5 Biggest Takeaways from AEW Dynamite (January 12th, 2022)
Photo Credit: Twitter
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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The second week into the TBS era for AEW Dynamite and things are starting to move towards the next big show. We saw the new tag team champions, Jurassic Express, find their first challenger for next week when they accepted Dark Order’s request. The Acclaimed versus Sting & Darby Allin feud continued when the former attacked the Acclaimed following their victory over Bear Country. The Jericho/Eddie Kingston drama continued, Andrade and Matt Hardy are forming a business alliance and Serena Deeb went complete psycho on Hikaru Shida’s knee on her way to a referee stoppage victory.
With all that, we move on to the 5 biggest takeaways from the show. So here… we… go!
#5: Lethal Return
Jay Lethal has been missing from AEW television since the week after his arrival. We were moments away from a search party being sent out to locate his whereabouts. This week, he made his triumphant return to Dynamite when he ran down to help out Dante Martin. Hobbs was controlling Martin for most of the match and when Ricky Starks decided to try and get involved, Lethal came to the rescue and removed Starks from the equation allowing Martin to pickup the big victory over Hobbs.
Very strange booking though if we look back at the short history of this story. Martin paired up with Lio Rush at first but then joined Team Taz before turning on Team Taz and now he has Lethal watching his back who has taken the place of Lio Rush, who was helping him. That’s a lot to try and wrap your head around but that is where we are at now. What happens next? We’ll have to wait and see and hopefully this story moves on in a direction that will make sense and be beneficial for all those involved.
#4: House of Black Begins
They have been teasing a faction for Malakai Black for a few weeks now. With Black going after Varsity Blondes and the Lucha Brothers, it was very obvious it would be Brodie joining with Black as the two of them won the PWG Tag titles last year. The signing of Brodie King a few weeks ago was another sure fire sign that he would be the first member.
With Malakai outnumber on Wednesday, surrounded by Penta and both members of the Varsity Blondes, he would laugh as he pointed out the numbers being stacked against him. The lights would go out and when they came back on, Brodie King stood front and center. He would then destroy the 3 men that once surrounded Malakai. At the end of the segment, Black and King would stand together showing what should be a very dominant team moving forward in the Tag Division. Only question to be asked now, who will be the third member?
#3: Mixed Tag Bay Bay
To my knowledge, mixed tag team competition hasn’t happened yet in AEW. With Adam Cole joining the roster, it was only a matter of time before they found a way to work him and Britt on to a team together in some way. This week’s Dynamite saw them set it up when the Adam Cole versus Orange Cassidy feud go one step further when Statlander tried to make the save on Cassidy, only for Britt Baker to attack her and allow the new AEW power couple to stand tall. So next week, we will see Adam Cole and Britt Baker take on Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander.
All about the boop pic.twitter.com/FW1kcPWcr1
— Kris Statlander (@callmekrisstat) January 13, 2022
It will be interesting to see if AEW goes the route of inter-gender wrestling. We have seen some of these talents take part in inter-gender wrestling on the indie circuit. Will AEW join the ranks of Impact in bringing that into their show or will they take the stance of WWE and stay away from it? With Statlander getting in Adam Cole’s face, I think we can expect that face-off to happen again next week. It would be a great way to give the women’s division some much needed attention outside of the one match a show, and would be a fresh breath of air on a show that some view as getting a bit stale.
#2: Super Punk
When we heard that CM Punk would be taking on Wardlow, a lot of fans were excited to see the match. Wardlow, in the biggest match of his career, in the biggest storyline currently running in AEW. What happened? Not at all what I was expecting. Punk was able to look game for the first bit of the match, but once Wardlow got control… he kept it. Powerbomb after powerbomb after powerbomb after powerbomb. MJF wouldn’t allow Wardlow to go for a pinfall though, so what did Wardlow do? You guessed it, more powerbombs. They even went to the outside where Punk at a powerbomb through a table. MJF then ordered his bodyguard to enter the ring to look for the count out victory. When Punk was able to beat the 10 count, a furious MJF ordered Wardlow to inflict more punishment. A visibly upset Wardlow allowed his frustration to distract him just enough for Punk to roll him up for the victory, doing his best Bret Hart impersonation. How was CM Punk able to withstand that kind of punishment? Very simple. He has completely transformed into his greatest nemesis, Super Cena. We now have, Super Punk!
#1: Bullseye
Hangman Page was able to outlast Bryan Danielson for 90 minutes to keep that AEW World Championship that he fought so hard for. Coming in to this weeks show, one of the hot topics was: who is next for Hangman Page?
We were set up for a bit of a twist this week when Dan Lambert interrupted Hangman Page’s in ring promo, where he was looking for his next challenger. With Lambert showing up, all eyes would be on Scorpio Sky, the man who just made a case for himself on Twitter where he has a legitimate claim for the next shot at the title. That’s not what would happen though as Lance Archer would make his return and chase Lambert into the ring. As he got his hands on Dan, Lambert would shout “there’s the AEW Champion, don’t fumble this opportunity!” And with that, Archer would take his shot. He let go of Lambert and went into full on ass whooping mode on Hangman Page. He would leave the AEW Champ laid on in the ring after dropping Page with the Blackout through a chair.
Lance Archer returns, attacks Hangman Page on AEW Dynamite https://t.co/1cJfEXooPs pic.twitter.com/czJ7Aed1ci
— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) January 13, 2022
Lance Archer is a nice surprise for the next challenger. Nobody saw it coming and it put’s him to good use as he is a believable monster on the roster that can have great matches with most. Page has taken down his mentor. He has bested the great Danielson and now he faces the next challenge. A big that can and will over power him. I think we all know how this story will end but this is an instance where the story can still be fun even though it’s predictable.
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