main event. MJF showed up and thought they might be “skinny dipping with rats.” Cole had other plans and pointed out the trampoline park behind them. Cole was giddy.
MJF threw balls at the faces of little kids. He told one girl that she was adopted. He told another kid that he slept with her mom. He told another that he was his dad. Cole showed up and said he couldn’t do that.
A girl approached MJF and asked what two grown men were doing at a trampoline park. She said they were mean. Cole smiled and said she shouldn’t talk like that. The girl flipped off Cole, who told MJF that he could throw one more ball… [C]
Powell’s POV: Fun stuff. Peyton Manning and the SNL crew deserve a shout-out for the inspiration.
Footage aired of recent matches involving the Blackpool Combat Club and Best Friends…
Backstage, Jon Moxley stood with Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta and said he hoped that the Best Friends learned their lesson after what happened in the Parking Lot Brawl on Rampage. Castagnoli asked Pac if he thought he could screw them over. He took credit for Pac’s injury. Yuta mocked Pac for missing the Wembley show…
Entrances for the FTW Title match took place. Jack Perry came out first, and Rob Van Dam entered to Pantera’s “Walk” again. Justin Roberts tried to deliver in-ring introductions starting with RVD. Perry attacked RVD from behind to apparently start the match…
2. Jack Perry vs. Rob Van Dam for the FTW Championship. RVD quickly regrouped. Perry offered a handshake. RVD slapped his hand away and knocked Perry down with a kick. Both men ended up at ringside. RVD draped Perry over the barricade and then went to the apron, did his thumb pointing bit, and then performed a corkscrew leg drop onto Perry heading into a PIP break. [C]
RVD placed a chair over Perry and hit him with Rolling Thunder. RVD went for a split-legged moonsault, but Perry rolled out of the way. Perry threw a chair at RVD, who ducked, causing the chair to take out the referee, who wisely put his hands up. REF BUMP!!!
RVD put Perry down and went up top, but Perry regrouped and cut him off. RVD ended up shoving Perry off the top rope and through a table set up on the floor. RVD rolled Perry back inside the ring and hit the Five Star Frog Splash. RVD got the visual pinfall. A second referee ran out and made the count, but Perry kicked out.
RVD got up and spoke about the count with the referee. Perry low-blowed RVD. Perry shoved RVD into a chair that was wedged in between the ropes in a corner of the ring and then pinned him..
Jack Perry beat Rob Van Dam in 9:25 to retain the FTW Championship.
Powell’s POV: I made it clear last week that I have concerns about RVD wrestling after going public with his CTE issues. That still stands and I don’t think it received nearly enough attention this week. But I can also say that RVD did a really nice job of performing the greatest hits at age 52. Is Hook still on that midnight train going anywhere?
Paquette interviewed Rey Fenix, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Alex Abrahantes on the backstage set. Abranhantes pointed to the Death Triangle logo on his jacket and said it represents brotherhood. Fenix chimed in and then Penta said they are the best tag team in the universe…
MJF and Adam Cole made their entrance to their mashed up theme song.
[Hour Two] MJF said there was footage of him saying everyone in the midwest is mid. He said it was heavily edited and fake. He said may God strike him down if he wasn’t telling the truth when he said his favorite place in the United States is the midwest. MJF crouched while Cole showed concern. MJF cheered once he realized he wouldn’t be struck down.
Cole said he would beat MJF for his title. MJF cut him off and said it sounded like Cole wanted a promo battle. Cole said no. MJF said that Cole is so skinny and ghostly pale white that if it were the eighties, Hogan would snort him. He also mocked Cole’s brain not working.
Cole stopped him and said he wasn’t calling for a promo battle. The fans booed. MJF said it was his fault for misreading the situation. Cole said they will make history at Wembley Stadium. He said they should go all in as a tag team. Cole said it was difficult to come up short of winning the AEW Tag Team Titles.
Cole said he’s had his eyes on titles that mean just as much to him, the ROH Tag Team Titles. Cole said he wouldn’t be standing in the ring if it wasn’t for ROH. He said the pro wrestling that the fans know and love is thanks to ROH.
Cole looked into the camera and spoke about titles he won in ROH and said the one title he didn’t win was the ROH Tag Team Titles. Cole ran through the list of some of the teams that held the ROH Tag Titles.
Cole said they have the Zero Hour pre-show ahead of All In. He said that they could become the ROH Tag Team Champions. MJF questioned the idea of wrestling twice in one night. “What are you some kind of sick pervert?” MJF asked.
MJF said Cole is his brochacho for life and added that “Daddy’s a sucker for a cheap pop.” MJF played to the crowd while asking who wants to see him and Cole become the new tag team champions. MJF looked into the camera and told Aussie Open that he and Cole are challenging them for the ROH Tag Team Titles on the Zero Hour pre-show.
Roderick Strong started yelling “Adam” and then walked onto the stage. Strong said he couldn’t believe Cole wanted to win the ROH Tag Titles with MJF rather than with him, an ROH legend. MJF said he’s sick of Strong’s jealous girlfriend vibe and told him to do what generic white people do.
MJF ran through a long list that concluded with Strong climbing in bed and listening to Taylor Swift. “I want you to shake it off, you bland bitch,” MJF said. The crowd chanted “shake it off.” Strong asked Cole if he was really going to let MJF talk to him like that. Strong said never mind, The Kingdom was right, and Cole was never really his friend.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett walked out. Strong hugged the duo and they headed backstage.
MJF asked Cole if he could believe Strong. Cole turned around and shoved MJF, then told him that he’s also Strong’s friend. MJF looked pissed. Cole backed down and apologized. MJF said it was okay and then they hugged. Cole said he had to go check on Strong. MJF told him to go ahead. MJF looked to the crowd and said it was cool and then clapped and played to them…
Powell’s POV: The pre-show thing is bizarre, but it should shatter whatever AEW’s YouTube record is. Cole did a good job of explaining why the titles mean a lot to him, but there was no logic offered when it came to why they needed to do this on the pre-show rather than on one of AEW’s three weekly television shows. MJF was a blast and even Strong was pretty damn funny as an emo sad sack.
A video package recapped AEW Collision and then the broadcast team hyped House of Black vs. CM Punk and FTR for the AEW Trios Titles for Saturday’s show. Taz recalled working with Ricky Starks and spoke about how it surprised him that Starks attacked Ricky Steamboat…
The BCC trio made their entrance through the crowd… [C] The Lucha Bros entered the ring behind BCC and then superkicked them to start the match…
3. Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli (w/Wheeler Yuta) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix (w/Alex Abrahantes). Catagnoli was getting the better of Fenix heading into a PIP break. [C] Moxley and Castagnoli performed a spike piledriver on Fenix. Taz said he broke his neck taking that move. Fenix kicked out at two and made a hot tag moments later.
Late in the match, Penta and Fenix performed their own spike piledriver on Moxley, which resulted in another two count. Fenix went up top. Yuta went after him, but Abrahantes pulled him down. Yuta grabbed Abrahantes by the collar. Fenix dove onto Yuta. Meanwhile, the production team missed Moxley ripping Penta’s mask off and then they cut back to Moxley rolling him up and pinning him…
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix in 13:20.
After the match, all three Blackpool Combat Club members worked over Penta and Fenix. Moxley choked out Penta while Castagnoli put Penta’s mask on…
Powell’s POV: Hard work that drew “this is awesome” chants, but I do shake my head when I see spike piledrivers merely lead to near falls. The finish was rough with Yuta shoving Abrahantes out of the way so that he could have Fenix land on him, and the production team missed the mask spot. Does any luchador lose more matches due to his mask than Penta?
Backstage, Alex Marvez told Kenny Omega that the Young Bucks would challenge FTR at Wembley Stadium and asked what he would be doing. Omega said he was hoping for the Bucks to beat FTR, but he thinks the fans are the real winners. He said he’d been told that he would be sitting down with Jim Ross next week to discuss Don Callis, Konosuke Takeshita, and what he has in mind for Wembley. Marvez asked for a scoop as Omega exited the picture…
“The Mogul Embassy” Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona, Bishop Kaun, AR Fox, Brian Cage, and Prince Nana made their entrance. Nana told the fans to shut up when they are in the ring and then passed the mic to Swerve.
Swerve said the fans didn’t believe him when he said the Mogul Embassy was taking over. Swerve recalled how he and Fox attacked Nick Wayne last week and said there was no authority that could do anything about it. Fox called out Darby Allin.
Allin came out with a mic in his hand and told Fox to tell the people the whole story. Allin said he tried to call Fox and he didn’t answer. He said he lived with him and his demons and he tried, but the only person who could save Fox was himself. Allin said Fox ended up getting into AEW on his own and congratulated him.
Allin asked if this was really about him putting in a word for Wayne. Allin said he’ll always respect Fox for helping him out. He said it looked like Fox had new friends. Allin said that he has friends too. The lights went out.
When the lights turned on, Sting was in the ring with a baseball bat and Kaun was down. Sting worked over some of the others with the bat while Allin tried to go after Fox. Nana grabbed Allin’s legs to stop him from catching Fox, who had exited over the barricade.
Sting got Swerve alone in the ring and put the bat up to his throat. Sting used the bat to point at the All In sign. Swerve was able to escape the ring…
Excalibur listed the following matches for AEW Rampage: Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage, Saraya vs. Skye Blue in a tournament match, and Orange Cassidy vs. Johnny TV for the AEW International Championship.
Excalibur ran through the AEW Collision matches without adding any new matches…
Excalibur hyped the following matches and segments for next week’s Dynamite: MJF and Cole talk about the All In main event, Jim Ross sits down with Kenny Omega, The Bunny vs. Britt Baker in a tournament match, Darby Allin and Nick Wayne vs. Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona…
Excalibur also listed MJF vs. Adam Cole for the AEW World Title, FTR vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Titles, and said Tony Khan (drink!) just informed him that it will be Sting and Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland and AR Fox in a coffin match. He also hyped the four-way for the AEW Women’s Title…
The main event was hyped for after the break… [C] Entrances for the main event took place (wait, that’s the main event?)…
4. Hikaru Shida vs. Anna Jay (w/Matt Menard, Angelo Parker) for the AEW Women’s Championship. Excalibur spoke about the history between the champion and the challenger. Jay was in offensive control heading into a PIP break. [C]
Parker and Menard provided a distraction that led to Jay going back on the offensive. Jay applied her Queen Slayer submission hold. Shida started to fade, then powered up and carried Jay to the ropes and fell back to break it. Shida performed a falcon arrow for a near fall. Shida hit her Kitana knee strike finisher and made the cover. Parker reached in and tried to grab Jay’s hand, but the referee finished his count.
Hikaru Shida defeated Anna Jay in 8:45 to retain the AEW Women’s Championship
The broadcast team seem confused by whatever Parker was going over. Excalibur said Shida was officially in the four-way at Wembley along with Toni Storm. Shida looked into the camera and mentioned Wembley, then celebrated her win to close the show…
Powell’s POV: I wondered last week if the “Book the women’s division better” fan sign that made air led to the women headlining last week’s Dynamite. And now I can’t help but wonder if the online drama involving LuFisto triggered AEW to double down with another women’s main event. Whatever works, I suppose. I just hope the division and its creative improves. The match was fine. The crowd was respectful, but it did not feel main event worthy and it was also the tamest the fans were all night. It’s going to take time.
Overall, MJF and Cole were a blast, the Jericho decision is a nice hook, and the All Out card is finally coming together. I will return later tonight with my weekly same night audio review of Dynamite for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
THIS is what they’re opening the show with?
Jericho looks like a middle aged lesbian gym teacher named Pat
They just wanna lose ratings starting off the show with this crap
The Jericho Gang followed by little Nicky and Matty against Gimpy and Drinky Smurf. They’re absolutely trying to kill the ratings tonight.
ANOTHER tournament to set up ANOTHER four way? Okay, I’ll just check for MJF/Cole clips later. This is the worst possible horseshit this company is capable of putting on TV.
That sports based feel. Bad snl skits that would be shit on if WWE aired them
You can see what’s coming a mile away. Cole aligning with the Kingdom and Strong and turning on MJF. I thought when Khan bought ROH he was adamant he was going to keep the rosters separate. In the case of RVD it’s just a matter of time before one of these guys who have no business in the ring gets hurts because everyone gets cleared in AEW
Nope. This was not good at all
Hopefully the Wembley show will serve as some type of reset and … oh come on, who am I kidding!!! Until Tony hires an actual Booker (even Booker T at this point I don’t even care) this will continue to be a potpourri of some good wrestling an occasional skit that’s ok and a lot of really awful stuff
Adam Cole has the same physique as the little girl who flipped him off
Brian/Sammy, why do you use two different names with nearly the same email address? You can make all the same points with one name.
How dare you insult that little girl. She’s twice as strong as Atom Smol.
It’s baffling that the same company is producing Dynamite and Collision each week. One is consistently good to great and the other is the drizzling shits with tonight as their magnum crapus.
What’s with all the E mark a crying in here? They do this every week?
The people who complain the most never seem to miss an episode.
Outside of the weirdos who posted earlier with two accounts to mark their hate on AEW, overall Dynamite had a solid episode. I personally thought Raw and NXT were better this week. I think next week’s episode looks solid as they get closer to All In which I expect to be a very good PPV coming up from Wembley.
I’m so glad they broke up JAS, I never liked that faction from the beginning, but I liked the people in it. The Inner Circle was always way better to me. I’m not sure if Jericho is joining Don Callis’ family or not, but I’m looking forward to his decision.
MJF and Cole stuff is getting really good as they’re hooking you into think
Turning AR Fox heel was a great decision as it completes The Mogul Affiliates. I don’t see the point in the extra members they have in there though. They need to just do Prince Nana, Swerve, AR Fox, and find another member. I like what the WWE did with Judgment Day with Rhea and House of Black with Julia Hart. Maybe use one of the girls in the back who’s not doing anything to join the group.
Speaking of the women as a women’s wrestling fan, I’m glad AEW booked the women in the main event twice in back-to-back weeks. I agree overall though that this match shouldn’t had been in the main event. One thing that I do like is that Anna Jay has really improved in the ring recently. Her match against Skye Blue was unexpectedly really good on Rampage. I liked her again tonight as well with Shida. She’s finally turning the corner in the ring like Tatum Paxley in NXT.
Overall, AEW has the worst women’s division in terms of booking and writing by far as NXT and Impact still dominate on a weekly basis, but Raw has improved a lot since the draft. AEW women’s division has way too much potential to be getting wasted away like they do. NXT does a really good job of making you care about the storylines and matches as HBK is killing it. I doubt HBK who’s been loyal to the WWE for decades would ever leave, but that’s the guy TK needs to hire to book their division.
I still don’t understand what the finish of the women’s match was supposed to be. Did Parker f*** up somehow? I would also like to restate my claim that Tay Melo is the worst actor of all time.
An injury to either Cole or MJF on the pre-show almost needs to happen to finally get it through Khan’s dumbass head that he’s such a garbage booker(note I don’t want anybody to get injured but if it were to happen that’s what we call karma for TK).
imagine if Roman vs Cody at WM was the closing match but on the pre show they were challenging for the NXT tag titles. People would lose their freaking minds.
What if it’s a quick beatdown angle? What would have happened if Randy Savage had been injured in his first match in the title tournament at WrestleMania back in the day? My points are that I wouldn’t judge it until you see it, and it’s not the first time PPV headliners have worked multiple matches.