AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights After Worlds End
Mariah May kicked off the New Year in All Elite Wrestling by making her first in-ring appearance and showcasing the skills she developed in Japan as part of the Stardom promotion.
The "Timeless" Toni Storm uber fan's first match was just one segment on a packed card featuring the fallout from a noteworthy World's End pay-per-view that saw Samoa Joe defeat MJF for the AEW World Championship and Adam Cole revealed as The Devil.
What else went down, who built momentum for themselves at the onset of 2024, and what does it mean for a company shifting its focus back to what made it great in the first place?
Find out with this recap of the January 3 broadcast.
Match Card
1 of 9Announced in advance for Wednesday show:
- Swerve Strickland vs. Daniel Garcia
- Queen Aminata vs. Mariah May
- Continental Title Eliminator: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Brian Cage vs. "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith vs. Trent Beretta
- Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita
- Adam Cole promo
- Christian Cage's 2x TNT champion State of the Union
- AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Dante Martin
Samoa Joe, Adam Cole Kick Off Dynamite
2 of 9
The show opened with new AEW world champion Samoa Joe cutting a promo, moments after his main event victory over MJF at World's End.
From there, Adam Cole led the newly titled Undisputed Kingdom to the squared circle to explain his actions at the PPV when he turned on MJF.
Using the generic reason of needing to loosen MJF's grip on AEW, he then laid out the next few months of television by pointing out what Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Wardlow and Roderick Strong will be targeting.
Cole issued a word of warning to Joe and appeared ready to exit when Jay White interrupted, taking exception to the beatdown that left him lying backstage at the start of The Devil's mind games.
The Acclaimed joined Bullet Club Gold, chasing the heels out of the ring and standing tall, the trio of Anthony Bowens, Max Caster and Billy Gunn seeking the same revenge White did.
This was an interesting start to the show. Cole was great as the lead heel, a role he has always excelled in. The reasoning was rather one-dimensional and kind of all over the place, but the segment did a great job of looking ahead and telling the fans what they can expect for the next few weeks.
The tease of The Acclaimed and Bullet Club Gold joining forces to fight a common enemy was another nice bit of business as they are so polarly opposite that it is intriguing.
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- "I'm the one who lost something, not him!" Cole said, citing the broken foot he suffered while saving his former partner.
- "We have one goal: to win championship gold."
- Cole assigned Strong to target the International Championship, Taven and Bennett to continue defending the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and Wardlow to the AEW World Championship...at least until he is healed, at which point he expects Wardlow to hand the title over.
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Dante Martin
3 of 9
Orange Cassidy successfully retained the AEW International Championship over Dante Martin Wednesday night in the follow-up to a solid trios match from Friday's Rampage.
Martin attempted to answer the champion's mind games with some of his own but Cassidy did not blink, hanging with the faster, higher-flying young star before rocking him with the Orange Punch for the hard-fought victory.
A messy post-match involving Hook and Danhausen gave way to the return of Private Party's Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, who vowed to take over the tag team division.
The match was good, and the return was a nice moment for Kassidy and Quen, but it remains to be seen exactly how committed to Private Party Tony Khan is based on how they have been utilized in recent years.
Result
Cassidy defeated Martin to retain
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Martin's athleticism may be unmatched by anyone in AEW and that is a considerable statement. Everything looks so effortless.
- Cassidy faked Martin out, rocked him with an Orange Punch and scored the win in a nice nod to the Rampage trios match in which the challenger had countered Freshly Squeezed's trademark strike with a dropkick.
- Private Party putting every tag team on notice after spending the last two years losing routinely is certainly something. Not mentioning the champions, Ricky Starks and Big Bill, by name is a huge flub and indicative of the current tag team situation.
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Mariah May vs. Queen Aminata
4 of 9
Mariah May made her first in-ring appearance in AEW this week, battling Queen Aminata in a match that was far tougher and more competitive than expected.
May dominated early and often, all the way through the picture-in-picture commercial break. Aminata fired up, turning in a strong performance in her own right. Ultimately, May stunted her comeback and scored the win, only to see her post-match promo interrupted by the debuting Deonna Purrazzo.
The former Impact Wrestling Knockouts champion hit the ring, joining May and Renee Paquette in the squared circle for some mic time.
Purrazzo told May to warn "Timeless" Toni Storm that she is coming for the AEW Women's Championship. "I'm not the messenger, so tell her yourself," May responded.
It earned her a big kick as The Virtuosa stood tall to close out the segment.
A big addition for the women's division, Purrazzo has been one of the best wrestlers in the world for the last three years. She has earned the fame that appearing on a bigger stage will provide her.
Result
May defeated Aminata
Grade
C+
Top Moments
- Great aggression shown by May early.
- It was nice to see the crowd's reaction to Aminata late. She is a talented performer in her own right and may earn herself a spot in AEW or elsewhere based on her work here and against Skye Blue recently.
- "I am All Elite," Purrazzo said, "and we are in the Age of the Virtuosa."
Christian Cage's State of the Union
5 of 9
Christian Cage led a State of the Union address following his TNT Championship victory over Adam Copeland at World's End.
More important than anything he said was how the crowd reacted.
Drowning out Cage's words were the fans' chants of "Luchasaurus," a testament to Tony Khan's handling of the dino-masked big man of late as he continues to reluctantly follow the most despised man in AEW.
Shayna Wayne was great in her limited mic work here while Cage was his typically excellent self, and this otherwise uneventful segment was enhanced because of it.
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- This is an all-time heel run for Cage. He has been so great as the Patriarch of AEW. "The apple of my eye, my son, Nick Wayne," was just a great bit of business from the TNT champ.
- The crowd drowned Cage out with chants of "Luchasaurus," proving that the attempts to develop him into a sympathetic big man are working.
Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita
6 of 9
Konosuke Takeshita systematically defeated Darby Allin in one of his stronger showings to this point.
It was a bit more competitive than a traditional squash, but this was very much a showcase for Takeshita, who had an answer for everything Allin threw at him and beat him with some impressively timed strikes.
This was the best The Ace has looked since his victory over Kenny Omega and felt very much like a return to form for the young star.
That Don Callis challenged him and Sting to a match with Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs on next week's show in Jacksonville, with the potential to hang The Icon's first loss on him in AEW, only enhances what could be a significant stretch for the potential face of the future.
Result
Takeshita defeated Allin
Grade
B+
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Imagine rolling up to the arena and just casually booking Allin and Takeshita late in the day. Khan has himself an embarrassment of riches from a talent standpoint.
- This was as aggressive as we have seen Takeshita and the crowd's reactions reflected as much. Allin bumped hard, but it was all enhanced by the intensity of his opponent's strikes and throws.
Continental Eliminator Match
7 of 9
Trent Beretta, Brian Cage, Bryan Keith, and El Hijo del Vikingo battled in a Continental Eliminator match, with the chance to challenge AEW Continental champion Eddie Kingston Saturday night on Collision at stake.
Beretta won a fast-paced, action-packed four-way that saw him withstand a late push by Keith to score the victory and set up a showdown with Kingston.
It was a big win for a guy who has been among the more underrated in-ring competitors in AEW since day one.
Beretta was a guy around whom significant spots were booked in the pre-show Battle Royal at World's End Zero Hour, so it was not particularly surprising to see him score the win here. Where it goes and what ultimately happens with the veteran competitor is another question.
Khan has an opportunity to build on his sudden momentum and present Beretta as a new force in a title picture, regardless of what it is. He also tends to build guys up for one-off title shots before allowing them to slink off into obscurity again.
Hopefully, that is not the case here.
Result
Beretta defeated Keith, Cage and Vikingo
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
- There was a considerable amount of attention paid to Beretta and his elimination of Danhausen at World's End, as well as the idea that he may be undergoing a personality change.
- What have any of the four competitors done to be in a position to challenge Kingston for his title? The randomness of this match is one of the trademarks of Khan's booking and while that may make for a fresh match, it does call into question the logic of it.
- How did the camera miss Vikingo's match-saving splash?
Swerve Strickland vs. Daniel Garcia
8 of 9
An enraged Hangman Page interrupted a Renee Paquette interview with "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard, vowing to beat down Samoa Joe, Adam Cole or any other member of the Undisputed Kingdom.
In the arena, Daniel Garcia and Swerve Strickland sought to build on their recent momentum as they squared off in the night's main event.
The match was as good as the talent would suggest, with Strickland scoring an ultra-competitive match and keeping his AEW Championship aspirations alive.
After the match, Strickland and Prince Nana attacked Garcia before Page hit the ring. He came face-to-face with Swerve before a brawl between the two broke out. Referees and security pulled them apart as the show came to an end.
This was a great finish to the show and one that instantly spices up the AEW title scene. We have Joe, Adam Cole set up Wardlow to be a prominent fixture, and Strickland and Page are both eyeing the gold.
Multiple moving pieces, intertwining stories and fresh faces in the title hunt make the show as interesting at the top of the card as it has been in a long while.
A great conclusion to the show.
Result
Strickland defeated Garcia
Grade
A
Top Moments and Takeaways
- Garcia and Prince Nana staring each other down and dancing mid-match may have been predictable, but it was such a fun spot.
- Strickland is becoming a fixture in the Dynamite main event scene, something that should not change anytime soon. He is over and he is money.
- The sharpshooter spot on the commentary desk did not go according to plan at all, and it hurt the flow of things.
- This was full of great, dramatic near-falls late.
Overall Grade
9 of 9AEW will never rekindle the emotion, excitement and hope of its first year. Too much has changed, for better and worse.
With that said, this felt like an episode of Dynamite that strived to get back to what the show used to be: Wrestling-centric, with a surprise or two, and a badass main event to top things off.
We were introduced to the Undisputed Kingdom, saw the return to Wednesday nights of Deonna Purrazzo, and watched Konosuke Takeshita earn a big win over Darby Allin. Christian Cage and The Patriarchy continue to shine as world-class heels, Queen Aminata showed out in a big opportunity, and Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page reintensified a feud that could lead them to the AEW World Championship.
This was a really good show, one that may be looked back on as the moment AEW rediscovered itself. Time will tell, and we have been here before.
Still, this was a quality broadcast, even if there are still some of the hallmarks of Khan's so-so booking that could use some attention.
Grade: B
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