AEW Dynamite recap & reactions (Sep. 28, 2022): Ring of Jericho

AEW Dynamite (Sep. 28, 2022) emanated from The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA. The show featured Chris Jericho declaring war on ROH, a star-making effort from Bandido, Jon Moxley in a triangle with MJF and Hangman Page, Saraya pulling a power play, and much more.

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

AEW variated from their standard style by using live promos to set up matches. It produced a few weaving stories crossing streams during the show.

Chris Jericho ROH title defense with JAS drama

The Jericho Appreciation Society opened the broadcast to celebrate the Ocho. Chris Jericho was fresh off winning the ROH World Championship from Claudio Castagnoli last week to become an eight-time world champion. Jericho would defend the title against Bandido in the main event. But first, party time!

JAS wore matching purple suits. Luigi was flipping pizza on the side, because he’s sports entertainment? Everyone was in a festive mood, except sourpuss Daniel Garcia. Jericho offered a personal gift to his protege. A bucket hat!

Garcia was not pleased, considering his style of headgear is the Kangol. Garcia punched out poor Luigi. This wasn’t what Garcia envisioned himself doing in this business. He tolerated the JAS shenanigans, but now he’s had enough.

Garcia had something to get off his chest, but Jericho covered the mic. It sure felt like Garcia was going to leave JAS. Jericho warned to think hard. A wrong decision means JAS will have to take him out. Is Garcia a sports entertainer or a professional wrestler?

Hit Bryan Danielson’s music. The American Dragon interrupted before the Dragon Slyer could answer. He pep-talked Garcia as a man able to choose his own path. Don’t be forced into a decision by Jericho. Le Champion retorted that Garcia belongs to him. Garcia stepped up to make clear that he doesn’t belong to anybody. He proposed a tag match with Danielson against Jericho and Sammy Guevara for next week.

Daddy Magic took over to spit fire. He’s sick of Garcia’s crap. Daddy Magic and Cool Hand had Garcia’s back when he had nothing. Now, he feels like Garcia is spitting in their faces by teaming with Danielson. It made Mr. Nipples so hard that he wanted to punch Danielson in the face. That led to a singles match between Danielson and Daddy Magic.

That was a strong sports entertainment segment in the little ways. JAS members were active in the background doing something amusing on the low down. Jericho masterfully played the crowd asking if they wanted pizza then saying no. The reaction went from loud cheers to loud boos in an instant. Daddy Magic was the scene stealer with feelings of betrayal toward Garcia. It’s about time someone called Garcia out on his bullshit.

Unfortunately, we never received an official answer from Garcia, so the emotion of this story drags on unresolved for another week. It was a little disappointing to see Danielson butting in again. Is this Garcia’s story to rise up or does Danielson have to hold his hand the entire way? The implication is that Garcia is out of JAS, however, we can’t assume that with how AEW stretches stories. There is definitely room open for Garcia to swerve on Danielson.

Bryan Danielson defeated Daddy Magic. Cool Hand assisted Daddy Magic during the contest to pull him out of tight spots. When Danielson gave chase, Daddy Magic was able to atomic drop his opponent into the ring post. Cool Hand added a DDT on the floor. Claudio saw enough and physically carried Cool Hand over his shoulder to the back. Danielson made use of the distraction to pounce for a running knee and LeBell Lock for victory.

The match was okay for what it was. Claudio had the top highlight by manhandling Cool Hand like a young child. That was comedy gold. JAS will always have the last laugh against Blackpool Combat Club, because they are always forcing those professional wrestlers into sports entertainment moments.

Keeping with the overarching JAS story, let’s fast forward to the main event for Jericho time.

ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho defeated Bandido to retain. Ian Riccaboni joined commentary and Bobby Cruise handled introductions for the ROH vibe. Bandido entered to a low murmur of the crowd, but he impressively won them over with awesome move after awesome move. Highlights include a corkscrew moonsault, a one-handed military press slam, a delayed vertical suplex close to one minute in duration, an Eddie Guerrero frog splash, and a flipping fallaway slam.

Bandido actually had me believing a title change could occur when he connected on the X Knee maneuver and the 21-Plex. Those are Bandido’s heavy duty moves. Applause to Jericho for showing the heat of a champion to kick out.

Jericho had tricks up his sleeve as well to counter a flying attack with a Codebreaker and to counter an X Knee into the Walls of Jericho. Le Champion’s best trick came for the finish. Bandido had a stronghold on momentum. Jericho played dirty at the perfect moment for a poke to the eye, then he pulled down Bandido’s mask to obscure the luchador’s vision. Bandido still was able to roll up a cradle pin. Jericho kicked out and went on the attack for the Lion Tamer submission. Bandido tapped out in defeat.

The show didn’t end there. Jericho declared war on Ring of Honor. The Ring of Jericho era has begun. Jericho is going to destroy the ROH legacy by beating every great champion in the promotion’s history. Jericho challenged Danielson for the October 12 Dynamite show in Toronto, Canada. Jericho warned that he will destroy every ROH commentator, ROH referee, and ROH ring announcer. Jericho then punched Cruise and unloaded a Judas Effect.

That was a great way to finish Dynamite. Bandido’s performance in the main event match was fire. Sign that man to AEW. Bandido shined bright on the big stage when given the opportunity. As a fan of Bandido, it was cool to see him turn the crowd in his favor. Jericho’s latest shtick as an dishonorable ROH champion is excellent. He’s so entertaining yet does it in a way not to encourage cheers. His cheating is creative with a different trick each time so far. On paper, I wasn’t all that thrilled with another round of Jericho versus Danielson. With the ROH twist, that matchup instantly has my attention. It’s not like Danielson needs extra motivation to pummel Jericho, but this one should be all the more sweeter with ROH’s honor at stake.

Jon Moxley in action with MJF looming large

Jon Moxley was in non-title action against Juice Robinson. If Juice could score a win, then he would earn a future shot at the AEW World Championship. Prior to that bout, MJF had to handle a little business with Blackpool Combat Club’s Wheeler Yuta.

MJF had been scheduled for live mic time, but Yuta stormed to the ring first. He was looking for a fight with MJF. Putting hands on Tony Schiavone last week should have consequences, and Yuta was there to dish out the punishment. MJF ran his mouth insulting the Philly crowd. He actually gave credit to Yuta’s ability as a wrestler. Yuta threatened to leave MJF in a pool of blood if they don’t have a match. The Gunn sons arrived to back up MJF, then Maxwell agreed for next week. MJF allowed the Gunns to close with his catchphrase, because the fans didn’t deserve it out of his mouth.

That was an effective segment building quick heat for a showdown between MJF and Yuta. MJF continues to do a good job acting as loathsome as possible to avoid a positive reaction. Yuta is a work in progress for live promos. The content was solid, but there’s something missing from the delivery to make it believable. I think he is miscast on the mic as a menacing ass-kicker. Looking like a badass is not one of Yuta’s strengths.

Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson. In case you were wondering, yes, Moxley bleed. He was tossed over the timekeeper table and rose with a gash. Commentary explained that the ring bell conveniently fell off the table dinging Mox in the head to open the wound. The tide shifted when Robinson leaped for a cannonball crashing onto a chair after Moxley moved.

As the match progressed, Robinson was close to victory on a powerbomb and unprettier. Moxley countered out of an airplane spin position to black a knee strike then stomp Robinson’s head in. That led to an armbreaker submission for victory.

Juice did well to strut his stuff for new viewers. Taking Moxley to the limit is no easy feat. Robinson provided enough excitement to make a positive impression. There wasn’t a lot of drama on Moxley’s end. He was expected to win that match, and he did just that. To Moxley’s credit, he took a lot of offense to make Juice fresh and then cranked up the aggression for the finish.

Things got spicy in the aftermath. As Mox soaked in the glory of victory, Hangman Page’s music hit for a staredown. Hangman has a future title shot on October 18.

Mox and Hangman almost came to blows until MJF verbally intervened. He had been watching the bout from the skybox to scout Moxley. Production did a good job this week of not overwhelming us with reaction shots of MJF. MJF warned that those two are just fighting for the right to lose to him when he cashes in. Yuta appeared out of nowhere from behind to attack MJF.

Those were both fun moments to simmer the pot of anticipation for those future matchups.

Saraya speaks and Toni Storm defends title

The biggest moment from Grand Slam was the arrival of Saraya (aka Paige) in AEW. She shocked the world. This week, Saraya spoke to address the women’s division. She plans to create change. Saraya declared that AEW is officially her house.

Saraya brought out Toni Storm, Athena, Madison Rayne, Skye Blue, and Willow Nightingale to put them over. Dr. Britt Baker DMD interrupted. She was flanked by Rebel, Jamie Hayter, and Penelope Ford. Saraya and Baker bantered leading to Storm’s title defense against Serena Deeb as a lumberjack match.

There are two ways to look at Saraya’s message. Speaking about changing the division and claiming control over the women in AEW can have differing reactions. First is a direct insult to Baker in everything she said. It is pretty clear that Saraya is picking a fight. Her insults were references to Baker’s common talking points. Second could lead to friction. Even if Saraya has good intentions, it is a little questionable that Storm took a backseat to this bravado. Storm is the interim champion after all. She’s the one carrying the load in the ring. Having an outsider arrive trying to take control could rub most the wrong way. The question becomes how genuine was Saraya in her words. Was it a solely a trash-talking tactic to rile up Baker?

AEW Interim Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm defeated Serena Deeb to retain in lumberjack match. The lumberjacks played their role as intended. The babyfaces enforced the stipulation and protected Storm when the heels took cheap shots on the floor. Willow had enough and chased Hayter to the back. Deeb had Storm in serious trouble by attacking the knee for a Serenity Lock and a single-leg crab submission. Storm rallied for a piledriver. Deeb kicked out. A short while later, Storm hit a super pilediver off the turnbuckles. Deeb did not kick out.

That finish was awesome. The avalanche super piledriver looks like a death move from Storm. Nobody should ever kick out of that for a long time to come. Deeb put in quality work. Her submissions always seem meaningful. It’s not just a move for the sake of doing a move. There is purpose behind her attacks.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Darby Allin versus Jay Lethal was announced for next week. Lethal plans to break Allin’s leg in the figure-four. Allin wants to remind himself what he is capable of by going one-on-one. Lethal will prove he can beat Allin on his own. Sonjay Dutt was not on board with Lethal rolling solo.

The Acclaimed will celebrate National Scissoring Day next week on Dynamite. Keith Lee strolled in with an issue over Billy Gunn’s physical interference leading to the title change. Lee felt that the Acclaimed got carried to victory. Billy had two words. Scissor me. I appreciate that Lee brought up this point. Even though The Acclaimed have earned thunderous fan favorite status, I don’t feel like they have yet earned star status in the ring yet as legitimate winners. Recognizing this point to improve upon in the storytelling is the difference in becoming established studs or flashes in the pan.

Private Party were seen arguing with Butcher and Blade with Andrade in the middle. Andrade warned Private Party to shape up or ship out. As soon as Andrade exited, Matt Hardy was there to offer a word of encouragement. Their group hug was a spark of connection. If Private Party leaves AFO, then Hardy promises to treat them right this time.

Ricky Starks defeated Eli Isom. Quick squash won with a spear and Roshambo finish. Starks seemed like a man with renewed energy after beating Will Hobbs last week.

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Stud of the Show: Bandido

The luchador went from a relative unknown to the masses into earning chants of, “This is awesome.”

Match of the Night: Chris Jericho vs. Bandido

Rowdy action building strong excitement for a whole lot of fun.

Grade: B

This week was a different type of show than the usual Dynamite in that there were a lot of live promo segments. That’s not really AEW’s strength since their rising stars are not the strongest talkers. The story setups were clear though. It quickly became obvious how they planned to lead from one thing to another. In that sense, the show did well building anticipation for future fights. AEW also mixed in enjoyable chaos for a touch of insanity spicing up scenes. The show finished on a strong note with a main event segment that left me eager for more.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?