AEW Dynamite Recap, Grades, & Opinion: June 24, 2020

AEW Dynamite Recap: June 24, 2020

A.K.A The One Where Javier Does Recaps Again

I’m baaaack. So you may have noticed that this is an AEW Dynamite recap and not NXT. Well, that’s because I have been absolutely enamored with this show for the last couple of weeks and I really just want to do this from now on. Anyways, Dynamite was loaded this week, featuring six matches, including a Lumberjack Match between Wardlow and Luchasaurus, FTR vs SCU and a face-to-face between Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho.

Results:

• Wardlow def. Luchasaurus 
• Hikaru Shida def. Red Velvet
• Colt Cabana & Brodie Lee def. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela
• FTR def. SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
• Brian Cage def. Jon Cruz (Beat Cruz in Impact debut too)
• Matt Hardy def. Santana

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Match of the Night: FTR def. SCU

Before I start the recap, know that this was the best television tag team match of the year. It isn’t even close to me. The two teams went out there and tore it up with a good ol’ fashioned tag team wrestling match.

Both teams used the tactic of cutting the ring in half and kept high spots to a minimum. This was chain wrestling, limb targeting, stiff shots, psychology and just such good stuff. Each team was just trying to outshine the other and the passion for the art of tag wrestling was felt through the screen. I won’t recap the little things like I usually will in this section because this is a must-watch, even if it’s the only part of the show you look up.

The finish came when FTR caught Daniels with the Goodnight Express after a multitude of exchanges. Again, watch this match. It was excellent.

After the match, Dax Harwood cut an incredible promo. Seriously, this was one of the best promos of the year so far and the guy should be damn proud of it. A match for Fyter Fest was also set up when he was done with his rant, as Butcher and the Blade showed up to introduce the return of the Lucha Bros and challenged FTR and the Young Bucks to an eight-man tag match.

Three Thoughts:

Two Hosses Go to War

Wardlow and Luchasaurus finally had the lumberjack match that was scheduled months ago. The only time I’ve seen Wardlow wrestle was the catch match against Cody and I must say that I like the guy. He just has something about him that stands out to me. I also think Luchasaurus is a legit future main eventer in AEW.

The match was a classic big man versus big man fight, except there were a lot of high spots. MJF yelling words of encouragement in the most narcissistic way was a highlight; as was Wardlow’s flawless hurricanrana. In the end, Wardlow pulled out the win after MJF caused a distraction, preventing Luchasaurus from getting a pin and allowing Wardlow to hit a low blow and an F-10.

A Tale of Two Teams

Colt Cabana teamed up with Brodie Lee against the new tag team of Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela. Cabana has been getting heavily recruited by the Dark Order for weeks now, so this match was really the culmination of that build as Cabana and Lee were able to pull out the win. Cabana seemed hesitant to wrestle alongside Lee throughout the match, but Lee certainly made it easier for him to get adjusted by being a monster. The finish came when Kiss took out the Dark Order cronies and Lee pushed Cabana out of the way of a Janela suicide dive, slamming Janela into the barricade. Lee then hit his discus lariat and motioned for Cabana to get the win. After the match, Cabana was reluctant to celebrate with Lee, but was quickly comfortable and left with the group.

I thought this was a great showing for Kiss and Janela, an odd pairing who had a really good video package in which they got into an action movie-esque fight with a bunch of dudes at a gas station. It was a bonding experience that was significant because the story was that Kiss provided light for Janela after he was going through a rough time in his career. The duo was attacked by Lance Archer after the match and seemed to hint at a future program.

Freshly Squeezed Bubbly

The Baddest Man in the World, Orange Cassidy, came out to go face-to-face with Chris Jericho. The week prior, Cassidy pretended to be a cameraman and attacked Jericho after his match against Best Friends.

Jericho started his promo by repeatedly saying “why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.” He used it as an analogy for Cassidy because the joke is funny the first few times you hear it, but after a while, you realize it’s annoying. He tore apart Cassidy and like the cool guy that he is, he just stood there with no reaction.

Cassidy instantly solidified himself as the next Stone Cold by taking the mic out of Jericho’s hand. He then placed the mic on the floor and started doing his fake kicks and put his hands in his pocket. Jericho then took off Cassidy’s glasses and broke them. This set Cassidy off, who lunged at Jericho and beat him around the arena, eventually Superman punching Jericho through a table.

The promo that Jericho cut was fantastic. If you watch anything aside from the tag match, definitely seek out this whole segment.

Grade: B+

Dynamite had yet another good episode that helped further build to Fyter Fest even more. From the first match to the very last segment between Cassidy and Jericho, there wasn’t really a dud. I’m really excited for Fyter Fest and you should watch the episode to get yourself hyped for it as well. As has been the case since I first started consistently watching, Dynamite gets a great grade and you need to watch it. Class dismissed.

One More Thing:

Brian Cage absolutely decimated jobber Jon Cruz on this episode, ragdolling him before finishing the match off with a Drill Claw. The match was originally supposed to be AEW Champion Jon Moxley going up against Cruz, but he was absent from the show after his wife Renee Young tested positive for COVID-19. Taz cut a scathing promo on Moxley after the match that really dug into the champion and helped further the build to this title fight. The reason this made this article, however, is because Cage and Cruz have crossed paths before and I thought this little nugget was interesting. In Cage’s debut for Impact Wrestling, he squashed Cruz. It came full circle.

Javier Melo is a writer of Pro Wrestling for Full Press Coverage and co-host of the Crossbody of Work podcast. Follow Javier @JMeloSports on Twitter.