AEW Dynamite recap & reactions (Nov. 13, 2019): Jon Moxley, I accept

AEW Dynamite (Nov. 13, 2019) emanated from Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. It featured Darby Allin stepping up to Jon Moxley, MJF vocalizing his displeasure about Cody Rhodes, and Chris Jericho taking a surprising pin.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent live results and play-by-play from Cain A. Knight.

Gather ‘round as I tell you a tale. Growing up, I never was able to watch PPV shows. That meant the fallout episode the next night was mandatory viewing. First, to know who won. Listening to the PPV through those squiggly lines could be confusing on what happened. Second, to see which direction the new feuds were heading. The episodes were really banging when there were story surprises. For that reason, I was most excited with anticipation for the fallout shows. WWE used to do that back in the day much more often, but it has now been mostly reduced to the post-Wrestlemania Raw.

Coming off Full Gear, I was very curious to see how AEW handled the situation. They hit it out of the park. There were surprise returns, shocking announcements, new wrestlers making their presence felt, and lots of story time. It left me 100% satisfied for what I desired in a fallout show. I strongly recommend checking this episode out if you have been curious about AEW or want to give it a second chance.

Jon Moxley, I accept

The evening began by setting the tone of Jon Moxley as a supreme badass. Kenny Omega was not cleared due to his injuries from the Lights Out match at Full Gear. Moxley, on the other hand, was ready for his next match.

Moxley’s opponent would be Omega chum Michael Nakazawa. In a great stroke of detail, Nakazawa tossed aside his bottle of baby oil. This wasn’t time for games. Nakazawa was standing up for his friend. Moxley proceeded to pretty much squash Nakazawa and won via Paradigm Shift DDT.

Moxley grabbed the mic to spit hot fire.

He’s going scorched earth on AEW to break one leg at a time until he is the last one standing. If there is anyone that wants to confront the one man who presents real danger in this ring, let him know.

Goodness gracious. Moxley’s intense promo shows he is far and away the best AEW has on the mic for these situations. I believe every word he said. Best of all, Moxley’s aura of badassery makes me want to throw all my money at AEW to see his story unfold.

Fast forward to later in the evening. Darby Allin won a three-way with Shawn Spears and Peter Avalon. Allin won via Coffin Drop on Avalon.

Allin and Spears had a heated mini battle within the three-way until Jerky Janela butted in to brawl with Spears. I was left desiring more Spears versus Allin for the near future. That thought flew out of my head with the speed of one thousand champagne corks once I heard Allin’s post-match promo.

”Jon Moxley, I accept.”

I don’t even care that much about Allin, but I shrieked to the high heavens with glee to see a youngster with colossal cojones rise up to the challenge of battling a superstar veteran. That story never gets old in professional wrestling. Plus, their match will no doubt be super exciting.

Jon Moxley versus Darby Allin goes down next week (Nov. 20) on Dynamite. Be there or be square.

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The new face of AEW

The biggest question coming out of Full Gear was what would MJF have to say for himself after turning on Cody Rhodes. Well, MJF’s promo couldn’t have been any more entertaining.

It began with Chris Jericho gloating over his title defense against Cody. Jericho talked major crap, then the lights went out for Cody’s entrance. Instead of Cody, it was MJF coming up through the floor.

MJF addressed the elephant in the room. Fans will boo him, but Cody’s career would have been over if he didn’t throw in the towel. MJF revealed that Cody is the true bad guy. Cody only cares about himself and wanted to keep MJF under his thumb. “Guess what, blondie. Your thumb isn’t big enough to hold me down.” We were looking at the new face of AEW. MJF finished with his catchphrase, “I’m better than you, and you know it.”

Back over to Jericho. They fawned over each other with tension. Jericho dropped a humor bomb about their similarities possibly being due to MJF’s parents getting horny when Jericho wrestled Juventud Guerrera 25 years ago.

The two blowhards played a game of not wanting to be the one denied for the Inner Circle. Jericho would ask if MJF wants to be a member, and MJF would ask if Jericho wants him as a member. They went back and forth with that comedic routine for a while. Getting frustrated with each other, both simultaneously declared the biggest jackass in AEW to be Cody.

That brought Cody out to clean house. He botched a powerslam, but Jim Ross was spot on to cover by blaming Cody’s faulty equilibrium from the injuries. Cody was in charge until a big man entered through the crowd.

Wardlow!

MJF and Wardlow hung Cody from the ropes with a tie.

Excellent segment. It gave us questions, answers, humor, intensity, and a surprise. I love MJF bringing in muscle. The appearance of Wardlow gives Cody an obstacle to overcome before he finally gets his hands on MJF. Who needs to chase the AEW World Championship when you have a heat magnet like MJF to conquer.

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The return of Luchasaurus

The Dark Order versus Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt was a ho-hum affair sprinkled with a couple cool spots. Little did I realize it would become a setup for the return of Luchasaurus.

After the Dark Order won via teamwork flying cutter, Evil Uno propositioned Stunt about becoming a creeper. Stunt reached out for the creeper mask, but Jungle Boy grabbed it to throw in Uno’s face. Uno sicked the creepers on the wee lads.

Roar! Luchasaurus made a surprise appearance and cleaned house to save his partners. Let this three-headed roundhouse kick tickle your fancy.

The Jurassic Express against the Dark Order is a perfect feud for AEW to cultivate. Both are oddball teams that require imagination to accept. It is also nice to see AEW putting effort into the mid-card scene.

Side note: I love Evil Uno’s creepers. The way they make a chair for him to sit is so unique. I wonder if AEW flies in that whole crew each week or if they find locals and spend hours practicing. It can’t be easy in the way they all move as one unit.

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Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

SCU retained the World Tag Team Championship against Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. Christopher Daniels and Jake Hager were ringside. The bout began with 11 minutes left in the show and had a commercial break with 8 minutes to go. The announcers did mention that the finish would be aired on AEW’s YouTube channel if it went long, so that’s nice.

The end saw Scorpio Sky and Jericho duel one on one when all the others brawled on the floor. After some close falls for both men, the unthinkable happened when Sky scored a small package to win.

AEW is making Scorpio Sky a star. He had the underdog story by winning the tag belts with Kaz. The next step would seem to be a World Championship shot against Jericho. That would be a perfect main event for Dynamite and a quality payoff to Sky’s upward trend when he loses. His profile will have been raised and suffer no negative consequences in defeat. Right now, Sky has just enough momentum that he could believably dethrone Jericho in a shocker. The fans will all root for Sky, so that could make for some entertaining television.

PAC defeated Hangman Page. The finish had a great callback to their bout at Full Gear. PAC played possum on the floor to set up another suplex onto an open chair. This time, Hangman was hip and countered into a supelx on the floor. Hangman hit a buckshot lariat, but PAC kicked out of the pin in a terrific close call moment that made my cheeks lift off the seat. PAC won in the end by repeatedly stomping Hangman’s head then hitting the Black Arrow and winning via Brutalizer submission.

Heck of win for PAC. Where does he go from here? It should be a title shot against Jericho. Jericho’s list of potential challengers is loading up. This would be another quality Dynamite main event if AEW doesn’t want heel vs heel at the next PPV.

Santana and Ortiz brought the pain in a brawl with the Young Bucks. It wasn’t clear what started the brawl, but they went wild. Matt Jackson powerslammed Ortiz through a table. Santana leaped off the top of a forklift for a flying crossbody. A bathroom appearance from Orange Cassidy. Matt was double powerbombed through the side stage. Nick Jackson’s leg was whacked by a sock full of baseballs. Private Party came out to help cease more damage to the Young Bucks.

When the brawl started, I wasn’t really on either side. I was just enjoying the wild action. That changed when the Young Bucks superkicked security. What a jerk move. Those poor jamokes were only doing their job. It made me cheer when Santana and Ortiz demolished the Bucks. Also, a big cheer for Private Party if only to see young talent stepping up in story to start an unexpected feud.

Nyla Rose squashed Danny Jordan via sitdown powerbomb. Effective in wanting to see more of the Native Beast.

Allie’s been scalped by Brandi and Awesome Kong. Allie had an interview about moving up to number 4 in the rankings. Lights out. Lights on. Kong wrecked Allie, then Kong cut Allie’s hair to add as a trophy on her belt.

I’m eating this Brandi and Kong story with both hands. I’m not sure about the part where Brandi was the bullied turned into the bully, but I absolutely love the visual of the knife and trophy hair for Kong. I don’t see anyone on the roster who can stop Kong. Riho will be dead meat. I’m crossing my fingers for an eventual showdown with Nyla Rose as two forces collide.

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Stud of the Show: Darby Allin

So many potential winners this week. I usually try to focus on a moment that hasn’t been discussed yet, but I can’t ignore Darby Allin’s acceptance to Jon Moxley’s challenge. Surprise factor? Check. It came out of nowhere. Badass factor? Check. Moxley talked such a big game that I can’t blame anyone for not wanting it, but Allin showed no fear. I am so pumped right now for next week’s fight between the two. When that feeling is produced by professional wrestling, it is something to appreciate.

Dud of the Show: Hangman Page’s rolling eyes

There wasn’t much to choose from this week for the dud, so I have to go deep. It annoys me how Hangman Page rolls his eyes when opponents escape the ring during the setup to the buckshot lariat. It went down with PAC during the commercial break. The eye roll is like Hangman expects them to just take the move because he is ready and waiting. Pfft, that ain’t no cowboy shit.

Grade: A+

I couldn’t ask for anything more from this episode of Dynamite. AEW upped their game by bringing plenty of promos to make me care more about the characters. Every segment had a purpose leading to a story or match for next week. If AEW can keep this style up, then it will be a must-see wrestling program for a long time to come.

We’ll leave you to enjoy these two Lotharios.

How do you rate this episode of Dynamite? What was your favorite moment? Was this the best episode of Dynamite to date?