AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from February 22
All Elite Wrestling continued its march to Revolution on March 5 with an episode of Dynamite devoted to the escalation of rivalries and the crowning of top contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championship by way of a huge Battle Royale.
The AEW All-Atlantic Championship was also up for grabs, and Jon Moxley battled The Dark Order's Evil Uno. Meanwhile, Saraya was looking to embarrass another AEW original to round out the card.
Who emerged victorious on Wednesday night, and what does it mean for those involved as they inch closer to the first pay-per-view of 2023?
Find out with this recap of the February 22 TBS broadcast.
Match Card
1 of 8- AEW All Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta
- Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno
- The Acclaimed vs. Big Bill and Lee Moriarty
- Skye Blue vs. Saraya
- Revolution Tag Team Battle Royale
- Bryan Danielson promo
- Christian Cage interview
- An important Tony Khan announcement
AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta
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Orange Cassidy has turned great matches into a routine over the last year, establishing himself as one of the most consistently great workers on the AEW roster.
Love or hate the comedy element of his character, there is no denying what he has been able to accomplish against opponents of varying styles and backgrounds.
It was more of the same at the top of the night's show as he and former Best Friends teammate Wheeler Yuta tore the house down in an All-Atlantic Championship match.
Cassidy proved he could hang with the technically sound wrestler, countering and reversing everything the Ring of Honor Pure champion threw at him.
The action intensified, becoming more physical until the two spat in each other's faces ahead of a climactic finish that saw Cassidy deliver an Orange Punch to a knelt Yuta for the win.
As big a takeaway as the quality of the match was, the appearance of Claudio Castagnoli as an angry mentor was equally as significant. He slapped Yuta to fire him up and then called the unsuccessful challenger out of the ring, ruining a sign of respect hug.
Could there be trouble in the Blackpool Combat Club? We saw Yuta booed out of the building at one point, and Castagnoli looked to be anything but pleased by the loss.
Might the faction be on its way to a heel turn?
Result
Cassidy pinned Yuta
Grade
A
Top Moments
- Cassidy matched Yuta pin-for-pin early on before standing tall to the delight of the fans.
- Castagnoli appeared at ringside and slapped Yuta, awakening in him a more aggressive competitor.
- Yuta threw the champ over the timekeeper's table and then turned it over on him as the fans erupted into a chorus of boos.
- Cassidy absorbed everything Yuta threw at him and then answered with his trademark mocking kicks.
- Yuta and Cassidy utilized their signature moves against each other, putting over the familiarity that exists between them.
- Yuta countered a Beach Break into a piledriver for two.
- Cassidy kicked out of the seatbelt combination and rocked Yuta with an Orange Punch.
- After the match, Castagnoli demanded Yuta get out of the ring, abandoning an attempt at a respectful embrace from Cassidy.
Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho Set Up Revolution Rematch
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Ricky Starks recognized that Chris Jericho would not grant him a rematch, and he wasted little time issuing an open challenge to anyone in the back for a match at Revolution.
Jericho interrupted, laid out Peter Avalon, and hit the ring to accept the challenge. He even agreed to keep the Jericho Appreciation Society backstage and claimed that no one outsmart The Ocho.
Except, that's exactly what happened. Starks manipulated the veteran and got the rematch he wanted.
It was a solid promo, if not somewhat predictable the moment Jericho stepped through the curtain.
Hopefully, the match does not end the same way so many of these typically do, with Jericho beating a guy he really shouldn't be defeating at this point in his career.
Starks is hot. AEW needs to capitalize on that and if it means beating Jericho two times in a row, so be it. Something tells me the future Hall of Famer will be just fine.
Grade
B
Top Moments
- Jericho wiped out Avalon on the entrance ramp.
- In a callback to his WWE days, Jericho exaggerated the clicking of the pen and signed the contract. It was a nice wink to the fans who had followed his career before AEW.
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The Acclaimed vs. Big Bill and Lee Moriarty; Christian Cage Promo
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AEW world tag team champions The Gunns called in a favor to The Firm's Big Bill and Lee Moriarty, hoping they could knock off The Acclaimed on Wednesday night.
Instead, Anthony Bowens and Max Caster earned a big win by way of the latter's Mic Drop to Moriarty.
The match was solid, but the feud between The Acclaimed and The Gunns is not clicking, and the babyfaces losing the titles two weeks ago still feels like a major creative misstep.
After the bout, Tony Schiavone introduced Christian Cage, only for "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry to attack. He stunned Cage but the veteran turned the tide and left him bloodied and in need of medical attention.
This program should have happened a long time ago, but an injury to Cage held it back.
As a result, even a seemingly well-done angle like this one lacked the punch you would hope for because it feels like something we have seen before and should have been paid off by now.
Result
The Acclaimed defeated Moriarty and Big Bill
Grade
C+ for the match and the post-match angle
Top Moments
- Caster made a reference to Bill's past, claiming his fiancée called him "S-A-W-F-T." Bill was previously Big Cass in WWE, and "SAWFT is a Sin" was the name of the entrance theme he shared in a team with Enzo Amore.
- The Gunns appeared on the ramp but weren't able to affect the outcome of the match.
Skye Blue vs. Saraya
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Saraya successfully dispatched another AEW original, defeating Sky Blue in a surprisingly competitive match that saw the original Anti-Diva benefit from outside interference from Toni Storm.
Blue utilized familiar offense against Saraya, digging into her playbook and breaking out AJ Lee's Black Widow in an attempt to upset her opponent.
Saraya countered and tapped her out to the PTO for the win.
Storm joined Saraya in an attempt to spraypaint Blue, but AEW world women's champion Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker made the save. Ruby Soho cut the fleeing heels off and expressed her desire to win the title.
This was a solid effort from Blue, who has been steadily improving with every passing match. Saraya was fine and is clearly getting back into the swing of things, but Blue looked like the equal to the more celebrated in-ring competitor and that bodes well for her future.
It looks like we are headed for a three-way dance at Revolution with Soho, Hayter and Saraya.
Considering there are questions about Soho's motivations, it feels like the right call and creates intrigue beyond the title.
Result
Saraya defeated Blue
Grade
C+
Top Moments
- Blue broke out the Black Widow in a great spot that earned a solid reaction from the crowd.
- Hayter appeared to be taken aback by Soho expressing a desire to win the title, but she welcomed it.
MJF Interrupted Bryan Danielson
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AEW world champion MJF once again displayed the depths he is willing to sink to in order to get a reaction out of Bryan Danielson...and it worked.
Referencing The American Dragon's children ignited a fire in the No. 1 contender, which resulted in a wild brawl that needed multiple security guards and AEW officials to break up.
MJF was great here, speaking with conviction, even if his correlation between a girlfriend who left him and losing the AEW World Championship was a bit of a stretch.
Just 10 days before they clash in an Iron Man match at Revolution, Danielson and MJF appropriately intensified their rivalry, coming to blows in a segment that popped the crowd and had them ready to see the champion and challenger throw down right now.
This was great, and the match is shaping to be an extraordinary Match of the Year candidate.
Grade
B+
Top Moments
- MJF told the story of an old girlfriend leaving him, with the goal of putting over how the AEW World Championship is the only thing that has never left him. It felt forced, to say the least.
- Danielson's reaction to MJF bringing up his kids was emphatic: "Don't you dare bring my children into this or I will kick the s--t out of you."
- MJF referenced CTE, the final straw as Danielson teed off on him.
Revolution Tag Team Battle Royale
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Teams Involved: Tony Nese and Ari Daivari, Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds), The Butcher and The Blade, Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Berreta), Top Flight (Dante and Darius Martin), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis), Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix), La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and Preston Vance), and Jericho Appreciation Society's "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand Ang" Angelo Parker.
The team of Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett joined the Fatal 4-Way match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Revolution by winning this 10-team Battle Royal.
Jarrett won the match for his team by last eliminating Beretta, thanks in large part to Satnam Singh, whose presence at ringside prevented the heels' elimination on numerous occasions.
The talent involved was immense, but there wasn't much of a story to this one until the closing moments, when Jarrett, Lethal, Singh and Sonjay Dutt really shined.
Why Tony Khan has decided this particular faction needs as much television time as it has received of late is a question only he can answer, but Jarrett works well in a tag team setting at this point and Lethal is at least reliable between the ropes.
Jarrett and Lethal join The Acclaimed and The Gunns in the title bout on March 5, and if that trio of teams does not have you excited about the title match, nothing will.
Result
Jarrett and Lethal won
Grade
C
Top Moments
- Mark Briscoe arrived and went right after "Smart" Mark Sterling at ringside.
- Fenix executed a tightrope walk on the top rope, kicking Rush to the floor.
- Danhausen cursed Menard and Parker, and Best Friends paid it off.
- A standoff pitting babyfaces (Dante Martin, Fenix and Beretta) against heels (Jarrett, Butcher and Lethal) occurred entering the break.
- Excalibur announced Aussie Open vs. The Young Bucks for Friday's Rampage.
- The Butcher shoulder-blocked Fenix through the ropes, showing off his power.
- Singh assisted Jarrett and Lethal, preventing their elimination.
- Orange Cassidy appeared, saving Beretta from elimination.
- Singh again saved Jarrett, who delivered the Stroke and eliminated Beretta for the win.
Tony Khan's Big Announcement, Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno
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Not since Ralphie used his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring to reveal a crummy commercial has a major announcement been more underwhelming.
Tony Khan's announcement Wednesday night? The revelation, delivered not by the president of the company but by Adam Cole, is the debut of AEW All Access following Dynamite, beginning in March.
It will give fans a look behind the scenes of AEW's best, and while that sounds intriguing, its debut was hardly worthy of the "major announcement" label.
Cole did announce that his in-ring return would take place the night of the first episode but did not provide an exact date.
Back in the arena, Jon Moxley battled Dark Order's Evil Uno while "Hangman" Adam Page watched backstage.
Moxley brutalized Uno for his 100th victory in AEW. The former world champion became the first to accomplish that feat when he choked his rival out.
His refusal to release the hold brought Alex Reynolds and John Silver out, followed by Claudio Castagnoli, but it was Page who escalated things by coming to the rescue with barbed wire.
He pummeled Moxley, busting him open as the show headed off the air.
There is such a thing as excess and too much of something being a bad thing. That is becoming the case with the blood on AEW television. By no means is this writer someone who does not appreciate a good old-fashioned brawl, but when one guy is doing it to the extent Moxley is, it stops having the desired effect and becomes the punchline to a weekly joke.
The pictures of him bleeding as the show closed overshadowed what he did to Uno and how badly the masked man of Dark Order had been beaten down by the uncaring former world champ.
It negated the effect of what Moxley did to his opponent, instead turning attention to him and his bloodied face for what felt like the umpteenth time this year. It's not effective anymore because we know we are going to see him bleed at some point.
The Page save and beatdown were good, and the PPV match should be fun, but the show really needs to back off from the blood and let it mean more when it does happen.
Result
Moxley defeated Uno
Grade
C+
Top Moments
- Moxley tore at Uno's face, a heelish tactic that allowed him to seize control.
- Uno fought back and delivered consecutive piledrivers, but Moxley recovered and applied a rear naked choke and then transitioned into a bulldog choke.
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