***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
AEW made its Ohio debut, as AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland!
Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Jim Ross were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
Jon Moxley, patch on the injured eye, came down through the crowd. Mox is the #1 undisputed challenger for Chris Jericho’s AEW World Championship title.
Mox grabbed a microphone: “I gotta tell you, it was right around the time I got stabbed with a metal spike that it occurred to me. I guess the fun and games with Chris Jericho are over. Now it’s official. Moxley. Jericho. AEW World Championship. February 29th in Chicago at REVOLUTION!
“I am far from perfect. I’m no role model. I’m no saint. I don’t have to wear a white hat or a black hat. But I make sure at the end of the day I can look myself in the mirror. All the championships in the world don’t mean nothin’ unless you have your honor, unless you live by a code. When I see Chris Jericho I see a coward, a bully, and boy, do I hate bullies.
“On February 29th, Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle will have a target on my head, but I will look right down the barrel of that gun and I will take the AEW World Championship from Chris Jericho. Because Chris, it’s not about the kind of man you are…it’s about the kind of man you’re not!
But let’s not wait until then. Let’s do this tonight, Chris, and for once, take your beating like a man!”
Le Champion Chris Jericho’s theme, “Judas,” began to play, and out walked the champ. The crowd was singing along.
“Moxley,” said Jericho, “it makes me laugh when you talk about what you’ve done and what you’ve earned, because all you deserved was a spike in the eye. All you had to do was say ‘yes’ to my offer to join the Inner Circle.
“You think you have what it takes to beat Le Champion?” asked Jericho. “You don’t even have what it takes to blink with both eyes. You want to see a fight here in Cleveland? Go to hell! Cleveland doesn’t deserve to see me one-on-one, and besides, I never go anywhere without my boys. C’mon out boys!”
And out came Jericho’s Inner Circle: Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz.
“You think I’m gonna walk into a five-on-one beat down Chris? See I was born and raised here in the great state of Ohio. The way I see it, it’s five against me and this entire arena, and hell, I actually kinda like those odds,” smirked Moxley.
Jericho laughed and replied: “You really are a stupid son of a b—! Moxley, we brought in some South Bronx street thugs, courtesy of Santana and Ortiz. The way I see it, it’s now ten of us, and one of you.”
Ortiz lead the charge down the ramp carrying an axe handle. Mox neutralized Ortiz with a head-butt and a DDT. Moxley charged into the fray! Referees and Atlas Security came out to keep Moxley and the Inner Circle (along with the South Bronx gang) separated. Eventually order was restored.
MJF and Wardlow were seen in a video, handing an envelope labeled “Young Bucks,” to the Butcher, the Blade and the Bunny. The envelope was stuffed with cash.
Our opening match tonight was The Butcher and the Blade (accompanied by the Bunny, MJF, and Wardlow) against the Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson! MJF joined the broadcast team for this match.
The crowd was firmly behind the Young Bucks, chanting for them. The Bucks showed off their tag team prowess with constant double maneuvers and quick tags.
MJF said the Bucks are phonies. “Where were they even trained? The Butcher and the Blade were trained by real greats like Les Thatcher and Josh Barnett!”
The Butcher ran in like a locomotive off the rails and hit the Bucks with a double-clothesline. Nick gave a superkick to the Blade and then to the Butcher. The Bunny pulled Nick from the apron and the Butcher connected with a cross body block on the outside.
“That’s why you don’t pick a beef with a butcher!” said MJF.
The Butcher and the Blade relentlessly worked over Nick in their corner of the ring. The Blade squashed Nick with a “Dr. Bomb.” Matt finally got the tag in and used Sliced Bread on the Blade, and then a high elbow drop from the top rope!
Matt then tagged Nick, who flew in with a beautiful senton on the Butcher. A Superkick Party broke out on the Butcher, and then the Bucks finished off the Blade with the Meltzer Driver for the three count!
The Butcher stormed the ring to take down the Bucks after his partner was dealt the defeat. “This is what I paid for,” said MJF, but Kenny Omega sprinted down the ramp with a wicked V-Trigger to the Butcher. “Hangman” Adam Page strolled down with a beer, and asked Matt to hold it for him. Page then used the Buckshot Lariat effortlessly on the Blade.
“The Native Beast” Nyla Rose against Big Swole was next.
“You gotta stick and run against Nyla Rose,” said Tony Schiavone. Swole was aggressive, taking Nyla’s knees out. Swole went for a shoulder tackle but it barely moved Nyla.
Nyla whipped Swole into the barricade on the outside, and then drove Swole’s shoulder right into the steel ring post! Big Swole lifted a knee and applied a guillotine to the Native Beast, but Nyla got out.
Nyla was reeling after strikes and a head-butt from Big Swole. Nyla was almost beaten after Swole hit a tremendous cutter on her. Swole hit a cross chop on Nyla, and then the flat liner, trying to string together some offense.
Nyla speared Big Swole and then got it done with a sit-down power bomb (“the Beastbomb”) for the victory! Nyla continues to cement her position as a force to be reckoned with.
“Superbad” Kip Sabian (accompanied by Penelope Ford) vs. “The American Nightmare” Cody (with Arn Anderson, the head coach of “The Nightmare Family”).
Sabian came straight out the gates with a shotgun dropkick, and then a gut buster on Cody! A pump kick from Cody sent Sabian out of the ring. The arena was chanting, “Let’s go Cody!” The two men began trading strikes outside of the ring, with Cody accidentally knocking down Penelope Ford.
Cody picked up Penelope Ford and apologized profusely, as she was motionless in his arms. Sabian took advantage of the opportunity, kicking Cody right in the mush. Penelope had been playing possum the entire time!
Back in the ring, Cody was able to get the upper hand with a running clothesline and a power slam! Cody felt the adrenaline from the crowd and hit a disaster kick on Kip Sabian. Before the referee could count the pin, Penelope Ford tossed her boot into the ring. The ref accused Arn Anderson of throwing the boot. Arn was offended by this, and confronted the AEW official inside the ring, who then booted Arn Anderson from the match.
While Cody was accessing the situation, Ford, from out of nowhere, used a huracarana on him. Sabian followed up with a dive onto “The American Nightmare!” Penelope and Sabian, the “Superbad” power couple, went to lock lips in celebration, but unbeknownst to them, the “Badboy” Joey Janela was front row. He popped up and flipped them off!
As Sabian was distracted by Janela, out came Cody with a tope suicida! “The American Nightmare” tried to follow up but was hung out to dry as Sabian planted him onto the mat. Both men battled it out on the top turnbuckle. Sabian was knocked down from a head butt, but quickly jumped back up like a cat onto the top rope and threw Cody down. Sabian executed his Deathly Hollow’s finisher, but it wasn’t enough to stop Cody! There was an intense “Cody Cutter,” and then Cody used three consecutive trips down the CrossRhodes for the victory!
Dr. Britt Baker came out to be interviewed by Tony Schiavone. “Britt, I hope I didn’t offend you last week,” remarked Schiavone.
“It’s Doctor,” replied Dr. Britt Baker. “I promise I’ll be here each week, my smile beaming across your TV sets, which is more than we can say about your champion Riho! And Cleveland, congratulations, you finally have a ‘Baker’ you can trust in.”
New AEW correspondent Lexi was backstage to interview the Young Bucks.
“Our main objective is to climb our way back up the tag team ranks,” said Matt Jackson.
Kenny Omega joined in to congratulate his friends. Adam Page stumbled out with a drink and his tag team championship belt, showing off the new nameplate that was just added to his title.
Omega said he was late because he had been preoccupied with setting up a match for next week. He said on DYNAMITE next Wednesday, “It’s the Young Bucks and me and Page against the Butcher and the Blade and a team of their choosing!” (It was later revealed that the Butcher and the Blade chose the Lucha Bros. as their partners for next week’s match!)
SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian) along with Christopher Daniels came out to the ring sporting Lakers jerseys, paying tribute to #24 Kobe Bryant and his daughter. Tonight it was SCU against the Hybrid2 (Angelico and Jack Evans)!
Angelico floated over Kazarian down on the mat, but Frankie countered with his own side headlock takeover. Frankie kept working on the headlock, and then tagged in Sky.
Sky was pushed into the corner and TH2 doubled teamed him, but a double back elbow from Sky and Kazarian rocked Jack Evans off his feet. Sky kicked Evans, who was propelled into a release German suplex from Frankie, which was good for a two count.
Angelico got a dirty shot in on Sky with a fierce soccer “penalty” kick, and momentum shifted in TH2’s favor. Sky was isolated by the opposing team. Sky hit a desperate suplex onto Evans, finally securing a tag to Kazarian.
Kazarian cleaned house on TH2! He pancaked Jack Evans, and then Angelico. Things began moving at a lightning pace here, but SCU bottled it up. First came a boot to the jaw on Angelico and then they hit SCU on him, allowing Scorpio Sky to pin Angelico!
A video of the Dark Order played on the big screen. Evil Uno was speaking in a stairwell and said, “Christopher Daniels, the Exalted One is very unhappy with you, and when he is unhappy, he acts swiftly. He is going to target someone close to you!” Daniels was watching this in the ring, outraged by the threat.
The main event of the night: Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) & Darby Allin vs. Santana and Ortiz & Le Champion Chris Jericho (with Sammy G. and Jake Hager)!
Darby jumped into the ring to begin against Jericho, and to pick up where they left things off. Jericho slapped Darby, and Darby came back with a drop kick and an arm drag from the top rope.
Ortiz and Kassidy were tagged in, and Private Party used their rapid-fire offense to disorient Ortiz. Santana hit a scoop and a slam on Quen. Jericho tagged in and chopped at a vulnerable Quen.
Kassidy got the tag and rolled through with a crucifix for a near fall on Ortiz. He then used a victory roll on Ortiz for a two count. Jericho intercepted Kassidy with a springboard dropkick after securing a blind tag from Ortiz! Jericho placed a foot on Kassidy and posed. The Inner Circle used a stalling vertical suplex with Jericho finally dropping Kassidy spine-first for a near fall. Jericho hit a lionsault, and then Ortiz nailed Kassidy with a head-butt. Like vultures, they were picking at the bones of Kassidy.
Darby tagged in and used an over-the-top stunner on Ortiz, then stepped through for a cloverleaf, but Jericho popped Darby in the face from the outside. Darby jumped off the ropes onto Jericho! Darby then used a Coffin Drop onto Jake Hager! Marq Quen was there for a senton on Jericho for a near fall! Jericho reversed an Irish whip from Kassidy and introduced Kassidy to the Judas Effect for the three count!
The entire Inner Circle stormed the ring to do more damage to Private Party and Darby Allin. “It’s a mugging!” said Tony Schiavone.
After a proud hug from Chris Jericho, Sammy G. took Darby’s skateboard and assaulted Darby with it. They dropped Darby’s throat down against the edge of the skateboard!
Moxley came out with a baseball bat, swinging for the fences against the Inner Circle, who retreated from the ring!
Tune in next week on February 5th, as AEW DYNAMITE will be broadcasting live on TNT from the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, AL!