AEW Dynamite results (8/28): Barnett’s live review of AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson addresses his future, Ricochet vs. Kyle Fletcher, Jamie Hayter vs. Harley Cameron

By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)

AEW Dynamite (Episode 256)
Champaign, Illinois at State Farm Center
Aired live August 28, 2024 on TBS

Excalibur opened the show on commentary and introduced some footage of the conclusion of Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson at All In London. Bryan will address his future later in the show. Also, Hangman Page will face Tomohiro Ishii, Jamie Hayter will face Harley Cameron, and Ricochet will be in his debut match against Kyle Fletcher. 

In the arena, Jon Moxley made his entrance to some new music and wore an angry face on his way to the ring. Tony Schiavone interviewed him in the ring and asked him if everything was ok. Moxley said he hadn’t been doing a lot of talking lately, but he has been doing some thinking. He said he was looking to have a conversation with somebody who wasn’t there tonight, but was everything like him and nothing like him at the same time. He said they had to sort some things out. He directly addressed Darby Allin, and said he knows where to find him. 

Moxley walked away and started to leave the ring, but came back and told Schiavone that he had to understand something. He told Schiavone that this company doesn’t belong to him anymore. Schiavone looked a bit confused as Moxley left. 

Backstage, The Conglomeration was interviewed backstage with Tomohiro Ishii, Willow Nightingale, and Hook. Mark Briscoe spoke frantically about Ishii being in action later, and the rest of them being in an 8-man tag later tonight. Willow Nightingale announced that her match with Kris Statlander at All Out would be a Chicago Street Fight. They all headed off screen as Ishii’s match was up next. 

Hangman Page made his ring entrance in the arena, followed by Tomohiro Ishii.

1. Hangman Page vs. Tomohiro Ishii: Both men met in the center ring and started trading forearms. It seemed like Hangman got the advantage, but Ishii gathered himself and fired right back. Eventually Ishii was staggered, but managed to hit the ropes and land a shoulder tackle. Hangman popped back to his feet and they started trading chops. This continued in a stalemate as the show went into break…[c]

My Take: I assume Jon Moxley was addressing Tony Khan since he’s always in Schiavone’s ear? I’m intrigued where they are going with this new Moxley, as he’s needed a bit of reboot for a minute now.

Both men traded bombs during the break. Hangman dropped Ishii with a lariat on the apron, and then stuck him with a DDT. Ishii stood on his head for an extended period for an extra special sell. Hangman landed a leaping lariat from the top and covered for a two count. He then followed up with a backbreaker for another two count. Hangman then applied a modified Indian deathlock style submission, and Ishii was forced to crawl to the ropes for a break. 

Ishii marched forward from the corner in berserker mode and ignored several blows from Hangman. He then dropped him with a hard right hand and landed a Saito Suplex for a near fall. Ishii continued the assault with chops and a big lariat in the corner. He then placed Hangman on the top rope and set up for a Superplex. They battled on the top rope, and Ishii eventually landed his superplex. Both men got to their feet and traded more strikes and power moves, with both of them ending up laid out on the mat…[c]

Hangman avoided a German Suplex and landed a rolling elbow. He then followed up with a German Suplex throw. Hangman went for a Buckshot Lariat, but Ishii avoided it and landed a gnarly looking Deadeye. He followed up with a huge lariat and covered for a near fall. Ishii followed up with another lariat, and Hangman fired back with his own. Hangman finally put him down with another lariat, followed by a Deadeye. Hangman rolled out to the apron and landed a Buckshot Lariat for the win. 

Hangman Page defeated Tomohiro Ishii at 17:08

My Take: They beat the dogshit out of each other. Fun match, but Hangman was too tall for Ishii to perform a Deadeye on and nearly got dropped directly on his neck.

Swerve Strickland walked out to the ring after the match. He told Hangman that he felt sorry for him, and that he had become a petulant little child throwing tantrums. Swerve told Hangman he gets further away from success every week and Swerve gets closer. He then said he would always be referred to as a World Champion, and for that reason Hangman had failed. 

Hangman grabbed the mic and said he wasn’t a champion, he was a piece of shit. He said he broke into his home, and then wrestled him three times and couldn’t get the job done. The first time it took Prince Nana, the second time it took Nana and Brian Cage, and the third time it took 30 minutes and he couldn’t get it done. Page said he wanted it to be just the two of them again. Swerve replied that they could do it again with them locked in, and then challenged him to a cage match at all out. 

Swerve then recalled going back to Hangman’s house a second time, and watching Hangman load his pregnant wife into the car to go become a father a second time. He said that’s the man Hangman was supposed to be, and that’s when he realized that he needed to stop focusing on Hangman and focus on being the AEW World Champion. Swerve brought up Hangman tapping out to Samoa Joe to prevent Swerve from winning the world title, and costing him team the match at Blood and Guts. He then said that Hangman’s obsession with him has caused his career to fall apart. Swerve again brought up the Cage match and asked Hangman what kind of man he was going to be in there for his kids? Hangman stormed off and headed to the back without giving an answer…[c]

My Take: A compelling segment between Swerve and Hangman. Hangman’s motivation and obsession with revenge is logical, and Swerve is excellent as his foil. But I’m not sure why I’m supposed to like a character that invaded Hangman’s home and admitted to going back to stalk him a second time? I guess he’s a changed man now.

Jamie Hayter made her ring entrance while footage was shown of the Outcasts putting her out with an injury 15 months ago. She was followed by Harley Cameron, who was accompanied by Saraya. 

2. Jamie Hayter vs. Harley Cameron (w/Saraya): Hayter played to the crowd that was chanting for her, and Cameron took advantage with an ambush. That didn’t last long, as Hayter recovered and took down Cameron with a shoulder block. Cameron replied with a Jawbreaker and sent Hayter into the turnbuckle in the corner. There was an ugly spot against the ropes and Hayter was forced to bail on it as toss Cameron onto her ass. 

Cameron escaped to the outside to pull herself together. Back in the ring, Hayter stuffed an attempt at Sole Food and landed three consecutive uranage backbreakers. She then landed a Hayterade ripcord lariat and covered for the win. 

Jamie Hayter defeated Harley Cameron at 3:19

After the match, Saraya bailed through the crowd to avoid a confrontation with Hayter. Backstage, Renee Young interviewed The Learning Tree group and Roderick Strong. Big Bill spoke about his crowd reaction in England and said the crowd’s colors change with the leaves on the learning tree. Jericho congratulated Hook and said he was a champion because of the Learning Tree. Roderick Strong apologized for beating Jericho not that long ago, and said it was an honor to be in the Jericho Vortex for one night. He asked Jericho for his help with Orange Cassidy, who he said was bad news. Jericho said they would beat Hook and the Conglomeration, and they would pay the price for their actions. Bryan Keith then reiterated “PAY THE PRICE”…[c]

My Take: Hayter tried but couldn’t get much of a match from Harley Cameron. She remains mega over as an act, though, so no harm done. The Learning Tree gimmick does absolutely nothing for me.

Footage was shown of Daniel Garcia showing up at All in to foil MJF and cost him the AEW American/International Championship. MJF then made his way to the ring for an interview. He said he was in a lot of pain and had a headache. MJF demanded the crowd pipe down otherwise he would jump the guardrail and beat every last one of them. He then complained about losing his title and his ring, and said he had herniated discs in his back. 

MJF complained about being abandoned by the fans when he was defending the company and the country in the UK. He denounced his US Citizenship and said that the only place that matters is the most magical place on Earth Plainview, Long Island, New York. MJF then addressed Will Ospreay, and said they weren’t done by a longshot. He acknowledged how good he was and said that when he’s about to win the greatest prize in AEW he would cut him down at the knees with smile on his face. 

After that, MJF screamed about Daniel Garcia, and said if he ever showed up in AEW again he would end his life. Garcia then showed up and attacked MJF from behind before choking him out. He then setup for a piledriver, but decided he wanted to do it from the top rope like MJF did to him. Garcia set up near the ropes, but security ran out to prevent it from happening. MJF then attacked from behind, but Garcia was quick to battle back and stomped on him. Garcia then placed MJF on the top rope again and set up for a piledriver, but Christoper Daniels and AEW security prevented it again. 

Security then held both of them back and separated them. Garcia got on the microphone and told MJF he pawned his Dynamite Diamond ring for a round trip to London to ruin his life. He called ruining MJF’s life is now his fetish, and after talking to Tony Khan they would have a match at All Out. Garcia said he wouldn’t be satisfied until he drops him on his head and breaks his neck, and if there’s anybody left that still loves him, they would have to watch it and see him suffer. He then threw the microphone and bounced it off of MJF standing on the ramp. 

MJF accepted the match and left to the back. Garcia then left the ring and walked to the back as well. We then saw a video of Ricochet and some of his highlights from All In London. Back in the arena, Hook made his entrance for the next match. He was followed by the Conglomeration. 

My Take: The MJF and Garcia segment was mostly good, but the crowd wasn’t as hot for it as I would have expected. It’s also a bit odd that Garcia said he pawned the Dynamite Diamond Ring in Buffalo to buy a ticket to London, when MJF didn’t report it stolen until last week’s TV tapings that were already in the UK? Seems like a strange thing to create a continuity error over?

Chris Jericho, Roderick Strong, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith made their ring entrance. 

3. Hook & Orange Cassidy & Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Bryan Keith & Big Bill & Roderick Strong & Chris Jericho: Bryan Keith and Hook began the match after Chris Jericho bailed on facing Hook to start the match. The babyface team remained in control early and isolated Bryan Keith in their corner. Mark Briscoe tagged in and landed a suplex, and then allowed Keith to roll to his corner to tag in Big Bill. Briscoe attacked with redneck kung fu, but Bill tossed him aside and landed a succession of hard chops. Suddenly, all 8 men were in the ring and it was a big hockey fight…[c]

The Learning Tree had Orange Cassidy isolated in their corner as the show returned. Jericho applied a Full Nelson, and Cassidy attempted to break the hold by putting his hands in his pockets. Eventually he succeeded and hit the ropes for a shotgun dropkick. Bryan Keith tagged in and Cassidy leapt over him to tag in Mark Briscoe. He entered the match and landed some redneck kung fu on Jericho and Keith. Briscoe sent Jericho out of the ring to the floor, but Roddy entered to deliver a backbreaker. 

The referee scolded strong and forced him out of the ring. Roddy and Keith made quick tags and maintained control of the match. KOR made a blind tag as Briscoe hit the ropes. He entered the match and delivered a series of kicks and chops to both Strong and Keith. Big Bill made a tag and KOR didn’t notice at first, and got caught with a leaping elbow drop. Chaos then broke out as Big Bill took out the guys standing on the babyface corner. Orange Cassidy entered the ring and got hit with a spinning side slam…[c]

KOR continued to absorb abuse. He tripped Big Bill with a dropkick. Jericho and Strong attempted to prevent a tag, but he evaded them both and tagged in Hook. Hook landed strikes on Strong and an impressive Suplex on Big Bill. He followed up with a Northern Lights Suplex pin on Roddy but Bryan Keith broke it up. Keith came back with suplex of his own and a big knee strike on KOR. Mark Briscoe entered the match but got cut down by Jericho with a lariat. Hook popped back up and landed a T-Bone on Jericho.

Roddy fired back with a lungblower on Hook. Mark Briscoe dove and took out everybody on the floor. Strong went for End of Heartache on Hook in the ring, but he avoided it and applied RedRum and got the win. Roddy got his foot on the rope but the ref didn’t seem to acknowledge it. 

The Conglomeration and Hook defeated The Learning Tree and Roderick Strong at 15:39

After the match, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven assaulted Hook with Roderick Strong, who then held up the FTW Title and celebrated. Backstage, Mercedes Money and Kamille had a backstage celebration for her title defense. Private Party walked up and tried to hit on Mercedes, but were quickly run off by Kamille and Kazuchika Okada of all people. Mercedes said “Sayonara Bitches” at the prompting of Okada. They then danced and said “CEO”. 

My Take: The 8-man tag felt like it dragged a bit, but the action wasn’t terrible. I guess the point was to set up Roddy being next up for Hook and the FTW TItle? Could be worse I guess. Mercedes backstage felt a little low rent for a character of her caliber.

Mariah May was interviewed on the stage by Mariah May. She wore a black sheet or robe over her clothes, and said her title celebration was postponed because she wasn’t going to do it in this town. She said she knows it’s called Champaign, it should be renamed piss warm beer. She insulted the women in the crowd as being below average and said they were used to putting piss warm beer in their mouths among other things. 

She then offered to provide a lesson in Glamour, and said she would now take off her robe and allow everyone to gaze. She revealed a “little black dress” of sorts with the title belt around her waist. She then told the crowd that was enough and walked to the back. 

A video was shown from backstage at All In. The Grizzled Young Veterans started to cut a promo when they were approached by the Young Bucks. The Bucks tried to be chummy, but the GYV shut them down and told them what they did at All In was a message to the entire division, including them. They then said when you see GYV coming, grit your teeth. We then saw GYV somewhere else backstage promoting a match with The Outrunners on Rampage. They then repeated the “grit your teeth” catchphrase in an awkward moment.

My Take: Mariah continues to do great character work. I’m not sure why GYV repeated their catchphrase in back to back segments.

A Konosuke Takeshita video package aired showcasing his time in the G1 Climax Tournament. He will face Komander, Lio Rush, and The Beast Mortos on Rampage. In the arena, Ricochet made his entrance for the next match. Kyle Fletcher then made his entrance with Don Callis. 

4. Kyle Fletcher (w/Don Callis) vs. Ricochet: Callis joined on commentary as the match started. Fletcher landed a shoulder block to start, but Ricochet kipped up instantly. The acrobatics got started right away as Ricochet landed an elaborate head scissors that sent Fletcher to the floor. He started a drive, but stopped himself and did a superhero landing when Fletcher got out of the way. Fletcher then faked him out on a springboard and Ricochet crashed and burned on the floor. He then landed a suicide drive that sent Ricochet into the barricade, and a running boot that sent Ricochet into the crowd. Fletcher backed up and took another run in, but Ricochet popped up and landed a leaping meteora off the guardrail…[c]

Ricochet landed a kick to the gut. There was an awkward couple of spots that followed that ended with a half nelson facebuster of sorts. Fletcher covered for a two count. Both men ended up on the turnbuckles and Ricochet sent Fletcher back into the ring with a headbutt. He then landed a springboard lariat and both men were down on the mat. Ricochet struck next with a springboard back elbow, and then a shoulder charge in the corner. After a series of counters, Ricochet landed a series of suplexes and a running shooting star press for a near fall. 

Fletcher ran through a lariat attempt from Ricochet and knocked him down. Ricochet fired back with a shotgun dropkick, and then dove on Fletcher on the floor. He went for a splash from the top, but Fletcher got his leg up. He then delivered a running big boot in the corner followed by a suplex for a close near fall. Ricochet leaned against the ropes and Fletcher landed a running knee strike. Ricochet replied with a Death Valley Driver for another near fall. He followed up with a inverted lifting DDT he is calling Vertigo for the win. 

Ricochet defeated Kyle Fletcher at 12:27

My Take: A fun match, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why Kyle Fletcher needed to get in so much offense on a debuting star you want to get over big?

After the match, Ricochet celebrated his win as Fletcher attempted to recover on the floor. Will Ospreay’s music hit and he walked out on stage. Before Ospreay could say anything, Pac ran up from behind and landed a Poisonrana. Pac grabbed the mic and told Ospreay that this was a message to not forget about The Bastard. He then told Ricochet welcome to AEW, now get in the line like everybody else. Ricochet checked on Ospreay on the stage. 

Jon Moxley walked backstage and was asked what he meant earlier. He replied that you don’t cast pearls before swine, and then turned to a random person backstage and said that everyone needed a dose of humility. Marina Shafir showed up and assaulted a few random people backstage, and she and Moxley walked off together. 

Back in the arena. Bryan Danielson made his entrance to address his future. He referenced trying and failing numerous times, but finally he had captured the AEW World Championship. Bryan spoke about the 50k people in the arena and wrestling in front of his family, and how his daughter had told him it was the greatest day of her life. He said she had also rode on a double decker Peppa Pig bus earlier in the day, and that may also have been a factor. 

Bryan got a bit teary eyed when he said it was his favorite moment of his career. But, he then went to the post show press conference, and they asked what was next.. Bryan brought up that his contract was expired, he needs neck surgery sooner than later, and his family is ready for him to come home. He thanked the people that started AEW, and said the company is awesome, and it has made pro wrestling and his life better. 

He said he got to the back on Sunday and thought about all of his peers in the company and those that would come in the future, and he thought it was probably about time for him to go home……but not YET. Bryan promised to be a fighting champion that defends his title as much as possible. He said when he lost the title he would be done as a full time competitor, but that wouldn’t be anytime soon. 

Jack Perry showed up on the screen and said he knows Bryan’s future. He referenced injuring Kenny Omega and burying Darby Allin at Wembley Stadium. Perry said his future was to retire Bryan Danielson, and Danielson’s future was behind him. Perry then attacked Bryan from behind and landed some punches. As Bryan attempted to get to his feet, Perry landed a running knee strike. Perry stood over Danielson with both the TNT and World Championships to close the show. 

My Take: I think Danielson described the ideal scenario for himself and AEW. He can build a memorable title run for himself and then retire as an active competitor putting someone over on the way out. I’m not sure what Moxley is building with Marina Shafir, but it’s the most interesting thing he’s done in a while. Perry being the first challenger for Danielson makes the relatively dominant performance over Darby Allin at All In make a bit more sense in context. Overall, tonight’s show was a bit of a mixed bag, but more good than bad.