AEW Dynamite 1/18/2023

AEW Dynamite 1/18/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/01/aew-dynamite-1112023.html

AEW All-Atlantic Title - Orange Cassidy (c) vs Jay Lethal

Jeff Jarrett and friends were in ringside seats since Dutt would be fired if he got involved. Danhausen dressed as an usher and tried to kick them out then Best Friends came down to the ringside seats too. Jeff Jarrett tried to give Lethal his guitar but Danhausen got it and played with it. It had the usual OC shenanigans with more from Dutt and Best Friends.

 

Singh went to chokeslam the Best Friends after but Dutt got him not to do it. JJ went to hit OC with the guitar and they argued over it. OC then did his stupid slow motion kicks after to really make sure you knew this was a joke.

We had a video for Darby Allin vs Kushida. 

Young Bucks vs Top Flight

It was exactly what you would expect with a bunch of goofy flips, big moves and kickouts without any real meaning to them or selling. Top Flight ended up getting the win which at least was good for them.

The Gunn's came out and said they were the best team in the world. They said The Acclaimed embarrassed them last week and they made The Acclaimed popular. The Acclaimed came out and got their rap cut off. The Acclaimed restarted the rap then ended up fighting with the Gunns. Billy Gunn pulled Austin off and said he was tried of this. He said they would have family therapy for them next week.

Adam Page was interviewed. He said he would beat Mox and he did. Page said if Mox had more to say, he could say it to his face. Page ended up asking Renee how Mox was. This was a pretty lame segment with the usual ho-hum Page. A lot of it was inaudible.  

Ricky Starks vs Jake Hager

Hager wore his hat during the beginning of this then Ricky put the hat on. Starks had a weird botch here where he tried to slide under the bottom buckle from the floor and hit his head and foot. Starks ended up getting  the win after failed interference by the JA/. Starks should be mad at these guys for putting him through a table but instead, this was mostly a joke with Hager and Starks both goofing around.

Adam Cole did a promo talking about how exciting coming back was and said LA did not disappoint at all. He said he will run AEW and run over anyone who stands in his way.

The JAS were interviewed. Jericho says it ends next week with Starks/Andretti vs Sammy/Jericho. Garcia said he wanted to be Jericho's partner instead and Sammy was proud. Sammy said if he beats Action Andretti on Friday, he can have his spot. Sammy then gave him new leather pants.

Bandido vs Bryan Danielson

It was a long wrestling match with Danielson doing his usual moves and Bandido bringing the flying. Bryan ended up winning the busaiku flying knee. I didn't think it was particularly special and I didn't like the top rope Ultimo Guerrero special not being the finish. There was no real story to it, just wrestling.

MJF got on the tron after. MJF said he'd be taking off his mask and said he'd find out that the unmasked MJF is not something anything wants to see. He said Bryan is not a dragon and is no match for the monster behind the mask.

Saraya, Toni Storm and Shida talked. Saraya ripped Shida for the failed kendo stick throw in last week and Saraya told Shida to stay in the back for their match next.

Brian Cage was interviewed about fighting Bryan Danielson next week. MJF then walked up to him and said he needed a machine. He gave him an envelope with money and told him to break Danielson's arm, win or lose. MJF then slappped him and Brian grabbed him by the neck. Brian was going to hurt him but Nana said, "the money". MJF said he learned there is no better motivator than hate and said he wants that for the match with Danielson. Cage looked like an idiot here, but what else is new?

Toni Storm vs Willow Nightingale

Toni beat up on Willow early then Shida came out when she was told not to. Toni hit a stiff hip attack on the apron and on the bottom rope here. Saraya got on the apron to argue with Willow then Toni rolled up Willow by the tights in a weird ending. Saraya then attacked Willow and Toni joined in, turning them heel. Ruby Soho then ran down and stopped them and Shida stayed out of all it. Saraya and Toni turning heel for no reason was really weird and the match wasn't too special. The heel turn was really bad.

Ethan Page and Stokeley did a promo on Jungle Boy. They said they aren't done with him and said it's embarrassing Big Bill lost to him. Page said the fun is done and said he will get payback for JB tapping our Lee Moriarty. I don't really like that match as someone has to lose and if they are interested in doing something with Ethan Page, this is the wrong time for it.

Konosuke Takeshita was interviewed. He said Bryan anielson is his hero and he learned so much .he said he wants to watch his back because he doesn't trust MJf, then talked in Japanese and said it means MJF is an @sshole. This is the problem with foreign talent - they can't do promos.

AEW TNT Title - Darby Allin vs Kushida

It was long and slow in front of a crowd who was not interested. Darby took a couple of his usual awful looking bumps here including a stupid top rope dropkick attempt to the outside. Kushida mostly stuck with the arm work for the whole match. They had a couple of sloppy moments here and it wasn't that great. We also had Kushida lose on his debut in typical AEW fashion.

Overall thoughts: This was a very heavy wrestling show and not that interesting. The Saraya/Toni heel turn was a disaster and Brian Cage was made to look bad like usual. Page's ho-hum character sucks and they had lots of cold matches here that were essentially time wasters. Wardlow wasn't even mentioned on this show either and maybe that's for the better after the Joe burial.