AEW Dynamite 2/17 kicks off with wrestling, tag team style. The hype continues for the upcoming Revolution pay-per-view event. A lot went down on the AEW Dynaite 2/17 edition and I am here to break it down.
Matt Hardy and Hangman Page defeated The Hybrid 2
A great opening contest, TH2 are gravity defying but Hardy and Hangman somehow worked together to get the win. Hangman clearly portrayed as the better offensive in the match, with Hardy trying to motivate him to stay in the ring with all the action. This proved useful for Hangman to hit the finisher, but of course “Big Money” Matt finds a way to get the pinfall victory.
Continuing the streak of Matt get the big win after doing so little shows what could be called sly weakness. I like the portrayal of Hardy as someone who believes he can outsmart anyone, while disguising perhaps a fear of getting too involved.
The game-changer saw Hangman reveal to Matt he switched the contracts, and put himself in a one-on-one match with a financial stipulation on the line. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ mascot entered as a legal aide, confirming Hangman’s story. Hardy fired back with a stipulation of his own, and we get a match set for Revolution. The mascot reveals himself as Isiah Kassidy, with Marq Quen arriving to attack Page. Who makes the save? The Dark Order! Oh yeah, this is finally coming together.
Riho defeated NWA World Women’s Champion Serena Deeb to advance in the Women’s Eliminator Tournament
Grade A right here. Deeb is a true ring veteran, and Riho, despite not being on Dynamite in nearly a year, put on the razzle dazzle and the two women stole the show. A variety of suplexes, chain wrestling, reversals, and probably a few things never seen before like a reversal snapdragon by Riho on Deeb which led to a brainbuster. This could main event a PPV. Mid-way in the match, Deeb appeared to take a leg injury, which slowed the pace but not the action at all.
Turning into a mat-based submission fest, both women showcased all their ring prowess and appeared as though they’ve worked matches together forever. The flow was solid and action did not let up. A standing ovation in a full-arena would have never stopped.
Riho earned the win following a number of counters and reversals into pinning positions, and I really enjoy how AEW employs these types of finishes, telling viewers a match can end by any means beyond a “finishing move.”
Orange Cassidy w/Chuckie T defeated Dr. Luther w/ Serpentico
A quick match, with action spilling to the floor so Chuckie could hit Serpentico with the Awful Waffle in the ring. One Orange Punch later and the Best Friends stand tall. Fun match, nothing special, but still enjoyable while it lasted.
Team Taz Takes Down Sting
If you haven’t read it by now, Sting took one sick bump courtesy of Brian Cage and a carefully planted Powerbomb. Due to the winter storm, members of Team Taz were not present. Taz brings out Cage and Hook who took no time to inflict damage on the Icon, culminating with a powerbomb which earned a collective gasp from the entire wrestling world. If anyone remembers, Sting’s career came to a screeching halt due to an unintentional injury through a different type of powerbomb. Sting is OK, but storyline-wise it might be a way to change the upcoming tag team match at Revolution.
The Young Bucks retained the AEW World Tag Team Championships against Santana and Ortiz
Twice in one night, a PPV-quality match. Santana and Ortiz have been competing more as a team on Dark. Their Dynamite exposure had been sidelined by the ongoing turmoil with the Inner Circle, thanks to the bad behavior of one MJF. Having the Bucks get cocky with their anger in issuing this challenge in the first place raised an eyebrow of possibly ending their reign with the championships. I thought for sure Proud and Powerful were going to win.
Early on, MJF went over the top with interference, resulting in the rest of the unit being tossed from ringside. This was strike two for the night, as earlier Chris Jericho blamed MJF in part for Sammy leaving the stable. However, Jericho in his anger said “Sammy is dead to me.”
With no interference looming, the Bucks and former LAX duo hashed out one of the best tag team matches I have seen. I feel like I say this a lot with AEW matches lately. During the match, the challengers appeared to outclass the Bucks by countering or dodging their signature moves, like “More Bang for your Buck” and slipping away from the BTE Trigger, which caused Nick and Matt to collide kneecaps.
Has anyone else thought of that?
Santana and Ortiz hit the Street Sweeper on Nick, while Matt gets lobbed into the crowd for good measure. Suddenly, Nick cradles up Ortiz for the win.
Fantastic match. But not without a few hitches. The sudden crowd taunting at the end gave the notion Bucks would squeak out with the win. Wasn’t necessary. Matt and Nick have a tendency of over-staging their moves which lead to the opposing team countering. Saw a bit more of that tonight.
While I was disappointed Santana and Ortiz did not win, I still very much enjoyed this five-star restaurant quality match.
I would have thought a title win would put the Inner Circle against each other in an interesting setup. It is apparent MJF is dissecting the stable meticulously, and it will continue in the coming weeks for certain. After the match ended, the Inner Circle returned for a post-match-sore-loser beatdown, and backstage, Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers were held back by Don Callis. It appeared Kenny wanted to go run down and make the save, but a good actor he is not, clearly feigning concern. Callis sent the Good Brothers who took their too sweet time to get down. Instead, Brandon Cutler attempted a rescue, only to get flattened by Jake Hager.
We know it’s going to happen, implosion imminent.
FTR defeated Matt and Mike Sydal
My efforts to recruit the Sydal brothers for an interview is thus far unsuccessful. Matt and Mike could be a solid team in the future if given the opportunity. It was unfortunate to see them in a losing position, I thought perhaps due to the lack of Tully Blanchard and the recent singles loss to Jungle Boy, another loss would happen again. The match showed FTR’s resolve and cohesion as a team, while Matt and Mike impressed with some high risk moves, one from Mike where I thought he might have been hurt. Thankfully, not the case.
After the match, FTR teased cutting Mike’s hair, but the lights went out and Jurassic Express in full hit the ring, putting the hurt on Cash and Dax.
The Main Event: Jon Moxley, Lance Archer, and Rey Fenix defeated Eddie Kingston, Butcher, and The Blade
Get me Jim Ross and the BBQ sauce! This was on fire. Lance Archer is being positioned to be the next top guy in the company. I couldn’t believe how well he could double-team with Rey Fenix. The big moment of Moxley and Kingston colliding would have earned a massive crowd eruption in better times.
Kingston connected with his spinning backhand, but Mox no-sold, lifting Kingston up and impaling straight-down with the Paradigm Shift DDT.
The events after the match took a turn. The Good Brothers beat down Moxley, setting up for Kenny Omega to lose his cool, challenging Moxley to an Exploding Barbed Wire Time Bomb Death Match at Revolution.
Oh my. Mic drop.
AEW Dynamite 2/17 is now streaming on the TNT app.
