By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@jakebarnett)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 329)
Orlando, Florida, at Addition Financial Arena
Simulcast live January 21, 2026, on TBS and HBO Max
Tony Schiavone stood in the ring to start the show, and brought out AEW World Champion MJF. Taz joined in at the commentary desk with Excalibur. Tony mentioned MJF’s successful title defense last week, but MJF told him to shut up and insulted the fans for being yokels. MJF bragged about his expensive watches, suits, and said he had the baddest girl anyone had ever seen. He said he has all that because he’s the best wrestler in the world, and held up the AEW World Championship as proof.
MJF said if you hear two people talking about being the best, and you don’t see MJF, turn the channel because what’s coming out of their mouths is the same as what comes out of their asses. He said this is the year of MJF, and nobody is on his level. Brody King interrupted MJF and headed to the ring. He was quick to point out that MJF is a bit, and he could destroy him anytime, but he won’t because what he really wants is a match. Brody said he would choke him out, drop him on his head, and take his World Championship. MJF backed into the corner.
He then asked the crowd for complete silence while he considered the challenge. The crowd booed, and MJF said he thought about it long and hard and decided on a no. MJF said he wasn’t afraid of him or his bark, and called him all bark and no bite. MJF said he’s done nothing to earn a title shot, and said he’s beaten nothing but tomato cans over the last few weeks. He demanded that Brody win against elite talent, or the match wasn’t going to take place.
MJF said if he ever interrupted him again, they would have a problem. Brody towered over MJF and barked at him, and MJF decided it was time to leave. Brody bumped fists with members of the crowd and then left. The commentary team then introduced a video package for the Opps bad week last week with the loss of the trios titles.
Backstage, Renee Paquette interviewed Hangman Page and Jet Speed. Page said tonight was a night for celebration, and they should decide on a team name, and they decided on Jet Set Rodeo. They all said they had to focus on their matches tonight, and Page made a match for himself against Katsuyori Shibata, which I guess he can do?
In the ring, Samoa Joe made his ring entrance for the first match. He was followed by Mike Bailey.
1. Samoa Joe vs. Speedball Mike Bailey: Joe controlled the pace early on and took the action to the floor. He landed a loud chop to the chest of Bailey. Bailey fired back with a running knee and a moonsault. Shibata and Hook walked down to ringside to intimidate and distract Bailey. Joe kicked him out to the floor, and then apparently distracted the ref enough for him to miss Shibata and Hook clubbing Bailey on the floor…[c]
My Take: MJF and Brody was fun. Hopefully they give Brody a couple of meaningful wins before he gets a title shot. AEW refs continue to be made fools of with these thinly veiled interference spots.
Speedball landed a missile dropkick to get back into the match. After some evasions, Speedball hit a superkick and climbed to the top. He landed a Shooting Star Press for a near fall. They battled on the apron, and Joe avoided a double knee drop. Shibata attacked Bailey again and tossed him back into the ring. The ref was very lazily distracted by Joe again. Joe attacked the leg of Bailey and applied a long ankle lock that forced him to crawl to the ropes.
He continued the assault on the back of the leg and knee. Bailey managed to push through the pain and trip Joe. He took him down with a double knee drop and then followed up with a twisting kick in the corner. He then rolled Joe up for a near fall. Joe returned with a Coquina Clutch, but Bailey reversed into a pin for a near fall. Bailey tried to climb the ropes, but once again a thin distraction allowed Shibata to interfere. Joe landed a Muscle Buster for the win.
Samoa Joe defeated Speedball Bailey at 13:42
After the match, Joe celebrated as MJF was shown watching on a monitor backstage…[c]
My Take: A solid match work rate wise, but the interference spots were poorly constructed.
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