Tag: Brian Cage

Darby Allin will defend his TNT Championship for the first time tonight on AEW Dynamite New Year’s Smash night two. Allin defends against Team Taz’s Brian Cage. 

Allin’s feud with Team Taz stretches back months, as he took on Ricky Starks on Dynamite in September. Since claiming the TNT title from Cody Rhodes at Full Gear on November 7, Allin, Rhodes, and later Sting, have been feuding with Team Taz. Allin and Rhodes defeated Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks at Winter is Coming on December 2, Allin’s most recent match. 

Serena Deeb will defend the NWA World Women’s Championship against Tay Conti tonight. Conti will have The Dark Order in her corner. 

PAC will take on Eddie Kingston this evening. Since returning to AEW in November, PAC has been feuding with members of Eddie Kingston’s stable. He has defeated The Butcher and The Blade in singles matches, while he and Rey Fenix lost to Butcher and Blade in tag action. 

The Elite have been advertised as being in six-man tag action against unnamed opponents. It is expected that the Elite trio will be comprised of Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers. 

Chuck Taylor will face Miro. If Taylor loses, he will be forced to become Miro’s “Young Boy” until Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford’s wedding. 

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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Show Report —

Earlier today, Eddie Kingston said he would bust PAC up and send him back home.

PAC (w/ Lucha Bros) defeated Eddie Kingston (w/ Butcher, Blade, & Bunny)

This was a good, hard-hitting match. Kingston’s selling was the best part.

PAC exploded out before the bell with a shotgun dropkick before landing a Fosbury flop on the outside. Back in the ring, PAC continued to put the boots to Kingston before hitting a missile dropkick. Kingston countered a corner attack with a second-rope knee drop.

Kingston sent PAC out of the ring, and Bunny dug her nails into PAC’s face while Kingston distracted the official. While Fénix complained to the official, Kingston hit an exploder suplex on the floor. While the two teams exchanged words on the floor, Kingston hit a neckbreaker, beginning a targeted attack on PAC’s neck.

A series of chops from Kingston allowed him to maintain control. They had a striking battle in the center of the ring as PAC fought back with forearms before making his comeback with a sequence of strikes and a German suplex. PAC laid in mid kicks, but Kingston fired up with strikes and a backdrop suplex for two.

PAC stunned Kingston on the top rope with an enziguiri before following it up with a superplex. He continued the offense until Kingston popped up with a big lariat for two. PAC countered a DDT and hit a running dropkick before landing the Black Arrow for the win.

After the match, PAC locked on the Brutalizer until Butcher and Blade ran in to break it up. As they all squared off, Lance Archer’s music hit, and he and Jake Roberts made their way to the ring. Archer chased off Kingston and co. before exchanging words with PAC.

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Miro (w/ Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford) defeated Chuck Taylor (w/ Orange Cassidy)

If Miro wins, Taylor has to be his butler until Sabian and Ford’s wedding.

Miro posed at the bell, so Taylor attacked with strikes before sending Miro to the floor. Taylor sent Miro into the staging area multiple times before landing a tope con hilo. He continued the attack on the floor, sending Miro into the ring post and landing a diving knee drop. Taylor went to the top rope, but was distracted when Sabian attacked Cassidy. Miro took advantage with a Samoan drop.

It was elementary from there as Miro hit a thrust kick and locked on Game Over, forcing Taylor to tap out in under four minutes.

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Matt Hardy and Private Party were interviewed after the tag team signed Hardy as their manager. Hardy had to speak first, but Private Party was still excited about Hardy’s management… that is, until Quen complained about Hardy taking a large chunk of their earnings. They called Hardy a “money-grabbing carny.” Hardy said that Private Party was nothing before him, and demanded that they listen to him from now on.

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Inner Circle’s New Year’s Resolutions

Jericho said “who wants to start?” Hager simply yelled “championships, yeah!” MJF wanted to strengthen bonds with everyone else in the group, and also get rid of fat people. Ortiz wanted to master a sofrito recipe. 

The resolution for Jericho was winning the AEW tag team championships with MJF. Santana took offense to this, as he and Ortiz are the Inner Circle’s designated tag team. Guevara said that he understands what’s going on here: Jericho is a “tag team slut.”

MJF stood up for Jericho as the rest of the group calmed each other down. Jericho said that any one of them could team with another and win the championships. So next week, there will be a three-way match to determine the official tag team of the Inner Circle. The teams will be MJF & Jericho, Santana & Ortiz, and Sammy & Hager (ha, ha). MJF wrapped it up with the group’s signature middle fingers.

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The Dark Order were interviewed about what’s next for the group. Evil Uno said that they will perform in Brodie Lee’s name, and they have to be better people. It all starts next week when Hangman Page will team with the Dark Order again. Silver was extremely excited. Reynolds asked when they’d know for sure about Page joining the Dark Order, and Page said he’d make a decision next week.

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An excellent video played recapping the background behind Brian Cage challenging Darby Allin. 

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Kenny Omega, Don Callis, and the Young Bucks arrived for their upcoming match. They agreed to have separate entrances.

After Omega’s entrance, Callis took the mic and said “the band is back together” before introducing Omega’s “two best friends in the world,” the Good Brothers. The Bucks were shown backstage, offended because it appeared that Callis was talking about the Bucks. 

Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (w/ Don Callis) defeated Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.) & Danny Limelight

Omega and co. attacked before the bell, taking control on the floor. Limelight got a hope spot in the ring, but Gallows downed him with a clothesline. Varsity Blondes sent the Good Brothers packing, allowing the match to reset.

The Blondes maintained control on Omega with frequent tags until Limelight tagged in and a Gallows kick allowed Omega to hit the Kotaro Crusher. Omega, Gallows, and Anderson kept up the attack through a commercial break.

Back from break, Limelight landed a springboard hurricanrana and avoided a German before hitting a kick, allowing him to reach Pillman for the hot tag. Pillman ran wild on all three opponents before teaming with Garrison to hit a doomsday blockbuster for two on Anderson. 

Omega ran into the ring and his team regained control, hitting a triple neckbreaker, but their opponents broke it up. A big boot from Anderson got another two. The Good Brothers went for the Gun Stun, but Limelight tagged in. Anderson stopped Limelight’s attack with a spinebuster, and the Good Brothers hit the Magic Killer for three.

As Omega and the Good Brothers celebrated, Jon Moxley’s music played, and he ran in for a fight, but he was outnumbered. The Lucha Bros ran out to even the odds, and some AEW Dark talent ran out to break up the fight. Moxley landed a tope on a big pile before the Young Bucks entered the fray to try and talk Moxley down. The Lucha Bros downed the Young Bucks with superkicks, and a wild free-for-all brawl ensued as Omega and Callis escaped.

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The Waiting Room with Dr. Britt Baker

Rebel introduced Baker to start the segment, and then Baker introduced Cody Rhodes as her guest. Baker went through a campy comedy schtick, which was intentionally bad, as Rebel laughed along obnoxiously, before Cody came out.

Baker congratulated Cody on his and Brandi’s pregnancy. Cody was about to talk about the year to come, but Baker interrupted him and introduced Jade Cargill as her surprise guest. 

Cargill grabbed the mic and said that nobody cares about Brandi’s pregnancy. She demanded an opponent and said that if Brandi ever returns, she was going to beat her ass. Red Velvet entered and she and Cargill slapped each other before getting into a pull-apart brawl. 

It cut to a video of Baker’s attack on Thunder Rosa from a couple weeks ago. It was followed by a video promo from Rosa, who said that Baker and Rosa would wrestle each other at Beach Break on February 3. Baker complained and said that it wasn’t happening, but a graphic for it came up on the screen. Baker closed the segment.

That was one of the worst segments in Dynamite history. Everything was disjointed, they tried to fit way too much into one segment, and the one advertised thing about the segment –– an interview with Cody Rhodes –– didn’t even happen, making two straight segments where that occurred.

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FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (w/ Tully Blanchard) defeated Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt)

This was a strong tag match, with Stunt holding his own in there against one of the best tag teams in the world.

They wrestled around for a bit at the start before the two teams faced off against each other in the ring. Harwood shoved Stunt into the corner, but Stunt fired back with a slap, which just made Harwood mad. FTR began an extended beatdown of Stunt with frequent tags and power moves.

A tijeras and dropkick allowed Stunt to escape to Jungle Boy for a hot tag. Jurassic Express hit double up kicks before Stunt used assists from Jungle Boy to dispatch both of FTR. Stunt landed a tope through Jungle Boy’s legs before Jungle Boy landed a quebrada.

During the break, FTR took control of the match once again with a double team attack on Stunt. Stunt escaped a Gory Special with a roll-up before avoiding a powerbomb to reach Jungle Boy for his second hot tag. Jungle Boy landed a series of strikes, concluding with a backstabber on Harwood for two. 

Jungle Boy and Harwood fought on the top rope before Jungle Boy landed a top-rope hurricanrana, but Wheeler broke up the pin. Harwood rolled up Jungle Boy with a handful of trunks, but he kicked out at two. Stunt tagged in and went for Sliced Bread, but Harwood countered it and leveled Stunt with a lariat.

Harwood beat Stunt down in the corner, but Stunt fought his way out and hit Sliced Bread for two. Stunt rolled to the outside, where Tully rammed him into the ring post. Jungle Boy confronted Tully, but ran into a lariat from Wheeler, who proceeded to send him into the barricade. Back in the ring, FTR hit the Big Rig on Stunt for the win.

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NWA Women’s World Championship: Serena Deeb (c) defeated Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay)

Having watched Conti’s entire NXT career, I am absolutely floored by how good she’s looked in her last two AEW appearances.

They performed chain wrestling at the start as the commentators discussed both women’s martial arts chops. Deeb applied a quick cradle for two, but Conti fought back through applying a heel hook. Deeb countered it into a chinlock, but Conti hit a judo throw as the match reset. 

Conti went for a triangle sleeper, but Deeb escaped and landed a sliding lariat for two. They exchanged cradles until Conti downed Deeb with a pump kick. Conti maintained control with judo throws during the break.

A full nelson into a stunner got two for Conti. Deeb countered another hold into a stretch muffler, but Conti reached the ropes. Conti countered the Serenity Lock into a cradle, but Deeb, hit a gutbuster for two.

Deeb perched Conti up top and used the ropes as leverage to apply a Gory Special. Conti evaded the follow-up and hit a pump kick. She went for the Tay-KO, but Deeb countered into the Deeb-tox for the win.

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Next week’s Dynamite card:

• Chris Jericho & MJF vs. Santana & Ortiz vs. Sammy Guevara & Jake Hager
• Matt Hardy & Private Party vs. Matt Sydal & Top Flight
• Brodie “-1” Lee Jr. Birthday Celebration Match: Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds, & Colt Cabana) & Hangman Page vs. The Hybrid2 & Chaos Project
• Nyla Rose vs. Leyla Hirsch
• Jon Moxley in action
• Miro and Chuck Taylor update

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TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) defeated Brian Cage (w/ Ricky Starks & HOOK)

This match was awesome. These guys worked the David vs. Goliath formula to perfection.

Taz joined commentary before the match, where it was revealed that only two members of Team Taz were allowed at ringside, explaining Powerhouse Hobbs’ absence.

Allin immediately kicked out Cage’s legs and landed a low tope suicida before driving Cage into the barricade. He went for another tope, but Cage caught him out of midair and suplexed him on the floor.

Back in the ring, Allin landed a defiant slap, but Allin clotheslined him down. Cage then pressed Allin above his head and tossed him through a ringside table onto concrete. That was insane, and Allin was busted open. Cage tossed Allin back in the ring and continued the beatdown. 

Cage hit a running uppercut and a gamenguiri followed by a release German suplex. He repeatedly threw Allin into the corner and laid in ground and pound, keeping up the beatdown through a commercial break. 

Allin went for a dive, so Cage caught him and hit an F5, but Allin kicked out at one. Cage hit a series of three powerbombs, releasing on the third. A defiant Allin flipped Cage off, so Cage powerbombed Allin onto the ramp. Cage brought Allin back into the ring with a suplex over the ropes, but Allin once again kicked out at one, infuriating Cage.

Cage pulled out the ring steps and set up to F5 Allin onto them, but Allin fought out and bit Cage’s hand, sending him onto the steps. Allin then landed a Coffin Drop onto Cage on the steps. Cage barely made it back into the ring at the count of nine.

Allin laid in slaps, but Cage caught a Coffin Drop attempt. He tried to apply a bear hug, but Allin bit his way out and hit a stunner. Allin then tied a belt around Cage’s ankles, but Cage fought back anyway. Cage removed the belt, but Allin hit Code Red for a close near fall. Allin dropkicked Cage into the corner and hit a double stomp.

Starks tried to get involved, but lights went out and Sting appeared with a bat, dispatching Starks. Cage went for an avalanche F5, but Allin countered it into crucifix bomb to retain the championship.

Snow fell and Allin and Sting stood tall in the ring to end the show.