AEW Dynamite
September 6th, 2023
By: John Siino
Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
Nah, I’m Not Going To Do That
The show starts with Orange Cassidy making his way to the ring, after losing his AEW International Championship and having bandages on his head and hand as the crowd chants ‘Freshly Squeezed’ and ‘Thank You, Orange’. Orange says ‘Hey, thank you’, and that they told him to stay home, but he says ‘Nah, I’m not going to do that’. He says championship or no championship, he will be here every single week because he is Freshly Squeezed Orange Cassidy and he does not have a catchphrase. As Orange goes to leave, we hear the music of the man who defeated him, Jon Moxley, who makes his way to the ring for his match. Orange stands by the entranceway and watches Moxley as he makes his entrance to the ring with the title. Darby Allin comes out with AR Fox but looks at Orange and seems to tell Fox something before going to the back with Orange.
AEW International Championship: Jon Moxley (w/ Claudio Castagnoli) (c) vs. AR Fox
Jon Moxley starts the match by chopping AR Fox in the corner, before punching him in the corner. Fox comes back with a springboard dropkick, sending Moxley to the outside where he meets him with a big dive. Moxley takes control, and back inside takes out Fox with a release suplex as Darby is in the back watching on with Nick Wayne, as they will be competing against each other later tonight. Moxley starts raking the back of Fox, but Fox comes back with a draping DDT on the ropes for a two-count. Moxley retreats to the outside, and knocks Fox into the barricade when he follows him before throwing him into the crowd as they go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Moxley is kicking away at Fox, but he comes back with an enziguri kick. Fox knocks Moxley down with a neck breaker, kips up, and runs to Moxley in the corner who catches him in a choke. Fox escapes out and hits a cutter for a two-count. They start fighting on the apron where Fox hits a running moonsault to Moxley on the outside, followed by a 450 Splash back inside that Moxley kicks out at two. Moxley puts on a Kimura and hits hammer and anvil elbows, but Fox escapes out with an enziguri. Moxley comes right back with the King Kong lariat and the Death Rider for the pin and the win.
Winner: Jon Moxley by pinfall at 8:23, to retain
Say Hi To Your Mom For Me
Darby Allin heads to the ring to check on Fox and helps him up as Nick Wayne is seen still in the back watching on. Wayne walks away and bumps into Christian Cage & Luchasaurus as Cage asks Wayne if he was expecting someone else. Cage says after finding out his dad was a wrestler, he went back and watched some of his matches and says he was a lot worse than he even thought he was. Cage says he knows Wayne thinks Darby is a mentor to him, but if he wants a true mentor, maybe he should look at a true champion. Cage leaves and tells Wayne to say hi to his mom for him.
AEW TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Emi Sakura
Right away Emi Sakura goes for the pin and hits a Tiger Driver for a two count. Kris Statlander ends up on the apron, where Sakura knocks her to the outside with a crossbody. With Statlander against the steel steps, Sakura hits her with another crossbody before sending her back inside, where she covers for a two-count. They start trading chops before they eventually clothesline each other down. A bit of back and forth until Sakura escapes and hits a neckbreaker and the double underhook into a backbreaker for another two. Sakura heads to the top rope, but Statlander puts her on her shoulders and drops her down face first before hitting her with a discus lariat. Statlander follows with Wednesday Night Fever to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Kris Statlander by pinfall at 4:27, to retain
Strong Problems
We see a sitdown video with Roderick Strong who is with The Kingdom where Strong talks about the problems of his parents with his mom having a drug addiction and his father having an alcohol problem, to the point where his sister even left. Strong had to grow up and take care of himself and wrestling saved his life, and it’s not a business but his everything. Strong says Adam Cole already knew that as he grew up alone and he’s going to win this Grand Slam Tournament alone and that starts tonight.
Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
Don Callis comes out before Chris Jericho and joins commentary as Jericho & Sammy Guevara get officially announced as Le Sex Gods. Jericho & Mark Davis start the match, as Jericho escapes out of the corner and starts chopping away at Davis. Jericho stays in control, tags in Guevara as they double-team on Davis, and take him down before doing their pose. Kyle Fletcher tags in as he and Guevara start chopping away. Jericho tags in as he and Guevara hit a delayed double vertical suplex that the crowd really gets into, as Callis wonders why Davis isn’t breaking it up. They eventually drop Fletcher, before going to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Guevara makes the hot tag to Jericho who goes after Aussie Open, before hitting the Code Breaker on Fletcher, who kicks out at two. Aussie Open ends up on the outside, as Guevara ends up diving on them. Jericho tries a dive also but ends up hitting Guevara instead as Aussie Open hit Le Sex Gods with a collider on the outside. Head back inside, where they go after Jericho, hitting the Aussie Open, but Jericho kicks out at two from a cover by Davis. Guevara takes out Davis with a one-man Spanish Fly, as Jericho tries the Walls of Jericho on Fletcher, who spins his way out and hits a superkick followed by another kick in the corner and a brainbuster for two. A bit more back and forth before Jericho hits the Judas Effect on Fletcher to get the pin and the win.
Winners: Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) by pinfall at 11:24
Guevara is a bit upset regardless after the match, after a couple of close calls with Jericho, and even starts to push Jericho away. They get into a shoving match, but guards come out to keep them apart, as Guevara walks out on Jericho.
Full Course Meal
We get a video of Ricky Starks after his strap match with Bryan Danielson at All Out, where Starks shows off his injuries and says tonight he proved a point to Danielson & AEW and said Danielson didn’t tap him out and there is nobody who can do that. Starks says he is angry and all he wants is chance and doesn’t want to be given a piece of bread and says he’s been fed, he wants a full-course meal. Starks ends by saying he is Absolute Ricky Starks, and he will say that until he dies. They announce that we will hear from Danielson on Collision, this Saturday.
The Next Target
After the break, Renee Paquette is with Don Callis & Konosuke Takeshita who have an easel that’s covered up, that Callis says he will reveal next week as the ‘next target’ for Takeshita during their celebration for beating Kenny Omega.
From Security Guard To World Champion
MJF comes to the ring and right away tells them to cut his music. MJF says when he was trying to make a name for himself in the indie circuit, he lived right here in Indiana and asked ‘Hoosier daddy?’ MJF continues talking about this past Sunday him and Adam Cole successfully defending the ROH World Tag Team Champions and after he was told by Tony Khan that he had to wrestle again on September 20th. MJF then realized that was Grand Slam in his home state of New York and he assured whoever wins the Grand Slam Tournament would find out that nobody is on the level of the devil. MJF starts saying how there is a certain someone who needs to be taught a lesson, as Samoa Joe’s music hits and he comes down to the ring.
Joe says he heard a little piss & vinegar in MJF’s voice, so he decided to come out and hear it for himself and asks MJF ‘What seems to be the problem, kid’. MJF says the reason why Joe came out there so fast is for probably confusing his theme music for an ice cream truck. Joe says the last time he had anything to do with an ice cream truck, he was busy being a star on the other company’s network, referring to Twisted Metal on Peacock. Joe calls him kid, again, which MJF calls it ‘funny stuff’ repeating the same thing twice. MJF says he’s a pretty creative guy himself and calls him ‘Joseph’, ‘Pillsbury Joeboy’, ‘Samoa Dough’, and some more insults. Joe says MJF is having a hard time catching on and blames it on his time spent it here in Indiana and calls MJF ‘kid’ again. This really gets MJF upset as he says if Joe calls him kid one more time he will knock his teeth down his throat. MJF says that’s exactly what Joe’s plan is, to skip the line, but says there’s a whole tournament to decide that. MJF says he would of bit back when he was a kid, as Joe would know what MJF was like in a kid and start ‘story time with MJF’. MJF talks about when he was 19 he had a tryout in Brooklyn for the WWE and he knocked it out of the park. He then gets pulled to the side by William Regal and retells the story about him sending an e-mail and then blowing him off. MJF says they know how the story ended and he sent Regal packing back to NXT, and Joe could be next.
MJF then talks about being given the opportunity to be a security guard and walk Joe down to the ring and this got him excited, as he would get to meet the great Samoa Joe. Joe then decided to take a 19-year-old kid, and shove him into a brick wall and laugh. MJF says he knows how Joe thinks because he’s a scumbag, just like him. MJF says Joe did it because he knew he could get away with it, but MJF is not a kid anymore, he’s full-grown and the best wrestler on Earth, before continuing his accomplishments. MJF tells Joe to stay out of his way, or he is going to kill him as the crowd chants ‘Max is going to kill you’. Joe says it was a point beautifully made, but the problem with it is that he didn’t think MJF was a kid when he pushed him, but he thought he was a little bitch. MJF then smacks Joe, as Joe says he’s not going to take MJF’s bate, so instead, he’s going to go win the tournament and tells MJF to have a nice day. As MJF goes to leave, Joe kicks the rope from up under him and starts attacking MJF, takes the AEW World Title, and holds it up, but MJF hits him with a low blow and starts attacking Joe in the corner. Joe stops MJF with a uranage and goes to hit the Muscle Buster, but Cole runs out to stop him. Joe walks off and says ‘You don’t look so good, kid’, As MJF says his arm is numb and this is worse than it was on Sunday. Joe gets on the mic one more time and says next time he’s going to tear him to pieces and calls MJF a bitch.
As Cole is helping MJF out, we hear Roderick Strong screaming ‘Adam’, as he and The Kingdom head to the ring. Cole asks Strong if they can’t do this now, and Strong says ‘he’s not okay’.
Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Roderick Strong (w/ Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Trent Beretta (w/ Chuck Taylor)
Roderick Strong takes off his neck brace before the match starts and goes right after Trent Beretta, sending him into the corner and trying to put on the Boston Crab, but Beretta escapes out. They run the ropes, as Beretta hits a knee strike which Strong reaches for his neck after. They start trading strikes until Strong hits a backbreaker. Beretta takes control, attacking Strong in the corner where he hits a Tornado DDT, that sends Strong all the way to the outside where The Kingdom checks on him. As they tell Beretta to step away from Strong, Strong pushes him against the ring post and drops him back first onto the apron, before they go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, they go back and forth until Beretta hangs on for back-to-back German Suplexes, as Strong fights out of a third one, before Beretta hits him with a Death Valley Driver. Strong follows with a lung blower and a sick kick for the two-count. They go to the top rope, tussle a bit until Beretta hits a hurricanrana, they tie up a bit after and Beretta gets a two-count. Beretta follows with a half-and-half suplex and a piledriver and goes for the pin, but Strong gets his foot on the ropes. They fight on the ropes, as Strong holds on, hits a knee strike, and the End of Heartache to get the pin. Right way, The Kingdom puts the neck brace back on Strong.
Winner: Roderick Strong by pinfall at 11:02, to advance
Eliminator Tournament Brackets
We see the brackets for the Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament, where Strong will face the winner of tonight’s Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne match, this Saturday on Collision. The winners of this Friday’s Rampage’s Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy will face off on Collision as well.
Watch Out For The Shoe
Renee is backstage with Toni Storm and asks her about costing Ruby Soho the title on Sunday, with the spray paint. Storm says there are so many performances and she can’t remember them all, and wants to move forward. Renee agrees and asks about the four-way eliminator match next week where the winner will face Saraya. Storm says if Renee is good, next week she will give her an exclusive before saying ‘Chin up, tits out, and watch out for the shoe’.
Swerve Struck A Nerve
Tony Schiavone is in the ring with Adam Page and congratulates him on winning the battle royal at All Out and giving the winning prize to charity at the Chicago Public Schools. Page thanks AEW for giving him the opportunity to whoop ass and give kids some money. Page says he wants to move forward and wants to talk about the rest of the year, but gets interrupted by Swerve Strickland, who comes out with Prince Nana.
Nana tells Schiavone he’s done enough, and makes him leave the ring asking the crowd to show some respect to Swerve Strickland. Swerve jokes he’s been in a coffin for two weeks, and that gives him some clarity. Swerve says the first person he thought of when he got out was Hangman. Swerve asks if Page was a mascot for AEW and gives money to charity to a bunch of delinquents who will flunk out anymore and makes fun of Page for being on the pre-show. Swerve talks about how Page used to be on top, but he hasn’t had any titles or merchandise in about a year and makes fun of Page’s weight. Swerve continues by saying if he was given the same opportunities Page has, he’d be the first black AEW World Champion. Swerve tells Page to ride off in the sunset and let him take that slot that Page doesn’t want. Page says he’s done with this shit and if Swerve wants a match, he can go to the back and ask for it and starts to leave. Swerve starts to talk about Page’s family, which prompts Page to go back into the ring and get in Swerve’s face, but Brian Cage shows up from behind and takes out Page with the Drill Claw.
Rampage Line-Up
- The Young Bucks vs. Daddy Magic & Cool Hand Ang
- Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy (Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal)
- Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Jay Lethal (Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal)
Collision Line-Up
- Roderick Strong vs. winner of Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne (Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Semifinal)
- Winner of Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. winner of Jay Lethal vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Semifinal)
- We’ll hear from Bryan Danielson
- Bullet Club Gold in action
- We’ll hear from Saraya & Ruby Soho
- We’ll hear from The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass
Dynamite Line-Up
- Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Final
- Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rosa vs. Toni Storm (Grand Slam Women’s Championship 4-Way Eliminator – Winners Faces Saraya At Grand Slam)
- Hangman Adam Page vs. Brian Cage
- Don Callis reveals his next masterpiece
Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne
They start the match with a handshake and a hug, before locking up as commentary mentions the bottom of Darby’s back being all taped up. They start trading pin attempts and takedowns, before they head to the outside where Darby tries a cannonball to Nick Wayne, but he gets out of the way as Darby goes crashing into the barricade, before we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Darby stays in control and eventually puts on a figure four, as Wayne reverses it until Darby reaches for the bottom rope. They run the ropes, before taking each other out with a double crossbody. They get up and start trading strikes, before Darby grabs the mic and says Wayne ‘hits like an 18-year-old’ and tells him to hit him like he means it. Wayne does and knocks out Darby as Christian Cage’s music hits as Cage and Luchasaurus head over to commentary before another picture-in-picture.
When we come back, we see Roderick Strong and The Kingdom watching on from the back, as Christian mentions Buddy Wayne not using any of these moves his son did. Wayne follows with a Frog Splash from the top rope to the outside to Darby, tosses Darby back inside, and hits Wayne’s World for a two count. Wayne tries another Wayne’s World from the top rope, but Darby knocks him off and teases the Coffin Drop but decides not to, and goes for the pin, getting a two-count. They go back and forth a bit more with multiple pin attempts before Darby stretches Wayne’s arms and gets the submission win.
Winner: Darby Allin by submission at 14:58, to advance
