Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #MouthingOff (with MikeJC): Dynamite Weekly, after some time off for a personal recharge, the (hopefully) weekly review feature on AEW Dynamite here on SLTDWrestling.com. I will be giving my thoughts and opinions on all the highlights of the show as well as giving the “Remarkable Wrestler” of the week. So here are the highlights of the Wednesday, January 19th episode of AEW Dynamite.
Jon Moxley Returns
AEW Dynamite kicks off with the return of Jon Moxley to a huge ovation from crowd who loses it for “Wild Thing” blaring throughout he arena and Moxley soaks in all the adulation. He gets on the mic and thanks everyone for supporting him in his rough times. In the silence of the crowd hanging on his every word someone in the crowd yells something and Moxley tells him to GFY and the production missed it and didn’t bleep it out which was absolutely amazing. He goes into great detail about his rock bottom and how nobody is perfect and you can’t go through life expecting to go unscathed and that there’s scars all over his body and the ones that mean the most and the ones you should be proud of.
He says if you want to doubt him, he’ll tell you the same thing he told the demon in his dream – “you can take all that sh*t and shove it up your ass!” He says he doesn’t run from these demons, he just “beats the sh*t out of them.”
Mox says to get ready for a ride in 2022 because he’s gonna grab the world of wrestling by the balls and take whatever he wants. He says now more than ever he is truly free. The crowd wildly cheers again and breaks out into a chant of his name. Moxley says he’s thirsty and all he drinks is blood. He says he’s more dangerous now than he was before. He drops the mic and walks off through the crowd.
Segment Rating: 8.5/10
This is the most genuine Jon Moxley ever. He was passionate, he was honest, he was thankful, he was everything I expected and more. He is so passionate every time he speaks that the fans get quiet and just listen because what he says matters, and his passion for wrestling itself is just makes everyone care it’s amazing and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Mixed Tag Team Match: Adam Cole & Britt Baker vs. Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander
This was such a fun match, early on there was a lot of tagging in and out by Cole and Baker avoiding their respective opponents in the match, until Britt got a little two cocky and taunted for the crowd opening up the offense for Statlander. Cassidy did his sloth style kicks to Britt as well but she stops it by stomping on Cassidy’s foot. There was a great spot on the outside where Stat hits a pendulum moonsault from the apron onto Britt and Orange would just fall off the apron onto Cole it was great.
Moments later and Cole is fighting Cassidy to the outside on the ramp and he teases going for the Panama Sunrise on the ramp but Stat saves Cassidy and throws him back in the ring. Cole teases doing the Panama Sunrise to Statlander but Britt comes back and attacks Stat and hits a destroyer of her own on the ramp. Cole would head back in the ring and hit the Panama Sunrise on Cassidy this time for a near fall, both Britt and Cole looked shocked even though Cole never wins with that move ever.
Frustrated Cole sets up a table at ringside and Cassidy runs at Cole who moves out of the way and Cassidy accidently runs into Britt who falls off the apron through the table. This angers Cole and while all refs and the medical team are checking on Britt, Cole hits a low blow on Orange, and hits Lower the Boom and checks on Britt after the match.
After a break Cole does an interview backstage and says he’s sick of Orange Cassidy and after what he did to Britt he’s just about done with him, and challenges him to a lights out match next week at Beach Break (in Ohio during winter). Also later in the night while Statlander and Red Velvet were being interviewed Leyla Hirsch interrupts and is angry about the miscommunication between her and Statlander last Friday on Rampage that cost her and Velvet the winners purse. Red Velvet tells her to back off and Leyla attacks them both and puts Stat in an armbar.
Segment Rating: 6.5/10
So this was a very fun match and I enjoyed it a lot and before the Britt spot with the table I was fully prepared for the feud to be over after this because we’ve seen a little bit recently that AEW has been leaning on some rematches here and there and this is another one that wasn’t needed at all. I get why they made the rematch a Lights Out match because like every other Lights Out match it gives the guy whose been winning a lot a loss and it doesn’t count, so that’s what is probably gonna happen Cole is gonna face Orange again on the show named after Cassidy’s finisher and Orange will win but because it doesn’t count it won’t matter and hopefully be the end of this.
CM Punk vs. Shawn Spears (…Technically)
Before this match earlier in the night MJF would do a backstage promo about last weeks match between Wardlow and CM Punk, and he calls Punk’s win a tainted victory because he grabbed the tights to get the victory instead of “taking the loss on the chin like a man.” He then calls Wardlow inexperienced because a more seasoned veteran would have kicked out of that. He says he wants to apologize to Wardlow because he lost his cool on him last week and for that he’s sorry, however Wardlow put his hands on MJF last week and that won’t be tolerated so he’s gonna dock Wardlow’s pay.
He tells Wardlow who is visibly unhappy and very good at the facial expressions here, that he has his chance to earn that money back by winning the face of the revolution ladder match and winning MJF the TNT Championship and then they will talk. He then says Shawn Spears is gonna finish the job that Wardlow failed last week tonight. He then wishes Wardlow a happy birthday and hits the catch phrase to end the segment.
So this match, is not even a match, before even discussing it I will say the video package hyping this “match” was great and made you care about wanting to see it. So Shawn Spears does this full dramatic entrance looking very confident and walks down to the ring followed by Punk, then MJF comes out for commentary and as soon as MJF sits down and gets settled in and says “This is gonna be a good one” the bell rings, Punk ducks a clothesline and goes right into the GTS for the pinfall victory in what seemed like a 15 second match to me.
Punk points at MJF that he’s going to sleep next and celebrates and MJF tries to get the jump on him while his back is turned but when CM Punk notices MJF freezes and tries to run away again and Punk corners him and grabs MJF by the scarf, but MJF slips out leaving the scarf and literally running away again.
Segment Rating: 6/10
As far as continuing the story this did exactly what it needed to, but this Punk and MJF things is really starting to drag and there is just no way to drag this to Revolution because that is just to far away for this to last that long. I don’t understand to this point why MJF continues to run away from Punk and won’t just have the match. Maybe it’s a fear of facing his childhood hero I don’t know though that’s just me guessing. I’m still very up in the air about who wins that match also. The Wardlow stuff has been great as it continues to slowly build to MJF and Wardlow splitting and colliding and that’s been a great slow build as well and when that finally happens it should be very good.
Cody Rhodes Returns
So Cody does his usual entrance and comes out to the ring and there’s a giant ladder in the middle of the ring. He starts off by asking the crowd what they want to talk about, knowing that we’ve all heard the recent news that has to do with him. He goes on to talk about CM Punk was just out and he gave one of the most passionate speeches once and it was called the Pipe Bomb. He mentions in that promo Punk mentioned going to Ring of Honor or New Japan and teaming with the Young Bucks, and mentions that he himself did all those things. He gets emotional while mentioning those things and says the reason he won’t turn heel is because the crowd cheered for him when he needed them most.
He brings up “The Forbidden Door.” He says if you’re an industry journalist and you disagree with anything he says, you’re not a real journalist. He says he’s the one who actually built “The Forbidden Door.” The crowd starts to chant his name with some boos still breaking through. He talks about the reDRagon and Young Bucks nearly starting a second Wednesday Night War last week. He talks about his real-life friend Ricky Starks getting into a feud with Jay Lethal. He mentions to avoid the Lethal Injection as “it’s the one cutter you don’t kick out of.” He then brings up Malakai Black. He says he’s a guy who hung two losses on his name and as he points out — he hates to lose.
He then mentions Malakai’s new House of Black member Brody King, and unlike other places to work we don’t force people in AEW to change their name and give them a name like “Gunner McGillicButty”, clearly taking a shot at WWE renaming WALTER. He then mentions if you are going to have the balls to work in AEW and be named “Brody” you better prove it or watch out for that kid in eight years. From there he finally mentions Sammy Guevara, and the fact that he doesn’t consider the TNT title a “mid-card” title except when there are two of them, so he has a solution, and suggests a unification ladder match and then climbs the ladder and raises his title.
Segment Rating: 7/10
Man I loved this promo, and if you don’t, I don’t know what to tell you. He touched on a lot and all of it was not only honest and emotional but it was correct. He did do those things CM Punk spoke of he’s right about Brody King because of how strong AEW believed in Brodie Lee. He’s not wrong for criticizing WALTER’s name change because we all know its bad. Cody’s recent reactions I think come down to him feeling like he needs to do something different then everyone else and that thing not usually working. The Cody-verse stuff hurt him a lot, nobody wanted to see him feud with QT Marshall, nobody really cares about him trying to do stuff that his dad did if it doesn’t benefit anyone but him, even though he has lost a bunch, since the Brodie Lee stuff it’s been weird with what he’s doing. The Malakai stuff was a step in the right direction and the Sammy stuff has been good. The one thing I don’t like is him saying the words heel turn in the promo. That seems a little to “behind the curtain” for this kind of promo and he knows that we want that to happen and he’s probably just teasing it more and more but he doesn’t need to say it. Eventually he is going to turn heel and it will happen when it needs to the most, and he also teases a lot of future feuds. Also the fans chanted Royal Rumble at him which made him laugh which I really thought was funny.
The Kings of the Black Throne (Malakai Black & Brody King) vs. Varsity Blonds
So first things first a new theme song and tandem entrance for the duo of Black and King and I absolutely love it. This stuff Malakai has been doing and now the addition of Brody King has been some of my favorite stuff. I love it so much and this match was exactly what I expected. Complete domination by Black and King.
They did a lot of tandem offense and played mind games with specifically Brian Pillman Jr. who was setting up a springboard move on Brody King but he hesitated and got in his own head succumbing to the mind games. I loved the double teams and combination offense and a great finish of the match which was a crash landing suplex by Black caught into a powerslam by King. Which secured the pinfall victory.
After the match Malakai gets on the mic and asks the members of the House of Black to rise and he is interrupted on the big screen by PAC. He’s wearing a blindfold in a red lit room and he says he says Malakai Black as just like everyone else in AEW, self obsessed and power hungry. He says unlike everyone else The Bastard is beyond even Malakai’s reach and he’s incorruptible and holds up a terra card that reads “Justice XI” and says this is about the time he’d expect him to bow down to him, but he’s going to make a martyr of him.
Segment Rating: 6.25/10
I love this house of black stuff because it’s dark but not on a cartoony level, the mind games are other worldly and I love it. One thing I noticed that I didn’t see a lot of people talking about, Julia Hart who was misted by Malakai and has been wearing an eye patch and her co-worker’s are calling her weird on twitter and she’s getting confused about it and this show in particular was the first time I noticed in particular that she wasn’t wearing a her normal conservative cheerleader with letterman jacket. So I think she is slowly turning and is going to succumb to that influence of Malakai. The PAC promo after was amazing and I can’t wait to see them face each other again and my hope is that PAC is still going to join them and something will happen during or after the match to make that happen.
Lance Archer vs. Frankie Kazarian
So this match was really long, and it didn’t need to be this long at all. Before the match there was a promo of Jake Roberts talking about Archer wanting a shot at Hangman. Dan Lambert is there as well but isn’t speaking (thankfully) and he accompanies Archer to the ring along with Jake. The entire match is a beating of Kazarian. Archer hit him with everything, huge clotheslines, a pounce, a hell a coaster, and a black out for the pin. Now the problem is the match should have been that simple, but it dragged forever.
After the match brings Kazarian outside on the ramp with a chair, before he could do what he had planned Adam Page comes out to make the save. They have a stare down but Hangman slaps Archer and they brawl back into the ring. Page goes to set up the Buckshot Lariat, but Archer retreats as Page celebrates.
Segment Rating: 4.5/10
This rating is solely for the length of the match, this should have been a very short match, plain and simple and not dragged forever. I’m fine with Archer getting a shot since the records reset and he’s gonna probably win two or three more matches before the title shot which would put him at the front and it will be a good match for Hangman get a dominant victory. Don’t care for Lambert affiliation here at all.
Sting & Darby Allin vs. The Acclaimed
So before the match The Acclaimed had a video of Stang driving a car and hitting Anthony Bowens dressed like Darby. The Acclaimed make their entrance and Max does his usual rap taking shots at his opponents. Before the match The Acclaimed would attack both guys and take out Darby by putting a chair around his head and ramming it into the corner. So Darby gets taken out for the first half of the match leaving Sting to face both Acclaimed members by himself. For the most part Sting is showing signs of life but still getting overwhelmed.
Mid way through the match Darby returns to the match and lawn darts himself into the action from over the barricade. They continue fighting and Darby hits a coffin drop to the outside on a standing Bowens and a code red on Caster in the ring for a near fall. The Acclaimed get the upper hand once again and get a near fall on Darby but it’s broken up by Sting who then brings Max outside and lays him over a table and Sting goes up the ramp and at almost 63 years old dives off the stage onto Max Caster on a table. Back in the ring Bowens runs at Darby in the corner and runs into an exposed turnbuckle and then Darby capitalizes and then hits a coffin drop for the victory.
Segment Rating: 6.5/10
I thought this was a very good match and Sting can still go on a crazy level and that’s great to see. I think Max Caster and Anthony Bowens are both great in ring and rely too heavily on the rapping gimmick sometimes. Darby we all know is amazing and he gets better and better each time he enters a ring and he makes you believe in him every single time. It seems like Sting and Darby are on their wait to a tag title shot considering they just beat the number one ranked team and I think it be interesting to see them face Jurassic Express and also lighten the load for Sting going forward, sure he can still go but he doesn’t need to be work half a match by himself like he did here.
Remarkable Wrestler of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler of the week is Jon Moxley.
Jon Moxley gets the RWOW this week for coming back better then ever after he knew he needed help and not missing a beat in this very emotional promo, I’m very happy to see him back and is a shinning example of what wanting to be better is in the wrestling world.
Overall
This was a really good episode of Dynamite with two amazing promos at the beginning and middle of this show and some pretty good wrestling to go with it as well as advancement of some newer stories as well as some longer running ones. Overall I give this episode of AEW Dynamite a 6.4 out of 10. There was a lot of other stuff on this show that didn’t get a rating like Ropongi Vice challenging the Young Bucks to a match with Brandon Cutler filming it. Serena Deeb squashed Sky Blue in dominating fashion, Anna Jay accepting Jade Cargill’s open challenge for the TBS Championship, a hype video for Hook competing this Friday on Rampage, Billy Gunn confronting Christian Cage wanting his sons to get a tag title shot and Colten and Austin attacking Christian. Dante Martin saying Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal have his back while his brother is out and Team Taz telling them to watch their backs, Andrade purchasing HFO from Matt Hardy and rebranding it AHFO which I hated, and Ethan Page wanting a match with Jon Moxley on Rampage which is official. They crammed a lot into a pretty good show.
What are your thoughts on this special AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
Follow Mouthing Off: @MikeJC821
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