AEW Dynamite (Oct. 10, 2023) came from Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, MO. The Title Tuesday special featured two new champions, violent brawls, MJF drama, the Adam Copeland-Christian Cage feud erupting into a wild donnybrook, and more.
Catch up on all the Dynamite details with Sean Rueter’s excellent play-by-play guide.
New champions
Title Tuesday featured three championship contests and two new champions were crowned. Hikaru Shida and Orange Cassidy wear gold again.
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defeated Saraya to win the title. Shida came with intensity and took the fight to Saraya. Ruby Soho ran from the crowd to intervene, but Shida sprayed the spray paint back into Soho’s face. Toni Storm ran in and hit Soho with shoes.
Saraya took advantage of the commotion to attack Shida. The Shining Samurai rallied for the katana, but Saraya blocked the move to execute her cradle DDT finisher. Shida stepped out. Saraya fooled the referee by grabbing a kendo stick as a diversionary tactic. When the referee grabbed the foreign object, Saraya sprayed paint on Shida’s face. Cradle DDT again, kick-out by Shida again. Shida fought back for a Falcon Arrow Slam. Saraya and Shida exchanged roll-ups with Shida on top, securing the win. Shida is now a three-time women’s champion.
What a surprise. I had my doubts about whether Saraya would last as a full-time champion, but so far she’s doing well. The matches were entertaining and she took some hard hits in this one, like a stalling German Suplex on the apron.
This match had some riveting drama with the false finishes, particularly Shida, who kicked out of Saraya’s finisher and continued partially blind from the spray paint. Shida ended up fighting out of instinct. That was a pretty cool story adaptation. We already know Shida can deliver in the ring, so I’m looking forward to seeing how AEW decides to go with the women’s division. Will Shida have a longer reign? Will a new face emerge as the next defending champion? Will AEW resolve the feud between Shida and Dr. Britt Baker DMD to resume?
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy defeated Fenix to win the title. Jon Moxley was Fenix’s original opponent, but it was announced that Mox was not cleared of injury. Hook stepped in and demanded a shot for Cassidy, as OC never received a rematch after losing the belt. Cassidy played shy at first. I like that Tony Khan forced the issue with a takeaway to get Cassidy to show urgency and willingness to fight.
Cassidy didn’t miss this opportunity. He was unusually aggressive, slamming Fenix’s back into the barricade, ring post and apron. The damage was done, hitting Fenix at a crucial point. Fenix reached for a rotary cutter, but his back gave way. Cassidy was able to counter to the beach break. A Superman punch sealed the deal. Cassidy is a two-time international champion.
Wow, another surprising result. This wasn’t so much about Fenix losing, but more about how he lost. Moxley appeared to be the favorite to regain the title anyway with a rematch against Cassidy. AEW can tell the same story, just swap roles with Cassidy as champion. Cassidy targeted Fenix’s weak spot by getting a little dirty. There was nothing illegal about what Cassidy did, but he was a true, heroic babyface who wouldn’t stoop to this behavior just when necessary. I wonder if we’re in the middle of character development for Cassidy. Fenix’s title reign is listed as a footnote. He was protected by injury so he may not be out for long.
The third title match took place on the bonus pre-show.
ROH World Championship & NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston retained against Minoru Suzuki. That was a slugfest between the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. It was haunting but also comedic. This clip is a perfect example.
Kingston was eliminated early and was on skates the entire game. Kingston fired a spinning backfist to turn the tide. He countered the Gotch piledriver with a back body drop and then unloaded his signature punch. Suzuki was still ready to fight, so Kingston added two more spinning backfists and a Northern Lights bomb to win.
This was an entertaining fight, but don’t mistake this for a technical masterpiece. Kingston and Suzuki beat each other’s guts out to great enthusiasm from the fans. It worked well to warm up the audience. Kingston was a bit over the top with his jaw-dropping theatrics. It was funny to watch him fall like a sack of potatoes, but it was also exhausting when he vacillated so often between lucidity and concussion. It’s like he has mental smelling salts. As always, Suzuki delivered an attraction.
The respect after the game was also amusing. Kingston and Suzuki exchanged more punches for fun before locking themselves in a hug.
Severe beating
The card featured two big punches from Will Hobbs and Wardlow. Hobbs sent Chris Jericho to the hospital and Wardlow made mincemeat out of Matt Sydal.
Will Hobbs defeated Chris Jericho. Powerhouse easily defeated Jericho. Total dominance. It wasn’t exactly a squash as Hobbs took his time destroying spinebuster after spinebuster. Jericho went for a code breaker and the Walls of Jericho, but Hobbs was too strong. In total, Hobbs hit six spinebusters and two front powerslams. He knelt on Jericho’s face and got the winner’s pin. Powerhouse added another front slam after the match. Side note: Commentary said Kenny Omega wasn’t in the building, leaving Jericho to fend for himself.
As a Hobbs fan, I’m thrilled with the way this game ended. This was a statement win by dismantling a legend. I was excited to see what was next for Hobbs as a member of the Callis family.
Wardlow defeated Matt Sydal. This was pure pumpkin. The referee waved off the game after four powerbombs. Like last week, Wardlow quickly left the audience. Put Scoopz Marvez on the case to find out Wardlow’s motives. I’m excited to find out.
MJF drama
MJF was without both lovers in his life. Adam Cole is out due to injury and the Triple B has been hijacked by Jay White. After Switchblade won his match against Hangman Page, MJF stormed onto the stage and demanded the return of his property. White refused to back down. He claimed that a champion must earn the title. White offered a solution as they waited for the main event showdown at the Full Gear PPV. King Switch suggested an 8-man tag if MJF could find friends. Juice Robinson agreed that he will compete in next week’s Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal to get his hands on MJF’s jewelry. Rock Hard pushed MJF over the finish line by threatening to take him out with a quarter throw. MJF remembered the days of his youth when he was bullied.
Renee Paquette reached out to MJF for comment, but he didn’t want to talk. MJF called Cole and asked him for advice. Cole’s phone broke down due to poor reception. Then Max Caster appears and offers to support the Acclaimed. MJF went off alone. Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn weren’t there to help MJF, so Caster explained that they were actually old friends who broke into the store together. Caster also teased that he likes it when MJF plays “Hard to Get.”
All in all, these scenes were important steps in the development of the story. Little by little the pieces come together. There is no rush and we can let the process take its toll. It’s kind of amazing how AEW manages to generate sympathy for MJF after all the bad things he’s done in his career. Using the Acclaimed as babyface support also has the basis of reigniting daddy issues with the Gunns for a title fight between the trio.
So where was Cole this week? Bay Bay was still the home of Roderick Strong. Cole was busy mowing Roddy’s lawn. Conveniently, Neck Strong’s house had no cell service or television, so Cole couldn’t keep an eye on MJF’s dealings with AEW.
This was a silly sketch that added levity to the show. There were a lot of little things that were worthy of a smile, like choosing a giraffe as the Neck Strong mascot. Strong will have Cole by his side for another week. Cole should grow a spine soon because he’s starting to look like a jerk who’s being taken advantage of through blatant manipulation.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage donnybrook
Christian Cage initiated the broadcast from the production truck. Immerse yourself in its greatness.
Fast forward to the main event segment, and Christian explained why he couldn’t be bothered to join Adam Copeland to reunite their tag team. Christian wanted to know where the same feeling was when Edge was pushed to the moon while being held back in WWE. Now that Copeland is on the dark side of his career, it’s practical to cling to Christian’s rising star.
Just when you thought Christian couldn’t get any more despicable, he hit a new low. Christian was confident that his right hand of destruction would destroy Copeland, so he sent a message to Beth Phoenix to deliver clean sheets for her daughters’ new father.
Copeland stormed to the ring. Nick Wayne grabbed his feet from behind and Luchasaurus continued to beat him up. The first half was all about dinosaur power. Copeland gathered the crowd’s strength for a DDT dive on the floor.
The match continued with Copeland in position for a spear. Christian created just enough of a distraction for Wayne to place a chair in the corner behind Luchasaurus. Copeland charged forward, the dino lunged and Copeland rammed the steel. Luchasaurus followed with a chokeslam. 1, 2, ejection by Copeland.
Copeland found his groove again parkouring off the ring steps to spear Luchasaurus.
Christian tried to cheat again. This time, Copeland grabbed the TNT title belt and hit Luchasaurus while Wayne distracted the referee. The dino thought Christian had beaten him, and that was Copeland’s opportunity to charge in with a spear and win.
As a result, chaos ensued. Bryan Danielson ran to save Copeland from Christian’s thugs. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta helped against the numbers. The Mughal embassy intervened. Hangman Page ran in to yell at Swerve Strickland. The final salvo featured Copeland spearing Wayne and Danielson and eliminating Christian in the LeBell Lock before their TNT title match at Collision.
The main event scene was full of emotions. Christian is deeper than deep trying to warm Copeland’s bed and I love it as a shocking heel move. It is highly entertaining, but also receives ridicule. The match itself was a little heavy-handed in the beginning to sell the story. As soon as Copeland started cooking, the energy heated up. Luchasaurus was once considered the weakest link in the tag team with Jungle Boy. He showed in the TNT title fight and in this match with Copeland that he can compete. Luchasaurus is very effective as a power monster. That spear in the chair actually made me think AEW might pull off a shocker to hand Copeland a loss in his first fight. This shows how effective it was in maximizing the drama of the false finish. The final Donnybrook really spiced up “Collision”. How can you not want to see what happens when Danielson taps into the LeBell Lock in a sanctioned fight?
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.
Bryan Danielson defeated Swerve Strickland. The winner had a shot at the TNT Championship at Collision. The campaign was creative in this competition. An example is Swerve outwitting Danielson from the ground up to leave him hanging from the turnbuckles. Swerve then performed a flying stomp as Danielson found himself in this compromised position.
Swerve consistently worked Danielson’s lower back, which impacted the liver. Danielson was in charge when accidental contact with the turnbuckle caused him to collapse in pain. Swerve lunged for the house call dropkick and a flying double stomp, but Danielson kicked out of the guard.
In the end, Prince Nana caused a distraction for the referee, allowing Swerve to hit Danielson with the crown, but Hangman Page ran in to intervene. The cowboy prevented harassment. Danielson and Swerve exchanged clever counterattacks, then Danielson hit the mark with the Busaiku Knee and won.
Very good game. If anyone doubts that Swerve is a major player in the event, this game should put that idea to rest. Swerve had to compete with the best in the game. It’s getting to the point where AEW can’t wait much longer to make its move. I hope they find a way to have Swerve challenge MJF soon. As usual, Danielson showed excellent self-work technique and aggressiveness. When he stepped on the accelerator and kicked in Swerve’s head, the crowd rose to its feet.
Jay White defeated Hangman Page. The cowboy put White in his place early on. Switchblade was adept at attacking the right knee and getting back into the game. Hangman fought through the pain for a cool avalanche fallaway slam. The final story was about the Buckshot Lariat. White had the sense to stop the move a few times. He ducked to grab a Blade Runner, but Hangman countered with a Deadeye Piledriver. The Bang-Bang Gang had behaved well throughout the game, then slipped in to give the Whites recovery time to kick them out at the pin. Hangman then had to deal with Prince Nana trying to interfere as revenge for the previous evening. Hangman saw it coming, but he didn’t see White scoop a roll-up and grab the briefcase to win.
This was a solid matchup as their first one-on-one encounter in AEW. It lays the foundation for a future series. Hangman was strong in defeat and White took advantage of tricks. While I would have preferred White to have gotten a cleaner win to prepare for his PPV world title fight, it’s appropriate for an experienced con artist to challenge MJF in his role reversal as a babyface scumbag.
Remarks: Samoa Joe will begin his journey to championship gold at Collision. Joe is ready for his rise to greatness.
Daniel Garcia came to check on Chris Jericho, but Daddy Magic was in the mood to reason with Garcia about how Jericho was treating her. Garcia left Daddy Magic and Jericho was taken to the hospital.
Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita say their revenge against Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho is far from over.
Toni Storm was ready for her timeless spotlight with a silent film, Lover’s Lament. I welcome thinking outside the box on this one, even if I thought it was a bit boring. Part 1 was adorable. Part 2 was over the top that same evening. My problem was that, other than the clue in the title, I didn’t know what story she wanted to tell with her pantomime. There will likely be a split love-hate relationship with Storm’s cinema.
AEW will donate over 50,000 toys to Toys For Tots this holiday season. This is a nice gesture of goodwill.
Star of the show: Will Hobbs
Legend killer.
Match of the evening: Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland
Creativity, athleticism and drama when overloaded.
Grade: B+
Stacked card that suffered slightly from repetitive formulas. The two hoss squashes made the start of the main event seem a bit superfluous. There were the two cheat finishes with Hangman, which made sense in the story but also felt unnecessary on the same night. Overall it was a good evening full of entertainment with hot trends for the future.
I leave you with delightful visions of dancing Prince Nana.
Share your thoughts on Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?
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