AEW Dynamite 1/11/2023 Match Ratings and Commentary
Adam Cole (Credit-AEW)
Here’s where we landed with this week’s Dynamite from the fabulous Forum. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Dynamite - 1/11/2023
“Hangman” Adam Page def. Jon Moxley: ★★★★
JungleHook def. Lee Moriarty and Big Bill: ★★
Bryan Danielson def. Konosuke Takeshita: ★★★★1/4
Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. def. Saraya and Toni Storm: ★★★
The Elite def. Death Triangle to win the AEW World Trios Championship: ★★★★1/2
Danielson and Takeshita (Credit-AEW)
Show Highlight—
Adam Cole returns. Of course it was going to be a stirring return, and I’m glad there wasn’t an interruption promo or a heel swerve and he just got to talk from the heart. I’ve been dying to see this from him. His goodness just radiates off the screen and he’s someone you naturally want to root for. I can’t recall him ever being a face, but it’ll work swimmingly, and the real life health scare naturally gives his a character a retcon to turn into a version of himself that can win the World title.
What Worked—
Hangman vs. Moxley. “There’s no heels and babyfaces anymore” is a line used most frequently as a defensive mechanism for poorly booked plot points and weak motivations in wrestling. But being that there’s an exception to every rule, the genius of the Blackpool Combat Club is that all stablemates are malleable and can turn into the heels in any feud because at their core, they’re violent and actively shun emotion. Like what shitty thing did Hangman do to Moxley—not liking concussions? Hence Moxley working as the heel (for the most part) against Hangman. Hangman fought brilliantly from underneath and got the crowd back on his side and got a win back, setting up a third match for Revolution. Moxley never does clean jobs on TV—not that he refuses, I’m sure, but it’s made to matter, and this landed as a big win. Take a much needed vacation for a month, Mox!
JungleHook. Both guys were massively over. Hook was noticeably kept on the apron for the majority of the match, to keep Jack Perry as the face in peril and to facilitate the moment where Hook suplexed the hell out of Big Bill. It’s hard not to watch these two and not think it’s a license to print money and attract teenage fans like they’re the hipster version of The Fabulous Ones.
Danielson vs. Takeshita. How could it not be a brilliant match? So many great sequences and blends of different stylings. Takeshita desperately needs to get wins, though. The thought that he’d get over on the national stage by having great 4 star matches worked wonders, but Danielson is the natural conclusion of great workers to have Takeshita lose to. There’s nowhere else to go now, playing that tune.
Game 7. I still preferred their first match but this was the next best in the series. The show pacing obviously made this feel a tad rushed, and with it being the seventh match they needed a bit more of gravitas and a stare down to start, but they made a positive out of a negative by just going full-on spot shitshow. Of all the TLC matches in WWE, this felt like the closest to the original from SummerSlam 2000.
I, too, would have enjoyed seeing the Death Triangle retain the belts just as some gesture of gratitude for their consistency and dedication to the company, but perhaps that’s what this reign was in the first place. Tony clearly wanted to put the belts on the Elite and has something in mind from before BrawlOut so we’ll see how this unravels in the weeks ahead. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a massive year for Kenny Omega, all predicated on him being the recognized most lauded in-ring worker.
What Didn’t Work—
Rundown. Yeah the shit's fake, but were we to believe Danielson just wasn’t ready to come out after Takeshita? What was he doing during that lengthy MJF promo, taking a shit backstage? Thank God, MJF saved it with running like Big Ern McCracken.
Orange Capacity. He was a background character, but remember The Larry Sanders Show with that little weenie makeup artist that compulsively ensured the makeup on the performer’s hands matched their complexion? God, AEW needs one of them. MJF’s hands, Adam Cole’s, and then the entire bodies of Juice, Toni Storm, and Action Andretti were sprayed in a Trumpian varnish.
Show Cringe—
No Mercedes Monè. That was a self-inflected wound. There’s been other wrestlers who have said that they didn’t actually sign an AEW deal until what would be considered nut-cutting time, so maybe here Tony just played too close to the fire and got burned, who knows. It’ll be an interesting and much debated rumor as to when they found out that she wasn’t going to appear. All that was needed was Britt to cut a promo backstage acknowledging it outright that she wasn’t there and the Forbidden Door was shut on her, I dunno.
This was a spectacular show with three, four star matches that were PPV quality, with a surprise return of Adam Cole, so I don’t really understand the intensity of pants-pissing going on right now. The silver lining here, if there is one, is that Tony cultivated a reputation of being so fan-friendly that fans expect him to be able to pull off these free agency signings and inevitably, disappointment and plans changing had to set in. But yeah, just don’t have Britt say, “Boss.”
The Elite (Credit-AEW)
Follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/WrestleElitists
