RADICAN: AEW Dynamite Blog (1/8 episode) – Omega and Page put their differences aside, The Nightmare Collective ruin a title match, Moxley’s decision

RADICAN’S AEW DYNAMITE BLOG
JANUARY 8, 2020
SOUTHHAVEN, MISS.
AIRED LIVE ON TNT

HANGMAN PAGE & KENNY OMEGA vs. PRIVATE PARTY

Tremendous opening match between Hangman Page & Kenny Omega and Private Party. Legendary announcer Dave Brown was in on commentary, which was a nice touch.

There was a mistake where Omega threw Quen into Page after Page had accidentally hit the Bukshot Lariat on Omega earlier in the match, but they stuck together and got the win with Omega hitting the One Winged Angel on Quen. It was weird to see them make mistakes that big and still win.

Page got a really good response from the crowd and didn’t turn on Omega here, but I think he still turns in the next couple of weeks. Private Party hasn’t done much since their high profile win over The Young Bucks in the tag title Tournament. It doesn’t help their cause when they lose in decisive fashion to a team that’s not on the same page.

PAC BACKSTAGE ATTACK

J.R. still doesn’t know who Michael Nakazawa is, but PAC is working him over backstage after the match. This was a good way to set up a future PAC v. Omega match and it looks like Page vs Omega is still in play down the line. It’s good to see Kenny is going to make the save after PAC had Nakazawa trapped in a room three weeks ago. Why does AEW drag things on like this forever. Can’t Kenny just take the match? Page doesn’t seem to concerned about Nakazawa, as during the break he goes through the crowd in Memphis during the shared some beer with some fans. That was an incredible reaction from Page’s character to the situation.

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPION RIHO vs. KRIS STATLANDER & NIGHTMARE COLLECTIVE ATTACK

Next, we have Riho vs Statlander for the AEW Women’s Championship. The action between Riho and Statlander was good, but this was a really busy segment with the Nightmare Collective involved. Luther, the latest addition to the nightmare collective, looks very indie and campy, but that may be the point with this stable. Hikaru Shida and Big Swole made the save for Statlander after the match. Brandi was really annoying on commentary arguing with Excalibur for no reason during the match and then again directing traffic at ringside when The Dark Order began to interfere. I’d be hard pressed to think of another company where Brandi would get so much air time in this type of role, although she has done really strong promos in the past before starting down this path. AEW brass made a point to push that fans wouldn’t see title matches as backdrops to bulls–t angles before getting on TNT and yet here we are.

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. SAMMY GUEVARA 

Christopher Daniels makes his entrance. AEW reminds viewers about his botched Arabian Press several weeks ago when he returned to the ring from injury in a loss to Pentagon Jr. He will face Sammy Guevara tonight.

Daniels doesn’t look the same since returning from injury and they’ve turned it into a storyline of sorts here with Guevara saying Daniels doesn’t have it anymore. Guevara is doing a decent job of playing the cocky heel, but this match isn’t getting much of a reaction from the fans. Pentagon Jr. comes out and asks for the Arabian Moonsault on the mic. He doesn’t hit it and Guevara nails him with a super kick to the back of the head.

DARK ORDER POST-MATCH PROMO

The Dark Order come down to the ring. Player Uno says Daniels is one of the best in AEW and of the generation. He tells Daniels the fans don’t believe in him. He tells Daniels he can make him the man he once was. He offers Daniels a mask. Daniels throws the mask at Uno and The Dark Order jump him. Young Bucks and SCU make the save. Daniels hits a BME on Reynolds after Scorpio Sky wiped out the rest of Dark Order with a big flip dive. I was hoping they had forgotten this angle after it was dropped last week, but they’re going to see this thing through it appears.

KIP SABIAN VIDEO PACKAGE

A video package aired for Kip Sabian to make us remember we wish Joey Janela and Penelope Ford were an on air pairing. The video package focused on Sabian’s recent attack on Janela.

DUSTIN & CODY RHODES (W/COACH ARN ANDERSON) vs. THE LUCHA BROS. 

Dustin & Cody with Coach Arn Anderson vs. The Lucha Bros. really lacked spark down the stretch. It seemed like it was more background with everyone waiting for Cody to respond to MJF.

Arn Anderson cut off Cody answering MJF’s challenge to Tony Schiavone after the match. Arn said they would talk about it this week and get back to Tony. Odd to see Anderson in the corner of a Rhodes.

MJF AND DDP IN-RING PROMO EXCHANGE

MJF is out. DDP comes out and cuts a pandering promo and MJF acts board and uses his phone. They finally get down to business and MJF called out Butcher and The Blaze. Page cleans house until he runs into Wardlow and MJF kicks him low. MJF runs away from QT Marshall of all people. This was terrible at the end. MJF was really good here once he got around to his promo on DDP.

It really bothered me that ROH flameout and Jim Cornette ROH experiment gone wrong Q.T. Marshall was able to clear the Wardlow and MJF from the ring. I know Cody has said he’s in favor of nepotism in past interviews, but Marshall getting so much TV time is really pushing things. An booking pattern I’ve noticed that doesn’t make sense is that babyfaces and heels feuding with each other in AEW are often in back to back segments, but don’t confront each other on TV.

BEST FRIENDS vs. JURRASIC EXPRESS 

Best Friends vs. Jurassic Express is up next before we find out if Jon Molxey is going to join The Inner Circle. The crowd was really into this one, especially the spots for Marko Stunt and Orange Cassidy. Jungle Boy countered Chuck Taylor late in the match and rolled him up for the win. This was a perfect use of these two teams and Stunt and Cassidy getting such big reactions was nice to see. They are over and AEW has done a nice job of taking what made them so popular on the independents and making it work on a national level.

JON MOXLEY INNER CIRCLE DECISION

Jon Moxley’s decision closes the show. Ross mentioned Jericho’s weekend in Tokyo and also mentioned Moxley was there without mentioning NJPW during Jericho’s entrance. Ross wondered if they had worked something out in Tokyo.

Moxley says yes to joining The Inner Circle, but it’s clear that isn’t really going to happen. They tease Moxley’s turn forever. Jericho gloats. Moxley said Jericho is the greatest of all time. Jericho mentions they both won at Wrestle Kingdom. The Inner Circle celebrates with a little bit of the bubbly.

Both sides hate each other, so it’s funny to see Wrestle Kingdom mentioned along with several matches on the card brought up, but no mention of the name NJPW on air during this segment. One thing I don’t like is that this kind of thing gives fans false hope about AEW and NJPW working together. Don’t bring it up at all if there’s no chance of it happening anytime soon.

Moxley, after multiple champagne celebrations, tells Jericho he would never join The Inner Circle and hits him with a champagne bottle over the head after getting the keys to the million dollar turned $750,000 car. Moxley tells Jericho the only thing he wants is his title. Moxley leaves with the keys to the car Jericho promised him. This was a good way to close the show and set up Moxley vs Jericho at the PPV next month.

Contact Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sr_torch.