Post by sethisthegoat on Jan 2, 2023 9:51:53 GMT -5
AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming
Dec. 21, 2022
We get the AEW video intro with a preview of tonight’s matches. Then we zero in on Taz and Coach in the announce booth -
Coach: “We’ve got a huge show tonight, including four title matches — assuming Samoa Joe shows up to fight Jake Hager — the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale and a steel cage grudge match between Raven and Malakai Black, with the cage meant to keep your son, Hook, from interfering, Taz.”
Taz - “Not for nothing, Coach, but this just might be the biggest Dynamite of the year. Add in my special presentation to Hook, and it’s a packed show. It looks like we’re starting the night off with Jake Hager and possibly an All-Atlantic Championship title defense.”
Hager comes out to the ring with the belt, while the TV audience sees a recap of Joe asking for a title shot, followed by Hager’s vicious attack on Joe in the parking lot last week. Hager gets to the ring and says that he hasn’t seen Joe at the arena yet, so it looks like he’s foregoing his shot at the All-Atlantic Championship. Take a good look at your champion as we head to the new year…then Joe’s music hits and the crowd goes wild as Joe walks out with a determined look on his face and a knee brace on the leg Hager attacked.
Match 1: All-Atlantic Championship: Jake Hager © (6-4) vs. Samoa Joe (2-2)
Joe goes straight after Hager, but the champion dodges and kicks Joe right in the injured knee. He spends the next few minutes methodically working over the knee and lower leg until he locks in an early ankle lock. Joe fights through the pain and gets to the ropes, breaking the hold. Joe rolls to the outside for a breather, and Hager follows. He rushes Joe, who ducks and trips Hager into the ringside steps.
Joe hits a belly-to-belly suplex at ringside, followed by an elbow drop, before rolling Hager in the ring. They slug back and forth a little and trade suplexes with each other until Joe hits a devastating Chimera-plex for a 2-count. He works Hager into the corner and lifts him to the top turnbuckle, then goes for the Muscle Buster! But Joe’s leg buckles and Hager lands on him for a pin attempt. Joe kicks out at 2.
Hager hits an Oklahoma Stampede on Joe and follows that up with the Swagger Bomb, but Joe kicks out again. This makes Hager angry and he argues with the ref. Joe uses this to pop up behind Hager and lock in the Coquina Clutch. He falls back in the center of the ring. Hager fights it for a long time, but finally taps out at 14:21. Samoa Joe is the new All-Atlantic Champion! He hobbles to the back with the belt while Hager looks on disappointedly.
—
Earlier tonight, Natural Selection enters the building and comes face-to-face with the New Day. Xavier Woods wishes them luck against the Steiners tonight and vows to come after the belts if they win. Big E walks up and goes nose to nose with Brian Cage. Cage tells E to stay out of his way during the battle royale tonight.
—
Match 2: AEW Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill © (13-0) vs. Tay Melo (9-1) w/ Sammy Guevara
Sasha Banks is on commentary.
The crowd is split during the match on who to cheer for (more - who to boo for) in this heel vs. heel matchup. Melo hits quickly and keeps her distance from Cargill, and even goes for an early pin attempt that serves to anger Cargill, who takes control of things until Guevara trips her up from the outside. She turns to yell at him and gets rolled up by Melo for a 2 count.
Melo goes for a crossbody, but Cargill catches her and hits a fallaway slam. She Irish Whips Melo off the ropes into a big boot and follows that up with the Jaded Finisher for the win in 8:48.
After the match. Sasha gets in the ring to face off with Cargill. They jaw back-and-forth and hold up their respective championship belts.
—
Taz is in the ring standing next to a table with an object covered by something. He calls Hook down to the ring. His son comes out to loud cheers and stands in the ring, crossing his arms.
Taz - “Son, I am proud of the man you’re becoming. And your take-no-prisoners attitude is clearly catching on with the fans. So I wanted to present you with something that exemplifies our family.”
Taz removes the cover to reveal the FTW Championship Belt and presents it to Hook. Hook grabs it, then shakes his head and hands it back before grabbing a mic.
Hook - “I’m not going to accept a vanity belt that means nothing. I’m here to earn my spot, not to get handed things based on my lineage.”
Taz - “Boy, there are two thoughts about championships in this business. Either the man makes the belt, or the belt makes the man. And, sometimes, if the man isn’t up to it, the belt crushes him. Take this belt and make it into a big deal.”
Hook - “Dad, I don’t want to be handed anything.”
Taz - “Then it might help if you start by beating Raven and Malakai Black. Show that you can hang with them, then take this title and make it the biggest thing in AEW.”
—
Hook stays out to watch the next match. Raven and Black both stare him down during their entrances before turning their attention toward each other as the cage is lowered.
Match 3: Steel Cage Match: Raven (4-3) vs. Malakai Black (10-1) (win by pinfall, submission or escape)
Raven and Black start off quickly by exchanging strikes. Black gets the upper hand with a knee to Raven’s face, then tosses Raven into the cage and smashes his face into the cage 5 times, before hitting a German Suplex for a quick pinning attempt. He kicks Raven in the knee, then hits a Shining Wizard before going for a springboard moonsault that Raven rolls out of the way of.
Raven hits a clothesline, then whips Black into the corner, where he hits another clothesline and a bulldog. He hits a piledriver and goes for a pin that just gets a one-count. They go back-and-forth until Raven hits the Evenflow DDT, but Black sits right up afterward. Raven just shakes his head and goes for the escape. Black catches up to him and locks in the Dragon Slayer.
Black hits the Black Mass and goes for a pin with just his boot on Raven’s chest. Raven just barely gets his shoulder up at 2; Black stomps and tries again, but Raven lifts his shoulder at 2. Black picks Raven up and goes for another Black Mass. Raven ducks and hits another DDT. 1…2…Black kicks out!
After some more back-and-forth, Raven puts Black in the Tree of Woe. As he lines up to run at Black, he changes his mind and starts climbing to escape the cage! Black furiously tries to get loose and finally does as Raven reaches the top of the cage. Black rushes after him, but Raven drops down to get the win at 13:34, while Black looks down furiously from the top of the cage. Raven raises his arms in triumph, but Hook comes up behind him and hooks in the REDRUM! He lets go after Taz rushes over and gets him to break the hold, leaving Taz to check on Raven, while Hook stares down Black from the floor to the top of the cage.
—
Earlier tonight, Jarrett is talking with the Apex. He mentions that Tony Khan promised to immediately end the match and award Cody the winner tonight if any of them step foot at ringside. He’s on his own tonight, and he’ll win back the title.
—
Match 4: Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale (all 10 start in the ring. The final 2 will face off at next month’s Beach Brawl on Jan. 25)
Competitors: Brian Cage, Big E, Sammy Guevara, MVP, Shawn Spears, Matt Riddle, Gable Steveson, Kevin Nash, Rob Van Dam, Hernandez
With 10 men in the ring, the opening couple of minutes are a blur. Spears goes straight for Riddle, and Nash pitches in. Riddle is nearly eliminated, but skins the cat as Spears tries eliminating Nash by surprise. Nash grabs his throat and tosses Spears over the top rope.
Steveson and Cage are brawling, and Cage gets the upper hand until Big E butts in. Steveson and E square off with Cage and Hernandez until Guevara catches Steveson off-guard with a springboard kick. He and Nash team up to eliminate Steveson.
Riddle and RVD form an alliance and eliminate Nash next. While they high-five near the ropes, Hernandez rushes over and clotheslines both Riddle and RVD over the top rope, before the opportunistic Guevera dumps a distracted Hernandez.
We’re left with Cage, Big E, Guevara and MVP, who has been fighting off-and-on with everyone else. Guevara looks to Cage and extends his hand with a smile, offering a partnership. Cage responds by clotheslining him down, then Big E hits Cage with a huge shoulder block. They square off, while Guevara and MVP exchange punches. Cesar Duran comes down to ringside and starts yelling at Big E. Cage uses the distraction to eliminate Big E, and while doing that, MVP is able to dump Cage out! Cage looks back in anger and disbelief while MVP poses and the battle royale ends at 12:05. While MVP is posing, Guevara comes up from behind and hits the GTH! He spits on MVP, then walks off.
—
After the break, the lights go out. When they return, Alexa Bliss and another woman are in the ring. Bliss’ hair is dyed Black with a streak of red, and her eyes are all white. The other woman’s eyes are different colors (one red, one white) and her white face has cracks running down it. She has the microphone.
“Winter has arrived in the AEW women’s division. Alexa Bliss tried throwing away the darkness, but she couldn’t outrun me forever. My name is Abadon, and I am here to snuff out the light.” She smiles into the camera as the lights go dark again. When they return, the ring is empty.
—
Match 5: AEW Tag Team Championships: Steiner Bros © (9-0) vs. Natural Selection (Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander) (4-0) w/ Cesar Duran
Shelton and Rick start the match with some mat wrestling. While Shelton is fast, Rick is able to use his superior strength to maintain the advantage. He hits a couple of suplexes before tagging in Scott, who keeps up the pressure until he gets too close to Natural Selection’s corner, where Cedric pokes him in the eyes. The ref warns Cedric not to do it again, while Shelton uses the chance to low blow Scott.
He springboards into a bulldog, then tags in Cedric. The heels keep up the pressure with multiple quick tags and isolate Scott. Cedric hits a springboard roundhouse kick on Scott for a 2-count, then tags in Shelton, who goes for a T-Bone Suplex, but can’t quite execute it. Scott gets the hot tag onto Rick, who runs roughshod on the heels. He hits the Steiner Driver on Shelton and goes for the pin, but Duran has the ref distracted. Scott hops down out of the corner to yell at Duran, and Cedric runs around and hits a somersault plancha on Scott, spilling both of them to the floor.
In the ring, Rick is trying to get the ref’s attention. This allows Shelton to recover. He comes up behind Rick and hits the Paydirt! He covers immediately…1…2…3! In 16:05, Natural Selection dethrones the Steiner Bros. and becomes the AEW Tag Team Champions! The Steiners looks shocked, while Brian Cage comes from backstage to celebrate with his group.
—
Before the main event, we get a recap of the Cody Rhodes vs. Jeff Jarrett feud. This is the pair’s third match since September. So far, Rhodes has won via countout when Jarrett faked an injury to protect his championship. Then Rhodes defeated Jarrett in a ladder match in October to become the AEW World Champion. This is their third match. Jarrett has still never been pinned in an AEW singles match. The promo ends with Jarrett laying Rhodes out with a guitar shot last week on Dynamite.
Main Event: AEW World Championship: Cody Rhodes © (11-2) vs. Jeff Jarrett (9-2)
Rhodes and Jarrett circled each other in the ring before locking up. They went back-and-forth until Jarrett locked in a sleeper hold. Rhodes broke it with an elbow to the gut, but Jarrett hit a dropkick. The competitors had a clean, methodical match and no one could get the upper hand until Rhodes hit his signature springboard cutter for a 2-count. He whipped Jarrett into the ropes, but Jarrett responded with a rare running DDT.
Jarrett started to control the match and targeted Rhodes’ head, following up from the guitar shot during last week’s Dynamite. He hits an enziguri, then a facebuster, before locking in another sleeper hold. The ref raises Rhodes’ arm twice before he responds and hits a side suplex to break the hold. Jarrett stays on him and responds with a snap suplex and a swinging neckbreaker, before hitting The Stroke! He pins Rhodes, but only gets a 2-count.
Jarrett lifts Rhodes up for another Stroke, but the champion spins out of it and hits a surprise super kick before collapsing to the mat again. Both men stand up at the ref’s 7-count and exchange strikes. Jarrett works Rhodes into the corner and situates him on the turnbuckle. Jarrett tries for the Stroke off the second rope! Rhodes resists and hits the Cody Cutter off the top rope! Rhodes lifts Jarrett up and hits the CrossRhodes! He thinks about pinning Jarrett, but heads to the top rope for a moonsault…and it connects! Now Rhodes pins Jarrett for the win, at 19:58.
After the match, an exhausted Rhodes puts the title around his waist and extends his hand to Jarrett, who slaps it away and walks off. While this is happening, someone in a hooded sweatshirt has hopped the guardrail and entered the ring. Security is running down, but doesn’t get there in time as Rhodes turns around and the other man hits him with a spear! The man pops up and pulls down his hood — and it’s Bill Goldberg! This causes security to slow down, as he lifts Rhodes up and hits the Jackhammer, before staring down security. The show ends as Taz and Coach wish everyone a Happy New Year.
(Note - AEW is taking off for the holidays and will return on Jan. 3, 2022, for a new episode of AEW Dynamite!)
AEW Dynamite: Beach Brawl is set for Jan. 25:
Sammy Guevara vs. MVP for the Dynamite Diamond Ring
AEW Battle of the Belts: Jan. 28
Title for Title: UWA Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. AEW Women’s Champion Jade Cargill
UWA Men’s Championship: Chris Jericho © vs. ??
UWA Tag Team Championships: FTW © vs. ??