AEW Dynamite Review - January 8, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page def. Private Party

I liked how this was set up via the segment filmed at the bar last week with Page and Private Party. This was largely designed to further tease tension between Page and Omega, but despite their miscommunication, they came out on top. It was an excellent opener with Private Party having another standout performance. It's just a shame they don't feel nearly as special as when they beat The Young Bucks back in October. Afterward, Pac was shown attacking Michael Nakazawa backstage. You'd think Omega would have learned by now and either told him to stay home or lock him in a room or something.

AEW Women's Champion Riho def. Kris Statlander

I throughout enjoyed last week's four-way for the AEW Women's Championship, but this was absolute trash. It started decent enough, but it was all downhill after The Nightmare Collective made their presence felt at ringside. They got involved far too much and made Riho's latest successful title defense feel like a fluke. I suppose teasing that she could join them was the point, but I find the whole storyline to be stupid, especially since The Dark Order and The Inner Circle are already doing something similar. Plus, the guy who debuted as a member of Nightmare Collective received almost no reaction from the crowd and rightfully so. Who the hell could possibly care?

Sammy Guevara def. Christopher Daniels

They're telling the story that Daniels is doubting himself after botching in a match against Pentagon Jr. and his loss here didn't help matters. It was a well-wrestled matchup while it lasted and Pentagon costing Daniels the win by distracting him from the stage furthered their feud. Dark Order emerged to offer Daniels a spot in their ranks, but he refused. That promoted the rest of SCU as well as The Young Bucks to make the save and send Dark Order packing. I'm sure this is leading to some sort of a multi-man tag team match.

Cody and Dustin Rhodes def. The Lucha Brothers

As entertaining as this outing was, there was no absolutely no reason for it to happen. Cody is currently feuding with MJF, Dustin is feuding with Jake Hager, and Pentagon is feuding with Daniels. Sure, this was an absolute banger of a bout, but what does it mean in the end? The Lucha Brothers move to 6-7 with their win-loss record, which is pretty poor for arguably the best tag team in the world. There were also some spots that made me roll my eyes (like Dustin waiting for a cue at one point and the blatant lack of selling), but again, I enjoyed it for what it was. I hate that Lucha Brothers continue to lose, and I'm also not high on Arn Anderson doing Cody's talking for him.

Diamond Dallas Page Interrupted MJF

I'm a DDP fan, but I wasn't a fan of his mic work in his segment. His shameless plugs dragged on for way too long and he never seemed to have a point. As we found out later, this was supposed to plant the seeds for Page wrestling next week alongside QT Marshall and Dustin, who saved him from getting beaten down by MJF, Wardlow, The Butcher and The Blade. Speaking of Butcher and Blade, they were disposed of far too easily by DDP. They weren't intimidating to begin with, but that definitely didn't help their cause at all.

Jurassic Express def. Best Friends and Orange Cassidy

It's rare we see Cassidy in action, so him wrestling here was a treat. He's one of those gimmick guys you either get or you don't. Personally, I find him to be fun and thought his involvement in this match was a blast. This was a super solid six-man tag team affair with a really nice pace and the right result. This was a necessary win for Jungle Boy as he had yet to pick up in a victory in AEW prior to this point (and no, him going to a time limit draw with Chris Jericho a few weeks ago doesn't count).

Jon Moxley Turned Down Inner Circle

They were given plenty of time for this segment, so they had to drag it out somehow. Chris Jericho manages to make anything he's involved in must-see and this was no exception. It was far from his best work in AEW from an entertainment standpoint, but everyone played their roles well, even if the ultimate reveal of Moxley rejecting the offer to join came off as a bit anticlimactic. Expect Moxley vs. Jericho for the AEW World Championship to be added to Revolution sooner rather than later.

Overall Show

I thought last week's premiere edition of 2020 was a better all-around effort. That isn't to say this show was terrible by any means, but the vast amount of questionable booking decisions that left me scratching my head hurt it on the whole. There was some strong wrestling, but there was also plenty that could have been improved upon. This was a stacked show coming in, so I was honestly a little disappointed when it was over. Here's hoping AEW can bounce back next week as the road to Revolution rolls on.