AEW Dynamite Recap, Grades, & Opinion: July 22, 2020

AEW Dynamite Recap: July 22, 2020

A.K.A The One Where Dynamite Don’t Miss

And we are back to regularly scheduled Dynamite episodes. Coming out of Fight For The Fallen, there are a lot of fresh storylines that are continuing and some new ones on the horizon. Tonight’s Dynamite episode is highlighted by key matches such as a Falls Count Anywhere match between the Young Bucks and Butcher & the Blade, Chris Jericho & Jake Hager teaming up against Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus and Cody defending his TNT Championship against “one of the world’s top independent wrestlers.” Also on the show, Ivelisse takes on Diamante, Hangman Page takes on Five and MJF is back in action. Who will take on Cody? What comes next for Brian Cage after being joined by Ricky Starks on AEW Dark? Here’s how it all shook out.

Results:

Cody def. Eddie Kingston
MJF def. Griff Garrison
Young Bucks def. Butcher & the Blade
Diamante def. Ivelisse
Hangman Page def. Five
Inner Circle def. Jungle Express

Match of the Night: Inner Circle def. Jurassic Express

This match was set up after Jungle Express made fun of Chris Jericho last week. Jericho started the match with Jungle Boy and was not prepared for his speed, tagging in Hager. Jungle Boy brought in Luchasaurus and the two big men started slugging it out. Hager eventually was able to get a short ankle lock in on Luchasaurus, but Jericho came in and started working the leg, a smart decision considering that is the bulk of Luchasaurus’ offense.

Luchasaurus started showing some fight and Hager hit him with a vicious looking chop block that made Santana and Ortiz pop. Luchasaurus is able to stun Hager and both men tag out. Jungle Boy comes in and immediately turns up the speed. He takes out Hager, hits Jericho with a hurricanrana and wipes out Pride and Powerful with a Suicide Dive. Marko Stunt got involved for a near fall, but Jericho made sure he got his payback. When the picture-in-picture break came in, Hager was working Jungle Boy down so that they could slow down the pace. Jungle Express has been successful due to their speed and explosion. Jericho and Hager recognized that and just did their best to take those two things away.

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Eventually, Jericho got his bat, Floyd, and Aubrey Edwards got in his face and forced him to get rid of it. It’s a great spot every time. Jungle Boy is then able to take out Jericho with a step-up enziguri, but when he goes for the tag, Hager cuts him short. The tease for the hot tag lasted over ten minutes. When he finally did get it in after hitting both Inner Circle members with a DDT, Luchasaurus came in like a house on fire. For a 65 million-year-old dinosaur, he sure is nimble. Jungle Boy took out Hager with a flying forearm, leaving Stunt to hit a missile drop kick followed by a Superkick for a near fall.

It was all for nothing in the end, as Serpentico hit Luchasaurus with a chair, allowing Jericho to hit a Codebreaker for the win. The four members of the Inner Circle plus Serpentico beat up Jungle Express after the match. That is, until Serpentico took off his masked and revealed that it was Sammy Guevara underneath.

That’s not @KingSerpentico! @sammyguevara is BACK!

Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/VbyEeYLFtf

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 23, 2020

The shocking moment immediately turned around when Orange Cassidy and Best Friends came out to make the save. It was then announced that the trio would team with Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus to take on the five members of the Inner Circle.

Three Thoughts:

A Brutal Open to Dynamite

Cody hyped the match up throughout the week that his opponent was going to be one of the top independent wrestlers in the world and well, they delivered. The challenger this week was Eddie Kingston.

Kingston, one of the best talkers in all of pro wrestling, came out and cut a hellacious promo on both Cody and Arn Anderson before demanding that Cody make the match No Disqualifications, which Cody obliged.

The match itself was hard-hitting. Kingston is a big man and a brawler to the fullest extent of that word. His gameplan throughout the match was to hit Cody and to hit him hard. Cody was able to get his licks in by going after Kingston’s left knee. For the majority of the match, these two kept it clean, but when Kingston crumbles on an Irish Whip, selling the knee, he hit Cody with a low blow.

After gaining the advantage, Kingston went out and got himself a bag of thumbtacks, which he dumped out in the ring. After a series of counters, Kingston powerbombed Cody into the pile of thumbtacks. Cody was able to fight through the pain and fire up, eventually locking in a Figure Four Leg Lock and forcing Kingston to tap. An excellent open to Dynamite.

.@MadKing1981 plants @CodyRhodes on the thumbtacks!

Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/SQIR3luzLp

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 23, 2020

How Long Will the Cowboy Have A Partner?

Hangman Adam Page had a match against Five of the Dark Order which was pretty decent. That isn’t what is important. After Hangman won the match, Brodie Lee came down to the ring and questioned why Page had no friends or support when he is in immediate danger. Lee didn’t stick the Dark Order on Page, but he made him a proposal to join the group. Page turned him down, stating that he didn’t want to join a cult.

Lee walked off, told Evil Uno and the gang to attack Page, and then walked off with Colt Cabana. The group jumped Page, who was saved by FTR with a cooler. Kenny Omega showed up shortly afterward, but it was too late. More seeds of dissension between the tag champs were planted. It was announced that the duo have a title defense next week against Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, an interesting turn of events.

Falls Really Do Count Anywhere

Yet another show where my prediction for the match of the night was wrong.

The Young Bucks and Butcher & the Blade had a Falls Count Anywhere match that I assumed was a lock for the award, but then it started in a kitchen. It wasn’t a bad match, but like I just can’t give a match in which one Young Buck is through into the back of a truck, and Blade is thrown on a bar counter the honors.

The @YoungBucks didn’t wanna waste any time!

(Also, The Blade @BraxtonSutter reminding everyone to wash your hands before you engage in hand to hand combat)

Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/5hQ0lTVPVP

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 23, 2020

The two teams traded blows throughout the concourse of Daily’s Place, with the Bucks getting the best spots like hitting a flying senton on Butcher *on* a table – the table didn’t break. Another great spot was the Bucks hitting tandem Superkicks to Blade and just watching as he falls on and rides an escalator up.

When the show returned from commercial break, both teams were at ringside and Butcher and Blade were beating the Bucks up. A couple of chair shots were dished out, but the Bucks each hit dives to gain control. They tried putting Butcher through a table, but he reversed into a double suplex to both Bucks. Blade brutally missed the table on a dive and it looked ugly. He would ultimately be fine and help Butcher out when he was in trouble.

The duo hit a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo on Matt Jackson on the ramp and rather than going for the pin, went for tables. Nick Jackson prevented them from doing so and eventually, the Superkick Party came alive. They set both Butcher and Blade on tables and climbed the stage, Matt hitting a flying elbow drop on Butcher and Nick hitting a flipping Senton for the win.

Grade: A

This was an excellent episode of Dynamite. I legitimately believe it’s one of the best that the company has done since the first episode. The excellent open with Cody and Eddie Kingston was the perfect start to an explosive show. Following it up with MJF on the mic was the perfect change of pace and his squash match was incredibly entertaining. Next was Taz talking about Cage and introducing another attack by Ricky Starks on Darby Allin, only this time Moxley made the save, teasing a tag match.

Then was the hectic Falls Count Anywhere match between the Young Bucks and Butcher & the Blade, which was really fun. Diamante and Ivelisse put on an excellent showcase for possible newcomers to the women’s division. Another tease from Hangman Page possibly turning on Kenny Omega definitely landed. Finally, the main event was a great match and the surprising return of Sammy Guevara capped off an awesome episode. Dynamite was great and definitely check it out if you missed the episode. Class dismissed.

One More Thing:

MJF fought some jobber named Griff Garrison and put on a masterclass in being a heel. He cut a fantastic promo on the guy, comparing him to a taller Jungle Boy and then started beating the crap out of him after Griff stated that MJF lost the tag match against Jungle Express. MJF beat Griff around the ring before grabbing a mic and forcing Griff to say that he is undefeated. Griff did just that, and then popped the mic back in MJF’s face and rolled him up for a VERY close near fall.

In the end, MJF hit the Heat Seeker and picked the win without much of a challenge outside of the roll-up. This was textbook heel work by MJF, who will surely be moving on to big things in the future.

“Say it louder, Griff! Say it with your chest!” – @The_MJF

Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/lhRK6ae0Sm

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 23, 2020

Last Thing I Swear:

Ivelisse and Diamante made their Dynamite debuts and beat the crap out of each other. These two have history and went out there and showed good chemistry. It wasn’t a showcase or technical masterpiece, but it established Ivelisse as a heel and Diamante as a resilient babyface.

At one point, the women traded chops before then trading slaps and kicks. Diamante hit a German Suplex for a near fall and went for her finisher, but Ivelisse reversed it into a modified powerbomb. Diamante eventually picked up the win with a cradle, but both women were the winners in the end. AEW would be foolish not bringing in these two talents to an already thin women’s division.

.@RealIvelisse hammers in sharp back elbows to the face of @DiamanteLAX.

Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/NEltYfxQE2

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 23, 2020

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