AEW Dynamite Review - January 22, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

"Hangman" Adam Page and Kenny Omega def. SCU to Win the AEW World Tag Team Championship

This was a great opener for the show as it kicked off the night on a high note and the crowd was hot for the action. Although they're clearly headed for a split eventually, Page and Omega are an excellent team and have yet to deliver anything less than an awesome match since joining forces. Considering this was taped on Tuesday, I'm pleasantly surprised Page and Omega becoming champions wasn't spoiled for me in advance. I don't know if I would have switched the titles because of how it comes at the expense of the rest of the division, but it's an interesting development in the story between Page and Omega and it's not like SCU were lighting the world on fire as champions, anyway.

Britt Baker def. Priscilla Kelly

Baker hasn't felt nearly as important lately after being prominently featured for the first month Dynamite was on the air. That might be for the best because she's not the complete package yet. This wasn't very good for the time given and Baker's post-match heel promo on Tony Schiavone didn't help, either. Cutting to commercial halfway through was the best thing they could have done. The women's division remains AEW's biggest weak point at the moment.

The Inner Circle def. Jurassic Express

Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz represented The Inner Circle here. Jurassic Express has history with Jericho from when Jungle Boy faced him a month ago on Dynamite and it was cool to see Jurassic Express get in as much offense as they did. This was an entertaining affair and I appreciated Luchasaurus looking as strong in defeat as he did. Marko Stunt eating the pinfall was the right call.

MJF def. Joey Janela

MJF doesn't wrestle nearly as much as he should, so this was necessary. He's better in the ring than some may think and this was a solid match. Janela doesn't do much for me personally, but he held his own here. His interaction afterward with Cody was very well done and I didn't think about the possibility of The Young Bucks attacking MJF for Cody. Somebody had to get thrown in the pool on this show and I'm glad it was MJF.

Jon Moxley def. Pac an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Moxley looked completely ridiculous wearing that bandage around his head and it's silly to think the AEW doctors would clear him for competition with that eye injury, but at least he sold the injury. This was more storytelling-based as a result with Pac taking his time picking apart Moxley and targeting his injured eye. It wasn't as frantic of a pace as you'd expect, but that was what made it work. Moxley winning made the most sense and will now face Jericho for the AEW World Championship at Revolution. Speaking of Jericho, he was an absolute riot on commentary.

Overall Show

First and foremost, the environment on the Jericho Cruise was refreshing and the crowd was electric all episode long. The presentation on the whole was wonderful and I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll pull it off live next year (as Cody confirmed to the media on Wednesday). It didn't even feel like two hours long because of how much time almost everything received and how well it all flowed together. There weren't nearly as many backstage segments as usual, but that wasn't a major problem, especially since they'll be back to normal next week (with a loaded lineup already advertised to boot).