Rasslin’ Rundown: AEW Dynamite 01/12/2022

I’m going to start going through AEW shows each week. I’m not going to give the play by play, but rather what’s working and what’s not with each segment and match. There are too many other good sites that can give you all the moves; I’m interested in the stories. Here’s this weeks Dynamite.

The show starts with Adam Cole coming to the ring, followed by ReDRagon and the Young Bucks. I like the idea of discord between the tag teams with Cole stuck in the middle, but they are dragging this one. Best Friends come out and this leads to some fighting. Kris Statlander makes the save for Orange Cassidy, leading to Britt Baker, DMD, making the save. I like the idea of finally bring Britt into Cole’s story, but curious to see how this plays out in the women’s division. Britt vs Statlander is a good matchup, but they did it fairly recently; they’ve also been slowly building to Britt vs Jamie Hayter, which could play into this angle better. Britt picks Cole over Rebel and Jamie, which causes more of a divide; it’s the fresher storyline.

Promo Grade: B+

Wardlow vs CM Punk – This is a solid match. They went back and forth in a David (Punk) vs Goliath (Wardlow) style; Punk got some offense in, but he had to work to get Wardlow down. You knew Punk wasn’t going to lose the match, but they allowed Wardlow to dismantled him with Power Bombs. It should I’m looking forward to the point where Wardlow turns on MJF, which almost happened. Wardlow stays a credible threat since he should have won the match.

Match Grade: B

Powerhouse Hobbs vs Dante Martin – Right off the bat, there was no Lio Rush; I was curious to see what’s happening with him since he sided with Big Swole on the AEW lack of minorities comment on Twitter. This also is back to back David vs Goliath matches; power vs speed. It was a solid match. Jay Lethal distracts Team Taz to get Dante the win. I’m guessing Lethal is the new “mentor” to Dante and Lio is probably out with the company. I actually prefer Lethal to Lio, so I’m happy about this pairing.

Match Grade: A

The Inner Circle is cutting a promo on 2point0 and Daniel Garcia when Eddie Kingston interrupts. He’s trying to split up the Inner Circle and setting up a Jericho/Kingston feud; I’m not looking forward to that. I’m done with Jericho as a wrestler at this point and I’d rather see him on commentary. The good news is this could be the end of the Inner Circle, based off the reaction of Santana and Ortiz.

Promo Grade: C

MJF comes out to rip on Punk and set up the a match for next week: Sean Spears vs Punk. This is the trials of Jericho all over again with Punk in place of Jericho. They need a fresh angle for MJF.

The Elite (Cole, Bucks and ReDRagon) set up a mix tag match between Cole/Baker and Cassidy/Statlander. That should be fun.

Hangman Adam Page comes out for a promo to set up his next feud. He’s coming off one of the best programs with Bryan Danielson, so they have a high bar for the next story. Dan Lambert comes out; I wasn’t a fan at first of Lambert, but he’s grown on me since he’s ditched his MMA guys. He can cut a good heel promo. Lance Archer comes out and lays out Cole. I don’t know how to feel about this. I haven’t been impress with him in AEW, but I know he’s got a pretty good following in Japan. I’ll be open minded about this until we see him in action again.

Promo Grade: B

FTR vs Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson is set up; meh.

Hikaru Shida vs Serena Deeb – I’ve enjoyed these matches so far. Deeb is a great heel, which she proved in this match. The ref calling the match will allow these 2 to continue the feud. This wasn’t their best match since it was so one-sided; when they get an even, technical match, they are both at their best. I’m worried that with Anna Jay, Tay Conti, and Skye Blue coming out means we get a larger match with the Bunny and Penelope Ford included; Jay/Tay vs Bunny/Ford is very played out at this point and should have been left with the awesome street fight.

Match Grade: D

Jurassic Express comes out to do their “come at us” promo. John Silver and Alex Reynolds come out to set up a match. It should be a good match; Silver and Luchasauras should play well off each other.

Matt Hardy vs Penta El Zero Miedo – I love both men playing to the crowd to start the match. I’m not a huge Hardy fan at this point; he’s older, slower, and can’t take many of the high risks he did in his youth. There are a lot of other guys I’d rather see on TV. That said, I think he can still carry others in a match. This might have been one of the least exciting Penta matches I’ve seen, but I like the idea of him taking on Malakai Black. And we get Brodie King as the first member of the House of Black. I’d like to see the House of Black take on Penta and Pac.

Match Grade: D (raised to a B for the House of Black reveal)

They continue to set up the inevitable Leyla Hirsh vs Stratlander feud. They could have a good program.

The Acclaim vs Bear Country – Another solid promo from the Acclaim; I’m a fan of theirs right now. I respect what Bear Country can do, but I’m not a huge fan of the gimmick. Solid back and forth here, but the expected outcome. Bear Country are jobbers that aren’t really jobbers; they give teams credible wins every time the wrestle. Sting and Darby Allin comes out after the match and beat down the Acclaimed.

Match Grade: C

A Pac promo, which makes me think he’s joining the House of Black. That would be interesting. It could also mean he’s coming for Black, since the tarot card was that of Justice.

Matt Hardy’s interview is interrupted by Andrade El Idolo, who may be joining up to “make money”. Andrade hasn’t done much since coming, and this probably won’t help him.

Main Event: Sammy Guevara (Interim TNT Champ) vs Daniel Garcia – I like Sammy the personality, but he’s still pretty raw as a wrestler. Garcia is the opposite; a sound wrestler with little mic ability. Garcia had a great match, but took some sloppy bumps from Sammy; it might be a miracle if he didn’t get a concussion from that bad BTH. Sammy keeps his belt for the time being. Eddie and Jericho get into after the match. That inevitable match is coming.

Match Grade: B-

Overall it was a solid show. Take out the opening segment, Punk/Wardlow, and Hobbs/Martin and it’s a pretty lackluster show. It’s down from the last few weeks, but it would have been hard to top last week. Overall, this week gets a C grade.