Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill emerged victorious tonight in their match against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet.
The match opened tonight’s edition of AEW Dynamite. The finish came when Cody crossbodied Shaq over the apron and to the floor, crashing through two tables on the outside. In the ring, Velvet and Cargill continued the match until Cargill pinned Velvet with a sitout chickenwing slam.
After the match, Shaq was stretchered out and was loaded into an ambulance. After a brief cut to ringside, the cameras switched to Tony Schiavone entering the ambulance to talk to Shaq. However, he was nowhere to be seen.
The match’s build started in November, when Cargill made her debut and had a confrontation with Cody, teasing Shaq’s AEW arrival. This led to a sit-down interview with Shaquille O’Neal and Brandi Rhodes, which ended with Brandi throwing water at Shaq after he said that she could learn something from Cargill.
Shaqjuille O’Neal eventually made the challenge to Cody Rhodes on an episode of Inside the NBA. Rhodes countered with the tag team match, which Shaq accepted.
Shaquille O’Neal makes his AEW in-ring debut on tonight’s episode of Dynamite: The Crossroads.
Shaq will team with Jade Cargill against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet in a tag match in tonight’s opener.
The finals of the AEW Women’s World title eliminator tournament will also take place. The winner of the United States bracket, Nyla Rose, takes on Japan bracket winner Ryo Mizunami. The winner will face AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida at Sunday’s Revolution PPV.
Paul Wight will make his first AEW appearance. His signing was announced ahead of last week’s taped Dynamite and referenced in passing on commentary.
Tully Blanchard will return to in-ring action on tonight’s show. He will team up with FTR against Jurassic Express.
Prior to their AEW World Tag Team title match against The Young Bucks, challengers Chris Jericho and MJF will hold a press conference this evening.
10 (Preston Vance) of The Dark Order will take on Max Caster in a qualifying match for Sunday’s Face of the Revolution ladder match.
Hangman Page and John Silver will tag against Matt Hardy and Marq Quen. Page faces Hardy at Revolution with the winner getting the loser’s first quarter 2021 earnings.
Plus, PAC and Rey Fenix will team up in tag team action. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Show Report —
Before the opener, a video package aired recapping the feud from start to finish.
This was so much better than it had any right to be. All four competitors should be commended for making it work.
Cody and Shaq started. They locked up right away, but Shaq was able to easily push his way out of an arm wringer. Shaq pumped up the crowd and performed a little jig. Cody forced him into a corner and laid in right hands, but Shaq turned it around with a frying pan chop. He then countered Cody running the ropes with a back body drop.
Shaq continued the offense with more overhand chops, then Cargill tagged herself in, as did Velvet. They wrestled around until Cargill downed Velvet with a bicycle knee. Velvet fought back with kicks but was overpowered once again by Cargill. Velvet landed a diving crossbody, but Cargill rolled through and downed Velvet with a fallaway slam.
Cargill provoked Cody into knocking Shaq off the apron, where he was met with a chair shot from Austin Gunn. Shaq ran wild on the Nightmare Family, including both Gunn children and QT Marshall. The camera panned over, where Velvet landed an Orihara moonsault onto Cody and Cargill on the floor.
Back in the ring, Cargill locked in the figure four on Velvet. After a long fight, she released the hold and taunted before heading to the floor. Cargill pulled out a table and set it up on the floor, but took too long, allowing Velvet to attack. Velvet then pulled out a table of her own and set it up right next to the first one.
Velvet scored a cyclone kick on Velvet and tagged in Cody, which meant Shaq had to come in too. Shaq called for a test of strength, but Cody booted him in the gut. Shaq hit a knee lift and then a nice powerbomb on Cody, but Cody hit the Rhodes right hand and was able to slam Shaq for two.
The women tagged in and traded strikes in the middle of the ring. After a long exchange, Velvet ran into a Cargill spinebuster and covered, but Cody broke up the count.
In one of the most ridiculous spots I’ve ever seen on television, Cody then dove over the top rope, taking out Shaq, and both crashed through the tables on the floor.
Velvet then hit a spear on Cargill for a close near fall. She tried to follow it up, but Cargill overpowered Velvet with a wheelbarrow facebuster for the win.
– During the commercial break, Shaq was loaded into an ambulance. However, it cut to Tony Shiavone, who tried to interview, and when the ambulance doors opened, Shaq was gone.
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PAC & Rey Fénix defeated John Skyler & D3
This only went a minute or two. Skyler and D3 are Dark talent and they didn’t get a single bit of offense as PAC and Fénix threw bomb after bomb. The 450 from PAC and the Fire Thunder Driver from Fénix finished it.
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Inner Circle Press Conference
The press conference was moderated by Dasha, and Jericho and MJF were joined by Santana, Ortiz, and Wardlow. Someone asked a question, but it wasn’t mic’d up correctly and we couldn’t hear it. Jericho talked about his career accomplishments, including being a seven-time world tag team champion. None of his partners are better than MJF, however.
Conrad Thompson was next, and the mic worked this time. He asked about the chance of Sammy Guevara coming back to the Inner Circle, so Jericho and MJF exploded on him and sent him packing. The next question was why they attacked the Young Bucks’ father last week. MJF said it was an act of self-defense, and he was upset because his suit got all bloody. He then said it wasn’t his idea. Santana took the mic and said there wasn’t a line that the Inner Circle wouldn’t cross.
Eric Bischoff asked the next question, specifically to Jericho. He asked if he knew the condition of Papa Buck, then asked how stupid it was to give more motivation to the Bucks. Jericho said they don’t know Papa Buck’s condition, and they don’t care.
The Young Bucks then interrupted. They talked about how their dad is the greatest person in the world, and everything he taught them — everything Jericho and MJF’s parents’ apparently didn’t teach them. It was those teachings that allowed the Bucks to help create AEW, which are the only reasons MJF and Jericho are currently in high profile wrestling positions.
The Bucks then landed superkicks on Jericho and MJF, then an all-out brawl ensued with the Inner Circle, The Good Brothers, Brandon Cutler, referees, and backstage officials getting involved. Santana and Ortiz were placed on tables, and both of the Bucks landed sentons on them, putting them through the tables.
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A video package for Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley played. It focused on the background and brutality of the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. Atsushi Onita, innovator of this match, was a part of the video.
There was so much NWA nostalgia in this great tag match, but modernized for a current audience.
This was Tully Blanchard’s first match since 2007. He came out with the old silver NWA United States title.
All six men squared off at the bell before Jungle Boy and Harwood were the two left in the ring. Jungle Boy dispatched both of FTR with dropkicks before immediately going for the Snare Trap submission. Harwood was too close the ropes, and Wheeler pulled Jungle Boy to the floor, where he fell victim to another Snare Trap.
While Jungle Boy and Wheeler wrestled on the floor, Dillon slipped Harwood his shoe, where a shot to Jungle Boy got two. Tully tagged in and teased making a dive, but he thought the better of it and strutted away heading into the commercial break, where the heels continued their beatdown of Jungle Boy.
Wheeler went for a corner splash but fell into a boot from Jungle Boy, allowing Luchasaurus to tag in. The dinosaur ran wild on FTR, and then he tossed Stunt into Tully for a crossbody. Luchasaurus then hit a double German suplex before going for a chokeslam, which Harwood escaped out of. Harwood then avoided a corner spear, sending Luchasaurus into the post.
Jungle Boy topped Harwood from going to the top rope, sending him into Luchasaurus for two. Wheeler pulled Luchasaurus to the floor and hit a swinging DDT, then FTR hit a superplex frog splash combination on Jungle Boy for two. Wheeler then hit repeated suplex bridges, but one was interrupted with a Stunt splash. Tully hit his signature slingshot suplex on Stunt.
Tully and Luchasaurus faced off in the ring, where Luchasaurus landed the Tail Whip kick. Jurassic Express hit their tag team finisher, the Thoracic Express, but Wheeler kicked out. Jungle Boy tried to land a dive on Harwood and Tully, but a cameraman got in the way and then attacked Luchasaurus with the camera.
FTR and Tully then hit the assisted spike piledriver, with Tully pinning Luchasaurus for the win.
– After the match, the cameraman unmasked, and it was a returning Shawn Spears. Arn Anderson briefly appeared on the ramp, flashing four fingers.
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Tony Schiavone announced that his co-host for the new AEW Dark: Elimination show is the newly signed Paul Wight. Wight came out and jokingly asked if anyone saw this “turn” coming before emphasizing how happy he is to be here. He then said that he has a big scoop: this Sunday at Revolution, AEW is going to sign a Hall of Fame-worthy talent.
This was the third very good match of the show, a fitting tournament final. Some of Mizunami’s schtick didn’t really stick, but when she gets going, it’s pretty spectacular.
After being absent for most of Rose’s tournament matches, Guerrero returned to manage Rose in this match.
They had a strong style shoulder block battle to start before trading forearms. Rose got the first knockdown of the match with her own shoulder tackle. She went for a quick Beast Bomb, but Mizunami powered out of it and laid in machine gun chops in the corner. Mizunami then did her rope gimmick, concluding with a corner clothesline as always.
Rose easily flattened Mizunami with a flipping senton for two, then a powerslam for another two into the break. Mizunami got a couple brief hope spots, but Rose would always cut her off with her power as women’s champion Hikaru Shida was shown looking on.
Mizunami rolled out of the way of Rose’s senton bomb and fired up. She sent Rose to the apron and then tackled her out of the ring. Rose regained the advantage, but had her legs swept out and took a hard fall on the apron. Mizunami then landed the apron leg drop that allowed her to beat Kong by countout. The official reached the count of nine, but Rose rolled into the ring, where she was immediately met with another leg drop for two.
Rose weathered strikes from Mizunami and landed short lariats of her own. After a hard lariat, Rose hit a Death Valley driver for two. She draped Mizunami over the top rope and hit the diving knee drop, but Mizunami kicked out as Guerrero screamed on the floor. Rose tried to keep up the offense with the Beast Bomb, but Mizunami fought back with an exploder.
Mizunami then climbed the ropes but was met by Rose, who hit a superplex for two. Mizunami fired up with a German suplex and a spear before hitting another guillotine leg drop to win the tournament and advance to face Hikaru Shida at Revolution.
– After the match, Shida presented Mizunami with her trophy, but Mizunami wanted to keep fighting and exchanging forearms. They smiled at each other as Shida posed with her belt.
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Tony Schiavone brought out Sting for an interview. Sting said his preparation evolves every single week, as he found out he wasn’t ready when Brian Cage powerbombed him through the ring. But now that he’s shaken off the rust, Sting feels like he’s ready for a street fight.
Ricky Starks interrupted alone and admitted that he’s seen some fire from Sting, and that Sting’s still got it. However, he still stands behind what he said, which is that Sting isn’t an icon. He then slapped Sting, who beat up Starks in return with a Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Deathlock.
Powerhouse Hobbs and HOOK ran in to break it up, then Cage and Taz made their way out, where Cage put Sting in powerbomb position. Allin then ran out and put Cage in a sleeper, allowing Sting to land another Stinger Splash. Allin followed it up with a shotgun dropkick as Team Taz regrouped on the ramp.
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Scorpio Sky, who is in the Revolution ladder match, joined commentary for this match. He wasn’t that engaging, affecting a strange heelish tone.
Preston “10” Vance (w/ -1) vs. Max Caster in a Revolution Ladder Match Qualifier
Caster did his rapping gimmick and 10 had to hold -1 back ahead of the match.
10 rolled Caster up right away for two. They had a back and forth exchange where 10 landed a running crossbody for a near fall. He followed it up with ten right hands in the corner before clotheslining Caster out of the ring. Caster took control on the floor before rolling 10 back into the ring as the show went to commercial.
They recovered from a double down coming back from break and 10 immediately went into his comeback. He hit a spinebuster on Caster before landing a slingshot spear for two. Caster took 10 down with an arm drag and hit a nice brainbuster before going for Acclaim 2 Fame, where 10 rolled out of the way.
10 brought Caster back in the hard way with a powerbomb, but Caster put his foot on the ropes during the cover. With the official distracted, Jack Evans, of all people, whacked 10 with the boom box, and Caster covered for the win.
Caster acted like he didn’t know what happened, but Hardy showed up as it appeared to be part of his mission to take out the Dark Order.
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AEW Revolution card:
Buy-In: Riho & Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. & Reba
Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor
TNT Championship #1 Contender Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer vs. Penta El Cero Miedo vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Max Caster vs. ???
Paul Wight’s major announcement regarding AEW’s next signing
AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Ryo Mizunami
Big Money Match: Hangman Page vs. Matt Hardy
Street Fight: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Team Taz (Brian Cage & Ricky Starks)
Casino Tag Team Battle Royal
AEW Tag Team Championships: Young Bucks (c) vs. Chris Jericho & MJF
AEW World Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jon Moxley
During the card rundown, a quick Miro promo aired where he said he’d bring destruction to Revolution.
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Hangman Page & John Silver defeated Matt Hardy & Marq Quen
Hardy landed a cheap shot on Silver early on, allowing his team to take control. Page tagged in and tried to lariat Hardy, but Hardy tossed Silver in the way, and Page stopped himself just in time. Quen tagged in ahead of the commercial break but was pounded in the corner by Page. The match layout here was odd, as the babyfaces controlled the action most of the way.
Back from break, Silver got tied in the ropes and Hardy sent him crashing down with a Side Effect on the apron. Hardy and Quen beat down Silver with frequent tags. Silver finally escaped for the hot tag to Page, who easily took control on Quen while continuing to try to go after Hardy. Quen took out Page’s knees, but inadvertently kicked Hardy on the follow up.
Page took advantage with a fallaway slam on Quen and a plancha onto Hardy on the floor. Quen stomped Page upon re-entry to the ring but was caught with a Death Valley Driver. Page tossed Quen into the corner, demanding that Hardy tag in, but Hardy wouldn’t do it. Quen was able to kick out Page’s knee and tag in Hardy, who called for the Twist of Fate. Page countered it with a back suplex before Silver tagged in.
Silver immediately crushed Hardy with a spear before laying in kicks and a brainbuster, but Hardy kicked out at two. Quen took out Page, Hardy downed Silver with a back suplex, and Quen landed a missile dropkick. Silver was able to tag in Page, and the two effortlessly worked together with a big sequence of moves on Quen, concluded with the Buckshot Lariat for the win. Hardy had a chance to break up the pin, but wouldn’t.
– After the match, Hardy attacked Page with the microphone and laid in shots with it in between cutting a promo on him. The rest of the Dark Order came out to make the save as -1 directed traffic on the stage. The rest of the teams in the Casino Battle Royal came out for a brawl with dozens of people involved as the show went off the air.
The Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet match will take place on Dynamite on March 3.
AEW confirmed the date on tonight’s Dynamite. They showed footage of O’Neal accepting the challenge on last Thursday’s Inside the NBA.
Cargill first arrived in AEW back in November, teasing a confrontation between her and O’Neal against Cody and his wife Brandi. Cargill attacked Brandi at one point, wrapping her arm around a chair and stomping on it. That led to a sitdown interview between Shaq and Brandi that led to Brandi throwing water at Shaq after he made comments about how Brandi could learn some pointers from Cargill.
During last week’s AEW Dynamite Awards show on B/R Live, Shaq officially challenged Cody to match for sometime in March. Cody accepted the challenge on Dynamite, with Arn Anderson introducing Red Velvet as a tag team partner, as Brandi is currently pregnant. Velvet and Cargill had previously brawled on an episode of the Waiting Room with Britt Baker. Cody threw the challenge back at Shaq, with interviewer Tony Schiavone saying that the ball was now in Shaq and Cargill’s court.
Sixteen matches are set for this Tuesday’s edition of AEW Dark.
AEW’s social media announced today that a match between Sammy Guevara and Marko Stunt had been added to the lineup, which was posted earlier this morning.
Additionally, a three way tag team match will be taking place. Chaos Project will meet the Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson as well as the team of Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela.
The Waiting Room, a new talk show hosted by Britt Baker, will also make a return. This week’s guest will be Tay Conti.
Here is the entire lineup for this week’s Dark, which will stream on Tuesday at 7 pm EST:
Sammy Guevara vs. Marko Stunt
Chaos Project vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela
Gunn Club vs. Cezar Bononi, KTB, & Seth Gargis
The Acclaimed vs. Alex Chamberlain & Damian Fenrir
Brandon Cutler vs. Adam Priest
Penelope Ford vs. Dreamgirl Ellie
Fuego del Sol vs. Peter Avalaon
Ivelisse & Diamante vs. Lady Frost & “Bionic Beast” Jenna
Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Lee Johnson & Aaron Solow
Kilynn King vs. Rache Chanel
Trent vs. Michael Nakazawa
Matt Sydal vs. Alan Angels
The Hybrid2 vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.
AEW Dynamite airs live tonight from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
After defeating Chris Jericho at Full Gear, MJF will be inducted into The Inner Circle tonight. MJF faked being hit by a baseball bat at Full Gear to create an issue between Jericho and referee Aubrey Edwards, allowing MJF to roll Jericho up and pin him while holding the tights.
Natural Nightmares vs. The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny) has been announced. This feud began on AEW Dark where it was revealed that The Bunny had been seducing QT Marshall only to financially ruin him before she returned to her Bunny persona and her real-life husband, The Blade.
An appearance by new number one contender to Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship Kenny Omega was announced earlier today.
A Cody Rhodes promo has also been advertised. Rhodes lost the TNT Championship to Darby Allin at Full Gear.
Penta El Zero M vs. Rey Fenix will take place. The tag partners faced off in the first round of the World title eliminator tournament. Fenix came away with the win, but Penta took his place in the second round against Kenny Omega after Fenix was injured.
Shawn Spears (w/Tully Blanchard) will take on Scorpio Sky. This bout was originally slated for last week, but Sky was pulled from the show due to COVID contact tracing.
Brian Cage vs. Matt Sydal and Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet have also been announced for the show.
Tony Khan has also promised that “the balance of power in wrestling will shift tonight.”
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Dynamite has a fresh presentation package, including a new intro and revised graphics.
Taz opened the show with a promo ahead of Brian Cage’s match against Matt Sydal. He addressed Darby Allin, who was sitting high up in the audience. Taz told Allin not to interfere in the match, and to tell Cody Rhodes the same thing. Taz put over Sydal, and notably said that Sydal has a win over Chris Jericho, which was either a mistake where Taz meant to say “Christopher Daniels” or a reference to their WWE days.
Brian Cage (w/ Taz & Ricky Starks) defeated Matt Sydal
Taz joined commentary. Sydal surprised Cage with a couple kicks. Cage popped up and beat him down with power moves and strikes. Sydal would occasionally hit some hopeful offense, but Cage’s power was too much. Cage taunted Sydal by curling him.
Cage got cocky and attempted a hurricanrana, which Sydal turned into a hurricanrana before hitting a brutal meteora on the ramp. Sydal hit kicks and a standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Cage went for the Drill Claw, but Sydal fought out. Sydal hit a roundhouse kick but was leveled with a lariat before countering out of the Drill Claw into a cradle for a close near fall.
Sydal attempted a top-rope blockbuster, but Cage caught him out of midair right into the Drill Claw for the win.
After the match, Starks cut a promo, emphasizing how he and Cage are both now on the men’s singles rankings. “The revolution will be televised.”
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Cody Rhodes made his full entrance and congratulated Darby Allin on his championship victory. Cody will not be seeking a rematch, and instead wants a match with MJF. Some tall bodybuilder woman entered the ring, took the microphone, and accused Cody of lying.
Her name is Jade Cargill, and she called herself the “total package”. She’s been sitting on the sidelines studying her competition. Cargill said that Cody wants to topple giants, but there’s nothing giant about Cody.
Cargill told Cody to keep his thoughts to himself, and told him to watch his back, before sarcastically congratulating him on his name. Cargill said that Cody was too scared to go by just one name, and said that the giant she’s representing was Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal).
Brandi Rhodes came out and tore into Cargill, but Cargill was unfazed. Cargill gave Brandi a lovetap on the way out before Jerry Lynn came out to prevent the fight.
With Cody distracted, Cage re-entered the ring and laid him out. He and Starks attacked Cody, but Allin’s music played, and he made the save. Cody’s music played as Will Hobbs made his way out to even the odds.
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Alex Marvez interviewed Jon Moxley. When Moxley came to AEW he wasn’t interested in championships, but now, the world title represents every single one of the fans. He has a big challenge ahead with Kenny Omega. He’s beaten Omega once, but beating him twice is another story.
They announced that Moxley will the AEW World Championship against Omega in three weeks, on the December 2 episode of Dynamite. It was billed as the “biggest match in Dynamite history.”
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Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) defeated The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Allie) in a Bunkhouse Match
This was tons of fun.
There are no disqualifications or countouts in a Bunkhouse match. Everyone in the match was wearing jeans and there were props next to the stage.
Marshall attacked before the bell and the Natural Nightmares worked over their opponents on the floor. Dustin hit the Final Reckoning on Blade through a chair. Bunny distracted them, and Blade smashed a guitar over Marshall’s head as Dustin grabbed a bullrope. Dustin set up to use the rope but was leveled with a chair shot from Butcher.
The camera cut to Marshall, who was bloodied. Bunny handcuffed Dustin to the ropes. It was all Butcher and Blade during the commercial break as Dustin was helpless and Marshall was incapacitated.
A ladder and a kendo stick were introduced during the break. Dustin grabbed the kendo stick, so Blade tackled him, but in the process, Dustin was set free from the cuffs. He made a one-man comeback after flipping off his opponents.
Dustin and Butcher fought with weapons abnd brawled over to a staging area. Marshall blinded Butcher with a fire extinguisher, allowing Dustin to bulldog him through a plywood structure.
Back in the ring, Blade had been opened up badly. Marshall and Blade’s relationship with Allie/Bunny was the focus of this feud, so they brawled in the ring before Marshall cracked him with a trashcan. Marshall climbed a ladder and hit an elbow drop from the top, but Blade got his shoulder up at two.
Butcher and Dustin made their way back into the fight as the latter hit signature offense before they whiffed on a Code Red. Butcher and Blade hit the Full Death through chairs, but Marshall broke up the pin. Marshall hit a chain-assisted Diamond Cutter on Butcher and Blade into Bunny, which sent her through a table. Dustin nailed Blade with a cowbell and Marshall hit the cutter for the win.
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Matt Hardy cut a promo from his compound. He said that Sammy Guevara earned his respect through all the violence and that Guevara will be a big star.
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MJF’s Inner Circle Induction Ceremony
There was a podium set up in the ring. Chris Jericho came out, addressed the crowd, and invited out the original Inner Circle first. Hager, Santana, and Ortiz came out without Guevara, but Jericho brushed it off.
Next were MJF and Wardlow, both of whom are being inducted into the Inner Circle. MJF took the podium and acted all emotional, saying he overcame the adversity of a one million dollar loan and handled the burden of being the ratings champion. He then read a prepared poem, but he was just plagiarazing the rapper Drake’s song “All Me”.
Santana and Ortiz got heated, but Jericho calmed everyone down and said the Inner Circle would be stronger than ever, imploring everyone to make it work.
MJF said they weren’t just here to celebrate his induction, they were also celebrating Jericho’s birthday as confetti and balloons rained down. He announced that the Inner Circle was headed to Las Vegas next week, and the trip was on him, before singing “Happy Birthday” to close the segment.
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Alex Marvez interviewed the Young Bucks. In a funny moment, he flinched when their dressing room opened, expecting to be superkicked. The Bucks called the tag championships the biggest achievement of their career.
Matt mentioned that they received a message from Top Flight, the high-flying team of brothers that’s appeared on Dark, and then Matt granted them a tag team championship opportunity next week.
This was the culmination of a feud. They traded big moves early on. Ahead of the commercial, Sky went for a dive, but Spears sprung up and suplexed him.
Back from break, Sky fought out of C4 and hit a plancha and a slingshot cutter. Spears had set up stairs on the outside. Sky attempted a diving clothesline off of them, but Spears kicked him out of the air before dropping Sky with a sidewalk slam onto the stairs.
Spears went for the TKO, but Spears turned it into a sharpshooter. Tully dropped Spears’ Kevlar slug gimmick in the corner and distracted the referee and Sky. Spears crushed Sky with a steel slug inserted into his left glove, and that was enough to get the three count.
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During the previous match, Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks of Team Taz was announced for next week’s Dynamite.
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Dasha Gonzalez had been sitting with Kenny Omega for an interview, but Omega left in a hurry. They cut to Alex Marvez, who had caught up to Omega outside. Marvez asked for Omega’s thoughts on being the next world championship challenger.
Omega said that he needs the championship to live up to the standards of the Kenny Omega we saw in New Japan. He’s ready to assume the responsibility of being world champion, and noted that despite their previous encounter, this is the first official match between him and Moxley. He closed the interview with an intriguing cliffanger: Omega has a flight to catch.
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Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay) defeated Red Velvet (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
Conti took control with judo throws before a commercial break. Velvet came back with clotheslines and a cazadora bulldog before following it up with double knees and a stunner for two.
They downed each other with double roundhouse kicks. Jay slipped a chair to Conti, but Conti didn’t want to cheat, and she kicked it out of the ring. Velvet surprised her with a leg lariat for a near fall, but missed a dropkick. Conti followed with a pump kick and a Gory Special transitioned into a knee strike for the victory.
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Alex Marvez interviewed Jericho, MJF, and the rest of the Inner Circle. They celebrated with their tickets to Las Vegas. Sammy Guevara approached. Guevara missed the induction ceremony because he didn’t get a follow-up email about where it would take place, but MJF was adamant he sent it.
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They replayed the Best Friends/Sabian & Miro angle from Full Gear and announced Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy for next week.
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Eddie Kingston cut a promo. Even though he said “I quit,” he will never stop wrestling and will become world champion. Penta vs. Fénix is next, and all Kingston can say to the fans is “you’re welcome.”
Penta El Zero Miedo defeated Rey Fénix
This was a very good match but it wasn’t quite as great as their previous encounter.
Kingston joined commentary and they teased dissension as Kingston clearly favors Penta. The Lucha Bros traded kicks right away. They traded cradles before Fénix sent Penta outside with a hurricanrana. Fénix set up for a dive, but Penta backdropped him to the floor. Penta tore at his brother’s mask and flattened him with a thrust kick.
A lot of Fénix’s face was exposed during and after Penta’s attack on his mask. Schiavone accused Kingston of breaking up a great tag team. They brawled outside during the break and Penta maintained control of the match.
Penta set up for the package piledriver but Fénix turned it into a cradle. Fénix hit a handspring cutter before returning the favor and ripping his brother’s mask. We just about saw Penta’s entire face. They traded headbutts and Penta hit a flipping DDT for two.
A tijeras sent Penta outside before Fénix laid him out with a tornillo dive. Fénix hit a senton atomico for two. They fought on the apron as Penta hit the package piledriver right on the ring frame. On the floor, Penta hit a destroyer.
Back in the ring, Penta hit a second package piledriver for the win.
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Kingston immediately grabbed a microphone and congratulated Penta before pushing Fénix out of the ring. He said that Penta doesn’t need that dead weight.
He was interrupted by the returning PAC, who said that the Bastard is back and that Kingston made a bad mistake. Officials came out to prevent the brawl.
It was announced that PAC will make his in-ring return on next week’s Dynamite, facing The Blade.
Three matches have been announced for this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Already announced on this week’s episode, Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) vs. The Butcher and The Blade will now be a bunkhouse match. No further details as to what that stipulation represents were announced. In storyline, The Bunny, formerly Allie, pretended to be romantically interested in Marshall. After maxing out Marshall’s credit cards, Allie supposedly returned to her real-life husband, The Blade.
In women’s division action, Tay Conti will take on Red Velvet. Velvet, who is coming off a loss to Nyla Rose on this week’s Dynamite, will have Brandi Rhodes in her corner.
The Lucha Bros will also face off in a singles match as Rey Fenix faces Penta El Zero M. The two met in the first round of the AEW World title eliminator tournament on October 21. Fenix was victorious but was also injured in the match. As a result, Penta took his place in the tournament semifinals against Kenny Omega.
AEW Dynamite airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time on TNT.
