AEW Dynamite 1/31 kicks off with Jon Moxley earning what some could call a hard-earned victory over Jeff Hardy. An odd matchup, definitely not something one would have expected from “Dean Ambrose” vs. Jeff Hardy in another company. Hardy appeared to have more of an offensive, only for Mox to obliterate said offensive on more than one occasion. After a back-and-forth, Mox locked in a severe sleeper for the win.
Post-match, wrestlers from CMLL stormed the ring when taunted by Mox. This looks like the beginning of a possible invasion or stable angle. Interestingly, instead of BCC members coming for the save, we got 2-point-0, Christopher Daniels, and Matt Sydal.
Not sure what to make of this yet.
“Hangman” Adam Page defeated Toa Liona
The first of two Dealer’s Choice matches, Page defeated Swerve’s handpicked opponent. This turned out to be a hoss fight in a big way. A ton of hard hitting and powerful manuevers throughout, giving the edge to Liona for most of the bout. As it seemed Page would fall short, failing to connect with the Buckshot, a rollup surprised Liona for the pinfall victory.
Could Liona have believably won the match? 100%. I get how these matches are intended to “stack the deck” against the featured wrestlers, but Page losing would have made for eyebrow raising TV.
Wardlow defeated Komander
Okay match, even with the ultra-predictable outcome. Post match is a confrontation with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends with Undisputed Kingdom. The building towards OC vs. Roddy is getting hot!
Chris Jericho defeated Kyle Fletcher
Good match. Some scary bumps too. Fletcher dropping Jericho with a turnbuckle brainbuster and later a half-and-half suplex. Jericho was able to keep pace with Fletcher, and likewise, Fletcher would slow it down a bit to keep the match flowing. Jericho won with some creative uses of the Judas Effect, one being striking when Kyle dove through the ropes, second off the top turnbuckle. The win leads Jericho to his next opponent in the Don Callis Family, Konosuke Takeshita.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taya Valkyrie by submission
Another good match, more to hype up Deonna’s inevitable collision with reigning AEW Women’s Champion, “Timeless” Toni Storm. I am looking forward to it, but undecided about Storm losing the championship.
Young Bucks interrupt Darby Allin’s interview with Renee Paquette
The Jackson brothers come out with headsets, acting like jerks. Matt questions why Darby allows Sting to mooch off him. So, a bit inconsistent with their sitdown interview from a few weeks ago where Matt talked about respecting Sting, despite being an older wrestler. Unless I somehow interpreted it wrong.
Clearly we will see The Jacksons face off with Sting and Darby, but something still feels off here.
Main event time!
Swerve Strickland defeated Rob Van Dam
Samoa Joe is elated with the reveal of Page’s Dealer’s Choice pick, and the stipulation of it being a Hardcore Rules Match.
Joe has the best line of the night: “Rob Van Dam’s kicks damage more teeth than gingivitis.”
You can’t make this stuff up. RVD is heavy on offense. Let’s give credit where due, he can go. But, it’s fairly obvious he wasn’t going to defeat Swerve tonight. He got in all his signatures, even some chair shots and a table spot, but ultimately Swerve hit the double-knee for the win.
Post match, Hangman and Swerve cut promos on each other. Hangman promising to prevent Swerve from ever challenging for the AEW World Championship. Page tells Swerve he can’t beat him without the Mogul Embassy and not good enough to lace his boots. This sets off Swerve, and we get our match for next week to see who will get their first loss with the new rankings of 2024.
Here’s what I didn’t get. Why didn’t one of them pick a guy like Wardlow, or another unstoppable force like Claudio or Miro? How interesting would it have been if Hangman picked Bishop Kaun or Brian Cage as Swerve’s opponent. RVD is fun and all, but come on, do we really think he could hand Swerve his first loss of 2024?
All in all, a good episode of Dynamite. Nothing fancy, just giving fans two hours of fun wrestling. This week’s card seemed to hype up next week’s show which has a Supercard feel to it.
