AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights After Forbidden Door
On the heels of an acclaimed Forbidden Door, All Elite Wrestling looked to keep momentum with an explosive episode of Dynamite, headlined by a blockbuster tag team main event featuring two bona fide Hall of Famers.
Sting partnered with Darby Allin to battle Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in a Tornado tag match on a show that also featured the latest in the rivalry between AEW world champion MJF and Adam Cole, as well as the next match in the Owen Hart Memorial Women's Tournament.
Match Card
1 of 8Announced in advance for Wednesday's show were:
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley
- Tornado tag team match: Sting and Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara
- Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Women's Tournament: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
- Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee and El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Daniel Garcia, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker
- Promos from Adam Cole, MJF and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
- More teams announced for the eliminator tournament
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley
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Jon Moxley and Tomohiro Ishii rekindled a rivalry from their days in New Japan Pro-Wrestling to kick off Wednesday's show, just days after they did battle on opposite sides of a five-on-five tag team match.
A brutal contest saw Moxley go it alone and ultimately score a grueling victory over The Stone Pitbull.
The bout was as good as you would expect given their previous encounters and also wrote the latest chapter in the story of Moxley and Eddie Kingston, who continues to be critical of his friend for the way he has conducted business in the group.
That feud continued to the backstage area, where a tense confrontation ended with Renee Paquette splitting them up and demanding Kingston fix things.
Result
Moxley defeated Ishii
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Moxley and Ishii hit each other seriously hard. Their chests were battered and bruised just one minute into the match.
- Eddie Kingston came to ringside to help even up the sides a bit and keep Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta from interfering.
- Moxley was busted open during an exchange of headbutts with his opponent, to which Taz said: "He bleeds from it often."
- The former AEW world champion scored the win with the second Death Rider of the match, but it was Kingston again pitting himself against Moxley by mockingly applauding his win that was the biggest takeaway.
Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee and El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Jericho Appreciation Society
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The odd trio of AEW international champion Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee and El Hijo del Vikingo defeated the Jericho Appreciation Society's Daniel Garcia, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker in an action-packed match.
Vikingo, in particular, continues to impress whenever the cameras are on him, and the interactions he had with Garcia teased a match that could be a ton of fun in given some time and the slightest iota of backstory.
Lee recovered from a battering by Menard to powerslam Daddy Magic in the middle of the ring and pin him for the win.
The biggest takeaway? How inconsequential the Jericho Appreciation Society has become. Why doesn't it matter when Garcia and Co. drop a trios match like this, especially when cameras cut backstage for a promo featuring Chris Jericho?
Not even a mention of his guys dropping a high-profile match?
For better or worse, the faction is set-dressing for Jericho, a group of cronies and little more.
Result
Cassidy, Lee and Vikingo defeated Garcia, Menard and Parker
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Vikingo and Garcia have solid in-ring chemistry. A one-on-one match pitting the speedy, high-flying offense of the babyface trio against the mat-based technical wrestling of the heel would make for great television. Book it, Tony.
- Lee used Vikingo as a battering ram in a fun spot, moments after the commentary team hinted at friction between first-time teammates. That was weird.
- Lee powered down Menard for the win, which was a curious booking decision if there are no plans to heat The Limitless One up.
- Post-match, during a backstage exchange, The Dark Order interrupted a promo by The Elite and accepted an open challenge for a match against The Young Bucks and "Hangman" Adam Page. "You abandoned us!" Evil Uno chastised Page.
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The Elite vs. The Dark Order
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"Hangman" Adam Page may have hesitated to fight The Dark Order's Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds in a trios match also featuring The Young Bucks, but he shook off the emotional despair and ultimately scored the win.
The story of that bout segued into the post-match activities as Page's former friends did nothing to help as Moxley, Yuta and Castagnoli attacked The Elite and left them bloodied ahead of a challenge for Blood and Guts on the July 19 episode of Dynamite from Boston.
The match was solid and the challenge was solidly executed even if it was a given.
The only positive of yet another showdown between The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club? Blood and Guts should, and better, spell the end of it.
Result
The Elite defeated The Dark Order
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Page was repeatedly hesitant to do battle with Dark Order, wanting nothing to do with fighting men he did (and still does) consider friends. Uno, Silver and Reynolds did not share the same hesitations in regards to their (former?) buddy.
- Matt Jackson ordered Page to "do it" ahead of Hangman flattening Silver with the Buckshot Lariat for the win.
- Blackpool Combat Club attacked The Elite after the match because the feud that never ends apparently needed another chapter.
- Konosuke Takeshita and Eddie Kingston got involved, with the heels beating down the latter while Moxley turned his back on his friend, refusing to watch his suffering at the hands of his teammates.
'Jungle Boy' Jack Perry Promo
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There are some people who transition from babyface to heel seamlessly and find much more comfort in portraying a villain than they did a more generic, vanilla hero.
Jack Perry is not one of them.
It was clear early on that there were nerves, and the fans took several minutes to buy into what he was saying. When Jungle Boy started speaking with more confidence and conviction, those same fans became invested and the reaction was as desired.
However, Hook vs. Perry may not be the ideal first program for the latter, who will find it difficult to get this new persona over against an unbeatable babyface.
Working a still largely inexperienced babyface in his first program as a villain also feels like an uphill battle, but time will tell if the young performers can make it work.
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Perry is not a good promo...at least not yet, though there were flashes of a competent talker at times here.
- "Did I turn on Hook or did everybody turn on me?" he asked while the fans booed him, not really sold on anything he was saying.
- Things improved as Perry accused Hook of waving his family's title in front of his face, which at least harkens back to his desire to win a championship in 2023.
- Hook rushed the ring and Taz trash-talked Perry on commentary, as you would expect from a badass dad.
Ruby Soho vs. Alexia Nicole
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*Note: This match was originally slated to be Ruby Soho vs. Britt Baker in an Owen Hart Memorial Women's Tournament match but Baker was pulled due to illness.
Ruby Soho made short work of Alexia Nicole and followed up with a venomous promo directed at Britt Baker in which she vowed to beat The Good Doctor and take away the opportunity to become the first two-time Owen Hart Tournament winner.
Wednesday's contest was somewhat by the books, with interference from Saraya and AEW world women's champion Toni Storm at ringside, but Soho's mic work after was fire and did a ton to put over her match with Baker next Wednesday.
A rematch of the finals from a year ago, it will be the highest-profile bout of the tournament to this point while continuing the rivalry between The Outcasts and Baker.
Result
Soho defeated Nicole
Grade
C+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Soho talking trash on Baker for not appearing was great stuff.
Tornado Tag Match: Sting and Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara
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Chris Jericho busted out his "Painmaker" persona for the match, vowing to introduce Sting to his darkest side as he teamed with Sammy Guevara against The Icon and Darby Allin.
What should have been a fun garbage brawl was, instead, a rushed mess that never had nearly enough time to accomplish everything the stars had in mind.
Instead of a coherent match that crescendoed with the much-anticipated showdown between Sting and Jericho, we got a random collection of spots before a brief taste of the awesomeness that could have been.
Hopefully, all four competitors get a chance to run this back, preferably in an opening-match slot, where they can be a little more methodical with what they are attempting to accomplish.
Result
Sting and Allin defeated Jericho and Guevara
Grade
C+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Jericho had a special entrance for his Painmaker persona, complete with a special Sting-inspired mask. The theatricality was high in this one.
- There's not a ton of work that has to go into bringing two legends like Sting and Jericho together, but think about how much more this could have meant with another week or two of build.
- With Guevara laid out on a table at ringside, Sting launched himself off a ladder in the ring and to the floor, just barely breaking through the table in a spot that was way scarier than it needed to be, which is to say it did not need to be at all.
- Sting tapped Painmaker out to the Scorpion Deathlock for the win.
Overall Grade
8 of 8
AEW had momentum on its side entering Wednesday's Dynamite and did a solid job of maintaining it with a mostly good broadcast.
Ishii and Moxley brought the physicality while the Kingston storyline continued to play out, there was the moral dilemma between Page and The Dark Order, a fun trios match and the introduction of the Perry heel persona.
The biggest disappointment was the main event, though one would be hard-pressed to blame that on the competitors given the lack of time they had to deliver all that they likely wanted to.
Where the Jericho-Sting saga goes from here, whether Dark Order will repair its friendship with Page, how Adam Cole and MJF will get along as tag partners in the upcoming eliminator tournament, and if Soho can beat Baker bear watching in the coming weeks.
Overall, a good show that should help set up the next few weeks of television.
Grade: B+
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