AEW Dynamite Review - September 9, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) def. The Lucha Brothers

This was far from a smooth encounter, but I enjoyed it for what it was and was wisely positioned as the opener. These are two of my favorite teams in the tag division, and while I'm glad Jurassic Express having been getting more screen time and direction lately, I feel Lucha Brothers continue to be wasted. If AEW really wants to push this faction of Eddie Kingston's, they shouldn't be losing already. It's way too soon to be breaking up Pentagon Jr. (or whatever his new name is) and Rey Fenix, if that's what they were going for here.

Matt Hardy Offered an Update on His Condition

In you missed All Out, Hardy took a super scary bump during his match with Sammy Guevara and fans (myself included) have criticized the company for how they handled the situation.​ Hardy didn't really address any of that here (and why would he have), but he came across very well while talking about how he's okay and will make a full recovery. That tells me he won't be wrestling for a little while and that's probably for the best to ensure he's completely healthy. He did tease going after a title for the first time in AEW upon his return and Brodie Lee's AEW TNT Championship would make the most sense (assuming he's still the champ by then).

Orange Cassidy def. Angelico

Angelico has had his fair share of singles matches in recent weeks on Dark, so it wasn't entirely random that he faced Cassidy one-on-one here. It wasn't a competitive contest at all and was over relatively quickly, which was a shame for Angelico's sake, but it made sense coming off Cassidy's win against Chris Jericho at All Out. The match itself was an afterthought, but it did serve to set up Santana and Ortiz attacking Cassidy afterward with Best Friends making the save and challenging Santana and Ortiz to a Parking Lot Brawl next week.

Kip Sabian Introduced Miro as His Best Man

I probably should have expected some sort of surprise as Sabian's best man considering this segment was advertised ahead of time, but Miro wasn't who I had in mind. Most of people figured he'd be AEW bound eventually because he's too talented to remain a free agent for long and I was happy to see him debut. He didn't light the world on fire with his promo (I hate the go-to anti-WWE material), but we'll see what stems from his pairing with Sabian. I don't have high hopes for it because Sabian has been cemented as a midcarder who won't get beyond a certain level and I believe Miro is better than that and can do well on his own, but I'm willing to give it a chance.

Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and Jake Hager) def. Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela

Jericho beat Janela last week on Dynamite and Kiss eliminated Hager from the Casino Battle Royale at All Out, so this was a logical match. What wasn't logical, however, was the fact this had a No Disqualification stipulation. That was completely pointless, even though it made it mildly better than it would have been otherwise. That's because Janela and Kiss pale in comparison to the rest of the AEW tag team division and need to have hardcore matches like this one in order to be taken seriously. It was fine for what it was, but the outcome was never in doubt. Following their win, Jericho announced his intentions to enter the tag team division with Hager. That could be interesting, but there's so many other teams that deserve a shot before them that I don't know how far they'll go as a duo. Hell, Santana and Ortiz should be in the tag title picture ahead of Jericho and Hager.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR and Jurassic Express Brawled

FTR and Tully Blanchard held a ceremony of sorts that saw them run down everyone around ringside which just so happened to feature several teams from the tag division. My question is, why were they there in the first place? It was a solid segment designed to build toward FTR vs. Jurassic Express next week, which has the potential to be a blast. Here's hoping FTR can finally have the meaningful tag title reign they should've gotten in WWE (at least on the main roster).

Ricky Starks Mocked Darby Allin

Starks did something similar to this a few weeks back on Dynamite and it was entertaining enough that I didn't mind them doing it again here. Starks is such a star on the mic that I was almost disappointed that this was as brief as it was, but I was also happy that it didn't drag on longer than it needed to. It got the point across and progressed their program nicely. That eventual match should be terrific.

Nyla Rose def. Tay Conti

It was announced earlier in the day on social media that Conti had officially signed with AEW. It was expected following her involvement in The Deadly Draw and an appearance in the crowd on a recent Dynamite. She's a great get for the division as she can be a real star with more experience. However, although she scored a decent amount of offense here, this was largely about Rose and reestablishing her as a dominant force. Post-match, Hikaru Shida saved Conti from Rose, so it looks like they're headed for a rematch.

AEW TNT Champion Brodie Lee def. Dustin Rhodes

Rhodes can definitely still go at 51 which is incredible, but I don't think this needed to be slotted as the main event. This match had a story behind it and they worked well together for the most part, but I never bought into the possibility of Lee winning, even though there were a few strong nearfalls down the stretch. I applaud their effort, but I felt this would have been better suited early in the evening.

Overall Show

As a post-pay-per-view episode, this was a jam-packed show that provided a good sense of what's coming up in the weeks ahead. Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer for the AEW World Championship will be happening on the Anniversary edition of Dynamite on October 14, though part of me is disappointed they're not saving that for the Full Gear pay-per-view a few weeks later. Miro has arrived as well and I'm curious how he'll be booked. To be honest, this show lost my interest as it progressed, not to mention that Lee vs. Rhodes never felt like a suitable main event to me, but props to AEW for cramming as much stuff as they did into a two-hour period. I always appreciate how they advertise multiple matches and segments for the following week's show at the end to give viewers stuff to look forward to.