5 Biggest Takeaways from AEW: Dynamite [19/01/22]
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What. A. Show! AEW Dynamite was a brilliant program this week with a damn near flawless wrestling show. We saw the dissension grow just a tad more with MJF and Wardlow before CM Punk made quick work of the chairman, Shawn Spears. AEW’s new power couple, Adam Cole and Britt Baker found a way to pick up their first victory together, Frankie Kazarian did his best job at making Lance Archer look like a credible challenger for Hangman and Serena Deeb continued her all out assault as she made very quick work of Skye Blue. AEW looks to be finding their groove again at the perfect time with the build for Revolution about to get into the thick of things.
But with all that, let us move on to the top 5 biggest takeaways from this week’s AEW Dynamite!
#5: Andrade’s Next Gig in AEW
Andrade has had a very rocky run in AEW. Going through multiple managers and feuds that have yet to give him any kind of momentum, they are moving into the next option of operation “Get Andrade Over” in what seems to be a never ending mission. Andrade has now linked up with Matt Hardy and purchased majority ownership of HFO with Matt Hardy staying on as president. This gives Andrade the services of the HFO faction, minus Private Party. The interesting story here is that Andrade said that he had his eyes set on the next member, Darby Allin.
A feud with Darby Allin could make or break Andrade at this point. Darby is one of the most over guys in the company along with Sting and having success against the two of them would give Andrade that big break he has been needing. On the other hand he’s had absolutely no success thus far and a failed program with Darby where he doesn’t come out on top might be the final nail in the coffin.
#4: It’s STIIIIIIING!
Speaking of Sting, his performance from Dynamite this week can’t go unnoticed. After the attack on Darby, Sting was left to take on The Acclaimed on his own for a majority of the match. Sting’s run in AEW has been handled very well and he is returning the favor by delivering the best performances you could expect from a 60 year old legend. Wednesday night, you could see how much fun Sting is having in that ring. Hitting all the signature moves that we all know and love about the Stinger, he was able to show the world that given the right circumstances that Sting can still hang. With Sting and Darby picking up the victory over the #1 ranked tag team in AEW, it appears as if they will be jumping right into their next feud with Andrade & company. With another victory there it is very likely we might see The Icon get one more run with championship gold on his resume and with what he has accomplished within AEW, he has more than earned that right.
#3: There Can Be Only One
When Cody Rhodes had to pull himself from the rematch, it felt strange to see AEW throw an interim title on Sammy Guevara. Now that we are two weeks removed, the culprit behind the idea has been revealed.
Cody can’t seem to go too long without having a nice gimmick match. A ladder match to unite the interim and real TNT Championship will be the next on the list. AEW’s next Dynamite special is Beach Break and Cody Rhodes would be damned if he doesn’t get his chance to shine. You can expect Cody to pull out some kind of stunt while leaving a blood bath on the next “burial” of Sammy Guevara narrative that the fans will definitely try to paint. Cody Rhodes portrayal of this character continues to build intrigue more and more each week and Sammy Guevara is not only the perfect partner for this story wise but match wise as well. Sammy thrives for these big moments as well and will be looking to not get outshined by Cody Rhodes in this moment as well as he looks to try and redeem his last TNT title run.
#2: Pride and Powerful and Free?
Since joining AEW, Santana and Ortiz have been among the top 3 tag teams in the entire company. They have been at Chris Jericho’s side since day one and that has always been the thing holding them back in many people’s opinion. Well on Wednesday night, they came to the conclusion that that narrative might actually be true. Instead of focusing on becoming the tag team champions, they have been stuck fighting all of Jericho’s battles. All it took was for Eddie Kingston to remind them of who they are and it appears as if the stronghold Jericho had on them might be broken. The Inner Circle has been on life support for some time now so it only makes sense to allow these talents to start thriving on their own. Sammy Guevara has done pretty well for himself without them at his side, no reason to think Pride and Powerful can’t do the same. They should be mixing it up with the likes of the Lucha Brothers, Jurassic Express, Young Bucks and FTR and not as 2nd and 3rd acts in gimmick matches and battles. It will be exciting over the next few weeks to see how this break up goes down. Will it be civil or will we see more dissension in AEW?
#1: Wild Thing is Back in AEW
Jon Moxley is back. Not much else needs to be added to that. We can make this simple and sweet. Mox is the most important person on the AEW roster today in my opinion. He’s over with the fans, he’s young enough to still carry the company for a few more years while having a credible name to bring to the table. He gave a passionate promo about being back and what his goals for 2022 are. We can all look forward to the run this man is about to go on because as busy as he was prior to his break, you can fully expect a reinvigorated Mox to top all of that. If you disagree with that, you can take the advice Moxley gave the trolling fan on Wednesday night.
Welcome back Jon Moxley!