AEW Rewind: Darby Allin accuses Joey Janela of losing heart, Maki Itoh is a god, more!

Don’t have time to follow all of AEW’s online content? Don’t worry. We got you covered with the AEW Rewind, which will rewind through social media bits and YouTube videos from the past week to prepare you for Wednesday night Dynamite.

“Road to AEW Dynamite,” featured hype for Darby Allin defending the TNT Championship against Joey Janela, MJF and Chris Jericho being upset at The Acclaimed for interrupting their, “Judas,” entrance last week, background on Lee Johnson, and Tony Schiavone picking KENTA as the reason he and Kenny Omega will be victorious against Jon Moxley and Lance Archer.

The Inner Circle’s intensity was great, but the real show-stealer was Allin’s promo towards Janela. It seems like an odd call to have Janela in a TNT Championship bout, however, Allin set the scene perfectly.

Allin: When I first heard of Joey Janela, he was the most talked about independent wrestler in the whole world. Fast forward to Fyter Fest, I was making my debut in this company, AEW, and he was main-eventing the show. Look where we are now, Joey.

You’re like half the man you used to be. You’re hardly on the show. I just don’t think you care anymore, and that pisses me off. You got this opportunity, once in a lifetime, something that people thought you would never get. No one thought someone like me or you would be in AEW on national television.

See, that’s the difference between you and me, Joey. I ran with this opportunity. I made something of myself. I didn’t sit down and cry like a little bitch. Because I am the TNT Champion, and you’re wasting my time and everybody else’s. I want the Joey Janela that was main-eventing these shows. This isn’t the goddamn independents anymore, Joey.

Give me everything you got next week, Joey, or get the hell out of here.

Well, I’m sold. It is an interesting idea to have Allin beat the crud out of Janela in an effort to bring the Bad Boy back from irrelevance. They have my curiosity to see if Janela can rise to the occasion.

Last week on Dynamite, you may have noticed Brian Cage galavanting outdoors with no shirt.

Taz has an explanation for why Cage arrived bare-chested.

That has me wondering if Cage wakes up each morning butt naked and forcefully takes clothes off random people to wear for the day, much like the terminator.

Hikaru Shida is ready to face the winner of the women’s tournament. Bring it.

One competitor on the Japan side has quickly become a fan favorite with one simple tweet.

Maki Itoh is a god... of love and piss, apparently.

That tweet drew the attention of Jim Cornette, to which Itoh had a humorous reply.

Being sassy to Cornette will no doubt increase her popularity even more among AEW faithful.

Being the Elite

“Set For Life” - Being The Elite, Ep. 242 (here) featured:

• The Good Brothers received complaints about their lewd behavior. The Hung Bucks were taken aback when the Good Brothers were nude and helicoptering their dongs.
• The Young Bucks took photos for the upcoming video game.
• Dark Order prepared for Valentine’s Day. They wrote poems about beautiful hair and juicy thighs.
• Matt Hardy left a voice message for Hangman Page explaining that he didn’t intentionally try to steal the pin last week. He wanted to hit a Twist of Fate, but the buckshot lariat was so powerful that he covered the opponent instead. Hardy wants to team together again. Private Party wondered if Hardy was going to push them aside. They don’t trust Hangman, since he never paid back the five dollars from a long time ago. Hardy reassured them that they are top priority. They plotted a plan to interfere at Impact to make sure the Good Brothers keep the tag titles, so Private Party can be the ones to dethrone them at No Surrender on February 13.
• The Bucks and the Good Brothers spoke of the forbidden door. KENTA will only be a week or two program. The Bucks were upset that the Good Brothers distracted them in the battle royale. The plan was to win then wrestle each other for AEW gold. There was no anger, so they patched things up quickly.
• The show teased that Anna Jay was the Dark Order valentine, but they told her to move out of the way. The crew presented cards to Wardlow instead. 5 was the only person with a different target. He chatted with Hangman in the locker room. Hangman apologized for turning down the Dark Order. He said that they don’t need him. 5 didn’t get a chance to hand Hangman the card, so he placed it under the cowboy’s jacket.
• Kris Statlander wrote a song for Orange Cassidy. The alien poured her soul out with feelings for OC, but he was asleep the entire time.
• Anny Jay gave a card to Stu Grayson that said, “F—k off.”
• A game of AEW trivia was played to become #1 contender for Sammy Guevara’s BTE Championship. It ended in a three-way tie between Fuego del Sol, 10, and Brandon Cutler.
• Hardy found 5’s card for Hangman and ripped it in half.

The takeaway from this episode was drama revolving around Hangman. It seems that the majority of the Dark Order has moved on to beefcake Wardlow, although, there still lies hope in the hands of 5 to recruit Hangman. Mix in Hardy’s jealousy and we could end up with a Hangman-on-a-pole match.

We’ll close with a response from Chris Jericho to Vitor Belfort calling him out last week. Belfort is interested in MMA and wrestling cross promotion between AEW and ONE on TNT. Jericho isn’t one to back down.

Jericho versus Belfort was not something I anticipated for 2021, but never say never in the wild world of professional wrestling.