AEW Takeaways: Hangman Page is back, a bloody Cody Rhodes, and more!

This week’s AEW Dynamite featured some great wrestling and intriguing developments in the storylines heading into AEW Fyter Fest, a two night show taking place on Jul. 1 and 8. Here is everything you need to know:

Jon Moxley has No Fear

Jon Moxley is not afraid of Brian Cage. While Cage was incredibly dominant at AEW Double or Nothing and absolutely crushed his opponents the last two weeks on AEW Dynamite, Jon Moxley is supremely confident heading into AEW Fyter Fest.

Taz did not take kindly to this. He warned Moxley about laughing while he talks, and how he should be wary about stepping into the ring with Cage.

Moxley responded by saying that they shouldn’t forget who they were dealing with before leaving with no blows exchanged. The champion walked right into the ring, showing no fear of his larger opponent, and provided a warning of his own. In the coming weeks, I expect we will see an attack from Cage on Moxley eventually, but for now, he is playing it cool and biding his time.

Cody Rhodes & Jungle Boy went to War

When Cody won the TNT Championship, he promised to defend the title every week, making me excited to see what they were going to do for matches for the brand new title. It would be vitally important to establish the title as a top prize alongside the AEW World Championship, and having Cody take it so seriously is a huge reason why this title matters already.

Having Jungle Boy be the first challenger was a fantastic choice, as he has organically grown in popularity throughout AEW’s short existence so far. Jungle Boy Jack Perry is a young, talented, wrestler and matches like this that push him and put him against top guys like Cody will only serve to help him get more over in the long run.

Losing a match like he did to Cody doesn’t hurt him, and will help more to get him over as he grows, as AEW takes the Young Lion approach to pushing him slowly – he beats guys at his level, and almost wins against top guys. Once he gets that big win, it will be off to the races with Jungle Boy, and I believe he will be a major player in AEW for years to come.

The match itself was a bloody war, with Cody blading early on after accidentally headbutting the stage instead of Jungle Boy, and it immediately made the stakes higher. Jungle Boy went right after the cut and did everything he could to try and beat the AEW VP, and Cody, doing what he does best, made Jungle Boy look like a million bucks in the process. This was fantastic, and a wonderful main event.

Hangman Page is Back (and boy, did we miss him)

Hangman Page was back to defend his tag titles with Kenny Omega against Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian (a team I didn’t realize I loved or needed, but they are great together). Hangman was on fire on this show, demonstrating his real top guy ability and charisma as he continues to move into a position that sees him as a future world champion.

Omega was Omega and did wonderful work here, making everyone look good. Hangman and Omega, despite not teaming for long, has been one of the more fun “bro’s who are different” storylines in recent memory, from Omega drinking milk, to Page drinking whisky.

Both men have incredible chemistry and timing as a team, and while I do think this eventually ends with Page turning on Omega, the time isn’t now. They’re far too good together.

The Best Matches of the Night

With that, you can guess which matches were the best ones of the night, in my opinion. Both were four star affairs that you should go out of your way to see:

Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, and Cody Rhodes vs. Jungle Boy for the TNT Championship.

AEW has found a way to produce compelling television during this pandemic, and last night’s AEW Dynamite was no exception. AEW is now building strongly towards AEW Fyter Fest, a two night affair that will air for free on TNT.

Expect the coming weeks to heat up between Cage and Moxley quite a bit while establishing the Best Friends further as they seek a tag title match and while building up a challenger for Cody.