AEW Dynamite results: Samoa Joe debuts, Young Bucks vs. FTR

A big night for AEW coming off the first Tony Khan run ROH show, with the ROH Supercard of Honor. FTR defended their ROH World Tag Team Championship and AAA Tag Team Championship against The Young Bucks, and Samoa Joe made his AEW debut.

The show started fast with Adam Cole making his entrance to face off against Christian Cage in a first time ever singles match.

Adam Cole (The Elite) vs. Christian Cage

Cage and Cole started with some basic wrestling, with Cage staying on top of the early action until Cole baited Cage in and hit a punch and some kicks. Adam Cole tried to lure Cage into chasing him around the ring by spitting on him, but Cage simply went out the other side of the ring and clotheslined Cole.

Cole managed to send Cage into the guardrail and the steel steps, which sent Christian crashing to the floor. Cole choked Cage on the ropes by standing on his back as he was leaning on the ropes. Christian hit a leapfrog dive over the corner post to the floor on Cole, and rolled up Cole with sunset flip. Cage hit a tornado DDT for a 2-count.

Adam Cole begged off after this, but Christian was undaunted and went for the Killswitch. Cole shoved Christian into the corner and hit a backstabber for a 2-count. Christian hit a reverse DDT but missed a diving headbutt. Cole superkicked the knee of Cage and hit the Boom for a 2-count. Cage went for a dive off the top rope and ate a superkick, but Christian dodged the Panama Sunrise and went for a spear. Cole superkicked the knee of Cage to dodge it.

Cage avoided the Panama Sunrise again, but Cole hit a pump kick. Cole went for the Boom again, but Cage rolled him up and hit a spear for a 2-count. Cole thumbed Christian’s eyes and then hit the Boom for the 3-count.

Result: Adam Cole

Rating: **** (4 stars)

What a fantastic opening match. Cole is great, and Christian is always awesome. I would like to see them give them a solid 20-25 minutes sometime in the future.

After the match, ReDragon came down to attack Christian, but the Jurassic Express ran down and took them out, and Hangman Page’s music hit. Cole said he wasn’t going to fight Hangman until he had a title shot. Hangman grabbed the mic away from Cole, which made the crowd go insane, and Hangman said that if he wanted a match, Hangman was going to punish him and fight him next week on AEW Rampage in a Texas Death Match.

Samoa Joe vs. Max Caster: Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match

Samoa Joe made his debut here, with the fans delightedly chanting “Joe is going to kill you!” and Joe did not disappoint with a headbut and hard kicks in the corner. Joe hit an enziguri in the corner and hard chops and kicks that sent Caster to the floor. Caster tried to chop Joe, who just shrugged it off with disgust and elbowed Caster in the face before hitting the Muscle Buster.

Result: Samoa Joe via murder

Rating: 1 Billion Squash Stars

This was a wonderful bit of violence. Jay Lethal was with Sonjay Dutt backstage and claimed that Joe didn’t answer the phone when he called because he wouldn’t be having the issues he did if Joe would answer his calls. Lethal promised to give a present he will never forget next week.

Shawn Spears (The Pinnacle) vs. Captain Shawn Dean

Spears dumped Dean from the ring and went outside to point at the poster on the guardrail about how Wardlow was banned from the building. The fans chanted “Wardlow” like Goldberg’s name, and it irritated MJF who was on commentary. Spears hit a neckbreaker for a 2-count and then setup Dean for the C4 when the camera cut backstage to security staff laid out.

Wardlow made his way into the building, beating up several members of the security team into the ringside area. MJF was freaking out as the crowd cheered like crazy for Wardlow. Security swarmed Wardlow and dragged him away from ringside and as Shawn Spears was distracted, Shawn Dean rolled him up and pinned him.

Result: Shawn Dean

Wardlow left the arena with a big smile on his face. This was more of an angle than a match, but it worked for the live audience, and it’s great to see how over Wardlow is getting.

The Best Friends were backstage and Chuck Taylor wanted to talk with Wheeler Yuta, saying that he could become the best wrestler in the world while aligned with them. Trent then told Yuta to watch him on Rampage as he faced Bryan Danielson to learn how to wrestle at a main event level.

Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti came out with the signs calling out American Top Team. The crowd seemed to boo Guevara and Conti.

Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz attacked The Jericho Appreciation Society earlier in the night, destroying a monitor and chasing them out of the arena. Kingston came down to the ring to talk. Kingston talked about how he was not going to let any of them rest, and he was going to fight them on sight. Santana took the mic and said that they were going to keep bringing the fight to to the Jericho Appreciation Society, and Ortiz challenged them to a six-man tag next week in New Orleans.

A recap video aired about Hook and then Danhausen’s failure to curse hook.

Jade Cargill came out to be interviewed and introduced her Baddie Section. Cargill said she was going to only address Marina Shafir as “number 30” from now on, and she was tired of facing MMA rejects. Marina Shafir is known as the Problem, but Cargill said she was the problem solver.

The Butcher & Blade w/ The Bunny (Andrade Family Office) vs. The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) in a Tables Match

Butcher and Blade ripped legs off a table and immediately started attacking the Hardys with it. Blade setup a table in the corner and attempted to put Jeff Hardy through it. Blade charged at Hardy, but Jeff Hardy dodged and Blade went flying through it, but as he put himself through, the match was not over.

Butcher tried to German suplex Jeff through a table, but Matt Hardy made the save. Jeff Hardy went to the top rope but Blade caught his foot and Jeff fell off the ropes. Jeff Hardy was then eliminated by Butcher & Blade with a vertical suplex/crossbody combo from Butcher and Blade. Butcher tried to charge at Hardy, but crashed through a table when Matt Hardy moved.

Jeff Hardy may have been eliminated, but he stuck around as the match is technically No DQ. Matt Hardy hit Butcher and Blade with a chair. Matt Hardy hit a leg drop off the top rope through a table on Butcher, leaving Blade and Matt Hardy as the final two competitors in the match. Butcher looked to stay in the match too as Matt Hardy crashed through a table off the apron when the Blade moved.

Matt Hardy fled to the front row to get away from Butcher and Blade but they caught him and tried to suplex Hardy through it, but the table was moved out of the way by Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy seemed to fully recover from his elimination and was able to help Matt Hardy recover rom the suplex. Jeff Hardy pulled a ladder out from under the ring and set it up at ringside. Matt Hardy hit Butcher and Blade with Twists of Fate on the floor before putting Blade on the tables. Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb off the ladder through the tables for the win.

Result: The Hardys

Rating: **3/4

A rather normal tables match, with the expected spots. The Hardys took some crazy bumps, but it was mostly standard fare.

Andrade El Idolo’s music hit and the AFO made their way to ringside and were preparing to take out the Hardys when Sting’s music hit and he made his way to ringside and started taking out Private Party and Jose the Assistant. Andrade put The Bunny in front of him to avoid getting attacked and made his exit.

The Jurassic Express were backstage with Christian Cage, who threw his water bottle off set angry and unable to talk about his loss to Adam Cole. The Jurassic Express challenged ReDragon to a title match next week to settle their differences.

A video aired for Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose for the AEW World Women’s Championship at Battle at the Belts.

Tony Schiavone was backstage with Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm, and they promised that their feud would resume in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament if they faced off.

Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart w/ The Varsity Blondes in a Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match

Julia Hart attacked Shida before the match started and sent The Varsity Blondes to the back. Noticeable was the “corruption” from Malakai Black’s poison mist moving down the face of Julia Hart under her eye patch. Hart continued to be aggressive with some cheating and a more violent attitude.

Hart hit a standing moonsault press on Shida for a 2-count. Shida ended up hitting a charging knee in the corner and a vertical suplex. Shida hit a vertical suplex into the ring, but Hart kicked out. Hart gouged the eyes of Shida and hit a bulldog for a 2-count. Shida dodged a top rope splash and hit a falcon arrow for the pinfall.

Result: Hikaru Shida

Rating: **

Serena Deeb’s music hit and Deeb ran into the ring from behind with a steel chair and faced off with Shida who had her kendo stick. Deeb left before it came to blows, as it was a stalemate this time.

Alex Marvez was with Swerve Strickland and he talked about being at the Grammys but that his battle with Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks wasn’t over. Hobbs and Starks then ran in and started brawling with Keith Lee and Swerve. Lee fired back and put Hobbs through a wall into another locker room while Starks and Swerve took each other out.

ROH & AAA World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) w/ Brandon Cutler (The Elite) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler)

Matt Jackson started the match with Cash Wheeler, with FTR going into a pure babyface role in this one. Wheeler hit a shoulder block and sett Matt Jackson to the floor. Nick Jackson and Dax Harwood came into the ring, with both men exchanging holds, with Dax Harwood doing a Ricky Steamboat like armdrag, and then all 4 men faced off.

The Bucks and FTR just started brawling to the delight of the fans, before the Bucks hit double dropkicks on both men. Wheeler blocked a superkick and locked a sharpshooter on Matt Jackson. Nick Jackson tried to superkick Wheeler but he ducked and Dax Harwood locked a sharpshooter on Nick Jackson.

The Bucks managed to turn it around though Matt Jackson was selling his back, and continued to do so from a storyline injury in NJPW over 5 years ago. The Bucks slowed the match down and isolated Cash Wheeler with fundamental tag team wrestling. As soon as it looked like Cash Wheeler was going to tag out, Nick Jackson superkicked Dax Harwood on the apron. The Bucks missed their usual corner kick from Nick Jackson when Wheeler dodged and Nick accidentally nailed Matt Jackson.

Harwood came in and ran wild with suplexes and chops before cradling Matt Jackson for a 2-count. The led to a big exchange of pinfall attempts ending when Dax Harwood nailed Matt Jackson with a piledriver for a 2-count. Wheeler hit a back suplex on Nick Jackson on the apron as Harwood swept the legs out of Matt Jackson on the top turnbuckle. Harwood hit a suplex on Matt Jackson, but Nick Jackson jumped up and hit a top rope hurricanrana on Wheeler to prevent the splash.

Wheeler hit a Gory Special on Matt Jackson for a 2-count. FTR went for the Big Rig, but the Bucks countered with hitting Wheeler with a low blow and hitting a Big Rig of their own for a 2-count. The Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Wheeler for a 2-count. Nick Jackson hit Wheeler with a ROH title belt, but Harwood stopped the pinfall from happening.

The Bucks hit a double superkick on Harwood and hit a BTE Trigger on Wheeler, and the referee counted 3, but Wheeler’s foot was on the ropes, so the referee ruled the match as continuing to a roar from the crowd. Nick Jackson tried to jump in with a Meltzer Driver on Wheeler, but Harwood caught Nick Jackson and hit a powerbomb. FTR then hit a BTE Trigger on Matt Jackson, kissed him on the cheeks, and hit the Big Rig for the 3.

Result: FTR

Rating: ****3/4

This was a fantastic main event tag team match. I can’t say it was as good as their first match, but this was very close. An excellent way to end the show, and I like FTR as babyfaces.

Show Rating: ****

A great episode of AEW Dynamite that setup matches for the next few weeks heading in Rampage, Dynamite, and Battle of the Belts.