AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from Nov. 8
MJF may have a date with "Switchblade" Jay White for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear on Saturday, November 18 but Wednesday night on TBS, The People's Scumbag defended against Daniel Garcia in the main event of a jam-packed episode of Dynamite.
Also on tap for the November 8 broadcast was the latest from Sting and Darby Allin, Ring of Honor TV title defense by Samoa Joe, and a sit-down interview between Hikaru Shida and "Timeless" Toni Storm ahead of their pay-per-view clash.
Find out what went down, who built momentum through big wins, and how each segment graded out with this recap of the latest show.
Match Card
1 of 9Announced in advance for the November 8 episode were:
- AEW World Championship Match: MJF vs. Daniel Garcia
- Mark Briscoe vs. "Switchblade" Jay White
- ROH World TV Championship Match: Keith Lee vs. Samoa Joe
- Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Swerve Strickland
- Red Velvet vs. Julia Hart
- Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Outrunners
- Sit-down interview with Tony Schiavone, Toni Storm, and Hikaru Shida
AEW World Championship Match: MJF vs. Daniel Garcia
2 of 9
A backstage confrontation between MJF and Daniel Garcia gave way to the night's opening contest, an AEW World Championship defense by The Salt of the Earth against one of the more gifted, young technicians in the company.
A gritty bout saw each competitor target the other's limb in hopes of forcing a submission. No matter what they attempted, they were felled by the damage done to their bodies. Garcia nursed an injured arm, MJF, a knee.
In the end, it was the world champion who battled his way into applying an armbar for the tapout victory.
After the match, MJF extended his hand out of respect but "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker and "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard pulled Garcia out of the ring before he could accept it.
The match was a strong way to kick off the show. It was not overly long, there was not a ton of room for anything to breathe. Instead, it was nonstop action, culminating in a finish that made sense and put the world champ over a worthy challenger.
It will be interesting to see where Garcia goes from here because this is not the first time he has enjoyed a prominent spot on an episode of Dynamite. Except at that time, he faded into the background, an afterthought of sorts for far too long.
Result
MJF defeated Garcia to retain
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Portland loves MJF
- The commentary team heavily laid into the "stars of the future" topic when discussing this match, almost as if there had been steady criticism of late over the company's reliance on older, 50-plus year-old talent.
- Solid limb-based offense from both guys, with MJF targeting Garcia's arm and the challenger working over the legs of the champion. That work led directly to the finish.
Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Outrunners; Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida Promo
3 of 9
Sting and Darby Allin may team with Adam Copeland to battle Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne at Full Gear, but the duo battled The Outrunners' Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd Wednesday night in tag team action.
The match was little more than a glorified enhancement match as the heels got a few shots in on the opposition early but Sting and Allin fired back and put them away in short order, with the former scoring the submission win with the Scorpion Deathlock.
This was a perfectly acceptable way to get the Hall of Famer in front of an audience that has not seen him in 34 years while still hyping up Full Gear's trios match.
After the match, the commentary team threw it to a pre-taped interview conducted by Tony Schiavone earlier in the day with AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm.
It was an uneventful, fast promo that presented nothing new. It simply existed to get the women on screen for a minute or two, a disappointment given how both make (almost) everything they are involved in better.
Result
Sting and Allin defeated The Outrunners
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Tony Schiavone, citing the great historian Jim Valley (also in attendance tonight), revealed this was Sting's first match in Portland since 1989. Excalibur expanded upon it, revealing he challenged Ric Flair for the world title that night.
- Storm is great. Shida is great. Their match will be great. This waste of a promo? Not so much.
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Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Swerve Strickland
4 of 9
Ahead of a hotly anticipated rematch with Hangman Page at Full Gear, Swerve Strickland battled Penta El Zero Miedo in singles competition Wednesday night.
The match was competitive, almost too much, as Strickland probably could have stood to earn a more decisive victory ahead of his big PPV match. That is a small criticism, though, as the match was good, had the fans invested, and ultimately put Strickland over clean.
Page's post-match attack was exactly what you want to see out of a guy who had the sanctity of his home broken by his disrespectful, brash rival. The chair shots, the Dead Eye off the ramp...it all reflected a guy who was appropriately pissed off.
A good match, proceeded by an even better angle, this continued the great build to Full Gear.
Result
Strickland defeated Penta El Zero Miedo
Grade
A-
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Penta's set up for a chop to the chest took entirely too long and Strickland ducked, leaving the former tag champ's hand to collide with the ring post. Speaking of which, Collision airs this Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. on TNT.
- Strickland delivered the Death Valley Driver, did the arm-breaking spot, and ended the match with a double stomp.
- Page delivered the Dead Eye off the ramp and through a stack of tables at the stage.
Golden Jets Promo; ROH TV Championship Match: Keith Lee vs. Samoa Joe
5 of 9
A contentious, backstage confrontation between Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks led to a challenge for a match at Full Gear with high stakes, including the latter's guaranteed tag title opportunity.
Back in the arena, Ring of Honor TV Champion Samoa Joe defended his title against Keith Lee.
This was a showcase of, as the great Big E would put it, big meaty men slapping meat. It was a battle of heavyweights that featured solid strikes and power moves and was controlled mostly by Joe throughout.
Though Keith got some good stuff in, including a pop-up powerbomb, it never felt like Joe was in danger of dropping his title. He secured the win with a choke out, via referee stoppage, and proceeded to vacate the Ring of Honor TV title and announce his desire to win the AEW World Championship.
Backstage, Orange Cassidy cut a promo challenging Jon Moxley to an AEW International Championship Match at Full Gear.
Result
Joe defeated Lee via referee stoppage to retain
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- "I still think Jericho and Omega could beat you," the former said to Matt and Nick Jackson, ahead of a challenge for a match at Full Gear. Jericho added the stipulation that, if they beat the Young Bucks, they get the guaranteed tag team title opportunity.
- "Meat forever" is both an incredibly silly but wildly funny wrestling chant. Two foam fingers way, way up.
- "I need to beat you," Cassidy told Moxley, taking his sunglasses off to hammer home the seriousness with which he spoke.
The Gunns vs. The Bollywood Boyz
6 of 9
Bullet Club Gold's Austin and Colten Gunn squared off with The Bollywood Boyz Wednesday in an unadvertised match.
Unadvertised with good reason, too.
The bout lasted mere seconds as the heels earned the victory with 3:10 to Yuma.
A post-match promo promised a Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship win over MJF and his mystery partner at Full Gear.
This could have been a pre-taped segment.
After the match, Moxley responded to Cassidy's Full Gear challenge while Wheeler Yuta warned Hook that he has crossed the wrong squad.
Result
The Gunns defeated The Bollywood Boyz
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
- "We were made for TV!" Colten exclaimed in a great line.
- Moxley trying not to break during his promo was fun, if nothing else.
Red Velvet vs. Julia Hart
7 of 9
Red Velvet made her return to AEW TV following a nine-month absence due to injury and immediately found herself mixing it up with House of Black's Julia Hart, who has been one quite the roll in 2023.
It was an unsuccessful comeback as Hart delivered her picture-perfect moonsault to pick up the win.
The match never really got out of first gear and probably went on a bit longer than it needed to based on what it ultimately was.
After the match, Skye Blue confronted Hart, followed by Willow Nightingale and TBS Champion Kris Statlander, while Blue still radiated a darkness that feels destined to manifest itself in a heel turn.
A turn that pits her and Hart against Statlander and Nightingale, perhaps?
Result
Hart defeated Velvet
Grade
C, mostly for the post-match confrontation
Top Moments and Takeaways
- The commentary team questioning Velvet's cardio coming out of the break, even in the context in which they did, was an interesting choice. There were other explanations that would not have made it sound like the returning star was blown up and out of shape.
- Is Blue a heel? Is she a babyface? It felt like the blue mist to Hart was the definitive answer but that is no longer the case after this week's latest.
Mark Briscoe vs. "Switchblade" Jay White
8 of 9
Jay White's AEW World Championship opportunity at Full Gear was at stake as "Switchblade" battled Mark Briscoe in the night's main event.
There was little doubt that White would win the match, if only because the entire story to this point has focused on MJF and the Bullet Club Gold leader doing battle for the top prize in the company.
With that said, the crowd was hot for Briscoe all match long, the reaction helping to elevate the quality of what was an already damn good match.
White won without damaging his opponent's credibility and secured the title opportunity.
MJF hit the ring after the match, attempting to grab his AEW World Championship from the grasp of White. He failed, but had a few words of warning for White. From there, the arena darkened and a video aired of unknown assailants attacking The Acclaimed backstage.
The devil face flashed on the screen and MJF hit the backstage arena, where he found his friends lying in a heap and Samoa Joe reiterating his offer to partner with him against The Gunns at Full Gear.
The cliffhanger was the latest in the mystery surrounding The Devil and just who is under the mask. One thing is for sure: Joe is going to keep hanging around until MJF gives in and accepts his offer, keeping his enemy closer in the process.
Result
White pinned Briscoe
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Wardlow is out to hunt MJF, or something like that.
- Briscoe is a great babyface, in the same vein as Eddie Kingston. He has a magnetism that attracts fans to him. When he fires up, it's nothing but pure energy.
- White clinging onto the AEW World Championship that is not his was a great image, especially as MJF lit him up on the microphone. Just quality heel stuff from a guy who might be latching on to his last bit of relevancy.
Overall Grade
9 of 9
This was an interesting show in that some clearly hit more than others, and pretty much everything involving MJF was fantastic, but it was a very mixed bag otherwise.
There was enough hype for Full Gear to drum up excitement for the show, and the latest in the Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland feud was among the strongest stuff on the show, but there were also a few segments that did not hit.
There are ideas at play here, some better than others, but there is at least a sense of urgency entering this pay-per-view event that was not there in their last two.
That is enough to earn it a positive grade, even if a few so-so angles, matches, and segments dragged it down a bit.
Overall Grade: B
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