AEW Dynamite live results: Sting interview, Omega title win fallout
There will be fallout from Kenny Omega’s World title win and subsequent appearance on Impact Wrestling on tonight’s packed edition of AEW Dynamite.
Omega won the AEW World Championship with the help of Impact Executive Vice President Don Callis last week. Omega then appeared on Impact Wrestling last night, as did AEW President Tony Khan and announcer Tony Schiavone by way of a paid ad.
Khan invited Callis and Omega to Dynamite today and it appears the next phase of the interpromotional angle will take place.
The Dynamite Diamond Ring winner will be decided tonight. After advancing to the final by being the surviving participants in last week’s battle royale, MJF will take on Orange Cassidy for the ring. MJF won the ring in 2019 and will look to keep possession of it.
After making his AEW debut last week, Sting will speak with Tony Schiavone in an interview segment. Schiavone will also conduct an interview with Shaquille O’Neal on the show.
An Inner Circle ultimatum will also take place. After weeks of infighting within the group since MJF joined, leader Chris Jericho declared that they will band together or break up forever after tonight.
AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks will face TH2 (Jack Evans & Angelico). If TH2 win, they will receive a future title match. Lance Archer will team with Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix against Eddie Kingston, The Butcher and The Blade. FTR will return to in-ring action for the first time since Full Gear on November 7th when they take on Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. Plus, Dustin Rhodes will take on Preston “10” Vance of The Dark Order and Abadon will also be in action against an unnamed opponent.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated The Hybrid2 (Jack Evans & Angélico)
This was an excellent tag opener, and even though they lost, TH2 was elevated through their strong performance.
If TH2 win, they get a tag title match. TH2 attacked before the bell but were easily dispatched by the Bucks. Both of the Bucks went for dives, but were pulled off the apron. In stereo, the Bucks hit spears on the floor. They then hit their combination dropkick to the outside followed by a top-rope dive from Nick.
The Bucks isolated Evans in the ring and controlled with stereo dropkicks. Angélico tagged in and was met with arm drags from Nick. Matt tagged in and the Bucks hit their headscissor dropkick combination.
TH2 sent Nick to the outside and Evans landed a step-up dive. They followed it up with an assisted back suplex and an assisted standing 450 for a two count on Matt. There was a parade of kicks and everyone was down until Nick got the hat tag.
Nick ran wild on TH2 with kicks and his bulldog clothesline combination. He kept control with his signature spots, concluding with a slingshot X-factor for two. The Bucks powerbombed Evans onto The Acclaimed at ringside and Matt landed a frog splash on Angélico for two.
TH2 regained control with some combination offense, concluded with a springboard 450 from Evans for a near fall. Matt escaped a buckle bomb attempt and ran Angélico into an enziguiri from Nick. The Bucks then hit a Doomsday Device on Evans on the ramp, followed by stereo superkicks on Angélico for a close near fall.
They tried to follow it up with More Bang For Your Buck, but Angélico got his knees up and Evans hit a poisonrana followed by a 450 on Nick on the floor. In the ring, Angélico locked on the Navarro Death Roll on Matt. Evans tried to run interference, but Nick broke up the submission with a senton atomico.
The Bucks set up for a Meltzer Driver, but Evans broke it up. Evans went for a Fosbury Flop, but the Bucks caught him, and they killed him with a Meltzer Driver on the floor. Angélico surprised Matt with a cradle, but the Bucks caught him with thrust kicks. The BTE Trigger followed for the win.
After the match, The Acclaimed tried to attack the Bucks, but SCU ran out to break it up.
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MJF cut a promo on Orange Cassidy, calling him an embarrassment and saying that he’d bash his brains in tonight.
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A video played where Darby Allin was taking a Rorschach test. In one inkblot, he saw Brian Cage, the no. 1 contender for his TNT championship. Another inkblot was shown, and it was clearly Sting, but Allin just laughed.
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Sting Speaks
Cody Rhodes and Arn Anderson were already out with Tony Schiavone when Sting’s music played. He has snow effects for his entrance. Arn left right away, and Schiavone tried to leave too, but Sting wouldn’t let him. Sting talked up memories of Schiavone calling his matches, so Schiavone gave him one more “It’s Sting!”
Cody welcomed Sting and said he had been waiting to share a ring with him for a long time. Sting said he wasn’t here for Cody, and said that something about this place felt familiar. He pointed to Darby Allin overlooking things from high up in the crowd. Sting said that things have come full circle, and he’s on TNT once again.
Sting said he plans on staying with AEW for a long time. He told Cody that he’d see him around, and walked off.
What a superstar. The face paint makes it so you’d really have no idea that Sting is 61 years old, and he sounded enthusiastic and thrilled to be there. No real indication what’s next for him, although it looks to be something to do with Allin.
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Team Taz was backstage. Taz mocked the Sting segment. Ricky Starks pointed out that Taz’s son Hook has left Cody’s tutelage and joined Team Taz.
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FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (w/ Tully Blanchard) defeated Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.)
This was FTR’s first match since Full Gear. The Varsity Blondes is the new name for Garrison and Pillman, who picked up their first real AEW win the previous night on Dark.
FTR isolated Pillman right away until Pillman fought back with dropkicks, allowing him to reach Garrison for the tag. After a cover, Pillman tagged back in, but missed a springboard shoulder tackle. FTR regained control as we went to a break, where they beat down Pillman with frequent tags and double teams.
Tully landed a cheap shot on Pillman with the official distracted. A springboard shoulder block bought Pillman enough time to reach Garrison for the hot tag. Garrison downed both of FTR with strikes before hitting a series of corner splashes and a double spear, which got two.
Harwood fought out of a suplex and Pillman tagged in, where he was met with a brainbuster. They then hit the Goodnight Express to pick up the win.
After the match, FTR exchanged words with the Jurassic Express at ringside.
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Hangman Page was interviewed by Alex Marvez at the bar. Page is scheduled for a six-man tag match against Matt Hardy and Private Party next week, but he doesn’t have any tag partners listed. John Silver and Alex Reynolds appeared from behind the bar, but Page said that they weren’t his partners. Reynolds asked “if not us, who?” which was enough for Page, who said it was a one-time thing.
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Dustin Rhodes (w/ Lee Johnson) defeated “10” of the Dark Order
Dustin laid in strikes right away. They brawled to the floor and exchanged big moves, but Dustin was driven into the barricade. Back in the ring, 10 flattened Dustin with a spinebuster and did the Dark Order pose.
10 sent Dustin to the outside and landed a pump kick on Aaron Solow, who was watching at ringside. Back inside, Dustin hit a series of clotheslines and bit at 10’s face. A running bulldog followed for the out-of-nowhere win.
The Dark Order came out right away after the match and Evil Uno spoke. He said that they didn’t come to fight and talked up Dustin’s legacy. However, he said that Dustin is the third-most important Rhodes. He offered Dustin a place as “7” in the Dark Order. Dustin acted as if he was about to do the Dark Order pose, but slapped Uno down. The rest of the Dark Order wanted a fight, but Uno talked them down, and said that eventually, Dustin would come begging for a spot.
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Shaquille O’Neal interview
Shaq and Brandi Rhodes sat down with Tony Schiavone. Shaq said he respects Jade Cargill but he didn’t appreciate what she did to Brandi’s arm. Brandi said he wants the problem resolved. Shaq said that him coming at Cody on Twitter was just joking around, but he’s excited to see Brandi and Cargill fight.
As Brandi was about to walk away, Shaq said that Brandi should watch Cargill while she’s injured and learn a few things. Brandy was fed up and threw water in Shaq’s face.
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Inner Circle Ultimatum
The Inner Circle, sans Santana, spoke in the middle of the ring. Jericho said that this could be the last night for the Inner Circle. He’s tired of everyone acting like petulant punks. He talked about how Hager doesn’t like Wardlow, Guevara doesn’t like MJF, and then mentioned that Santana wasn’t there.
MJF said that he thinks he might be the issue, because people think that MJF either wants to break up or take over the Inner Circle. He started to patronize Guevara, but Guevara wasn’t having it. Jericho joked that everyone watches Dynamite, so everyone saw what happened with MJF and the towel last week.
Ortiz spoke. He called MJF and Wardlow assets as talents, but not as human beings. Ortiz said that MJF is growing on him and asked Guevara to shake MJF’s hand, because together, they’re better. He said that Guevara’s the better man, so he should just shake it.
Guevara said he trusts Jericho with everything, so he’ll shake MJF’s hand, but if one more thing happens, he will quit the Inner Circle. They shook hands.
With the problems resolved, Hager spoke for the first time and asked why Wardlow kept staring at him. Wardlow got heated and asked the same thing until Jericho agreed that there would be no more staring. Jericho was about to close the segment, but MJF interrupted to promote his main event against Orange Cassidy. Jericho told him off, and they all posed with middle fingers.
That segment was loads of fun. As it stands right now, it looks like the eventual Inner Circle split will lead to face turns for Guevara, Santana & Ortiz, and Wardlow.
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FTR and Tully Blanchard were interviewed by Alex Marvez. Tully blamed their Full Gear loss on the fact that he wasn’t there. They made fun of Jungle Boy for climbing the ropes in a battle royal. Harwood called FTR the best tag team in the world and told Marvez to fear the revelation.
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Eddie Kingston, The Butcher, & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated Lance Archer, Penta El Zero Miedo, & Rey Fénix (w/ Jake Roberts)
Archer attacked with a crossbody over the ropes before the bell, leading to a brawl between all six men. Butcher put Penta through a table at ringside, and with Archer and Kingston alone in the ring, the bell rang.
Butcher leveled Fénix with a running crossbody as Penta was tended to by officials, turning this into a de facto handicap match. The family isolated Fénix on their side of the ring. Bunny attacked Fénix while Blade distracted the official. Fénix escaped Kingston’s attack with a handspring cutter and reached Archer for the hot tag.
Archer leveled Butcher and Blade with corner body blocks and a diving crossbody heading into the break. Butcher and Blade took advantage during break when Kingston knocked Archer down from his rope walk spot. Penta was taken to the back.
Roberts grabbed Blade’s leg, giving Archer an opening to tag Fénix, who immediately attacked with a springboard dive. Fénix took out Butcher and Kingston with an armdrag headscissors combination, then took a nasty landing on a dive on Kingston. Back in the ring, Butcher and Blade hit a powerbomb neckbreaker combination on Fénix to win.
Archer attacked Kingston, Butcher and Blade after the match. He tried to hit the Blackout on Blade, but Butcher pulled him down, and the Family escaped.
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Nyla Rose and Jade Cargill (with Vickie Guerrero looking on) were beating down Nyla Rose backstage, then Ivelisse and Diamanté got involved. Officials entered the fray to break up the fight.
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Abadon defeated Tesha Price
Abadon leveled Price with a clothesline right away. Price tried a forearm, but it had no effect on Abadon, who bludgeoned Price in the corner. She downed Price with an STO and followed it up with a Gory special neckbreaker for the squash victory.
After the match, Abadon continued the assault until Hikaru Shida came out with a kendo stick. Shida smacked Abadon over the head with the stick, but Abadon popped up and Shida and Price fled up the ramp.
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Dasha interviewed the Inner Circle. Jericho said that everyone is on the same page, and announced that the group would join MJF and Wardlow at ringside during the main event. He guaranteed that MJF would win.
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Kenny Omega and Don Callis arrived via helicopter. Alex Marvez tried to interview them, but Omega and Callis brushed him off and said he’d see them in the ring.
Omega came out with his full “Cleaner” entrance. Schiavone was in the ring to start the interview. He said that he’d never been more disgusted than what he saw on last week’s Dynamite. Callis said that everyone seems to be upset, including Tony Khan. He told Khan “welcome to the wrestling business.”
Callis said that their scheme took years of planning. He essentially continued to cut the same promo he cut on Impact the previous night, discussing how Omega’s famous Tokyo Dome match with Jericho was the catalyst for the start of AEW. He then introduced our world champion, Omega.
Omega said he didn’t beg Khan to hire his friends and family, unlike the company’s EVPs, but the plan was still a success. He called his match with Moxley a seven-star classic, and also called it fine art, saying that everyone watching fell for it. He said that Jon Moxley is the real deal, but he doesn’t have Omega’s cunning. The One-Winged Angel was what won Omega the match, not the microphone.
He was about to make his big announcement, but Callis took the mic and said that the people weren’t ready. He said that Omega doesn’t just make money, he makes history. Omega concluded it with his “good-bye and good-night” signature closing words from when he was in NJPW.
While the performances were as great as expected, the bulk of this segment was extremely similar to what was shown on the previous night’s Impact. It was also strange to not get any appearance from Moxley after losing the championship through dubious means.
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Announced for next week:
- Cody Rhodes vs. Angélico
- Hangman Page, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds vs. Matt Hardy & Private Party
- SCU vs. The Acclaimed
- Serena Deeb & Big Swole vs. Ivelisse & Diamanté
Additionally, they announced special Dynamite shows:
- December 23: AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash
- December 30: New Year’s Smash Night 1 with commentary from Chris Jericho
- January 6: New Year’s Smash Night 2 with special guest Snoop Dogg
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Dynamite Diamond Ring: MJF (w/ Inner Circle) defeated Orange Cassidy (w/ Best Friends)
This was a fun television main event with loads of shenanigans.
MJF attacked before Cassidy could get his shirt off and snapped Cassidy’s sunglasses. He beat Cassidy down with suplexes before choking him with his shirt. Cassidy turned another suplex attempt into a stunner before they moved to the apron. Cassidy went for the Orange Punch, but MJF evaded it and Cassidy punched the ring post.
On the floor, MJF powerbombed Cassidy on the corner of the ring and tried to bait Trent into attacking him. He continued the focused attack on Cassidy’s right hand. Back in the ring, Cassidy tripped MJF into the turnbuckle but was cut off with a flatliner and a back elbow for two. MJF sent Cassidy to the outside and distracted the official while the Inner Circle beat down Cassidy.
During the break, the Varsity Blondes, Top Flight, and Brandon Cutler walked out to eaven the numbers against the Inner Circle. Cassidy sent MJF to the floor and landed his hands-in-pockets tope suicida. He followed it up with a tilt-a-whirl DDT and a diving DDT for a near fall.
MJF dodged a right hand and landed one of his own, followed by a diving stomp on Cassidy’s arm. A cradle from Cassidy got two, but MJF hit a shoulderbreaker and a powerbomb for two of his own. He went for the Heatseeker, but Cassidy backdropped him outside and landed a springboard flipping senton. Jericho acted like he’d attack with the bat, so Cassidy fled.
Cassidy was surprised in the ring by a Heatseeker from MJF. MJF put his feet on the ropes for the pinfall, but Best Friends pushed them off allowing Cassidy to kick out. MJF got the bat and acted like Cassidy hit him, but before the official could turn around, Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and turned the tables.
While MJF argued with the official, Cassidy hit the Beach Break for a good near fall. MJF went for Salt of the Earth, but fought out, so MJF snapped Cassidy’s fingers. Cassidy hit the Orange Punch for another close near fall. A second Orange Punch would have won, but Wardlow put MJF’s leg on the ropes, leading to a brawl betwen the dozen men at ringside.
Miro took advantage of the carnage by running down with Kip Sabian and leveling Cassidy with a lariat. MJF crawled over to Cassidy, covered, and got the three count, regaining the Dynamite Diamond Ring.
Security came out to subdue Miro, who beat them all down, including through tossing one of them off the stage. Miro and Sabian posed on the ramp as Dynamite went off the air.