AEW Dynamite recap & reactions (Oct. 7, 2020): Bloody vengeance

AEW Dynamite (Oct. 7, 2020) emanated from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. The show featured a celebration for Chris Jericho’s 30 years in the business, Brian Cage and Will Hobbs in a hoss fight, and Cody Rhodes getting retribution against Mr. Brodie Lee.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the live results and play-by-play from Sean Rueter.

Bloody vengeance

Cody Rhodes finally got his revenge on Mr. Brodie Lee. The two squared off in a bloody dog collar battle. They were held together by 16 feet of steel chain. AEW paid respect to the past by having Greg “The Hammer” Valentine in attendance to honor his 1983 dog collar brawl against Roddy Piper at Starrcade. The TNT Championship was up for grabs as well. Winner was decided by pinfall or submission with no time limit.

Cody and Mr. Brodie went right to work. Cody was bloodied early after a DDT onto the chain. The match continued with a slower pace to build the drama and brutality of the concept. At one point, Cody slyly hit a suicide dive as the chain was hanging between the ropes. The big moves escalated as Cody pulled Mr. Brodie off the apron for a cutter on the floor. Cody then hopped off the apron for a package piledriver through a table. Mr. Brodie was now bleeding.

Time to cue up Cody’s big match shenanigan intermission. Mr. Brodie launched a chair at Arn Anderson’s head. Arn was not having that and entered the ring. Alex Reynolds ran in to eat a spinebuster. Mr. Brodie hit Arn with the chain, then Cody prevented any further damage to his coach. Back to the regularly scheduled dog collar match.

Cody was able to hit Cross Rhodes, but Mr. Brodie rose on a 1 count. Mr. Brodie clobbered Cody with a powerbomb onto the chain. Cody gutted it out to continue. If Cody was going to lose, that would have been the spot.

For the finishing sequence, Mr. Brodie crushed Cody with a release dragon suplex.

Mr. Brodie wound up for a discus lariat, but Cody countered for a twisting suplex.

Cody was in control and wrapped the chain around Mr. Brodie’s head and mouth. Cody rained down hard elbow strikes then closed it with Cross Rhodes to win the TNT Championship.

AEW swung big by trying to live up to the past of Valentine and Piper. Cody and Mr. Brodie didn’t reach epic levels, but it was a mighty solid showing from both men. They went through plenty of pain. The match held my attention throughout due to the freak show stipulation. There was always that feeling of something big coming, and the big moments were satisfying. The finish was fitting for Cody to unleash his rage after the Dark Order pummeled his family months ago.

I like that the match was placed in the middle of the show, so it could get all the time it needed and not be rushed at the end. I could have done without all the extra shenanigans. The spot with Arn Anderson didn’t serve any purpose to the overall story. At least, Cody making John Silver the first to bleed and also dropkicking him into oblivion was amusing.

After the match, the Nightmare Family attended to Cody with concern. The Dark Order picked up their Exalted One while in shock that he lost. Cody then cut a classic babyface promo thanking the fans for supporting his life work. It didn’t move me emotionally, but I can understand why others would be in tears along with Cody.

Cody announced his desire to defend the TNT Championship next week on the Dynamite anniversary. Orange Cassidy answered the call and got a thumbs up from Cody.

HOSS FIGHT!

Brian Cage defended his FTW Championship against Will Hobbs in the opening bout of the evening. You want a hoss fight? They gave you a hoss fight.

The two behemoths weren’t just strong. They were nimble too. Cage hit a standing fallaway slam, a standing moonsault, and a tilt-a-whirl pumphandle facebuster. There was even a German suplex dance.

Hobbs thought he would win on a surprise spinebuster, but Cage kicked out.

That move wasn’t as effective for Hobbs since he usually sends the opponent into the ropes for momentum on the spinebuster. Hobbs decided on a high risk strategy to put Cage away, however, he missed on a frog splash. Cage promptly finished the fight with a Drill Claw.

Whew. Hose me down. To borrow words from Jake Hager, that hoss fight got me rock hard with emotion. It delivered the goods and put a smile on my face the entire time. The match started hot, cooled down for a slight breather, then fired up again for the big climax. I really hope the FTW Championship becomes the Hoss Fighting Championship.

It was interesting how Hobbs pulled a rookie gamble by going high risk. That will allow him to grow with more power moves included into his arsenal over time. On the flip side, Cage showed his veteran prowess to waste no time on the Drill Claw.

After the bout, Taz was impressed by Hobbs’ effort and issued an interesting offer. Option A was to join Team Taz. Option B was to get his ass kicked by Cage and Ricky Starks. Darby Allin made the save before an answer or violence.

Hobbs has shown he’s strong enough for either option. Joining Team Taz would help develop him into a true menace. Sticking with the good guy crew will be fine as well, since Hobbs has grown so much babyface support in such a short time. I was secretly hoping Hobbs would side with the orange and black to ambush Allin. That would have given me a heck of a chuckle in the chess match between Taz and Darby.

30 years of Jericho

The theme of the show was to celebrate Chris Jericho’s 30 years in the wrestling business. Celebrity shout-outs played throughout the broadcast. The lineup included Slash, Dennis Miller, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ted Irvine (Papa Jericho), Bully Ray, Shaquille O’Neal, Gene Simmons, Don Callis, Lars Ulrich, DDP, Lance Storm, Kevin Smith, Eli Roth, Gabriel Iglesias, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Steel Panther, Ultimo Dragon, and Paul Stanley. Too bad Sebastian Bach wasn’t invited. He could have finally had his sing-off with Jericho.

That led to the main event of the evening as the man of honor teamed with Jake Hager against Luther and Serpentico. Luther displayed the most shine in the match with rugged fighting, suplexes, and innovative offense slamming his teammate onto their opponents. In the end, Sammy Guevara provided a distraction for Jericho to unleash a Judas Effect for victory.

Jericho has been giving up way too much offense lately. Sure, he makes his opponents look fantastic, but it is at a detriment to his own standing. He is looking more and more like the washed-up home run hitter. Jericho relies on distractions and chicanery for the perfect fastball to swing with a Judas Effect.

The show concluded with a celebration involving MJF. He brought out a clown and a framed photo of himself as gifts. Jericho seemed annoyed at MJF then humorously smashed the clown with the photo and a Judas Effect. Seriously, that Judas Effect makes me laugh every time.

It turned out to be one big joke. The locker room emptied and the credits rolled with Jericho in every role to mimic a Saturday Night Live close.

That final celebration left me confused. It seemed like heat was building between Jericho and MJF for a feud, but I suppose it was just for giggles. It is hard to tell for certain due to their passive-aggressive attitudes toward one another. I expect Jericho to be on the Full Gear PPV for November 7, so something needs to get cooking soon with whoever his future opponent will be.

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Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

FTR defeated TH2 in the 20-Minute Brush with Greatness. FTR’s strategy was to slow the pace to deal with the speed of Jack Evans and Angelico. In the end, Cash Wheeler took out Angelico with a brutal maneuver into the apron.

Dash Harwood battled Evans in the ring and came out on top with a hefty clothesline and tiger driver, but Evans wouldn’t quit. FTR finished him with a superplex and flying splash combo.

This was an interesting clash of styles with solid action. While FTR is in a waiting hole until bigger matches, it is nice for other teams to get the title match spotlight. TH2 showed they are just as skilled as any team in the top 5.

Big Swole defeated Serena Deeb. Deeb dominated much of the bout until Swole came back with a big kick, headbutt, and her Dirty Dancing elbow strike to win.

Deeb wrestled fantastic. She picked Swole apart with a variety of submission holds. Her style really stands out in a positive way from the rest of the women’s division. From a sporting perspective, Swole stunk. She got handled 95% of the way. I left that match with zero confidence that Swole could defeat Hikaru Shida for gold anytime soon. In fact, I’m not even interested in that match anymore. Swole also kind of looked like a chump by screaming so loudly in pain on more than one occasion.

Notes: Lance Archer cut a promo about his AEW World Championship match next week against Jon Moxley on the Dynamite anniversary show. He made reference to losing the Texas Death Match to Mox in NJPW. This time, Moxley will have no chance in hell of putting down the Murderhawk Monster.

Tony Schiavone isn’t holding a grudge against the Young Bucks for superkicking him last week.

After FTR’s win, the Bucks double superkicked the cameraman for “spying” on them watching the match on a monitor backstage.

Best Friends continued their terrible weenie jokes to inform FTR that they are coming for the tag belts next week on the anniversary show.

Wardlow, Colt Cabana, and Hangman Page were announced as participants to join Jungle Boy, Fenix, and Kenny Omega in the AEW World Championship #1 contender tournament. Omega had a promo with false bravado about not being concerned with a possible matchup against Hangman.

Hangman Page released a very funny written statement on social media. Check it out for a laugh if you haven’t done so already.

Jon Moxley shared his thoughts going into the Archer match next week. He strolled the desert and threw back a beverage inside a dingy bar. Moxley knows his number will get called eventually. It happens to everyone. Moxley used cool samurai imagery to explain that he meditates daily on his own demise. He will leave everything in the ring against Archer.

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Stud of the Show: Cody Rhodes’ package piledriver through a table

That move was 100% badass.

Dud of the Show: Cody Rhodes’ package piledriver through a table during a commercial break

I watch Dynamite on Fite TV. Thankfully, the video was normal for me. I don’t know how it came across on TNT, but I can’t imagine being pleased trying to watch such an explosive maneuver on a picture-in-picture screen.

Grade: A-

This episode was anchored by the dog collar match and the hoss fight. Everything else was the typical good time provided by AEW. That means entertaining matches and evolving storylines. The Jericho theme was a neat touch, but it settled more into an afterthought.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? Who stole the show? Did the 30 years of Jericho theme hit or miss?

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