AEW Dynamite 12/6 kicks off with a huge tournament bracket match. Two favorites collide and in the result, Jon Moxley defeats Rush. Fantastic match, a few moments which one might have thought Rush could come out as the winner. Great opener. Mox established once more as an unstoppable wrestler, while Rush, even with a loss tonight continues his rise up ranks thanks to this tournament. His loss could be questionable, as the ref stopped the match, Rush never tapping out. Hopefully after the tournament he will see more main event tier matches.
Backstage: Hangman with Renee who was waiting for MJF: Hangman talks about coming back after his hellacious match with Swerve Strickland. Hangman admits when he’s beat, and is about to tell us his plans when the champ, MJF interrupts. Some strange banter between them which results in MJF accusing Hangman of being the Devil.
That came out of nowhere.
Roderick Strong and The Kingdom come out for a promo, where Roddy gets up out of the chair and says he’s not going to be taken lightly anymore. It’s serious business now! He throws the wheelchair off the ramp.
The best part of the promo was Roddy yelling out everyone’s name, and then the crowd getting into it too.
Swerve Strickland defeated Mark Briscoe
An absolutely fantastic match! Shame that Briscoe eats a third consecutive loss though. But wow, there were more than a few moments where it seemed Briscoe could win. I feel like I’ve said something similar to this idea before, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this is true. There have been a lot of matches where it feels the winner as very predictable, but for a momentary glimmer of hope for an upset.
Backstage: Swerve confronts Moxley for their match on Dynamite. This means next week, either Swerve or Mox will fail to gain three points… Or could go to a draw?
Samoa Joe comes to the ring for the tag match, but the lights go out and back on to reveal the Devil’s henchmen surrounding the ring. The lights go out and they vanish. The big screen sees the Devil appear, then we see MJF down and out in the back, with the shards of a beer bottle broken, scatter pieces everywhere.
Uh oh. It’s clear there is a pivot to accuse Hangman Page of being the Devil. It seems a bit from left field, but it’s a worthwhile guess we will see different individuals being accused who MJF has past beef with, perhaps unresolved.
“Timeless” Toni Storm defeated Skye Blue to retain the AEW Womens’ Championship
The champ gets a graceful introduction by TCM’s very own Ben Mankiewicz. Solid championship match, even in defeat Skye Blue looked great. Storm’s gimmick is over huge with the live Montreal crowd.
After the match, Riho returns to challenge Storm. Have not seen her in a long time, hopefully this will be more than a one-shot deal.
Jay White defeated Jay Lethal
Tragedy for another tournament challenger strikes, as Jay Lethal joins Mark Briscoe with a clean sweep of losses. Regardless, we continue the hot streak of great wrestling. White and Lethal made it look like circa 2017 Ring of Honor. This match was great, it could have gone either way. Lethal is a workhorse for the company and will always look great in the ring, win or lose. It is disappointing to see two wrestlers get swept out of championship contention in one night.
Christian Cage retains the TNT Championship against Adam Copeland
The match got more entertaining thanks to the insane chants of the Montreal crowd. Copeland kicked off strong, appearing to beat the everloving crap out of Cage. The devious one gets the upper hand as the match heats up with each one trying to overpower the other. The craziest finish comes after missed spears somehow lead to referee Bryce Remsburg getting kicked in the groin, the bitter enemies hit each other with simultaneous spears. If that wasn’t wacky enough, Nick Wayne’s Mom comes to the ring and in an awkward move, cracks Copeland with the TNT championship belt. Christian stomps on his former friend’s neck, and pins him.
It was safe to say we all saw this coming. This will hopefully be a long build thanks to what will likely be an injury angle, giving us a few months to let this feud cook and reach an epic conclusion.
Overall a solid show tonight. Despite predictable outcomes one can’t deny the wrestling matches themselves were quite enjoyable.
