AEW Dynamite recap & reactions (Nov. 4, 2020): Killer instinct

AEW Dynamite (Nov. 4, 2020) emanated from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. The show featured MJF unleashing his killer instinct, more soap opera drama in the lives of the Elite, and Cody Rhodes defaming Darby Allin in the go-home show for the Full Gear PPV on November 7.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent live results and play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Time crunch this week, so let’s jam through the episode from beginning to end.

Killer instinct. Chris Jericho gave credit to Jake Hager for winning his MMA fight last week and remaining undefeated. MJF interrupted Le Champion. Jericho pointed out that MJF’s killer instinct is in question. Oh my gosh! Jericho called MJF soft.

MJF & Wardlow defeated Ortiz & Sammy Guevara. MJF chickened out early to tag in Wardlow. MJF would pick his tags after Wardlow did damage. Thanks to the distraction of Matt Hardy hiding under a luchador mask and throwing a chair into Sammy’s face, MJF was able to lock Ortiz into the Salt of the Earth armbar.

Jericho took credit for motivating MJF with the earlier encounter to open the show. After the win, MJF walked toward Jericho at commentary then sprinted to tackle Le Champion out of his chair. Once they were separated, Jericho smiled at seeing MJF’s aggression.

MJF brought the heat in attacking Jericho. That’s the kind of MJF that could evolve into carrying the company. His killer instinct felt lacking against Jon Moxley. If Jericho can elevate MJF beyond simple wins and losses, then tick another achievement on Jericho’s hall-of-fame career resume.

Sammy was the star of the match. He was on fire with dope moves. One sequence in particular made me lose my pants. Sammy started with a springboard flying crossbody onto both opponents, attacked MJF with a corkscrew suicide dive, then crashed onto Wardlow with a corkscrew plancha. It was a super duper sweet treat.

It’s too bad Hardy pulled a coward move with the chair. That kind of soured my mood, because Sammy was jamming so hard. It didn’t really do much to get me pumped for the Elite Deletion at Full Gear. On the other hand, the exchanges between MJF and Jericho absolutely sold me on their fight. I can’t wait to see what depths MJF will go to.

Sitdown with Kenny Omega. Omega was in a fake home with a dog that wasn’t his for an interview with Tony Schiavone. Omega patted himself on the back for fighting replacements and not taking byes in the tournament. He gave faint praise for Hangman Page. Omega believes he is destined to beat Hangman, win the tournament, and win the AEW World Championship.

Miro defeated Trent. Miro dominated with power for the most part. Trent had a shining moment that made me believe he could win after a tornado DDT and a strong running knee. Miro kicked out on the cover. Trent slipped on a springboard attempt, and Miro kicked him in the face. I couldn’t tell if Trent’s mistake was on purpose or accident. I don’t see the benefit of Trent doing it intentionally. Miro finished it with the Game Over camel clutch.

Miro looked strong. Trent is no chump and Miro treated him like a young boy. Miro flashing the crazy eyes is great. I like him being so focused on crushing that his eyes almost pop out of his head.

This was a decent bout but felt overshadowed by outside activity. Chuck Taylor and Kip Sabian fought, Penelope Ford slapped Orange Cassidy, and the Dark Order walloped Cassidy to set up a pump kick from John Silver. When all was said and done, OC dove on top of Miro and Kip to save the Best Friends. I thought all that extra action was too much, but it did make me more interested in Cassidy vs Silver at Full Gear. I don’t think it is a PPV worthy story, however, it should be entertaining.

Sitdown with Hangman Page. Hangman had a whiskey in hand for an interview with Jim Ross. He knew it would be himself and Omega in the finals, so that gave him plenty of time to prepare. Hangman is going to whoop Omega’s ass. JR wasn’t buying the confidence and called Hangman a liar. Page admitted nervous feelings, which are natural for competition.

It was interesting to see JR needle Hangman. I’d like to see him to it to others as a feisty journalist digging for truth. Don’t snow a snowman.

Horseshit. Team Taz was angry about not having any matches at Full Gear. Taz thought it was horseshit. He called out Cody Rhodes and promised that the FTW title will have a presence on the show.

Taz makes a strong case. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks are two top talents deserving of more opportunity. We already saw Cage versus Will Hobbs, so perhaps Cage finally get to dance with Lance Archer. That is a match I’d love to see. If not a match, then maybe they can take turns in a contest of knocking out jabrones.

Payback. Sammy got revenge on Hardy with a Twist of Fate on the stage. I’m warming up slightly more toward the Elite Deletion thanks to Sammy’s aggression.

Young Bucks defeated Private Party. This contest was what you would expect. Flashy flippy stuff. There were some neat callbacks to previous matches between the two teams. Bucks took over in the end with a BTE Trigger for victory.

The story was Matt Jackson’s ankle. He began gimpy and it only got worse. Matt did himself no favors reforming his babyface image when he shoved Marq Quen, who didn’t want to attack the clearly injured Jackson. Matt was in bad shape, and I fear this is adding too many layers for a super comeback against FTR. A clean tag battle would be fine as a first round. All this extra stuff comes off as unnecessary.

Afterward, FTR attacked and set up another ankle snapper with a chair. This time, Hangman ran out for the save before Matt could be permanently injured. Omega was also on the scene. The former tag champs shared a fist bump. Omega turned his back to yell at FTR. Hangman took that as a personal slight and lack of respect from Omega. They shared tense chitchat but no fisticuffs took place.

Weak Eddie. Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley had a face-to-face promo battle to hype their I Quit match at Full Gear. Tony Khan decreed no physicality or else the match would be canceled. Kingston wasn’t happy with who he’s become, but that’s what it took to get the title shot. He claimed with bravado that he would ruin Moxley. Mox never thought Kingston would be one to burn him. He transitioned into psychology to wonder why Kingston was so loud. Usually, the loudest is the weakest. Moxley reasoned that Kingston knows deep down that he is going to lose. Kingston stormed off.

I’m siding with Moxley on this one. Kingston is a braggart and a blowhard. Sure, he is tough, but he doesn’t have what it takes to be on top of the sports world as champ. For all Kingston’s talk about wanting it, he hasn’t put in the work to be in peak physical condition throughout his career.

PAC speaks. PAC had a psychotic vignette about being in isolation. He’s been there before, and it only makes him better. I have no clue where this is heading, but it was nice to hear from the bastard. He certainly has my attention.

Maxed out. Natural Nightmares will wrestle Blade & Butcher next week on Dynamite. Bunny threw QT Marshall’s maxed out credit cards in his face. The meat men attacked QT and Dustin Rhodes from behind. Simple and effective build for anticipation. I like that AEW is thinking ahead and isn’t going cold into next week relying only on fallout from Full Gear.

Nyla Rose defeated Red Velvet. Lil Cupcake showed spunk early, but she was no match for Nyla’s power. Rose crushed her with a Beast Bomb. She added insult to injury by bowing toward Hikaru Shida and clobbered Velvet with Shida’s patented running knee strike finisher.

The best part of this segment was Vickie Guerrero going off on Brandi Rhodes. Instead of Chief Brandi Officer, it should be Cheap Bullshit Officer. Zing! That made me laugh with Vickie’s smugness. Nyla and Shida ended up having a minor skirmish. It was enough of a tease to remind us of the hatred.

Rock montage. The relationship recap for Hangman and Omega was given the musical montage treatment featuring the power ballad, “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone),” by Cinderella.

This was the final piece on this episode for Hangman and Omega, and it was great in its cheesiness. I can’t help but feel the emotion these two had toward one another.

Emo tight pants. Darby Allin moped over to an automobile, broke the window with his skateboard, then ran over a fake Cody. These artistic scenes from Allin have a certain je ne sais quoi, but I often find myself looking at Darby as a joke. I must be out of touch with the emo tight pants community.

Cody Rhodes, Billy, & Austin Gunn defeated Colt Cabana, John Silver, & 10. Solid action for the main event even though the star value wasn’t there. Austin surprisingly received the shine of victory. He took out Colt with a Cross Rhodes then used his hip toss neckbreaker to pin 10. Joining the Nightmare Family seems to be paying off already for young Austin.

Ace. Cody closed the show with a promo toward Darby Allin. Cody claimed that Allin believes TNT doesn’t want the sad boy as champ. Cody threw that excuse out the window. TNT would love to have Allin as the face. Cody reminded Allin that he was the only one who went to bat in the AEW office to get him a contract. However, Allin won’t be winning the TNT Championship, because he’s not the ace. Cody is the ace.

This promo was a bit befuddling. I understand the message, but that TNT story about not wanting Allin came out of nowhere and made me feel like I completely missed something that happened earlier in the week. It was like they threw a dart at the wheel of storylines just to add last-minute layers for the PPV fight. Also, it didn’t make Allin look good at all. Cody’s words portrayed Allin as a whiny chump. Boo hoo, TNT doesn’t want little Darby. Get over it, tough guy. Hooo!

---

Stud of the Show: Sammy Guevara

The Spanish God leveled up with superior soaring skills. He was the top standout performance.

Dud of the Show: Hangman Page

Hangman’s ire when Kenny Omega turned his back was annoying. One thing about being a drinker, nobody likes someone who can’t hold their booze. Alcohol is the only excuse I can reason for why Hangman acted that way. I want to root for him, but then he makes missteps like this.

Grade: B+

Entertaining show despite some odd story beats. As usual, Dynamite zipped by with good matches and developing stories. For a go-home show, it did an alright job. Outside of Cody Rhodes vs Darby Allin, every other PPV story made me more interested to varying degrees. MJF attacking Jericho takes the cake on that front. That all of a sudden leaped to the top of my desire rankings for Full Gear matches.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? Who stole the show? Did it get you excited for the Full Gear PPV on Saturday, November 7?

---