AEW Dynamite Results, Grades: Fyter Fest Night 1, New Tag-Team Champs
AEW Dynamite kicked off Fyter Fest 2020 in excellent fashion and carried the momentum through the whole show. It was a fantastic start to what should be two weeks of top-notch AEW action and sports entertainment. Here are the results and grades for the Wednesday, July 13 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Wardlow vs. “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy for the AEW TNT Championship
For the last few weeks, either Wardlow (and his powerbomb symphony) or Orange Cassidy (with his hands in his pockets) have kicked off AEW Dynamite. The best of these matches were Orange Cassidy’s win over “All Ego” Ethan Page and Wardlow’s first-ever championship over Scorpio Sky in front of a hot crowd in Rochester, NY.
This match was a little silly — with the Best Friends ejected from ringside for trying to supply Cassidy with a chainsaw and Danhausen hiding out under the ring — but overall, it was an entertaining match.
There were a few moments outside the ring where it was hard to believe the much smaller Cassidy was throwing Wardlow around like he was. But other than that, the wrestling was fun to watch.
After power-bombing his way to the victory, Wardlow helped Cassidy up and gave him a respectful fist bump. The babyface/babyface finish was yet another smile-inducing moment in a match that produced many of them and kicked off a great show.
WINNER: Wardlow
GRADE: B+
Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Konosuke Takeshita continues to get a serious push from Tony Khan and company as AEW’s up-and-coming heavyweight star.
On one hand, the match was intricate and technical. It would have been just as much at home on New Japan Pro Wrestling as it was on AEW Dynamite. However, it was also a Jon Moxley match. So, of course, both wrestlers bled before it was all said and done.
Moxley won with a bulldog choke at the end of a brutal match. Its placement in the show and the belt not on the line are the only things that stopped the contest from getting in the A range. When Moxley and Takeshita face off in a main event, though, it will be a banger.
WINNER: Jon Moxley
GRADE: B+
Luchasaurus (with Christian Cage) vs. Griff Garrison of the Varsity Blondes
Another AEW Dynamite, another chance for Christian Cage to come out and insult a wrestler’s dead father. This time, it was former WWE superstar Brian Pillman’s son, Brian Jr., who got the Jungle Boy/Luke Perry, Matt and Jeff Hardy treatment. Cage is doing A+ heel work right now, which can be uncomfortable to watch.
The match itself was a Luchasaurus squash. It ended with the big dinosaur putting Brian Pillman Jr. on a table and then driving Griff Garrison through it, on top of Pillman (on the second try).
The promo was good. The match was just OK. That averages out to a B-but is building to an A+ pop when Jungle Boy finally returns.
WINNER: Luchasaurus
Grade: B-
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jake Hager
This match did one of the things AEW does best. It matched two former WWE superstars who are excellent wrestlers but didn’t quite have the charisma to make it as a long-term main eventer and put them together for a solid fight.
It was a little difficult not to see a Real Americans redux from 2014 between Cesaro and Jack Swagger. When you got past that bit of deja vu, the work in the ring was excellent.
Even with the help of Jericho Appreciation Society members Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, Hager couldn’t escape a Castagnoli power-bomb pin win.
WINNER: Claudio Castagnoli
Grade: B
Anna Jay vs. Serena Deeb
Anna Jay got a nice spot in her hometown (area) of Savanah, Georgia, against the veteran Serena Deeb. The 23-year-old Jay looked good against the 36-year-old Deeb, and the announcers commented on the young wrestler’s improvement of late.
After looking like Jay might get the W, the crafty Deeb won by submission with a serenity lock. After the bell, she wouldn’t let it go until current Ring of Honor World champ Mercedes Martinez came out and saved Jay.
For some fans, it was cool Martinez back in AEW, but for those who don’t follow ROH closely, all the crossover can get to be a bit much.
After the match, Jay’s former Tay and Jay tag-team partner, Tay Conti, came to the trainer’s room to talk trash to Anna, signaling a program between the two could be on the way.
WINNER: Serena Deeb
Grade: B
“Absolute” Ricky Starks and “Powerhouse” Will Hobbs vs. Swerve in Our Glory (“Limitless” Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) vs. Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Whether it was a work or not, rumors of Keith Lee missing this match on AEW Dynamite made their way around social media on Wednesday morning. Lee made it to the ring, though, and delivered an incredible performance, along with anyone else in the match.
This three-way tag-team title match featured six of the best in-ring performers AEW has and didn’t disappoint.
In a match with great moments where everyone got multiple chances to show off and shine, there were a few that stood out:
- Nick Jackson and Ricky Starks both tight-rope-walked to a confrontation in the middle of the top rope. It ended with a few slaps and both falling and catching a cable to the groin.
- After Matt Jackson double-suplerplexed Starks and Strickland, he ended up getting Hobbs and Lee in the same spot with much worse results. Despite a valiant attempt to pick up 500-plus pounds of man, Hobbs and Lee slammed the younger Young Buck to the mat.
- After a superkick party from the Young Bucks couldn’t put Lee down, Starks joined the soiree. The triple superkick finally rocked the big man. The trio posed after their big move with Starks in the middle, which drew Young Bucks superkicks from either side, sending him to the mat.
Toward the end, the ref got knocked out, the belts came into the ring as weapons, Keith Lee beat people with Matt Jackson’s shoe, and false finishes abound.
In the end, Lee went flipping out of the ring to take out most of his competitors, and Strickland stomped Starks from the top rope to get the pin. There wasn’t much time to celebrate as the show went off the air, but Swerve in Our Glory is your new tag-team champs.
WINNER: Swerve in Our Glory (“Limitless” Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland)
Grade: A+
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