AEW Dynamite Review - January 5, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page def. Bryan Danielson

The judges were Mark Henry, Jerry Lynn and Paul Wight. They were there in case Page and Danielson went to another time-limit draw, so I appreciated that red herring. Personally, I preferred this encounter over the original. That one felt like they were stalling for time because, well, they were. They didn't have that issue here and therefore it was a more compact, intense and exciting affair. I'm not a big fan of doing blood when it isn't really necessary (it's not like this was a blood feud), but it was a nice touch. They had the crowd from start to finish and put on a clinic. This was stellar stuff. 

"Captain" Shawn Dean def. MJF by Disqualification

Not counting that one fall in the Iron Man match between Kenny Omega and Pac two years ago, AEW has never had a match end on a disqualification on Dynamite, until now. MJF and Dean didn't even touch before Punk ran out and hit Dean with a GTS to award him the DQ victory, tarnishing MJF's undefeated record in 2022. It was lame and something WWE would do, but at least AEW doesn't do it often. The war of words that followed was great. I just wish they'd stop relying so heavily on the WWE material. Punk will face Wardlow next week.

Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz Saved Chris Jericho From Daniel Garcia and 2point0

I'm not sure what was worse: this segment or the one last week with Brandi Rhodes and Dan Lambert. Seriously, this was trash. I applaud 2point0 for trying their best and making the most of what Jericho was giving them, but Jericho's comedy has reached a point where it's just awful. This was not funny or entertaining at all. Kingston, Santana and Ortiz saving Jericho built toward their No Disqualification six-man tag team match with the heels on Friday's Rampage, but that was the only thing this segment had going for it.

Wardlow def. Antonio Zambrano

I, along with pretty much everyone else, am looking forward to that inevitable Wardlow babyface turn. And it's going to be huge when it happens. However, I have an issue with AEW featuring his squashes so prominently lately. I know they never last longer than a minute or so, but why not put that same effort into getting someone else over that doesn't get nearly as much television time? Someone like Jay Lethal or the plenty of other people who have barely sniffed television time lately. On the bright side, this did make him look like an even more dominant force ahead of his outing against Punk next week.

Jade Cargill def. Ruby Soho to Win the AEW TBS Championship

For the entire tournament, I thought it was going to be called the AEW TBS Women's Championship, but it was made clear here that "Women's" isn't in the name of the official title. Hey, no complaints. The match itself was fairly mediocre to be honest. I've praised Cargill's progress and I maintain she's come a long way over the last year, but I really would have gone with Soho as the inaugural champ, especially since Soho already lost to Britt Baker back to September. Where does she go from here? I know they wanted to keep Cargill undefeated, but she has a long way to go in the ring. That said, we'll see how she does, and at least she comes off like a star.

Malakai Black def. Brian Pillman Jr.

Black has been targeting Varsity Blonds for the past month, and after misting Julia Hart and destroying Griff Garrison, he made relatively short work of Pillman here as well. The match was solid, but this mini feud was never designed to be a showcase for Pillman like his mini feud with MJF was back in September. It just kept Black rolling. I thought we'd see Brody King debut afterward, and there was a tease for it, but no such luck. Hopefully soon.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) def. The Lucha Brothers to Win the AEW World Tag Team Championship

These teams never cease to rip it up any time they face off and this was no exception. Like most Lucha Bros matches, it wasn't all smooth sailing, but it was an absolute blast on the whole as they kept the pace consistent throughout. I assume the lights going out in the middle will play into a House of Black vs. Death Triangle feud, so that's why we didn't get the payoff here. Jurassic Express winning was the right call considering they've been one of AEW's most over acts since the start and it ended the night on a high note. Rey Fenix's arm looked brutal after taking that table bump, so here's hoping he'll be okay.

Overall Show

This might be a hot take, but based on normal Dynamite standards, I did not think this was a strong show. It was certainly newsworthy with a two title changes and an early Match of the Year candidate in the opener, but the overall flow felt like it was lacking to me. Cargill becoming champion was a cool moment, but the match itself was nothing worth writing home about. I enjoyed the opening and closing matches, but most of what we got in between didn't measure up. It should have been better with it being Dynamite's debut on TBS, but again, at least it wasn't without its memorable moments and matches.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews