A tag team main event featuring Jon Moxley & Darby Allin vs Brian Cage & Ricky Starks highlighted Wednesday’s All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Welcome to the first ever edition of ‘Diffusing Dynamite,’ hosted by Gavin Axelrod and Joseph Casciaro. Each week Gavin and Joseph will give their takeaways from All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) weekly show, Dynamite.
Gavin and Joseph have dubbed themselves the co-aces of the wrestling division here at The Intermission. It’s their goal, not only as the co-aces, but best looking journalists at the site, to deliver top-notch AEW content in their weekly review column.
This week’s episode featured exciting six-man tag team wrestling, Maxwell Jacob Freidman’s (MJF) state of wrestling address and another open challenge for the TNT Championship.
AEW Dynamite has quickly become the most exciting two hours of wrestling each week since its debut episode in October 2019. Last week’s show was regarded as one of, if not the best, episode of Dynamite during the “Pandemic Era” of wrestling.
So, was this week’s show as good? Great question, keep reading to find out what the best moments from the July 29 episode of AEW Dynamite were.
Cody vs WARHORSE a huge win for independent wrestling
When the inaugural TNT Champion Cody announced he would be defending the belt in a weekly open challenge, light bulbs went off in the heads of wrestling fans everywhere. The man they call WARHORSE was at the top of every harcore wrestling fan’s wishlist.
Casual viewers of the show have likely never heard of WARHORSE and that’s okay. The 27-year-old is one of the most popular wrestlers on the independent wrestling scene and current Independent Wrestling Champion.
In fact, a large reason for WARHORSE receiving a championship match Wednesday was because of his social media presence. The fans asked, begged and tweeted for it until AEW delivered, but more on that later.
WARHORSE is a bit of a throwback when it comes to wrestling characters in 2020. His persona is based on heavy metal and “ruling ass,” but his move set is as modern as it gets.
Even in a losing effort WARHORSE still came out as a huge winner Wednesday night. It’s not often in wrestling a major company actually listens to the fans and the fact this match even happened is a huge testament to AEW’s willingness to listen to its fanbase.
Furthermore, WARHORSE’s appearance on Dynamite is a huge victory for the independent wrestling scene. It shows young wrestlers on the rise just how important it is to build yourself as a character and it’ll undoubtedly get more eyes on the wide world of independent wrestling.
Woo, woo, woo, you know it
A familiar face arrived in AEW to even the odds during an attack from Dark Order on TNT Champion Cody. That’s right Matt Cordona, formerly known as Zack Ryer in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is All Elite.
Cordona came to his longtime friend Cody’s aid when Alex Renoylds and John Silver of Dark Order inexplicably attacked the champion after his match. The fallout from the attack will see Cody and Cordona take on Silver and Reynolds next week on Dynamite.
It remains to be seen whether or not Cordona came as a friend, or was just trying to courier a favor in hopes of receiving a title shot. However, it’s only fitting that the self dubbed “Internet Champion” arrived in AEW on the same night as WARHORSE, wrestling’s current internet darling.
Kenny Omega & ‘Hangman’ Adam Page retain over Dark Order
(Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)
What happens when three Canadians and an anxious millennial cowboy meet in the ring? A very great match, that’s what.
Since their arrival in AEW it has taken Dark Order quite some time to be taken seriously. However, with the addition of Mr. Brodie Lee to their ranks Uno, Grayson and the rest of Dark Order are trending upwards.
Meanwhile, the often dysfunctional tag team of ‘Hangman’ Adam Page and Kenny Omega stood on the other side of the ring. Omega and Page are AEW’s longest reigning tag team champions to date however, they’ve had their fair share of hiccups.
In the last few weeks Page has become great drinking buddies with FTR, which doesn’t seem to sit well with Omega. Whether out of jealousy or out of spite, the other half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions has been teetering the line between hero and villain recently.
This match showed just how strong AEW’s tag team division is. It featured great high-spots and a number of near falls.
Most importantly it made the team of Uno and Grayson look credible, even in defeat. This was undoubtedly their best match to date in the promotion.
Hangman secured the victory for himself and Omega however, after the match Mr. Brodie Lee sent his Dark Order henchmen on the attack.
FTR turned up to even the odds, but we were left with some important symbolism. The trio of Omega and the Young Bucks, also known as The Elite, momentarily stood across the ring from Page and FTR.
While the relationship between Page and Omega appears to be fine for now, only time will tell if the ‘Hangman’ has his sights set on a new group of friends. For now, Omega and FTR must put their differences aside, as next week they’ll team up with the rest of The Elite to take on Dark Order in 12-man tag team action.
Nyla Rose finds a dance partner
Last week on Dynamite we learned a women’s tag team tournament is coming to AEW this summer. This week former AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose found her dance partner.
A backstage segment aired showing Rose and her new manager Vikckie Gureero backstage drawing their spots for the tournament. To Rose’s surprise, someone had already drawn her selected color and it was no other than Ariane.
If you’ve been watching wrestling over the past number of years, you’ll notice Ariane was formerly Cameron of the Funadaktlys in WWE. For someone who spent a handful of years in WWE’s developmental, Ariane should be fine inside the ring,
This debut won’t get many excited and it’s not supposed to. Ariane can be used to take the pinfall for Rose or get carried to showcase her partner’s dominance.
It’ll be interesting to see how the woman who declared Melina vs Alicia Fox as her favourite wrestling match in history fairs in AEW.
A challenger approaches for the AEW World Championship
Following their tag team victory over Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in the main event of Dynamite, Jon Moxley and Darby Allin engaged in an intense staredown. What they didn’t know was a championship match between the two had been signed for next week’s show.
Moxley and Allin have had an interesting relationship since Dynamite’s inception in 2019. While we wouldn’t call it a friendship, they’re definitely allies.
Moxley has had Allin’s back while Allin has also returned the favour. However, for two men who consider themselves lone wolves sometimes it’s best to keep your friends close and enemies closer.
Next week, Moxley and Allin will do battle in what will be an amazing match. For two men who live and breathe the hardcore lifestyle, expect this one to be a violent affair.
MJF calls his shot, challenges Moxley to championship match
There’s nobody better in wrestling on the microphone than MJF. On Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite the undefeated 24-year-old challenged Jon Moxley to a world championship match at AEW’s All Out Pay-Per-View.
MJF is 8-0 in singles action and won the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring in the fall. He felt the champion Moxley has been ducking him for the past number of months.
Backed by security and his bodyguard Wardlow, MJF delivered a fiery promo where he even compared the AEW World Champion to a knockoff Steve Austin.
The 24-year-old emphatically stated Moxley has become the one thing he swore to replace, the old guard.
While we still don’t know whether or not Moxley will accept MJF’s challenge however, it’s almost guaranteed he will. The champion has prided himself on welcoming all comers and this situation will be no different.
What we can tell you, is the promos between these two masters of the microphone are going to be, dynamite.
Next week: Chris Jericho holds a debate against Orange Cassidy, a huge 12-man tag match and Jon Moxley defends the AEW World Championship against Darby Allin