Tiffany’s AEW Dynamite Takes: Light the Fuse

After months of building and speculation, the premiere episode of All Elite Wrestling Wednesday Night Dynamite is HERE!

Were the Elites able to pull of a blockbuster episode in the first week of the Wednesday Night War?

Opening

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get an opening video. Tony Schiavone and JR are very awkward, guess the rumors of heat are somewhat true. JR seems to be having trouble talking, which is a little concerning.

Cody Rhodes vs Sammy Guevara

So, Cody vs Sammy Guevara was the first wrestling match on TNT since March 26, 2001, when Ric Flair took on Sting for the last time in WCW. No pressure.

Oh good, Cody got his roots done. No Pharoah, but Brandi looks lovely!  Cody was SO over, Sammy Guevara, not so much. I still don’t get the headgear, but whatever, dude. Also, Aubrey Edwards makes history again, she’s refereeing the very first match of AEW Dynamite.

This match was as good as I’d hoped it would be. Guevara is SO talented and he DEFINITELY has a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove himself and boy did he. I’m surprised that it took ten minutes for Nitro to get a mention, but you can’t have Dynamite without Nitro Glycerin (yes, I’m going to keep using that joke, get used to it).

I don’t know what it is about Cody, but I have trouble buying him as a babyface. He’s too…cocky. He knows how good he is and that kind of person is a little hard to cheer for sometimes.

Tony Schiavone mentioned that the very first match of WCW Nitro was Jushin Thunder Liger vs Brian Pillman and that was a FABULOUS match, as long as you ignore Eric Bischoff on commentary. I can’t say Cody vs Guevara was THAT good and amazing but it was SOOO good. Cody got the win, but Guevara looked like a STAR.

I’m not surprised that Jericho attacked Cody and I’m glad that he did. We’ve already started the build for Full Gear, not waiting to get past the first show.

Brandon Cutler vs MJF

This was the first match completely built from Being the Elite and Road to TNT and, to be honest, I didn’t have a ton of hope for it. I wanted Cutler to beat the trash out of MJF, but that was it.

The match was better than I’d expected. I knew MJF was a good competitor, but Cutler was a mystery. It was okay, but it was too short and we didn’t get any real retribution for Cutler, which was sad, but this will probably be a long-running feud with Cutler getting his vindication at Full Gear…I hope.

Audience Segment

Jay and Silent Bob! Except Bob’s talking and Jay’s being quiet. Still, I LOVE Kevin Smith movies! Angelico and Evans interrupting was weird, but they’re heels now, so weird goes with it. Oh, and Private Party is here. I want to like them, but I’m not feeling them. It’s too much like Street Profits.

SCU

Another team I’m really wanting to like, but not quite there yet. Gotta admit, Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels as Secret Service guys is hilarious. The gimmick is still irritating. I loved the confrontation between SCU and Lucha Brothers.

Hangman Adam Page vs PAC

This is the match that was supposed to happen at Double or Nothing but didn’t for mysterious reasons. JR using PAC’s old WWE nickname was unusual, but I’m not mad. At least PAC embraced his demented elf look.

This was definitely a star maker match. I don’t know what was going on before Double or Nothing, but there seemed to be legit heat here. Page and PAC really pulled out the stops and made each other look amazing. Page would tap out, but both men looked amazing and this feud could go longer and I hope it will.

AEW Women’s Championship Match – Nyla Rose vs Riho

This was the big one. The first AEW Women’s Champion was going to be crowned and it was hometown girl, Nyla Rose vs Riho in a match of David vs Goliath proportions.

If you’ve been following my AEW coverage, you know that I fully believed that Nyla Rose was going to squash Riho and be the inaugural Women’s Champion. However, Riho more than held her own against Rose, who easily had 200lbs+ on her and about half a foot in height.

If there was a match that I was REALLY nervous about, it was this one. Riho has a victory over Rose, but I BELIEVE it was in a Triple Threat match, not a one on one, which put Riho at a disadvantage.

I didn’t realize how well Rose can move, woman hit a senton off the apron! Sure she landed on a bunch of metal chairs, but she hit that move! Also, she sold her ass off for Riho while not looking like a chump. The fans were SO into the match, I don’t recall seeing WWE fans THAT into a women’s match. To be fair, it’s not often that WWE gives the women as much time as Riho and Rose got.

To EVERYONE’s shock, including mine, Riho managed to put Rose away to become the FIRST AEW Women’s Champion! My jaw was on the floor because I was SURE Rose was going to win. I’m not surprised they had Rose turn heel, though her attacking the translator was odd. I do like that Omega came to Riho’s rescue. I know there’s going to be rumors of romantic attachment between Omega and Riho, but it was sweet if nothing else.

Chris Jericho, Ortiz & Santana vs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks

He’s BACK! Jon Moxley made his return to All Elite Wrestling and primetime TV by beating the living hell out of Kenny Omega during the six man tag match! Mox made Omega pay for every snide comment Omega had made about Mox’s health issue and professionalism, culminating is a spin chilling Paradigm Shift (Elevated Impaler Double Arm DDT/Double Arm DDT) THROUGH A GLASS COFFEE TABLE! Welcome back, Mox, we’ve missed you!

How’d the rest of the match go? Does it matter? It does? Well, the Young Bucks did their best to rally after losing one third of the team and did a damn good job of it, but the former team known as LAX and Jericho had the numbers advantage and the heels won.

What happened after the match was the REALLY interesting part. Ortiz and Santana kept beating up the Bucks, Cody came to the aid of his friends and to get some of Jericho. Then Guevara fully turned heel on Cody, Dustin Rhodes rode to the rescue and then Jake Hager, formerly known as Jack Swagger, came out and it was FULL on chaos! That was an ending to a first show! It looks like it’s Team Jericho vs The Elite, whether or not Moxley is in either camp remains to be seen. What a night!

That’s it for Tiffany’s AEW Dyanmite Takes! Tune in Friday for SmackDown coverage!