AEW Dynamite: Danielson and Nigel are the night’s MVPs… and so is MVP

Bob Kapur

AEW Dynamite: Danielson and Nigel are the night’s MVPs… and so is MVP

There were a few MVPs on Wednesday night’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness had a fantastic match to open the night. And then MVP – yes, that MVP – made his AEW debut, inserting himself as a potential wedge between Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland. But, if there were MVPs, it stands to reason there were also Least Valuable Players. Hi, Young Bucks. And with that, let’s get to the recap.

Match 1: Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson

Before Danielson’s entrance, the commentators speculated whether or not he was even in the building. Danielson didn’t immediately appear when his entrance music started playing, and so Nigel grabbed the microphone and demanded that the referee declare him the winner by no contest and that the company strip Danielson of the World Championship.

As the ref started his count, Danielson’s classic theme “Final Countdown” hit the speakers and the American Dragon made his way to the ring.

They started off with some technical exchanges, but it didn’t take too long until tempers started flaring and they began to hit each other with some hard strikes – including a sequence that saw them exchange ground-and-pound attacks.

Bryan clamped on a LeBell Lock, but Nigel got to the ropes to force the break. The match spilled to the floor where Nigel started working over Danielson’s arm, including sending Danielson crashing into the ring steps arm-first. He tried to drop the steps onto Bryan’s arm, but Danielson moved.

Danielson fired up and hit Nigel with some big moves, including a Running Goat Knee, but his arm was hurting him so much that he couldn’t follow up with a pin attempt. He was able to blast Nigel with some big Yes Kicks for a two-count.

Nigel surprised everyone with a headstand on the turnbuckles and even absorbed some attacks from Bryan while he was there, and took down Danielson with a big Clothesline.

Danielson hit a big Uppercut Strike, but did it with the bad arm and he ended up in pain – and then nearly pinned after Nigel hit a huge Lariat. A thumb to the eye by Nigel and a Ripcord Lariat earned Nigel another 2.5, but Danielson kicked out yet again.

Nigel battered Danielson with some elbow strikes and then hit the Tower of London for two. Danielson fired up again and blasted Nigel with some desperation strikes, this time using his other arm so as to not aggravate the injury.

More big strikes exchanged with Danielson getting the edge, until Nigel went back to his injured arm, letting him hit another huge Lariat – but once again Danielson kicked out.

After the kickout, Bryan was able to hold onto Nigel and locked on another LeBell Lock in the middle of the ring. Trapped, Nigel had no choice but to tap out – but only after screaming “Thank you” to Danielson, which the commentators called out.

This was really good. Strong storytelling, nothing too crazy, but everything was effective. Kudos to Nigel especially for having a performance like this after his extended layoff – he looked better than most of the roster who are doing this full-time.

Winner: Bryan Danielson

After the match, Christian Cage’s music hit and he came out to the ramp, holding the contract for a World Title match, that he can claim any time he wants. He pulled out a pen and was going to sign the contract, but Kip Sabian sneaked up from behind him and Yoink! Sabian grabbed the pen out of Christian’s hand and ran away, only for Christian to chase after him. Christian went backstage and didn’t find Sabian, but instead walked into Claudio Castagnoli and PAC who were standing there looking menacing.

Match 2: HOOK (c) vs. Roderick Strong (w/ Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) – for the FTW Championship

After an opening grappling exchange, Bennett and Taven interfered, so HOOK went to the floor and beat them up. Roderick tried to take advantage of the distraction by getting a Singapore cane, but HOOK took it away and used it on Roddy, including hitting him with a White Russian Leg Sweep against the ringside barrier that looked like it legit clocked Roddy in the back of the head.

HOOK beat up the Kingdom again, and this let Roddy shake the cobwebs, then get up and throw HOOK hard against the ringpost, which didn’t look pleasant.

After a picture-in-picture (PiP) break, HOOK was in control, throwing Roddy around the ring like a garbage bag full of Mickie James’ possessions. But Roddy used a chair to regain the advantage and he nearly won after hitting one of his specialty Suplexes. Roddy set up a couple of chairs in the ring, but he was the one who got thrown onto them, and that also didn’t look pleasant.

Roddy recovered and dropped HOOK onto a chair with a Gut-Buster and then hit a Flying Kick for a two-count. HOOK recovered and clamped on Redrum, and Roddy quickly tapped out.

After the match, Roddy extended a hand to HOOK and HOOK took it and they embraced. After that, the Kingdom also shook HOOK’s hand in a show of respect.

Then, HOOK went to the announcer desk to get interviewed by Tony Schiavone, who noted that this match took place not far from the Elk’s Lodge where Taz created the FTW Championship. HOOK said that it was a fitting time and place to celebrate the legacy of the title, but that it was time for a change. He thanked the wrestlers who had held the title in the past, and thanked the fans for their recognition of the title. And then officially retired the FTW Championship. He presented it to Taz and father and son embraced.

The match was all right, though the ending seemed to come out of nowhere and was a bit anti-climactic. Not sure what prompted retiring the title in this way. But given how this company has way too many belts, any reduction is a good idea. What this means for HOOK remains to be seen. As does whatever his post-match interaction with Roddy and the Kingdom might lead to.

Winner, and still FTW Champion: HOOK

Match 3: United Empire (Kyle Fletcher and Will Ospreay) vs. the Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) (c) – for the AEW World Tag Team Championship

Don Callis joined the commentary team for this one, as he is still Fletcher’s manager.

I suffered through a Young Bucks match last week for the sake of the recap, but not sure I can do it again. Suffice to say the rules around tagging didn’t matter, and there were lots of gymnastics and silliness, terrible refereeing, lots of no-selling, and way too much double-teaming.

At one point, the Bucks hit Fletcher with a TK Driver on the apron, but didn’t go for the cover, and instead rolled Fletcher to the floor to try to win by countout. He got back in the ring, and then they kicked him in the face and he was flat out for several seconds and again they didn’t go for a cover because presumably they forgot what the point of the match is all about.

At least Ospreay and Fletcher tried to pretend to care, and they went for simultaneous covers after hitting Stereo Styles Clashes. But then more Buckery ensued with one of them kicking out after Ospreay and Fletcher hit a TK Driver and a Coriolis, because apparently that wussy-looking Buck is Superman.

Fletcher hit a Buck with a Flying Dive to the floor and landed in front of the commentary desk. Don Callis got up and gave Fletcher a screwdriver and then distracted the referee. Fletcher was going to use it on one of the Bucks, but Ospreay stopped him. He grabbed the screwdriver from Fletcher and gave it to the referee. As the ref confusedly confronted Callis and Ospreay and Fletcher talked about what just happened, the Bucks grabbed a title belt. They clocked Fletcher with it and rolled him up for the 1-2-No! Fletcher kicked out.

So instead they hit him with Superkicks and their crappy-looking knees and pinned Fletcher. Because why not beat him with a belt shot and give him an out for the loss when instead they can beat him after their weak sauce and have him lose like a chump?

After the match, Callis looked upset at what had transpired, and Fletcher and Ospreay looked dejected over the loss.

This was everything bad about the typical bad Young Bucks match. At some point, Fletcher has to turn on Ospreay, and this could have been the right time. But they’ll probably do it next week when Ospreay defends his International Championship against Ricochet, costing him the title.

Winners, and still World Tag Team Champions: the Young Bucks

In the back, Renee Paquette was with the Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe, and Orange Cassidy), who officially welcomed Rocky Romero into the faction, thus dooming him into mid-card status for good. They face Chris Jericho and the Learning Tree on Collision. It’s sad that Mark Briscoe is only featured on a show that nobody watches. And sadder that they’ve saddled him with the non-talent Orange Cassidy.

Prince Nana gives an update on Swerve Strickland

At ringside, Tony Schiavone introduced Prince Nana, who danced on the ramp. So, if he’s in a dancing mood, presumably that means his buddy Swerve is doing well, right? Because if I was in bad shape, I would expect my friend wouldn’t be dancing in glee, right? Right?

Wrong.

Nana said that mentally there is nothing that can stop Swerve. But physically he’s not cleared to come back, and is fighting hard to come back.

Then… holy cow. MVP entered the scene. He agreed with Nana about Swerve’s credentials and put over Swerve’s accomplishments over the past year. But he also saw Swerve lose the title and saw Swerve’s house burned down. He said that he sees the man who did that walking around smiling. MVP said he doesn’t blame Swerve for that, but rather he blames Nana, and says that Nana is more interested in dancing than in protecting Swerve’s interests. MVP told Nana to give Swerve his business card and let him know that MVP is ready to talk “business”. This was a strong debut for MVP.

A Jack Perry vignette aired. He’s still driving around in his Scapegoat van. Perry will be defending his TNT Championship in an open challenge on Collision.

Match 4: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mariah May (c) – for the AEW Women’s Championship

Yuka attacked Mariah before the bell, diving on her from the top as Mariah was entering the ring. She then hit her with a big kick and rolled May into the ring for a pin attempt. Yuka, mind you, is supposed to be the babyface.

They did a slap-fight that Yuka won when she abandoned the slaps and hit a Spinning Forearm. May then pulled her to the floor and hit a big Running Dropkick out there, then brought Yuka in the ring where May beat her up some more. The crowd, when they weren’t deadly silent for this one, cheered May who, of course, is supposed to be the heel.

Yuka did a bunch of rollup attempts but May kept kicking out. May hit a high German Suplex and some other big moves, but Yuka kept kicking out. Yuka hit a sloppy-looking slam and then went for a Springboard Splash, but May got her knees up, then hit a Storm Zero for the pin.

After the match, May was going to blindside Yuka with a belt shot, but Willow Nightingale hit the ring and got into May’s face. Then Mina Shirakawa’s music hit and she came out to the entrance ramp. May ran out and gave Mina a big hug. Yuka ran after May who skedaddled, and Mina and Yuka kind of looked at each other all confused.

The match was lousy and nobody cared about it. Willow got a good response, but that was kind of wasted since she was an afterthought when Mina came out. This was a waste of everyone’s time.

Winner, and still AEW Women’s Champion: Mariah May

Match 5: Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley (w/ Marina Shafir)

If Moxley wins, he’ll get Darby Allin’s World Championship title shot.

During the ring introductions, Tony Schiavone said “I like those QR codes and I love AEW” which is a sequence of words that nobody else has ever said in the at order in the entire history of human speech.

At the bell, Darby charged at Moxley and ate a boot. And then Moxley just beat him up, using the ropes to basically curb-stomp Darby, busting open Darby’s mouth. Mox then worked over Darby’s leg, and then whipped Darby hard into the corner, sending Darby through the ropes and onto the floor.

Outside, Darby fought back, trapping Moxley’s arm in the hole at the top of the ring post, forcing Marina to help free Mox. And then when Mox was out, Darby hit him with a Coffin Drop from the top to the floor and followed that up with a Flying Dive.

Darby then set up a chair on the floor, but Shafir blocked him from doing anything with it. Mox used this distraction to his advantage, slamming Darby onto the apron. And when Mox distracted the ref, Shafir got in some cheap shots on Allin.

More assault and battery from Moxley throughout and coming out of a PiP break. But Darby reversed a move into a Cutter, and then when Mox rolled to the floor and sat down in the chair that was set up earlier, Allin hit him with a Missile Dropkick from the top.

Darby then tore off a turnbuckle pad and tried to smash Mox’s head into the exposed steel. But Mox fought him off and responded with a Running Dropkick.

Darby kept fighting, though, and tried for some submissions, until Moxley slapped him right off the top turnbuckle and sent Darby crashing to the floor.

Shafir removed the protective ringside mats, exposing the concrete floor. But Darby avoided a Death Rider on the exposed floor and sent Moxley hard into the ring steps. Darby went for a Flying Somersault Dive to the floor, but Moxley dodged it and Darby crashed hard on the floor. Mox then Bombed Allin on the ring steps. Darby made it back to the ring before the 10-count, and the crowd chanted “You can’t kill him” and it wasn’t clear if they were talking to Mox, to Allin about himself, or to Tony Khan and the AEW agents who let Allin go out there and risk his life every week with these dangerous moves.

Moxley was still going to try to kill him, choking out Allin to the point that he was foaming out of his mouth, but Allin was still able to reach the ropes to break the count.

After some more scrambling, Allin got Moxley in position for a Superplex but got distracted by Shafir who hopped up on to the apron. This gave Moxley the chance to reverse the situation and he hit a Death Driver off the top, driving Darby’s head into the mat, and easily covered him for the pin, becoming the number one contender for Bryan Danielson’s World Championship. He will take on Danielson in Danielson’s home state of Washington at Wrestle Dream on October 12th.

This was exactly what you think it would be. Darby Allin seems like he won’t be happy until he cripples himself, and Moxley is the type of wrestler who will likely oblige him. Put those elements together and that’s pretty much what happened. After Moxley tried to murder Danielson, the only logical outcome of this match was for him to win and become the number one contender. It does make you wonder what they have in store for Allin, as him losing the title shot seems like a downward slide.

Winner: Jon Moxley

After the match, Danielson ran into the ring and attacked Moxley with a necktie, likely giving Justin Roberts some flashbacks. Shafir, PAC, and Claudio ran in and pulled Danielson off of Moxley, and this led to Private Party and Komander running in to even things up. Danielson tried to go for a Flying Goat on Moxley, but Mox’s buddies pulled him out of the ring.

Danielson said that Moxley wanted a war, so now Danielson was declaring war, and he would kick Mox’s head in at Wrestle Dream. The show ended with Final Countdown playing while Danielson thanked his mid-card buddies for the assist.

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