AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Feb. 14
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite on February 14.
The Valentine's Day edition had plenty of action. Here is the card advertised ahead of Wednesday's show.
- Adam Copeland vs. Daniel Garcia
- Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Taven
- Dax Harwood vs. Jon Moxley
- The Jacksons vs. Top Flight
- Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale
Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's episode of Dynamite.
Dax Harwood vs. Jon Moxley
1 of 6
Dynamite opened with Jon Moxley making his way through the crowd as "Wild Thing" played. His opponent for the evening was Dax Harwood, who also came out solo to keep things fair.
They started with a furious lockup that ended in a most surprising way: Moxley kissed Harwood and then dared him to do something about it.
From that point forward, this was a fight. Both men fancy themselves as strikers, and they put those skills on full display.
This was neither a pretty nor a technical affair, but it was a fun brawl with a few entertaining spots. They had great energy, a hot crowd and nobody at ringside to distract from the action.
The first half was almost all strikes, but we saw a lot more variety after the commercial break. You could hear Justin Roberts announce when five minutes remained, and again when it was down to two minutes.
Harwood tried his best, but he ended up passing out to a sleeper to give Mox the win. When he refused to release the hold, Cash Wheeler ran to the ring and started beating on him until Claudio Castagnoli came down to take him out
Result: Jon Moxley defeated Dax Harwood
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It's kind of funny to think about wrestlers taking one of their shirts and cutting it the way they like very carefully so it looks perfect.
- Social media went wild for Mox's kiss in both good and bad ways.
- The suplex over the top rope to the floor looked rough. Both guys are going to be feeling that one in the morning.
- Harwood's transition into a Sharpshooter was smooth.
Wardlow Squash, Adam Copeland vs. Daniel Garcia
2 of 6
Some poor jobber named Barrett Brown had the unfortunate task of taking on Wardlow this week.
Predictably, The WarDaddy destroyed him with ease.
Result: Wardlow obliterated another man
Grade: Incomplete
The next match saw Daniel Garcia take on Adam Copeland, with the winner getting the next shot at Christian Cage's TNT title.
The veteran tried to overpower his younger opponent early on, but Garcia quickly turned it around and made him grab the bottom rope to get out of an ankle lock.
The Rated-R Superstar could sense the crowd getting behind Garcia and decided to play up his heel tendencies a bit, especially during the picture-in-picture segment.
They did a fantastic job making Garcia into a bigger babyface as the match progressed by having him make bigger and bigger comebacks. The crowd was firmly behind him by the time we reached the halfway point.
Nick Wayne and Killswitch ended up interfering to cause a no-contest finish. Cage and Daddy Magic had a standoff with some chairs until Killswitch hit him from behind. Copeland saved Garcia from having his head smashed with a chair, but Mama Wayne hit a low blow.
Cage ended up smashing Copeland's head between two chairs before posing with his group.
Result: No-contest
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Wardlow watching himself flex on the big screen was funny.
- It was hard to tell who got a bigger pop here. That's how popular Garcia has gotten.
- Garcia dancing while he was standing on Copeland's knees was a good moment.
- Garcia's dragon screw leg whip from the middle rope looked great.
The Jacksons vs. Top Flight
3 of 6
We got a long segment with Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and "Hangman" Adam Page that ended with Joe promising to beat both of them at Revolution on March 3. This was followed by Toni Storm's newest film.
The next match saw Nicholas and Matthew Jackson take on Darius and Dante Martin. The Jacksons were still wearing their bloody white suits from their attack on Sting and Darby Allin last week.
Top Flight had a slight speed advantage, so both Martin brothers made sure to use it.
The Bucks did a great job using a lot of classic heel tricks to get heat, but because they are the Bucks, they were still being cheered by some fans.
This was exactly the fast-paced match you would expect out of these four men. Their previous encounter was more exciting, but this one told a better story because the Bucks were heels this time.
After hitting a low blow, the Jacksons finished off Darius with an EVP Trigger for the win. This was predictable but helped continue the heel turn for Nick and Matt.
Result: The Bucks defeated Top Flight
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Did the Bucks add some fake blood to their suits? Some of the stains were unnaturally bright.
- Action Andretti downing a bottle of water cannot be his whole personality.
- Nick Jackson trying to wrestle with his hat on shouldn't be as funny as it is.
- The way Dante and Darius slipped back into the ring before hitting a double slingshot crossbody was awesome.
Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale
4 of 6
Kris Statlander opted to stay backstage while Stokely Hathaway accompanied Willow Nightingale to the ring for her match against Skye Blue. Julia Hart also chose to head to the back, so neither woman had an advantage.
Blue went right after her opponent with a running dropkick, but Nightingale cartwheeled out of the corner and hit a bodyslam.
Despite Nightingale having a significant size and power advantage, Skye managed to get in quite a bit of offense. The longer the match went, the less she felt like an underdog.
This contest had a handful of moments where it felt like there was hesitation from one or both competitors, but the majority of what we saw was solid.
Hathaway ended up distracting the ref long enough for Nightingale to kick out of the Code Blue and hit a Doctor Bomb for the pin.
Result: Willow Nightingale defeated Skye Blue
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The Bang Bang Scissor Gang had a fun backstage segment with Renee Paquette.
- Nightingale sent Skye out of the ring with a huge pounce.
- Some of Skye's strikes looked really good. She was laying them in hard.
Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Taven
5 of 6
This week's main event was a Texas Death match between Orange Cassidy and Matt Taven, but the International Championship was not on the line.
The stipulation meant this was never going to be a standard bout with headlocks and chain wrestling. They were throwing hands out of the gate, and the fight spilled into the crowd before the break.
Taven hasn't had many singles matches in All Elite Wrestling, so it was great to see him get a chance to shine on his own for once. He is a great talent who can be a top heel in any promotion.
We saw some tables brought into the match, and Taven put himself through one with a missed dive over the top rope in the wildest spot of the night.
Cassidy found a heart-shaped box of tacks and dumped them into the ring, but Taven ended up shoving him onto them before landing on them himself a moment later.
This was one of those AEW matches that was all about brutality, weapons and the occasional comedy spot. The crowd inside the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas loved every second of it until Mike Bennett showed up to interfere. Trent Beretta came out with a steel pipe to even the odds.
In the end, Cassidy managed to get the win by knockout to end the show on a high note.
Result: Orange Cassidy defeated Matt Taven
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- AEW has started moving away from having any wrestlers accompany each other to the ring. It was very noticeable this week.
- The way Cassidy cleared the barricade with a single jump was impressive.
- Cassidy and Taven were both bleeding a lot from their heads.
The Final Word
6 of 6
From top to bottom, this was one of the strongest episodes of Dynamite we have had in 2024 so far. It may have even been the best.
Picking a Match of the Night is difficult because almost every bout brought something different to the table.
Copeland and Garcia had a great encounter, Harwood and Moxley opened the show with a hell of a fight, and Cassidy and Taven closed it with a bloody showdown.
Storm's movie was one of her best segments yet, and the promos from Swerve, Page and Samoa Joe were all fantastic.
AEW has been putting on some great shows recently, but Revolution is the main focus right now. Let's hope the company sticks the landing with all of the feuds it has built up.
Grade: B+
.jpg?w=600 "Fans React to Simpson Pick 😱")
.jpg?w=600 "Full Eagles-Cowboys Trade 🤝")
.jpg?w=600 "Brady Reacts to Mendoza Pick")
