AEW Dynamite 8.27.20

Another week of the NBA Playoffs means another special edition of AEW Dynamite, this time airing live on Thursday night with fans in attendance at 10 percent.

With a tag team title opportunity on the line in a gauntlet match, a contract signing for the AEW World Championship and the first-ever AEW Tables match, the road to All Out is getting clearer.

Airing from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL, the commentary team of Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone are joined by “Le Champion” Chris Jericho, kicking the night off with the Tag Team Gauntlet Match.

Tag Team Gauntlet Match for a AEW Tag Team Title Match at All Out: Natural Nightmares v. Young Bucks v. Best Friends v. FTR

The match begins with the Natural Nightmares and the Young Bucks in the ring. The Young Bucks take over the action quickly, hitting Dustin Rhodes with a few hip tosses. Rhodes hits both Bucks with a spinning powerslam before the brothers send QT Marshall out to the floor. Marshall finally gets into the match, hitting Nick Jackson with a few clotheslines and a flying forearm for a nearfall. However, the Bucks regained control before hitting the BTE Trigger for the win. Out next are Best Friends, who immediately drop Nick for a quick two-count. Trent hits a spear on Nick after a missed moonsault allowing for another quick two-count. The Young Bucks get back in the match with a beautiful german suplex on the apron followed by Matt hitting three northern lights suplexes. Nick hits a 450 on Trent and lines up for the Meltzer Driver but is stopped by “Hangman” Adam Page which allows Matt to get rolled up for the three-count and the win for Best Friends. FTR comes out next and immediately attack Chuck Taylor’s bad knee. The match ends quickly with Taylor tapping out to a kneebar by Harwood. ***½. Going into this match, I thought that FTR was the obvious choice to win based off the fast track they have been on since their debut. I did not think they would get that opportunity based off of Page turning on the Bucks this quickly. We’ve seen the hints at Page aligning himself with FTR over the past few weeks and it finally came to a head this week. The inevitable Elite clash is one that can be held off for a little while longer and one that will surely be great when it happens. Overall, this was a really good way to start the show. AEW has done a great job at beginning their shows with tag team matches and this was no different. The match between FTR and Page and Kenny Omega at All Out has the chance to steal the show and develop one of the top storylines on the show. 

Following the match, a Casino Battle Royale is announced for All Out with the winner getting a future AEW World Championship match. Darby Allin and Lance Archer are announced as the first participants in the 21-man battle royale. 

Lance Archer v. Sean Maluta

Archer takes control of the match from the beginning, sending Maluta to the outside and hitting him with a big chop. Back in the ring we go as Archer hits Maluta with a few more shots to the chest before hitting a german suplex. Maluta gets some strikes in, but it does nothing to the big man who hits a chokeslam and throws Maluta’s head into the mat before covering for the win. **. Archer has had a hard time getting on the show since his loss to Cody, but he has been dominating people backstage the last few weeks. It was good to see him get such a convincing win here, giving him some solid momentum going into the Casino Battle Royale. After the match, Taz announces that Ricky Starks and Brian Cage will also be participating in the battle royale, further elevating the starpower in the match. 

After the match, we see a quick video package hyping up the AEW Women’s World Championship match between champion Hikaru Shida and NWA’s Thunder Rosa at All Out.

MJF comes out for his contract signing with Jon Moxley, who makes his way through the fans to the ring. MJF quickly signs the contract with the Paradigm Shift being banned for the match. However, Moxley points out that MJF missed the 17th page of the contract which states that MJF’s lawyer must face Moxley next week. If he doesn’t show up, MJF will not get his title match at All Out. 

The Lucha Brothers and The Butcher and The Blade v. Griff Garrison, Sonny Kiss, Joey Janela and Brian Pillman Jr.

The match breaks down rather quickly with all eight men brawling. The Blade takes most of the damage early on, including a big kick to the face from Kiss and some brawling from Garrison. Kiss continues to show his strong in-ring work with a hurricanrana off the second rope on Rey Fenix. Kiss goes to the well one too many times however, missing the leaping split, which Fexis follows up with his own kick to the face. Janela hits a death valley driver on the apron to Fenix, but he’s taken down by a piledriver on the apron by Pentagon. Pillman gets into the match with a springboard forearm on Blade but ultimately takes the pin after a double stomp/piledriver combo by the Lucha Bros for the win. ***. Another quick-paced tag team match for AEW that gave everyone a chance to put in some offense. I love Eddie Kingston being the leader of this group of heels as it not only allows him to get more screen time, but also gives him time to show off his mic skills that are some of the best in the business. Kingston announces after the match that all five of them will be participants in the Casino Battle Royale.

The Dark Order is out next with a casket, dancing to the ring. The group says they have been on cloud nine since last week’s decimation of the Nightmare Family, stating that they are dead and gone. Brodie Lee comes to the ring for an interview with Schiavone. He introduces Anna Jay as the newest member of the Dark Order while officially ending the open challenge for the TNT Championship. Dustin and QT come to the ring to attack the Dark Order before being joined by Scorpio Sky and Matt Cardona. They clear the ring and stand tall as Lee yells at them from the ramp while holding up his title. 

“Hangman” Adam Page is being interviewed about costing the Young Bucks their match earlier in the night. The Bucks interrupt, calling Page a drunk and officially kicking him out of The Elite. 

Big Swole v. Britt Baker, Reba and Penelope Ford (Handicap Match)

Baker says that if Swole can win this match, she can have any future match she wants. The numbers game plays a factor in the beginning of the match with Reba and Ford taking advantage quickly. Ford begins choking Swole over the rope which distracts the ref, allowing Baker to hit Swole with a crutch. Reba gets tagged in, hitting a big splash in the corner. Swole hit a hurricanrana that didn’t look the best, which brought on interference from Kip Sabian. Sabian gets taken down by a discus forearm from Swole, allowing the heels to regain control. Reba hits a moonsault for a nearfall. However, Reba hits Ford with the crutch in the face, allowing Swole to get the win. **½. This match was sloppy at times, but I am really looking forward to the Swole/Baker match down the line. Reba looked good here, hitting a nice moonsault from the second rope. Overall, nothing special in this match, but I enjoyed the storyline development for the inevitable match when Baker returns.

Matt Hardy v. Sammy Guevara (Tables Match)

The first-ever Tables Match in AEW history takes the main event spot for a very heated rivalry. Hardy begins the match with a choke before throwing Guevara over the top rope. He grabs a chair and throws it at him, missing and hitting the rip post. Guevara counters with a few knees to the head before setting Hardy up on a table. He goes for a flip on Hardy but he moves out of the way, sending Guevara crashing through the table. A few minutes later, Hardy goes for an elbow drop on Guevara through the table, but Guevara moves out of the way and Hardy goes through the table. Hardy wraps a chair around Guevara’s neck and hits a Twist of Fate. Hardy grabs a table with “Deleted” spray painted on it, but finds himself going through it as Guevara superplexes him through it for the win. ***. This had the chance to be so much better, but they were only given 10 minutes so they had to rush through all of their spots. This rivalry has heated up since the accidental chair shot a few weeks ago which allowed for some nice callback spots throughout the match. Guevara definitely needed the win here, and I’m glad he got it. He is one of the best young members of the roster and has the chance to be one of the best in the business, so this was a good start. Hopefully this isn’t the end of this rivalry because we need a longer match between these two. After the match, Orange Cassidy comes out to attack Jericho, hitting a Superman punch before the show goes off the air. 

AEW had some good moments in this show, but there were also some spots where they didn’t live up to their own hype. I was really looking forward to the table match, and while it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t match the level of heat from this rivalry. The gauntlet match and the subsequent developments between The Elite should be one of the more interesting parts of All Out. Another above-average show for AEW that sets up more for the upcoming pay-per-view on Sept. 5.