Post by sethisthegoat on Jan 18, 2023 9:58:15 GMT -5
AEW Dynamite - Jan. 18, 2023
Taz and Coach welcome the crowd to the show and run down some of what we’ll see tonight, on the way to next week’s Beach Break. Hook is taking on Billy Kidman; The Chosen Bros and LAX are fighting; and we have an official contract signing between Jade Cargill and Sasha Banks for the upcoming Battle of the Belts. But first, Cody Rhodes will be addressing the crowd and Bill Goldberg.
Cody comes out to a loud ovation, with Brandi by his side. He says that all he’s ever wanted, aside from making his family proud, has been to be the World Heavyweight Champion. He knows the champion always has a target on his back, but he never expected to be attacked out of nowhere by one of his childhood idols. He calls Goldberg out, but instead gets The Outsiders.
Hall and Nash say they’ve got a bond with Rhodes through this whole Goldberg situation. And they want Cody to scratch their back a little by helping them with the Steiners. Cody declines; Hall says, “wrong move, Chico,” and Nash boots him in the face and loads up for a Jackknife, which brings out The Young Bucks! The Outsiders and the Bucks start to fight, and Hall and Nash start to get the upper hand until Goldberg comes out and Rhodes recovers. The action pauses until Goldberg springs to action and spears Rhodes! The Bucks look stunned, while Hall and Nash take the opportunity to attack them again. Goldberg starts to go after Rhodes again, until Brandi slides back in the ring and gets in front of him. He holds up, and Nash, Hall and Goldberg back off for the time being.
—
Match 1 - Hook (9-3) vs. Billy Kidman (5-6) w/ Malakai Black
Hook has the early advantage, but Black on the outside doesn’t let the match go on too long before he slides in and hits Hook with the Black Mass to end the match at 2:30 with a Hook win. Black motions at Kidman to hold Hook up.
Before anything else can happen, Taz has a mic and tells Kidman and Black to stop. Black replies that, “this ends now.” Taz gets into the ring as quickly as possible, but can’t get there before Black delivers another roundhouse kick to Hook; as Taz slides in, Black and Kidman pounce on him. This brings out Raven to even the odds until The Butcher and the Blade make it a 4-on-2. The House of Black gains control and lays out Taz, Raven and Hook before walking off.
—
We cut to the parking lot, where Goldberg is getting ready to leave when Tony Khan walks up to him. Khan says he’s given Goldberg exactly what he wanted so far. Goldberg disagrees and says he is still waiting for his title shot. Khan replies that he’s working on that, but he also can’t just hand out shots willy-nilly. Goldberg needs to win in an AEW ring before Khan can fully sign off on a shot. In fact, Goldberg needs to suit up tonight — he’ll be teaming with Nash and Hall against the Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes! Goldberg looks angry and tells Khan that this isn’t what they’d agreed on before storming back into the arena.
—
Konnan joins Coach on commentary as Taz is being looked at backstage. He talks up LAX’s chances later tonight and says that the Chosen Bros are overrated. They also discuss the huge six-man tag team match that was just announced for later tonight.
Match 2 - Madison Rayne (4-1) w/ The Beautiful People vs. Riho (5-8)
Riho has the control early, but it’s a numbers game for Rayne as her faction mates provide enough of a distraction for her to get the win in 5:39. The lights flicker after the match, but Abadon and Alexa Bliss don’t appear. The Beautiful People scatter as quickly as possible.
—
Next week on Dynamite: Beach Break: Samoa Joe will defend his All-Atlantic Championship against Gable Steveson!
—
UWA Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and AEW Women's Champion Jade Cargill each come out to the ring for their Battle of the Belts contract signing. It goes off without a hitch, then Sasha asks what kind of match they’ll be having.
Cargill - “Sasha? I don’t need some crazy stipulation to kick your ass. You might be “the boss,” but I’m the baddest bitch on the planet. I’m undefeated and have never been pinned. And you aren’t going to be the one to pin me. So there’s your stipulation: no submissions. You’ve got to put my shoulders on the mat and make the ref count to 3.” Banks smiles and asks for the mic.
Banks - “I didn’t get to where I am by being a pushover. Yes, I’ve made plenty of women tap out. But I’ve also pinned plenty of shoulders to the mat. I’ve got a lot more time to go before I’m ready to be done with this belt.”
Cargill - “Unfortunately, you don’t get to decide when you’re done. I get to decide next week.” She drops the mic and walks off.
—
Match 3 - Chosen Bros (5-2) vs. LAX (6-4)
The Bros and LAX have a heated back-and-forth match. Konnan complains the whole match about how the ref is being more lenient on the Bros, but doesn’t interfere. Jeff Cobb hits a Tour of the Islands on Homicide for the win at 13:14. Konnan departs the announcers’ desk here.
—
The returning Paige VanZant comes out to a big ovation. She thanks the fans for their positive messages as she recovered from her broken arm at the hands of a woman she looked up to — Ronda Rousey. She asks production to replay Ronda’s attack from the end of November. VanZant says she’s back now, and looks forward to facing Rousey in the ring as soon as possible.
—
Jeff Jarrett is on commentary for the next match. He comments on how far Dean Malenko has fallen in this business, but he can’t expect Shawn Spears to take it easy on him. Jarrett spends the rest of the match complaining about having to face Jon Moxley next week.
Match 4 - Shawn Spears (9-4) vs. Dean Malenko (3-10)
Malenko hangs in with Spears until Peter Avalon comes to ringside. As he distracts Malenko, Spears hits the C4 for the win at 6:42. Avalon slides into the ring afterward and starts to stomp on Malenko. Spears starts to intervene until Jarrett calls him off and says to let Malenko handle it himself. As Jarrett and Spears walk to the back, RVD and Sabu run out to chase Avalon away. After a brief recovery, Malenko grabs the mic.
Malenko - “Peter Avalon, this crap has to stop. Your time meddling in my business is coming to an end. You beat me once before, and I almost retired because of it. You kept me going, for some crazy reason, and then you turned your back on me. It’s time we face each other, again, in the ring.”
—
Earlier today, MVP was lifting weights when Tay Melo walked in. He asked what she wanted.
Melo - “What you said a couple weeks ago got me thinking.” He puts the weights down as she got closer to him. “That diamond ring would look really good around my finger. I’m just saying that…whoever wins next week might get a little bit more than a ring.” Melo puts her face just an inch away from MVP’s before smiling and walking off. MVP watches her with a concerned look on his face.
—
Cesar Duran comes to provide guest commentary during the next match as they officially announce that Taz won’t be back for the rest of the show. Duran says nobody cares about that, anyway. He’s here to see Cedric Alexander wipe the smile off Big E’s face.
Match 5 - Big E (3-0) w/ New Day vs. Cedric Alexander (0-1) w/ Natural Selection
Alexander put forth a valiant effort, but Big E won with the Big Ending at 9:48. Natural Selection tried interfering in the end, but the New Day kept them at bay. After the match, Brian Cage cut E’s legs out from under him. The trios nearly started brawling until Duran called off his group.
Big E grabs a mic and challenges Cage to a match next week. Cage confers with Duran, and they agree to the match.
—
An ad for the first episode of AEW Rampage on Feb. 3, 2023, airs. Dean Malenko vs. Peter Avalon and Abadon’s in-ring debut are both announced for the show so far.
—
Main Event - Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks vs. Bill Goldberg & The Outsiders
The crowd doesn’t know how to react during Goldberg’s entrance, but pops when he hits Rhodes with a Spear partway through. The pin attempt is broken up by Nick Jackson, and chaos briefly ensues. Rhodes and the Bucks gain control of the match with a pair of super kicks on Hall and Nash, but pins are broken up by Goldberg.
The match ends with Goldberg spearing and jackhammering Matt Jackson for the pin at 13:42. Rhodes gets in Goldberg’s face after the match and starts yelling at him, asking what his problem is. Goldberg yells that Rhodes can’t even lace his boots. Rhodes hits Goldberg with a forearm, and Goldberg responds with one of his own. Before Rhodes responds again, The Young Bucks intervene and pull Rhodes away as Goldberg looks after them with a big smile.
While this is happening, Hall and Nash are leaving up the ramp as the Steiners come out onto the stage for a staredown, and we get a preview for next week’s Dynamite: Beach Break on Wednesday and Battle of the Belts on Saturday.
Next week on Dynamite: Beach Break, live from Miami!
UWA title contendership matches for the Men’s and Tag Team championships. All champions will be in attendance!
Jeff Jarrett vs. Jon Moxley
Steiner Bros. vs. The Outsiders
Dynamite Diamond Ring Final: Sammy Guevara vs. MVP
All-Atlantic Championship match: Samoa Joe © vs. Gable Steveson
Big E Langston vs. Brian Cage
Current Battle of the Belts Card: (Jan. 28)
Title vs. Title: UWA Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. AEW Women’s Champion Jade Cargill
UWA Men’s World Championship: Chris Jericho © vs.
UWA Tag Team Championship: FTR © vs.
AEW Rampage debut (Feb. 3)
Dean Malenko vs. Peter Avalon
Abadon’s in-ring debut
Next PPV: Revolution, on Feb. 19, 2023