AEW Dynamite
August 30th, 2023
By: John Siino
NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
The show starts with highlights from All In London.
Jon Moxley vs. Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
The first thing you see is a sign in the front row that says ‘CM Punk; no flips, just fits’. Right away, Jon Moxley knocks Komander down with a big boot and starts punching him in the corner. Komander sends Moxley to the outside where he dives onto him off the top rope with a crossbody. They start fighting on the top rope, where Moxley digs his nails in Komander’s back, but Komander knocks him down and tries a twisting dive, just for Moxley to get out of the way and hits a powerbomb as Moxley is bleeding right before we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Komander is able to counter Moxley and hits a facebuster, before they both start trading strikes. Komander lifts up Moxley on his shoulders and hits with a lung blower for a two-count. Komander starts running the ropes and tries a 450 splash on Moxley, but he puts his knees up to stop it and takes out Komander with a lariat followed by a piledriver for a two-count. Moxley quickly goes into hammer and anvil elbows and puts on the rear naked choke before transitioning to an arm breaker as Komander quickly taps out.
Winner: Jon Moxley by submission at 8:46
Not The Same Orange
We go to a produced video for Orange Cassidy who says he doesn’t know how many title defenses he’s had but it doesn’t matter as he’s going to keep going. You would think he would stop or take a break after All In, but that’s not what he does and if survives tonight’s match with Penta El Zero Miedo he has Jon Moxley at All Out, and it won’t be the same Cassidy that Moxley saw four years ago and she’ll show him why.
Looking For New Friends
We see footage from the Young Bucks after All In London, where they said it was disappointing as it was supposed to be their night. FTR walks in and says they offered respect to them and wonders what’s up with them not giving it back. Young Bucks said they were in the moment as it was the biggest show and they apologized before saying they were the better men. Bullet Club Gold walks in and starts shouting how it’s the winner’s room and tells Young Bucks to leave. Jay White says The Elite aren’t doing too well and if they are looking for some new friends before doing the math here and suggesting an 8-man tag team match, as Cash Wheeler suggests they do it at All Out as the match is made official.
Trust Issues
Renee Paquette is with Toni Storm and asks about the dissension with The Outcasts at All In when Saraya won the AEW Women’s Championship. Toni says she’s happy for Saraya but says she went ‘off script’ and now she’s standing there with no title and no friends and Ruby Soho hates her before saying she can’t trust Ruby, Saraya, Hikaru Shida, or anybody, and walks off saying she can’t even trust her shoes and throws one at Renee.
Le Next Tag Team Champs
Chris Jericho goes to the ring and says they should be all happy and festive after All In and calls it one of the greatest weekends of his professional career and brings up Fozzy performing on Friday before Saturday’s show calling the attendance number a ‘shoot’. Jericho says he won’t ever forget the show, but says there is something he wants to forget and that’s how he treated Sammy Guevara after the match and asks Guevara to come to the ring so they can talk it out. Jericho says he was frustrated after losing to Will Ospreay but he never should have taken it out on Guevara and said he didn’t know if Guevara did everything on his end to help him but he cuts to the screen where we see Guevara taking out Ospreay with the bat. Jericho apologizes for pushing Guevara and goes to shake his hand, and Guevara does shake it and says he told him he’ll always have his back and a little push won’t break them up, as they hug. Jericho goes over different things he could have done while sneaking in that Guevara could have hit Ospreay harder with the baseball bat, which Guevara asks him to repeat which offends him.
Guevara then says maybe Jericho could have hit Ospreay harder with the Judas Effect and could have won. Jericho says it never turns out how it envisions when he tells Guevara to do something, and Guevara asks if he envisioned leaving his pregnant wife and flying to London. Jericho says the people who didn’t make it out to London, who wished they could have been there as Guevara says maybe if he wasn’t watching Jericho’s back he could have actually wrestled on the card. Jericho says if Guevara had taken his advice, maybe he would have wrestled as Guevara says he would, and maybe that way he wouldn’t lose on a big show. Jericho continues the insults and mentions maybe next time Guevara won’t lose a title shot as he did with MJF. Guevara brings up Jericho winning the title in this arena four years ago and then within 24 hours losing the title outside of a steakhouse as they get into each other’s faces. Jericho says to not let this get out of control as they have been together since the first episode of Dynamite and asks if they should reunite the Sex Gods and go after the AEW World Tag Team Championship, and next week, they start the road to getting to that. They hug it out as Jericho says the crowd can boo all they want as they will be the new tag team champions.
The Biggest Bite
We go backstage to the Blackpool Combat Club as Jon Moxley says at All Out he will face the winner of tonight’s match between Orange Cassidy & Penta El Zero Miedo. Moxley says everybody in this business is so full of themselves with a belt and a catchphrase, and it’s not about barking with them as the wrestler who leaves Chicago this weekend with the International Championship will be the wrestler with the biggest bite.
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta
Eddie Kingston comes out with a bandage around his head, as Wheeler Yuta pushes him into the corner to start the match with the crowd chanting for Eddie to ‘fuck him up’. Yuta follows this with a slap, as Kingston pulls his bandage up and starts punching and chopping Yuta on the top rope before Yuta comes back and knocks Kingston down while stepping on his hand. Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli are watching on from the back as Yuta continues working on Kingston’s arm as we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Kingston knocks Yuta off the top rope to the outside with a very hard shot before hitting him with a tope. Back inside, Kingston hits machine gun chops and an exploder suplex for a two-count. Yuta blocks the Uraken and hits a German Suplex for a two-count. Kingston comes back with a Saito Suplex for a two-count, but Yuta hits an Angle Slam that Kingston kicks out at the very last second. Yuta works on Kingston’s arm with elbows, but Kingston comes back with a half and half suplex followed by two back-to-back Urakens for the pin and the win.
Winner: Eddie Kingston by pinfall at 8:48, to retain
Claudio Castagnoli makes his way out and ignores Kingston, picks up Yuta, and heads to the back.
MJF’s Next Challengers
We see footage from after the main event of All In, as MJF mentions how there will be a battle royale at Rampage to determine the #1 contenders for the ROH World Tag Team Championship and will get their match at All Out and a tournament to determine who will face MJF for the AEW World Title at Grand Slam.
Hard Being Friends With A Sociopath
Renee Paquette is backstage with Sammy Guevara as he starts saying they are on the same page, but Don Callis interrupts and says he knows it’s hard being friends with Chris Jericho and asks if it’s challenging having to deal with a sociopath like that and says he just heard that he’s having a baby and tries to congratulate him. Guevara stops him and tells him that his friends and family are none of his business and tells him to get lost.
ROH Tag Team Battle Royale + Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament
We see the competitors for the battle royale this Friday on Rampage that includes;
- The Outrunners
- Darius Martin & Action Andretti
- Best Friends
- Ryan Nemeth & Peter Avalon of The Wingmen
- The Righteous’ Vincent & Dutch
- The Hardys
- Angelo Parker & Matt Menard
- Aussie Open
- Gates of Agony
- Alex Reynolds & John Silver of Dark Order
We also see there will be eight men in the Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament where the winner will challenge MJF for the AEW World title at Grand Slam, but they don’t list the brackets or dates of the matches.
The Neck’s World Champion
Adam Cole makes his way to the ring and calls All In the greatest wrestling event of all time and thanks everybody who was there and who watched worldwide for making it special. Adam Cole says concerning his good friend MJF, he’s not in good shape as his neck is banged up but this Sunday, MJF will be ready to go. Cole tries to continue, but Roderick Strong and his ‘Adam’ shout interrupts him. Strong says that Cole is not concerned with his neck, but he’s concerned with MJF. Cole mentions ‘these guys’, as Mike Bennett gets pissed off and says it’s his story time now. Bennett brings up the 2010 Ring of Honor from the ECW Arena where the 21-year-old Adam Cole faced the 25-year-old Mike Bennett as they both got each other signed to Ring of Honor and they were bonded with life. Bennett talks about Cole hosting his bachelor party and being at his wedding, before mentioning all the cities that they’ve wrestled in calling Chicago the worst one. Bennett says that Cole cares far too much about what the fans think about him and he forgot what ‘these guys’ meant to him.
Matt Taven talks about how Cole left ROH to go to Florida to make money and surrounded himself with all of their friends to prop him up. Taven brings up how Cole is still a leech and partnered up with MJF to elevate himself to the title. Taven says Cole looks at himself as the only person he ever cared about. Cole says they know for a fact that that’s not true and that MJF is his best friend. Strong says he can’t accept that and he is entering the Grand Slam tournament and doing what Cole didn’t do by beating MJF and becoming the new AEW World Champion with his real friends and if Cole was his ‘real friend’ he would root for him also. Cole says that’s a horrible idea as Strong’s neck is not in good shape. Cole says he doesn’t need a roll-up, a diamond ring, or a 100% neck, as he’s going to break everybody’s back and win the tournament, calling himself a wrestling legend.
Penta El Zero Miedo & Alex Abrahantes are backstage as Abrahantes says he took notes and he will make Jon Moxley bleed like he’s never bled before after beating Orange Cassidy tonight.
Kris Statlander, Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir & Emi Sakura
This is Emi Sakura’s first match on Dynamite since 2019 as she attacks before the bell even rings before she and Nyla Rose start double-teaming on Dr. Britt Baker DMD in their corner and stay in control before they head to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Kris Statlander tags in and goes after Marina Shafir while taking out Sakura & Rose on the apron. Statlander puts Shafir on her shoulders and drops her down face-first, going for the pin but Rose & Sakura break it up and hit her with a face-buster as well. Shida kicks Sakura down before Rose goes after Shida. Baker tries to hit Rose but takes out Shida instead as Rose chokeslammed Baker down. They all head to the outside as Statlander dives onto them and tosses Shafir back inside where she hits her with the Wednesday Night Fever for the pin and the win.
Winners: Kris Statlander, Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Hikaru Shida by pinfall at 7:17
Shida & Baker argue a little bit on the outside after the match, as Ruby Soho runs out and takes out Statlander with the No Future Kick, takes the title, and kisses it before leaving it on the ramp.
Another All Out Match + All Out Strategy
We see a video hyping up Shane Taylor as the match is made official for him vs. Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship at All Out.
Backstage, Don Callis & Konosuke Takeshita are going over footage of all of Kenny Omega’s injuries and the trios match from All In where Callis tells Takeshita strategy on how to beat him and if that fails they can use the screwdriver.
House of Ass
The Acclaimed come out to the ring as they have a table and a podium. Max Caster’s freestyle says they are doing more numbers than a math class and their opponents look more pissed than Trump in his mugshot. Billy Gunn says that Daddy Ass is back and talks about them becoming Trios champions at All In. Caster says it was fitting that they came back to Chicago, where one year ago they lifted up The Acclaimed and moved them to the next level. They wanted to come back and return the favor, and there’s one way they wanted to start their reign as they will do a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Caster goes to cut the ribbon with a regular pair of scissors that Gunn calls a ‘little one’ and pulls out a really big pair of scissors he uses to cut the ribbon. Anthony Bowens says it’s a new era and it’s their house now, the House of Ass. They reveal new titles that have hot pink straps that scissor at the buckle, as Gunn says he can ‘scissor himself now’. The Acclaimed say they will break these titles in by defending them this Saturday on Collision.
Rampage Line-Up
- 10-team ROH Tag Team Battle Royale (winners face Adam Cole & MJF at All Out)
- Skye Blue & Willow Nightingale vs. Taya Valkyrie & Anna Jay
- Bryan Keith vs. Hangman Adam Page
Collision Line-Up
- The Outcasts vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD, Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander
- Dax Harwood vs. Jay White
- AEW World Trios Championship: The Acclaimed (c) vs. Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang & Daniel Garcia
All Out Line-Up
- Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita
- Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro
- FTR & Young Bucks vs. Bullet Club Gold
- TNT Championship: Luchasaurus (c) vs. Darby Allin
- TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Ruby Soho
- ROH World Tag Team Championship: Better Than You Bay Bay (c) vs. ROH Tag Team Battle Royale winners
- ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shane Taylor
- AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) or Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Jon Moxley
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
They start the match by trading their poses before running the ropes and flipping over each other before Orange Cassidy hits a pair of arm drags before they start sweeping each other’s legs and have a stalemate. They end up on the outside where Penta El Zero Miedo catches Cassidy and press slams him into the barricade as they head to commercial.
When we come back, Penta sends Cassidy to the outside where he dives onto him. They start fighting on the apron, where Penta tries to suplex Cassidy back inside but gets hit with the Stundog Millionaire followed by a DDT for a two-count. Penta comes back with a backstabber as they head to picture-in-picture, yet again.
We come back as they are trading kicks before Penta hits a sling blade for a two-count. They go back and forth until Penta hits Made In Japan for two. Penta keeps working on Cassidy’s arm and tries to snap it, but Cassidy goes and grabs the bottom rope. Penta then follows with a piledriver on the apron but only gets two as Cassidy grabs the bottom rope. Penta snaps Cassidy’s arm and hits the Fear Factor, but Cassidy is able to kick out and put a crucifix on Penta for the win and the win.
Winner: Orange Cassidy by pinfall at 16:55, to retain
I Do Not Have A Catchphrase
Cassidy grabs a mic, sits on a chair, and says he doesn’t usually like to talk, but here we are. Cassidy says he is so tired and his body hurts, and every time he has a title defense, the backpack gets heavier. Cassidy says the title means everything to him, but people said he was too short, too skinny, and a bit different but he will continue to defend his championship for as long as he wants and there is nothing anyone can do to take it from him. Cassidy tells Jon Moxley to bring a fork because he is Orange Cassidy and he does not have a catchphrase. Moxley heads to the ring where they smack each other and have a staredown as the show ends.
