AEW Dynamite Review - May 20, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. 10 (Non-Title)​

10 has picked up a handful of victories in recent weeks on Dynamite and Dark and now it's clear why. AEW was trying to position him as a threat to Moxley, but unfortunately for him, he was disposed of fairly easily by Moxley here. The promo work from Brodie Lee and Moxley beforehand and afterward was solid, but I still can't muster up the excitement for Moxley vs. Lee at Double or Nothing. It could be a great match, but it still feels way too soon.

MJF def. Marko Stunt

MJF will be facing Jungle Boy at Double or Nothing this weekend, so this match made sense. Stunt has played his role perfectly as the "sacrificial lamb" for guys like Lee and Lance Archer recently, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Stunt, it was nice to see him score some offense for a change and look good in defeat. That said, MJF winning was never in doubt and his post-match promo about Stunt was a gem.

Arn Anderson and Jake Roberts Went Face-to-Face

Anderson and Roberts brought up how they never faced off one-on-one throughout their entire careers and how it would have been a "dream match." Normally, that'd make me afraid that we'll be getting it eventually at some Saudi Arabia show, but I assume AEW knows better than to book that. In all seriousness, this was a solid segment with strong mic work from two of the top talkers out there. It would have been nice to see or hear from Archer or Cody ahead of Double or Nothing, but I can understand them wanting to leave it at their brawl from last week.

Rey Fenix def. Orange Cassidy

I maintain that Cassidy's shtick and matches aren't the same without a hot crowd for him to play off of, but this was enjoyable, nonetheless. Fenix is an absolute machine and his hectic style meshed well with Cassidy's laid-back style. Unfortunately, Fenix was injured during the course of this contest and has since been pulled from the Casino Ladder matchup at Double or Nothing. That's a real shame and I hope he's back soon. The post-match chaos with the combatants in the Casino Ladder matchup was well done.

AEW Women's Champion Nyla Rose and Britt Baker def. Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander

Rose vs. Shida and Baker vs. Statlander were scheduled to take place at Double or Nothing and this served as a nice preview of them. I say "were scheduled" because Baker was injured here and has since been pulled from the pay-per-view and will be replaced by Penelope Ford. She might be on the shelf for some time, sadly. It didn't help that the match was pretty sloppy and Shida getting pinned days before she vies for the title was completely illogical. Yes, Shida put Rose through a table afterward, but it was backwards booking to me.

"Broken" Matt Hardy def. Sammy Guevara

I was looking forward to these two facing off at The Hardy Compound at some point in a cinematic-style match, but who knows if that's still happening after it was teased over a month ago. That said, this was still a quality contest with Hardy holding his own in his singles debut for AEW and Guevara shining as always. Guevara had a strong enough showing where the loss shouldn't hurt him too much. I'm glad they're still doing right by Hardy and protecting him as an attraction as opposed to having him get beat so often like he was toward the end of his WWE run.

The Elite and Inner Circle Brawled

After being away from AEW TV for almost two months, The Young Bucks and "Hangman" Adam Page finally resurfaced here. It was a quick yet entertaining angle with The Elite and Hardy popping up one-by-one to brawl with Inner Circle on the football field and standing tall to end the show. I have zero idea what to expecting from this upcoming Stadium Stampede, but I'm sure it will be a spectacle considering who's involved, if nothing else.

Overall Show

I can't believe that Fenix, Baker and reportedly Matt Jackson as well were all injured on this show. I know this type of stuff happens, but it was totally unnecessary for the talent to go as hard as they did days before the biggest pay-per-view of the year. Speaking of which, I thought the hype was successful on this episode in terms of getting me more pumped up for the event than I was before, but I don't know if it'll be worth the $50 price tag without a crowd. Then again, given AEW's track record over the last year, I have faith they'll deliver.