Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 2.2.22

AEW Dynamite

February 2nd, 2022 | Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois

Jon Moxley (43-4-1) vs. Wheeler YUTA (17-14)

Right into the action tonight. Originally, this was going to be Moxley vs. Brian Kendrick but Kendrick was pulled after controversial videos surfaced of him. TK pulled the plug on him though he still keeps several others on his roster that should be gone and he himself still owes Big Swole an apology. Anyway, there’s history here as Moxley squashed YUTA viciously before he left for rehab. YUTA was out with Orange Cassidy and Danhausen, so this match was a win. YUTA is someone I don’t care about but he can have solid matches and Moxley came in with fire. YUTA did better this time around, gaining an early upper hand and proving that he was ahead of where he was last year. The fight went outside where Danhausen cursed Moxley. Damn, Jon’s had a rough couple of months, don’t do him like that. YUTA got in good offense like a German Suplex, Angle Slam, and Frog Splash but it was never enough to keep Moxley down. The bigger star hit some elbows before winning with the Paradigm Shift in 7:20. Better than I expected and solid wrestling here. [***]

Post-match, Bryan Danielson entered the ring. They’ve seemingly teased a match between them but Danielson went a different route. He said they should be teaming and teaching the young guys of AEW. The company doesn’t need a millennial cowboy or a guy dressed as a dinosaur as champs, and they certainly don’t need a dude with a vlog as TNT Champ (ain’t that the truth?). He even teased bringing Daniel Garcia with them and away from 2.0. That would be sick. Moxley didn’t accept but he’s considering it. I didn’t expect this to be where they go but I’m super intrigued.

Brandi Rhodes was in the ring for a promo and I immediately regretted putting on the show. She mixed up Cleveland and Chicago before getting interrupted by Men of the Year and Dan Lambert. Even with Dan out there, the crowd ROASTED Brandi, loudly chanting “shut the fuck up.” They have to know that not a single person out there is excited or interested in seeing Brandi do anything, right? Dan’s insults got him slapped, which brought out Paige VanZant for a pull-apart brawl. You are NOT going to make me believe that we need a pull apart for PVZ and Brandi of all people. PVZ is a star and could be a boost but this isn’t the feud for it.

Backstage, Matt Hardy was upset with Private Party for losing at the end of the endless taping last week in Cleveland. Andrade came over to also be concerned about it all. They announce that Isaiah Kassidy has a shot at Sammy Guevara’s title (riveting) and Quen doesn’t get the opportunity because he ate the pin. When Darby Allin was brought up, Andrade said he wants more money. Remember when people said Andrade would be better positioned in AEW? Yikes.

The Kings Of The Black Throne (Black 10-2, King 1-0, #5) vs. PAC (30-15-2) and Penta El Zero Miedo (58-28)

Oddly, Malakai and Brody’s graphic read “Knights of the Black Thorne.” Daredevil PAC had bandages around his eyes and it felt like he belonged in Bird Box. He even had to be guided to the ring by Alex. PAC quickly revealed that he could see and his eyes had no issues at all. What is this, Rey Mysterio after his eye was taken out? I would’ve liked PAC doing an actual Daredevil thing where he was “blind” but used his other senses to kick ass. I was excited when this was announced but it was kind of disappointing. It wasn’t bad in any way but it didn’t fully click. Maybe they have something better set for down the line. Penta came in following the break and did his thing. His exchanges with Brody down the stretch were solid, as was seeing PAC against Malakai. As Triangulo de la Muerte geared up to win, Malakai spits the black mist at Penta, which set up Dante’s Inferno for the finish after 10:23. [**¾]

As expected, Adam Cole cut a promo backstage about last week, saying that he didn’t lose to Orange Cassidy. It was a fluke and his record remains intact.

Nyla Rose (42-12) vs. Ruby Soho (14-3)

Jim Ross hyped that Nyla has won 82% of her matches since joining Vickie Guerrero. That would be more impressive if most of the roster didn’t have great winning percentages. Rancid lead man Lars Frederiksen was in the front rose and Ruby posed with him. She attacked to start but then got taken down. This followed the expected story of Ruby being overpowered but showing guts, refusing to quit, and fighting from beneath. Typical underdog booking. After a break, Ruby took a spinebuster on the floor but she avoided the Beast Bomb and hit the No Future only for Vickie to pull Nyla’s foot under the bottom rope. Aubrey TOTALLY saw it but had to play the blind ref role. Nyla busted out a goddamn swanton bomb and added the Beast Bomb to win in 10:48. That was pretty darn good. [***]

In the back, Billy Gunn and the Ass Boys beat up Jungle Boy before throwing him into the snow outside until Christian and Luchasaurus chased them off.

Hangman Page came out for a promo ahead of next week’s Texas Death Match with Lance Archer. Weirdly, his promo was about how he has waited weeks for a challenger and still doesn’t have one. Umm, Lance Archer is literally the challenger. He expects his flight to get canceled so he called out Archer for a fight now. Instead, he got Lambert and Jake Roberts. Why more Lambert? Why not just Jake? Anyway, it all led to Archer showing up for a fight that saw him chokeslam Page onto the steel steps and hit the Blackout through a table.

Chris Jericho and his mid-life crisis look cut a promo in the back to say that next week, there will be an Inner Circle team meeting. Imagine thinking the Inner Circle should still be together or that they even matter.

RAMPAGE

· Ricky Starks defends the FTW Title against Jay Lethal (ew)

· Thunder Rosa vs. Mercedes Martinez (hell yeah)

· Adam Cole vs. Evil Uno

· Sammy Guevara defends the TNT Title against Isaiah Kassidy

DYNAMITE

· Inner Circle Meeting

· Hangman Page vs. Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match

CM Punk (11-0) vs. MJF (19-4)

This started with about 45 minutes left on the show. MJF backed off at the bell but then used a cheap shot to get the early upper hand. Of course, once Punk actually got his hands on him, MJF got his ass kicked. That included in the ring, at ringside, and into the stands. Punk was so in control that he even relaxed on the ropes. MJF goaded him into a hard-charging shoulder block but he missed and hit the ring post, setting up what he’d sell for most of the match. MJF targeted it well throughout the break and he bragged while doing it. Using the arm for leverage on a superplex was a great call to add to the arm work. MJF used his wrist tape to choke out Punk and end this in 14:41. BUT WAIT! MJF dropped the tape so the match MUST CONTINUE! That gave Punk his second wind and he made good use of it but his arm was still too damaged to hit some of his biggest offense. Punk’s leg also got targeted late. Down the stretch, they fought up top and for the first time in YEARS, Punk busted out the Pepsi Plunge. Man, that had to do a number on his knees for years. That’s also a great callback to the references of Punk’s time on the indies. He added the elbow but MJF fell outside before he could capitalize. Wardlow strolled out and was conflicted. He got in Punk’s face but stepped aside to allow him to go after MJF. Punk did so but looking at Wardlow distracted him enough for MJF to knock him out with the ring gimmick, stealing this in 37:52. They clearly went for an epic and mostly made it work. I don’t think it needed to be 40 minutes but they did well to not pad it out with nonsense or time killing tropes. They even made the false finish and MJF heel tactics come off well. [****½]

The replay showed that Wardlow passed the ring to MJF while he was facing off with Punk.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Outside of the main event, this was a wildly average episode. The Danielson/Moxley segment ruled but the matches were nothing special and the Brandi segment was awful. Thankfully, a fantastic main event like that certainly boosts up the score.