AEW Dynamite Review - January 11, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

"Hangman" Adam Page def. Jon Moxley

This was the match I was hoping for from them when they originally met for the AEW World Championship in October. That was a very good match, but it was cut short due to Page's injury. This rematch had a chance to reach that next gear and it was great stuff. I could have done without some of the no-selling, but otherwise, this was an electric opener with an invested crowd from start to finish. Moxley has lost clean only one other time (to CM Punk at 

Adam Cole Returned

Well, this was an awesome surprise. There had been no official word on Cole's condition for many months, though there was some speculation that his career could have been over due to the injuries he sustained last year. He even alluded to that in this amazing promo, if you can even call it that. He spoke from the heart and the crowd ate up everything he had to say. It was an outstanding moment and I'm stoked he's back. It would have been logical for him to resume his rivalry with The Elite, but I wouldn't waste this fanfare by turning him heel again so quickly.

JungleHook def. The Firm (Lee Moriarty and Big Bill)

Some of AEW's team names are silly, but JungleHook is actually quite clever. I feel like we haven't seen Hook in a single meaningful match since he beat Ricky Starks for the FTW Championship over the summer, so this was a refreshing use of him. This was a nicely-paced tag team match that was built around the big spot with Hook successfully suplexing Big Bill, which the crowd went nuts for. Now the key is following up with Jack Perry and Hook properly.

Bryan Danielson def. Konosuke Takeshita

MJF's pre-match promo was well done. The celebrities at ringside were put to good use and Takeshita didn't just stand there and take his insults. The match that followed between Danielson and Takeshita was excellent as expected. Takeshita is well on his way to being a top star in this company and television matches like this are only going to help his cause. Granted, the outcome was never in doubt, but I didn't mind since Takeshita was made to look credible in defeat. Danielson vs. Bandido next week will suffer from the same issue, but it should be a blast, nonetheless.

AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker def. Toni Storm and Saraya

AEW promoted a "mystery partner" for Saraya for weeks and everyone (myself included) thought it would be Mercedes Mone. Even though it was revealed to be Storm last week, I still thought they might do an angle where Hikaru Shida, angry that Saraya chose Storm over her, would attack Storm beforehand and that would allow Mone to take her place. They went with Storm and there was no sign of Mone. That honestly didn't bother me because it made sense for Storm to be in there given her unfinished business with Hayter, but it does make me wonder if Tony Khan attempted to get Mone and it fell through. The match itself was really well wrestled, though Saraya's first television match in over five years should have felt more special. The Shida spot was also wisely executed.

Ricky Starks and Action Andretti Interrupted Jericho Appreciation Society

Starks has been killing it on the mic as of late, but this wasn't one of his better promos. In fact, this entire exchange was the weakest part of the show. That isn't to say it was bad by any means, but none of it really hit the mark for me. The segment was solely designed to set up a match between Starks and Jake Hager for next week... that was already announced. Oops. That said, I'm happy they're keeping Starks' momentum rolling and haven't forgotten about Andretti.

The Elite (IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) def. Death Triangle (Pac and The Lucha Brothers) in an Escalera de la Muerte Match 7 in the AEW World Trios Championship Best-of-7 Series to Win the AEW World Trios Championship

I fall in the category of those who typically enjoy The Elite's matches, but this Best-of-7 Series hasn't been my cup of tea if only because every match has felt like a spot fest, and there have been eight of them in total if you include their encounter from Full Gear. Yes, there has been some storytelling in there too, but a lot of these matches have blended together in my opinion. To give credit where it's due, this was wild and featured some insane spots. Everyone worked hard and the live crowd obviously had a blast with it. The endgame with The Elite should be for them to drop the straps to House of Black eventually.

Overall Show

Props to AEW for producing a strong show for the second straight week. In the last few months, there have been some above-average editions of Dynamite, but the consistency has been a problem for them, so fingers crossed they can keep it up in 2023. All in all, this may have been one of the best top-to-bottom Dynamite episodes AEW has ever done and the electric audience in Los Angeles had a lot to do with that. It's refreshing to see AEW get their mojo back after a turbulent 2022.

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