***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, and Taz were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
What a way to start tonight’s show, right out of the gate—12-Man Tag Team Action!
It’s the Elite (tag champs Kenny Omega & “Hangman” Adam Page, & The Young Bucks—Matt & Nick Jackson) & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Dark Order (“The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Five, & Nine)!
Brodie Lee and Nick Jackson began for their teams, with Brodie decking Nick. Matt Jackson tagged in and the brothers utilized highly effective tandem offense on Brodie until he double clotheslined them!
Brodie tagged in Nine, who was isolated in the corner of The Elite and FTR. They all took turns tagging in and focusing their offense on Nine. Evil Uno and Stu Grayson finally saw enough and rushed Kenny Omega, who had attempted to pin Nine. FTR ran in and saved Page and Omega from suplexes from The Dark Order. The tag champs and FTR combined forces to execute a triple vertical suplex on The Dark Order! Omega went for the pin attempt but it was broken up by “Boom Boom” Colt Cabana! Omega chased Colt to the outside of the ring, but Omega was lured in by a thrust kick from Brodie Lee who was waiting just around the corner!
“Brodie Lee has done a great job integrating Colt Cabana into The Dark Order, and it’s been paying off,” remarked Tony Schiavone.
Harwood tagged in and hit a quick snap leg drop on Five. He tagged in Cash who caught Five midleap frog and scoop slammed him! Page was tagged in and Five grappled him down with a front face lock, forcing him to The Dark Order’s corner. Grayson entered the ring and began to aggressively stomp on Page, and then followed up with hard knee strikes to Page’s midsection!
Omega entered the fray and The Elite had his back, all his friends cleaning house on The Dark Order!
“The Elite is back,” said Tony Schiavone.
“This match has had more symmetry than I thought,” noted Jim Ross.
Dax and Cash double-teamed Five with an elbow-backbreaker combo, but Dax injured his knee in the process. The Dark Order were like sharks, smelling blood in the water. They seized on Kenny Omega in the ring. Next Matt Jackson was sidewalk slammed by Brodie Lee and then powerbombed by Evil Uno. Matt kicked out of the pin attempt!
“How about this six on three advantage that The Dark Order has? Apparently ‘Hangman’ has left ringside to join Cash Wheeler helping Dax Harwood of FTR to the back. Why would he leave?” asked Tony Schiavone.
“The Dark Order here with Colt Cabana, that’s a massive advantage,” replied Taz.
“How about Colt Cabana working in sync with The Dark Order here?” asked Tony Schiavone, after Colt splashed onto Matt Jackson.
Matt Jackson got fired up and wiped out all of The Dark Order, one after another! “Hangman” Page finally walked down the ramp to rejoin the match and Matt tagged him in!
“Page is taking on every member of The Dark Order by himself here,” said Tony Schiavone.
Page took out The Dark Order with a moonsault to the outside of the ring. Brodie Lee just stared at him from the inside of the ring.
Brodie tagged himself in and he and Page exchanged forearms! Brodie smashed Page with a tope suicida! Colt Cabana was tagged in and hit the Chicago Skyline on Page, but Omega prevented the pin. Grayson followed up with a 450 splash onto Page but Page found the grit to kick out!
“This is a tremendous 12-man tag match,” said Tony Schiavone.
Page ducked a clothesline from Brodie Lee and was greeted by a superkick party from the Bucks! Matt and Nick dished out superkicks to the remainder of The Dark Order.
“Anyone left to superkick?” asked Tony Schiavone.
Omega grabbed Brodie, whipping him back with a snapdragon suplex, the momentum from the Bucks’ superkicks giving the suplex extra impact! It was a combination snapdragon suplex/superkick party on Mr. Brodie Lee! Page attempted for the Buckshot Lariat on Brodie but The Dark Order interfered. Page almost connected with Omega instead but barely missed. Brodie nearly took off Page’s head with a dominant lariat and scored the pin on “Hangman”!
After the pin, Brodie was laughing at Page.
“It’s almost as if Brodie is telling Page, ‘See, you should have joined us,’” said Tony Schiavone.
We saw footage from earlier in the day of Best Friends—Chuck Taylor and Trent—pulling up in Trent’s mom’s van.
Up next was Santana & Ortiz, from The Inner Circle vs. Best Friends—Chuck Taylor & Trent!
Santana and Chuck tied up with a collar and elbow. Santana got the better of it with a reversal. Ortiz and Trent tagged in and Trent. Trent dropped Ortiz with double knees to the chest and followed up with a Northern Lights suplex for a one-count!
“The pace of the match seems to favor Santana and Ortiz here,” noted Tony Schiavone.
“Yeah, I agree with you, Tony, they want to grind you down, beat you down,” replied Taz.
After a double reversal, Trent caught Santana with a swinging DDT. Best Friends began to double-team Ortiz and then went in for the hug because you’ve got to give the people what they want! Trent and Chuckie T. connected with double back elbows on Santana.
“Chuck is unorthodox but he’s efficient in that ring. He gets things done,” said Taz.
Trent came off the top with a double ax handle onto Santana. After hitting a low dropkick on Trent, Santana tagged in Ortiz.
Ortiz planted Trent with a cradle suplex for a near fall. Ortiz grabbed Trent’s leg and sat into a crab. Trent and Ortiz traded chops until Ortiz poked Trent in the eyes! Santana used a high uranage on Trent but Trent kicked out at one! Trent fought back, knocking Ortiz off the apron with a right forearm, and then an elbow to Santana! On the outside, Ortiz grabbed Trent’s ankle and pulled him down hard, sending Trent crashing spine first on the ring apron! Santana flew out at Chuck with a tope suicida!
Santana and Ortiz focused their offense on Trent’s lower back with punches and vertical suplexes.
“Trent is in a ton of pain with that lower back,” noted Taz.
“Gonna be hard to kick out,” added Jim Ross.
Trent managed to connect with a desperation clothesline and got the tag to Chuck! Ortiz got served up some Sole Food from Chuck, and then a falcon arrow for a two-count!
Trent showed his fighting spirit and accepted a tag from Chuck. Trent was propped up on Chuck’s shoulders and superplexed Ortiz off the top turnbuckle!
“I don’t know who’s hurt worse after that—Trent or Ortiz,” pondered Jim Ross.
Chuck reached for a tag but was pulled off the apron by Santana and then rammed into the guardrail! Ortiz dropped Trent with a powerbomb and then Santana came through with a pump kick to Trent’s face! Trent kicked out at two!
“My God! I thought for sure that was it,” said Tony Schiavone.
“Gotta give the man a ton of credit. Trent has a ton of heart,” added Taz.
Santana and Ortiz attempted their Street Sweeper finisher on Trent but Chuck knocked Santana off the top rope. Trent rolled through on Ortiz and scored the pin for the victory!
“They’d wrestled an excellent match but Ortiz let his guard down there,” said Jim Ross.
“The three-match winning streak is over for Santana and Ortiz at the hands of Best Friends,” observed Tony Schiavone.
MJF (with Wardlow) appeared live from the MJF Campaign Headquarters!
MJF gave viewers a tour behind the scenes where the magic happens. MJF showed off his campaign staff hard at work mailing out campaign buttons and posters.
“This campaign is not over until Jon Moxley’s AEW World title is around my waist at ALL OUT,” said MJF.
Matthew Hardy (on a 5-match winning streak) was standing in the ring with a microphone.
“When I made the decision to come to AEW, it’s because I wanted to come somewhere where I would feel respected. I wanted to wrestle and work somewhere where I felt like I had a say in the direction where my career was going to go. When I first got here I looked around and said, ‘Maybe I can be an attraction and I can introduce AEW to the multiverse of Matt Hardy.’ It’s a celebration of my career. And I’ve been having a blast. But I listen to my audience. And AEW in general listens to its audience,” said Matt Hardy.
He continued: “The majority of the audience that is watching DYNAMITE on their television, the millions every single week, they want to see me focus on being me, focus on being Matthew Hardy, the man who is ‘Stronger Than Death, The Unkillable One.’ And that is what I’m going to do onscreen. Offscreen I still want to give back. There’s two guys in particular who remind me a lot of myself and my brother. They are Private Party. These two guys, if they need anything from me, I have their back.
And there’s another man that I’ve tried to help out. His name is Sammy Guevara. He didn’t want to accept my help. I told him he needed to get away from Chris Jericho. But Sammy didn’t take my advice. As a matter of fact the very first time I showed up in an AEW ring, Sammy snuck out and attacked me from behind. So I figured when he returned last week, what better way to welcome him than return the favor. Sammy, you gave me a proverbial middle finger to the face, so I no longer desire to help you. I desire to hurt you!”
As Matt was speaking, Sammy slid out from beneath the ring and snuck up behind Matt.
“Sammy, I knew you’d come,” said Matt, swinging around to club Sammy with forearms!
Matt and Sammy brawled to the ringside floor! Matt bodyslammed Sammy through the ring announcer’s table! Matt pulled out a second table and set it up. Matt was looking for the Twist of Fate but Sammy pushed Matt headfirst into the steel ring post! Sammy threw a chair at Matt’s face! Matt’s head was busted open! Sammy ran off the entrance ramp and cannonballed with a front-flip onto Matt, pushing Matt right through the table!
“Look at Matt, he is split open!” said Taz.
Jim Ross received word in his headset that something was happening outside.
Outside the arena, Ortiz had a sledgehammer and Santana had the madball loaded sock, and they began demolishing Sue’s minivan!
“This is a direct message to Trent and Chuck. Poor Sue’s minivan,” noted Taz.
This was followed by John Silver & Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona (making his AEW in-ring debut) & TNT Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody (accompanied by “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson)!
“Cardona looks phenomenal,” said Tony Schiavone.
Cody hooked John Silver with a single-leg. Cody dumped Silver forward after holding him up in a delayed vertical suplex position. He tagged in Cardona.
Cardona rammed Silver’s head onto the top turnbuckle! He followed up with a beautifully executed flapjack! Silver rallied back with several round kicks and tagged in Reynolds.
Reynolds attempted a suplex on Cardona but Cardona countered with a neck breaker. He tagged in Cody, displaying strong team continuity between the two of them. Cody was thrown into the corner by Reynolds, his ribs getting banged up in the process. Cody was hurt but he was able to hit a pump kick on Reynolds, and then a straight right hand. Silver pulled Cody’s legs out from under him and Reynolds crashed onto Cody’s ribs!
“The ribs of Cody are really taking a pounding,” said Jim Ross.
Both members of The Dark Order dropped elbow after elbow onto Cody, utilizing the 10-count their allowed with the legal tag. Reynolds and Silver continued the assault on Cody’s ribs with impressive tandem offense.
“First time Cody is teaming here with his longtime friend Matt Cardona but Cody is in trouble,” noted J.R.
“Right now this is all Reynolds and Silver,” replied Tony Schiavone, as Silver blasted Cody in the ribs with roundhouse kicks.
Cody caught Silver with a Buzz Sawyer-like scoopslam, giving him enough momentum to tag in Cardona!
Cardona hit a missile dropkick on Reynolds! He started decimating Reynolds with powerful forearm shots! Cardona with the sit-out powerbomb on Reynolds! Silver interfered to break up the pin, but Cody jumped in with a cutter on Silver to neutralize him! Reynolds clotheslined Cody, knocking him to the arena floor!
“It looks like Cardona has got to do this on his own,” said Jim Ross.
The Dark Order hit a German suplex on Cardona and tried a jackknife pin but Cardona kicked out! Cody returned to battle and tossed Reynolds out of the ring! He attempted CrossRhodes on Silver but Silver countered. Both men crashed and burned onto the concrete after a suplex from Silver! Cardona was waiting for Silver and caught him with his Radio Silence finisher for the victory!
“Cardona has looked great since he’s arrived,” said J.R.
As Cody was making his way backstage, Scorpio Sky greeted him in the entrance ramp tunnel.
“Scorpio Sky wants a title shot from Cody,” observed Tony Schiavone.
Best Friends were outside and were fuming over the damage that Santana and Ortiz caused to Sue’s minivan. The vehicle was totaled!
“You do not touch my mom’s van! When we beat you again, you’re going to apologize to my mom over speakerphone,” said Trent.
It was time for AEW Super Wednesday Debate 2020!
AEW announcer Justin Roberts introduced the very special guest moderator…Eric Bischoff!
“Eric Bischoff is back on TNT! I can’t believe it!” said Tony Schiavone.
“83 weeks, folks, 83 weeks,” added Jim Ross.
Bischoff said the debate would consist of five questions that were picked at random from various AEW social media platforms. Neither Chris Jericho nor Orange Cassidy have seen these questions. Bischoff was sitting behind a desk at the top of the entrance ramp, and there were podiums for Jericho and Orange inside the ring.
“Demo God” Chris Jericho, still “Le Champion” in the ratings war, came to the ring with Jake Hager, who was carrying the suit jacket that Orange Cassidy destroyed last month.
Jericho, dressed in a business suit, insulted Cassidy’s jeans and denim jacket. Cassidy responded by attaching a clip-on tie to his t-shirt.
“This is why I despise you, Cassidy, you take nothing seriously. People laugh at what you do behind your back, and so do I. You’re nothing more than a flash in the pan,” said Jericho.
Bischoff asked for Orange’s response but “Freshly Squeezed” remained silent.
“He doesn’t talk, Eric. He’s got nothing to say,” stated Jericho.
Bischoff asked about the rising sea level. Jericho said that had nothing to do with this and wanted the next question. Suddenly Cassidy perked up and gave an answer off the top of his head worthy of a graduate level thesis!
Jericho said Cassidy is “the epitome of every smart mark fan watching at home. He’s ignorant, he’s lazy, he’s entitled, he’s overbearing, and he’s a pimple on the ass of the pro wrestling business. But next week, Orange, I’m gonna pop ya. I’m gonna beat you again for the second time and when I do, you’re gonna have to give me $7,000 to replace my designer suit jacket that you destroyed.”
For the last question, Bischoff asked why the rematch means so much to both men. Jericho began to respond but Cassidy told him to shut up!
“Chris I know what you’re doing. You scheduled a debate against a guy who doesn’t talk. You’re trying to embarrass me with all of this. I’m not embarrassed Chris. I don’t care about you. But I do care about next week. I care about that match. It’s the biggest match of my life. It’s also the biggest match of your life, too, Chris. You’re Chris Jericho, man. You’ve done it all. But what if Chris Jericho loses to the guy who puts his hands in his pockets?” asked Orange Cassidy.
Orange removed his sunglasses and demanded that Jericho look into his eyes. “I want you to look into the eyes of the man that is going to embarrass you. And next week look at the man that’s going to beat you!”
Bischoff said “Mr. Cassidy, you’ve walked away with this debate. That global warming thing got me.”
Jericho ordered Jake Hager to attack Orange Cassidy! Hager was breaking down Orange with body shots! Hager grabbed Orange and ran him directly into Jericho’s Judas Effect elbow!
“He’s out cold,” said Taz.
Best Friends ran down to check on Orange Cassidy.
Tony Schiavone was ringside to interview Dr. Britt Baker, who is still in a wheelchair due to her injuries.
Tony asked Britt to elaborate on what she meant when she said she’d wrestle Big Swole, but that first Big Swole would have to go through someone of Britt’s choosing.
“I know you’re just dying to know who I picked. My choice of an opponent for Big Swole will be…Reba!” Reba protested but Britt Baker ordered her to get into the ring.
So it was Big Swole against “Reba”!
Big Swole grabbed a head lock, and then punched Reba in the lower back. Baker distracted Big Swole, allowing Reba the opportunity to catch Swole off guard and then slam her! She connected with a backspin kick on Swole! Reba missed a moonsault from the second turnbuckle when Big Swole rolled out of the way!
Big Swole nailed Reba with her Dirty Dancing finisher for the victory!
And now it was time for our main event of the evening! Darby Allin vs. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley!
Darby walked to the ring wearing a creepy cut-out Moxley face mask.
Moxley walked up to Darby and ripped the mask off him. Darby returned the gesture by slapping Mox in the face! Mox knocked down Darby with one punch to the face! Darby’s mouth was bleeding and Darby smiled when he tasted it.
Darby paint brushed the champ again, but Mox stopped him in his tracks with a hellacious lariat!
“Darby’s in big time trouble and I love it,” said Taz.
Darby surprised Mox with an arm drag off the top rope! He followed up with a dropkick to Mox! Darby got a full head of steam, sprinted and launched himself like a missile at Mox on the ramp!
Moxley grabbed Darby by the head and ran him off the ramp, Darby’s head slamming against the ring post! Moxley pulled Darby back inside the ring and continued to pummel him. Mox had Darby in an STF submission and told him to tap, but Darby refused and replied with two middle fingers!
“Darby has to try to get away from Moxley,” said Schiavone.
“I’ve studied Moxley with Brian Cage and Mox smothers his opponent. That’s what he does well,” added Taz.
“He’s not doing it right now which leads me to believe he’s showing a little bit of mercy on Darby,” said J.R.
“When I tell you to tap, you tap!” barked Moxley.
Darby threw himself at Mox, and both of them spilled onto the arena floor. Darby came up in the mounted position and hammered down with fists on Moxley! Darby climbed back into the ring and sprinted and rocketed himself through the ropes out at Moxley with a tope suicida!
Darby placed Mox’s hand on top of the ring post and stood on it with all of his weight. Darby launched himself off the top of the post onto Moxley!
“Mox may have a broken hand or finger because of that,” observed Taz.
Darby hit the Code Red on Moxley for a near fall!
“He almost won the world championship with that Code Red,” said Schiavone.
Darby went to the top turnbuckle but Mox met him up there and chucked him with a German suplex! Luckily for Darby, he was able to rotate and avoid landing on his head.
“I think Moxley got the worse side of this coin,” said Jim Ross, as both men were crawling towards one another.
Wardlow came down the ramp and distracted the referee. As the ref had his back turned, MJF ran in from the other side and walloped Moxley in the head with the AEW World title! Darby, unaware of what transpired, connected with a Coffin Drop onto Moxley! The champ was able to kick out just before the three-count!
Mox was split open from the belt-shot!
“MJF played a major card tonight in his game plan. MJF wants no part of Moxley and might not have to worry about him if Darby can put Mox away here,” said Jim Ross.
Mox, barely able to stand on spaghetti legs, was knocked back down by a shotgun dropkick from Darby! The challenger followed up with a cutter! Darby came off the ropes for a running elbow, but both men were taken down when their skulls collided with one another.
Darby attempted another Coffin Drop but Mox turned his body on the mat and caught Darby in a rear naked choke!
“I can’t believe Darby Allin has lasted this long,” said Jim Ross.
Darby reached for Mox’s eyes. Moxley let go of the sleeper and instead opted to plant Darby with a Gotch-style piledriver! Somehow Darby kicked out at two!
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody kick out of that Gotch-style piledriver, especially one that was executed as well as Mox executed it!” added J.R.
Mox shook his head in disbelief and made the sign of the cross. Reluctantly, Mox put Darby in the Paradigm Shift and spiked him. Moxley pinned Darby for the victory! After the match, Moxley hugged Darby, showing how much respect he has Darby. Backstage, MJF was furious as his plan had backfired.
Be sure to join us next week for all the explosive action as AEW DYNAMITE is broadcast on TNT!