AEW Dynamite Results and Grades: The Build to Full Gear

This episode of AEW Dynamite featured the final build towards AEW Full Gear, as the feud between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston got more personal, and the tension between Hangman Page and Kenny Omega grew to a fever pitch.

The show started with Chris Jericho congratulating Jake Hager for his Bellator win. MJF came up and said he was glad that Jericho would be on commentary, because he’d get to witness MJF’s win tonight. Jericho said that he wasn’t convinced that MJF had the killer instinct that he, Hager, and Santana had, as they were all a little crazy in the head, calling MJF soft. MJF said he’d prove he wasn’t.

MJF & Wardlow vs. Ortiz & Sammy Guevara (The Inner Circle)

Sammy and Ortiz clearly showed superior teamwork throughout the majority of this match, as MJF tried to prove to Jericho that he belongs in the Inner Circle. Ortiz and Guevara were more motivated because they really didn’t like MJF. Wardlow kept MJF in the match with his power, but Ortiz and Guevara were too good as a team.

Sammy hit a 450 Springboard Axe Handle to the floor on MJF, because Sammy would absolutely add a flip to a move that doesn’t need it. Matt Hardy was in the crowd wearing a Serpentico mask, distracting Sammy. While this happened, MJF locked on Salt of the Earth on Ortiz, who tapped out. Excellent opening tag.

Results: MJF &Wardlow

Rating: *** (3 stars)

After the match, MJF jumped Jericho and started punching him. MJF was pulled away, and Jericho was left smiling. It seems that MJF does have some killer instinct.

Kenny Omega sat down with Tony Schiavone for an interview and talked about his road to the #1 Contender tournament final, saying he could have taken two buys with the circumstances of his opponents being replaced, but he was a sportsman and wanted to earn it. However, he said it in the most condescending way, indicating his heel turn. Kenny asked Tony who he would bet on in a tournament – himself, the man who has won the NJPW G1 Climax, or Hangman, as the interview closed. This was excellent.

Miro (w/ Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford) vs. Trent (w/ Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor)

Miro and Trent had an inset interview with Excalibur, talking about their history. This was a nice little way to build this TV match. Miro insulted Trent’s mom before the match, leading to Trent kicking the crap out of Miro in the opening.

During the break, The Dark Order attacked Orange Cassidy on the outside of the ring, building to Silver’s match with him at the PPV. This was a good back and forth match that highlighted Miro’s strengths well. Trent is great at getting the most out of his matches, and it ended when Miro locked on Game Over for the submission.

Result: Miro

Rating: **1/2 (2.5 stars)

After the match, OC jumped onto Kip and Miro, saving Trent from further beat down. This was a good little hint for a potential feud for OC and Miro down the line.

Hangman Page was with Jim Ross backstage, and had an awesome sit-down interview. Ross asked Hangman if he was nervous, and he initially said no, but JR called him out saying that he had a glass of bourbon in his hand, and suspected that he had more than one, indicating that he was, indeed, nervous. Hangman admitted that he was. When he came to AEW he promised to be the first ever AEW World Champion, and no one believed in him but himself, and he was wrong.

This match with Kenny for the #1 Contendership is the closest he has come to the title again since then, and he made it clear that if he didn’t win and beat Omega, all he had left was his glass of bourbon. This was phenomenal stuff. I can’t wait for Hangman and Kenny Omega at the PPV.

A video aired hyping the Young Bucks vs. FTR with people from all over AEW offering their picks. This video was excellent. It added some much-needed hype to this match, clearly making the Young Bucks the babyfaces in this match. The storytelling was not clear until recently, so it hurt this match quite a bit, but this has helped a lot.

Taz came out and said he was losing his patience with Will Hobbs, and that the clock was ticking for him to give them an answer about joining Team Taz. Taz said that he sat outside of Tony Khan’s office today, trying to get 2 minutes of his time, but TK was busy dealing with people competing at Full Gear. Taz said that he decided to come out with a live mic, and that Cage is ranked #1 in the ranking system, but doesn’t have a match on the PPV.

Starks has won 10 of his last 11, and he isn’t in the top 5. Taz is angry that his men are not being treated with the respect they deserve, and Starks was upset that he didn’t have a match at Full Gear either. Taz said he couldn’t make it make sense. Taz said that Darby and Cody were going to have a great match, but they’re both entitled, spoiled, and given whatever they want. Taz then promised that their presence would be felt at the PPV.

As Matt Hardy entered with Private Party Sammy Guevara attacked him and left him laying, leaving Private Party without Hardy in their corner.

Private Party vs. The Young Bucks

Matt Jackson was selling his ankle throughout this match, highlighting when FTR Pillmanized him a few weeks back. Matt limped and sold the ankle repeatedly throughout the match, doing many things with one leg. This gave Private Party the advantage for much of the match, as Matt was clearly the weak link with Nick having to do most of the work.

The Young Bucks sold like crazy for Private Party, making them look like a million bucks (no pun intended), and barely beat them. This will be a great rivalry for years to come, I think. The Young Bucks managed to hit the BTE Trigger for the pinfall victory, leaving the match with Matt Jackson being way more injured.

Result: The Young Bucks

Rating: **** (4 stars)

FTR ran down after the match and attacked the Young Buck and threatened to Pillmanize the ankle of Matt Jackson again, but Hangman Page ran down to drive them away, and Kenny Omega came down a bit later to check on Matt. All four men briefly stood united, with Hangman and Kenny even sharing a fist bump. The segment closed, however, with Hangman and Kenny face to face, with a lot of tension in the air. This is so compelling. I can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley came out for a faceoff, and Kingston talked about how he was taking the title and bringing it home to his mom, saying that it was why she doesn’t have grandkids or a daughter in law, because the title is all that matters. Moxley said that he has been burned more than once by his friends and he never expected to be burned by Kingston.

Moxley said he knew Eddie’s mom, and that sat at her table, said grace with her, and promised that he was going to protect Eddie, but he clearly failed. He was happy for Eddie getting an AEW contract, but that he was going to lose at Full Gear and he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise to Eddie’s mother. Eddie turned around and said, “This is real!” and left with anger towards Moxley. This was absolutely insane. Easily one of the best hype segments I have seen in years.

PAC’s promo video aired, with Eddie Kingston’s voice over asking “Where is your British friend?” to the Lucha Bros. PAC then said that 7 months was a long time to be alone, and that he has only gotten angrier, meaner, and ready to fight. This was absolutely fantastic.

A video aired of the Bunny giving QT Marshall his credit cards back before The Butcher & Blade attacked QT and Dustin Rhodes. Solid little segment.

Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) vs. Red Velvet (w/ Brandi Rhodes)

Nyla Rose crushed Red Velvet after a few seconds, hitting a Beast Bomb and the running knee that Shida used as a finisher. Vickie Guerrero said she was giving Brandi Rhodes a new title, CBSO (Chief Bull**** Officer), and that she had real business to take care off, threatening Hikaru Shida and saying that Rose was going to break Shida’s bones. Rose and Shida had a brief brawl that was pulled apart.

https://twitter.com/AEWonTNT/status/1324180226658611200

A hype video aired for Omega and Page with various wrestling personalities predicting who was going to win the match, including Don Callis from Impact predicting that Omega was going to win because he’s the best wrestler in the world. It then broke into a 80s power ballad (Cinderella – Don’t Know What You Got Until it’s Gone) as it recapped Kenny and Hangman’s tag team title reign and the subsequent problems since they lost the title. This video package was so awesome.

A video aired of Darby Allin driving a car towards a person wearing a Cody mask over their face. Darby ran over him with is car. This was simple and effective for what they were going for, and highlights what Darby plans to do at the PPV in a few days.

The Dark Order (Jon Silver, Colt Cabana, & Ten) vs. The Gunn Club (Billy & Austin Gunn) & Cody Rhodes

This was a basic six man tag went back and forth, but it was designed to highlight Cody for the upcoming TNT match, and they gave Austin Gunn a big win on TV, pinning Ten.

Result: Cody Rhodes & The Gunn Club

Rating: **1/2 (2.5 stars)

After the match, Orange Cassidy ran out to save Cody from a chair attack by Jon Silver. Cody then grabbed a mic and cut a promo on Darby, who was sitting in the stands. Cody said that Darby said that TNT didn’t want him as the face of the promotion, but Cody said that it simply wasn’t true. Cody said he is the one that convinced the other EVPs and TNT that Darby was a must have talent and had to wrestle him himself to prove it.

Cody said the only problem with that is that he isn’t the ace, and come Full Gear, he still wouldn’t be. The show went off the air as the announcers plugged the PPV. Cody then cut a promo on that aired on Fite after the show saying that he was glad that he had two names again, and that it felt good to be Cody Rhodes again.

Show Rating: ****1/2 (4.5 stars)

This was an awesome episode of AEW Dynamite. The main event wasn’t the best match on the card, and Cody’s promo was good, but I would have closed the show with Moxley and Kingston as it was so intense. With that being said, the build to Full Gear, especially with Omega vs. Page and Kingston vs. Moxley has been absolutely outstanding.