One week to go until AEW's first Steel Cage match.  So how will MJF and Wardlow prepare for Cody?

Was out eating sushi. What I miss so far?

You missed a pretty good Tag Team title bout between SCU and Hangman/Omega, and the post match brawl between the tag teams involved in next week's battle royal.

I never really realized how weak AEW heel tag side was until that segment. Then I forgot the Lucha Bros were heels too.

And you just missed Tag team title match.

I wonder if maybe, they're setting up Christopher Daniels to turn on SCU, and join the Dark Order?

I'm a huge sucker for Dustin Rhodes. Dude is such a natural talent.

Ha, I said natural. That's his nickname.

Feb 13, 2020 1:39:13 GMT CM Punk'd said:

I wonder if maybe, they're setting up Christopher Daniels to turn on SCU, and join the Dark Order?

It's been a theory for a while now that he's turning, and The Fallen Angel is the leader they keep talking about.

Could be interesting, but I dunno.

Has anybody mentioned that Britt's a dentist?

Feb 13, 2020 1:43:26 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Has anybody mentioned that Britt's a dentist?

Adam Cole's girlfriend is a dentist!?

Did Nyla try all of Cena's finishing moves?

Finally Riho reign is over. I haven't seen Leva Bates around in a while thought she might have left.

That was a pretty good match between those two. Pretty cool sight to see Riho do the Snap Dragon Suplexes on Nyla.

Pac does some great serious promos too bad Kenny doesn't really seem to care about him.

Feb 13, 2020 2:41:05 GMT X-zero said:

Pac does some great serious promos too bad Kenny doesn't really seem to care about him.

I don't understand what's happening with this feud.

"KENNY PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"
"Sorry bud I'm busy with my friend Adam."
"I'm not your friend."
"COME ON KENNY LET'S DO THIS."
"No my friend Adam needs me."
"I'm not your friend."

Rinse. Repeat.

...

Jeff Cobb is a good get. I'll have to watch next week. Mox & Cobb had a banger during the G1 Climax.

Is a pretty damn good seal of approval, when JR compares Jeff Cobb to Dr. Death.

Good show tonight. The womens title might be my favourite womens match in aew yet. I"m hoping SHanna gets a return match soon against Nyla.

I kinda wish Brandi wouldn't be near a mic, when she was in the announce booth for the MJF she just felt like a dud. I don't even care they seem to have dropped the nightmare thing, I just don't want hear her.

Moxley/Santana was great, tag title match was great.

Really looking forward to the cage match next week.

That was my favourite episode of AEW Dynamite to date. It was strong from top to bottom and they did a good job of pushing the show forward.

The show got off on the right foot with the Omega/Page vs. SCU match. If daveymolz sat me down and asked for my prediction of the match, I would have said Omega/Page after the Dark Order interfered with Page scoring the cheap victory over Kazarian to Kenny's chagrin. I was relieved when the Dark Order popped up at the start of the show, made their presence known and let the two teams go at it. It wouldn't have made any sense for it to happen that way, especially since logically they would want SCU to hold the titles. If SCU have a change of heart and join the Dark Order their organisation have the tag belts. If they don't, the Dark Order have a match with some momentum behind it, so they'd get a shot at the titles.

I thought it was a well put together match. It started off as an Omega showcase which the fans were into and the double team moves with Page were sharp. That pop-up german suplex in particular was really slick. It was an easy match to follow and when SCU gained control of the match, it made sense with Page taking a big spill to the outside and Omega taking a beating. One spot I enjoyed during the middle of the match was when both members of SCU had Omega/Page in reverse STFs and the referee called for the break. Ordinarily the referee would let that go, but I thought it was good they gave the refs the power back here.

Also thought the finish was great. I loved how they set up the fake out with it looking like Page was going to accidentally hit Omega with the Buckshot, only for Omega and Page to handle the situation smartly. I also liked the rope break tease with Kazarian being in arms reach but just missing his opportunity by half a second. It's what we need to see more of in Pro Wrestling, guys taking these spots and showing how to work through them.

The post-match was an effective way to build up the tag team battle royal for next week's show and I liked how they had the babyfaces and the heels working together. It sets the stage and hopefully they can develop some rivalries out of this match. My tip right now would be for the Bucks to win and for the Dark Order to get involved with SCU setting up their match for Revolution.

Backstage promo with Santana was a real piece of business with Santana cutting a real neutral promo about his past and how he'll use those painful memories to get his revenge on Moxley later tonight. Not earth shattering, but just a simple segment that lets us know more about Santana and builds up the anticipation for the main event.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara may have been one of Dustin's best personal outings. They really let him shine infront of his home fans and he picked up a fairly impressive win against Guevara who has only been beaten by people who matter on the roster. I was worried it'd be 80/20 Dustin and then they'd have Guevara sneak a win at the death, but I think they made the right call here. We also get a nice 2-for heading into Revolution with Darby laying out a challenge to Guevara and Dustin cutting a promo on Hager. Revolution is taking shape and I think the way they've held off on announcing the matches has paid off in the end.

Britt Baker with another Schiavone promo and this was by far her best yet. The crowd ate up her Chubby Wattaburger Faces line and I haven't seen heat like that since the Elias/Owens angle from a couple of years ago. I like how they're framing Baker as this xenophobic character and is basically using all of Cornette's criticisms of the division as material.

I thought the Nyla Rose/Riho match was the best AEW Women's match in company history. I liked how Riho threw everything at Nyla to begin with, but Nyla was able to swat her away time and time again. I thought the match came to an even keel with that crucifix powerbomb and from there the match really came alive. First it was Riho with the near-falls to give the fans some hope only for Nyla to come in big with the Avalanche AA. That was a believable finish, but then she got greedy with the One Winged Angel attempt and Riho found her second wind. A really fun finishing flurry, with Nyla hitting her best spear in AEW before finishing it off with that powerbomb spot. A really good match and that's without mentioning that rampway table dropkick spot at the start of the match that was really creative.

I thought the post-match was a little strange, with the camera sticking on Nyla as she made her way to the back and everyone being stand off-ish, even Omega. An odd segment, but my read is that Nyla is on her own and she isn't going to form some relationship with Baker or the Bunny who are probably the biggest heel names on the women's roster. I think it was a play on that trope where if a heel wins they're usually all buddy buddy with the other heels. I also think it gives Nyla a chip on her shoulder and something she can sink her teeth into.

The Jericho interview felt like a way to get him on the show without having him do an in-ring promo. It was also how they chose to debut Jeff Cobb which was a little different. Normally they would remain mum on the situation, but here you've got Jericho laying it all out and putting him over. I thought it was smart in the sense that nobody else could put Cobb over like Jericho and it also gave you the false impression that he wasn't going to appear in the main event segment. And even the audience expected him, a fair portion would have no idea who he is, so at least there's some sense of build up. Maybe in a sense this was their response to the lukewarm Dark Order and Butcher and the Blade debuts?

Surprise surprise, the MJF/Jungle Boy match was the best match in both men's AEW careers so far. MJF showcased how great he was at hot-dogging and building heat, but he also showed some tremendous athleticism so he didn't look out of place either. Jungle Boy did an excellent job of selling and when he did get his stuff in it meant something and looked great. I dug that Verterbreaker stretch move MJF had going on with JB, that was a great visual and that interaction he had with Brandi was great. I liked that she was involved in the match, but have to agree some of her delivery left something to be desired. There was a spot where Jungle Boy looked like he was going to pull it out and it was like she was only giving the match half her attention, like she was in the middle of a Words With Friends session.

I thought the PAC promo did a decent job of trying to make sense of Omega's off-colour character. That Omega lost all his confidence when he forced him to submit and Omega doesn't carry himself with the same swagger he once did. I remember when they announced Cody/Wardlow 4-5 weeks ahead of schedule and it confused a lot of fans. I actually love this and how they'll announce certain matches for Dynamite in advance and build them up. It's different and gives these matches some momentum. It also gives you something other than the PPVs to look forward to which is important, otherwise, why bother with Dynamite at all?

Santana/Moxley started off as the weakest match of the show, but it built nicely and the storyline surrounding the eye made it stick out. I liked how something as simple as Moxley being caught around the ring-steps and having his head driven to the point of it made for drama. During the match, one thing I noticed is that Moxley doesn't always go for pins. At one point he hit a release German Suplex, by far the most impressive move, but he used it as a spot to get his wind back. It reminded me of a debate Strobe had on old PW about kick-out psychology. I forget his name but one of the trolls was whinging about redundant covers and how they waste time. Here, I thought it played to the psychology of the match, with Moxley never going with the pin until he knew the mission was accomplished and Santana being a little more desperate. A finer detail that would get lost on a concious level, but your brain probably absorbed it. Once it got down to them trading moves and Ortiz' interference the match became entertaining and by the end of it, it felt like Moxley had actually accomplished something.

Then the post match beat-down with the Inner Circle rendering Moxley unconcious before Cobb comes in and finishes him off. They're doing a really good job with the ebb and flow of this rivalry. It seems like right as Moxley or Jericho can't be topped, the other party finds a way to get even or hold a significant advantage. I wonder if Moxley can find somebody to help even out the numbers?

I loved the tag time title match. Darby's promo was great. I like promotions more than individual wrestlers and have for the most part in recent times unless I've been a fan of wrestlers for a long time and that proceeds my fandom of a promotion. That being said Darby Allin is my favorite AEW homegrown wrestler.

I wonder if Moxley can find somebody to help even out the numbers?

I'm sensing a big tag team match in the go home show before Revolution. Mox enlists Darby Allin and a tag team (probably The Young Bucks) and goes 4-on-4 with Cobb, Guevera, Santana and Ortiz.

Match ends in a shit show when Jericho instructs Hager to get involved, Omega comes flying down to save the Bucks, PAC sees an opportunity and strikes, crowd chants for Hangman to help Kenny and he either does or doesn't...numbers game wins.

The opener was fantastic. Loved that they showed respect at the start, started being competitively aggressive. which then devolved into a really exciting tornado tag team stretch. It's rare to see tag team action quite as strong as the first five minutes of that match. The match never lost steam, even when SCU were in control. Hangman's comeback was great, leading to more of the same wonderful tag team wrestling. Great psychology through and a nice finish.

Nyla/Riho was marred by the fact that only 1% of Riho's offense against Rosa is believable. I don't exaggerate much when I compare it to the Kenny Omega vs the 9 year old girl match from DDT. It's pretty similar, except the DDT match was clearly a joke, whereas we're expected to take this match seriously. We're expected to believe that Riho can actually headscissor and dragon suplex and northern light suplex someone twice her size. I'm glad that Nyla is the champ, a wrestler who doesn't insult my intelligence.

PAC's promos are must watch. He's single-handedly carrying his feud, if you can call it that, while Kenny is too busy being snarky to the new champion of "his" division.

Nyla/Riho was marred by the fact that only 1% of Riho's offense against Rosa is believable. I don't exaggerate much when I compare it to the Kenny Omega vs the 9 year old girl match from DDT. It's pretty similar, except the DDT match was clearly a joke, whereas we're expected to take this match seriously. We're expected to believe that Riho can actually headscissor and dragon suplex and northern light suplex someone twice her size. I'm glad that Nyla is the champ, a wrestler who doesn't insult my intelligence.

I thought the Northern Lights Suplex was a bit much, but I was fine with the rest. Both the headscissors and snap dragon suplex are technique based and I don't have a difficult time believing that a full-time professional wrestler who basically lives inside a gym would have enough strength to execute them. Snap Dragon especially is usually a sneak attack where your opponent has little time to resist and you're just quickly snapping your hips and pulling them backwards to slam them. Northern Lights is a little more unrealistic since you're using your entire core to pick them up off the feet and then holding the entire way as you bend backwards, keeping correct form the entire way, but I guess you could say that Nyla was dead weight and at 80kgs, not impossible if you're a trained Pro Wrestler.

Considering the circumstances, I'll stand by their decision to give Riho the championship. If they had have gone with Nyla, it would have been seen as a copycat of the WWE with Nia Jax and they wanted to feature somebody different who can actually go in the ring. Riho is now established as a credible threat despite her size, whereas Nyla was always one of those women they could fall-back on due to her size. I also think it's better to open the lineage with a babyface, otherwise you're creating a negative first impression which could be dangerous here due to Nyla being trans and the controversy surrounding that. By waiting a few months they've at least softened the blow - I just hope it wasn't a case of AEW hoping the heat would die down until they could get their way.