AEW Dynamite Review - September 30, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Darby Allin def. Ricky Starks

This reminded me of when Allin and Sammy Guevara went out at Revolution and killed it in a hell of a sprint. These guys were given twice the time here and they made the most of it. Their chemistry is so strong that I really hope we get a rematch eventually because this was terrific stuff and served as a hot way to open the evening. Look for these guys to be a big part of AEW's future.​

Cody Accepted AEW TNT Champion Brodie Lee's Challenge for a Dog Collar Match

I've missed Cody's promos, as few people bring the fire on the mic like he does. He played out potentially not accepting Lee's Dog Collar challenge from last week before ultimately accepting it. The subsequent brawl that ensued was fine, but it went off the rails once the likes of Brandi Rhodes, Anna Jay and Nyla Rose got involved at ringside. The rematch was announced for next week's show, which slightly surprised me considering the anniversary episode is right around the corner as well as Full Gear in early November. Maybe Cody wins and then the rubber match is at the pay-per-view?

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian)

I really love the idea of this "Brush with Greatness" gimmick that FTR have come up with, where their titles will be on the line in seemingly every match they have with 20-minute time limits. I never expected SCU to win, especially with The Young Bucks being primed for an eventual title shot against FTR, but this was very well-wrestled and featured some strong tag team work. The referee was an idiot for banning Christopher Daniels from ringside yet not catching FTR cheating for the victory, but I enjoyed this otherwise and it's clear FTR are on a collision course with Best Friends.

Chris Jericho def. Isiah Kassidy

Kassidy mentioned on Twitter that this was his first singles match in several years. I think Marq Quen has more potential of the two, but Kassidy really shined here and scored plenty of offense before eating defeat. There was a small chance he could have won considering how Jericho lost to Orange Cassidy twice in recent months, but I'm glad Jericho went over. He brawled with his longtime friend Luther at ringside at one point and thus next week it will be Jericho and Jake Hager vs. Luther and Serpentico (Chaos Project). The match does nothing for me personally, but it probably means the world to Jericho given that it will be a 30th anniversary show for him.

Orange Cassidy def. Preston "10" Vance

The Dark Order is really inconsistent with the names of their members, as some of them use their numbers and others don't. Calling Preston Vance just 10 is odd to me, so I'll continue to refer to him as Preston "10" Vance in my reviews. At any rate, Dark Order cost Cassidy the AEW TNT Championship last week, so this made match sense and allowed Cassidy to score a measure of revenge against the group, even though it wasn't the most exciting outing.

Britt Baker def. Red Velvet

We've been seeing a lot of Velvet lately on Dynamite and Dark and she's worked well in the enhancement role. However, this was all about Baker, as this marked her first official match since she suffered her injury four months ago. It was great to have her back and I loved how she was much more aggressive than usual. AEW's women's division could desperately use her right now.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. The Butcher

Moxley allowed Eddie Kingston to pick his opponent here. I was hoping it would be either Pentagon Jr. or Rey Fenix, so The Butcher was a bit of a disappointment for me. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a perfectly competent wrestler and he looked good against Moxley, but the outcome was never in doubt and it wasn't a thrilling main event by any means. Rather, it was pretty standard stuff. It's unfortunate Lance Archer tested positive for COVID because the build to his bout with Moxley on the anniversary show in two weeks has suffered from his absence.

Overall Show

While not a subpar show, this was one of the weaker editions of Dynamite in recent memory in my opinion. The main event didn't necessarily feel like one despite the AEW World Championship being on the line and some of the matches were simple showcases, but I did thoroughly enjoy FTR vs. SCU as well as the opener between Allin and Starks. It was an all-around solid effort from AEW. There's a lot to look forward to at the moment between Jericho's 30-year career celebration next week, the one-year anniversary show the week after that, and Full Gear in early November, where the finals of an eight-man AEW World Championship number one contender's tournament will take place.