***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, and Taz were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It was a very special episode as tonight was “Tag Team Appreciation Night” hosted by FTR –Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler!
Appropriately, our opening contest was a tag team bout!
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)!
During their entrance, the Bucks were ambushed by the minions from The Dark Order!
“It’s all about the numbers,” said Jim Ross, as the Bucks were outmanned.
The Dark Order used their symbiotic offense on Nick Jackson.
“Mr. Brodie’s leadership is really paying off here,” noted Jim Ross.
Matt tagged in and took out both members of the opposition with a double clothesline! Nick spring boarded off the top rope with an arm drag on Grayson.
“Evil Uno may be the most underrated wrestler in all of AEW,” said Jim Ross.
“I think you can say the same thing about Stu Grayson because of his intensity,” added Taz.
Evil Uno raked Matt Jackson’s eyes. Grayson dropkicked Matt to the outside; while the ref was distracted, Uno was on the outside of the ring and rammed Matt’s back into the ring’s edge!
Uno tagged himself in and headbutted Matt’s kidney area. He tried to fishhook Matt’s eye but Matt pushed him away to create some distance. Matt came back with a spear on Evil Uno and crawled toward Nick for the tag. Nick came in and cleaned house with a bulldog lariat combo!
Nick and Matt had the advantage now and used their patented high-risk tag offense on Evil Uno! The Bucks’ momentum was short-lived, though. The Dark Order connected with a brainbuster 540 kick combo on Nick Jackson, but Matt made the save to stop the pin attempt on his brother.
The minions of The Dark Order blocked Matt Jackson at the entrance ramp from being able to return to the ring. Meanwhile, Uno and Grayson had Nick Jackson alone and he had to fend for himself, without his brother’s help. Evil Uno and Grayson went for their Fatality finisher on Nick, but Nick rolled up Evil Uno for the pin!
MJF (with Wardlow) was on the campaign trail. He stood in the ring at a podium!
MJF implored the audience to use the following hashtags:
#MJF2020 and #NotMyChampion
MJF said “Dictator Jon” does not care about the audience, because if he did, “…he’d be here tonight.”
“Guess what Jonathan—I want to make sure you’re comfortable enough to show up to your job.”
MJF put his shoulders down on the mat and asked, “Is this better now, Jon? You’re not a leader. You’re a rabid dog chasing cars and you wouldn’t even know what to do with it if you caught it.”
“Jon, we all know that we deserve better,” said MJF.
Moxley’s music hit and MJF commanded his campaign team to protect him and find Moxley up in the arena’s upper bowl area. MJF yelled at them to cut Mox off where Mox typically makes his entrance, before he makes his way down the arena steps to the ring. No one found Mox yet.
Instead, Moxley came down the main entrance ramp, something uncommon for him. He blasted an unsuspecting MJF with a Paradigm Shift!
Matt Hardy was interviewed backstage by Alex Marvez.
Hardy isn’t cleared to wrestle for another ten days as a result of the cut he received when Sammy Guevara launched a chair at him last week. Hardy believed he saw Sammy walking in the distance and rammed the person into the loading dock door. Hardy was mistaken, though, likely acting out of pure rage and instinct, as it was actually an AEW referee and not Sammy that he attacked.
TNT Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody (with The Nightmare Family—Arn Anderson, Brandi Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, Allie, and QT Marshall) put his title on the line against SCU’s Scorpio Sky!
Legendary referee Mike Chioda was the official for this match!
The Nightmare Family left the ringside area once the match began, except for head coach Arn Anderson, and Brandi Rhodes.
Cody went for a body press but Scorpio ducked it. Cody rolled outside and Scorpio Sky held the ropes for him and invited him back in. The two men locked up and after a reversal of a hip toss, Sky was tossed out. This time it was Cody holding the ropes for Sky, but Sky brushed away the offer.
Cody took Sky over the top rope with a nasty lariat! Sky hit Cody with body shots in the rib area, the same rib area that was worked over in Cody’s match last week. Sky clearly had Cody scouted. Sky dropped Cody’s midsection across the top rope. He put Cody in the Tree of Woe and stomped Cody’s ribs. He followed up by pulling Cody’s ribs straight into the steel ring post! Sky applied the abdominal stretch.
“The perfect move to go to here,” said Jim Ross.
Sky drilled Cody with a cutter face first on the outside ramp! Cody kicked out at two!
Sky went to hook Cody for a suplex but he must have tweaked his back on the cutter and had to let go of the champ. Cody countered with a superplex! Sky tried for his TKO finisher but now Cody countered with CrossRhodes! Sky kicked out!
“Who the hell kicks out of the CrossRhodes?” asked Jim Ross in amazement and disbelief.
Sky went for a cutter but Cody dodged it, just barely. Cody quickly followed with a second CrossRhodes on Scorpio Sky and finally finished him off, scoring the pin!
“Sky wrestled a beautiful match and the opportunity just slipped by,” said Jim Ross.
Mr. Brodie Lee appeared on the screen: “Saturday, August 22nd, on DYNAMITE, you are going to put some respect on my name as I take that beautiful piece of gold out of your hands, Cody. Time’s up!”
Next it was AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega & “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Jurassic Express—Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (with Marko Stunt) and the belts were on the line!
Kenny and Jungle Boy squared off. Kenny pushed Jungle Boy into the ropes and Marko jumped on the apron to interfere. Kenny slapped Marko in the face, knocking him off the ring apron. Marko grabbed Kenny by the ankle, giving Jungle Boy enough time to hit a dropkick. Luchasaurus tagged in and planted Kenny! The commentators wondered if Kenny had his nose broken there.
“Yeah, he’s definitely slowed down,” observed Tony Schiavone.
“I think it happened when he was dropped on his face,” speculated Taz.
Page was finally tagged in and made a quick impact with a lariat on Jungle Boy. The champs sandwiched Jungle Boy but he chopped his way out of a bad situation.
Luchasaurus came in and connected with a headbutt and then an enormous dinosaur-sized boot to Kenny! He launched Hangman with a chokeslam and then hit a standing moonsault! Hangman kicked out at two!
Kenny was tagged in and used the V-trigger on Luchasaurus’s spine! It was a direct hit, right on target! He hit two snapdragon supelexes and then one on Marko on the outside for good measure!
Page was tagged in and the champs used a tandem assault on the challengers. Luchasaurus double choke slammed Page and Omega and momentum shifted back in favor of the challengers. But Jungle Boy missed a clothesline and Hangman chucked him over the top rope to the outside onto Luchasaurus! Page powerbombed Jungle Boy. The champs finished off Jungle Boy with the Last Call—their buckshot lariat/V-Trigger combo, with Kenny scoring the pin!
Santana and Ortiz were backstage. They destroyed the luggage and gear of Best Friends.
“Apologize for what we did to your mom’s van? What are you—trippin’?” they asked.
The Young Bucks and FTR were in the ring with The Rock ‘N Roll Express and Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard for Tag Team Appreciation Night!
Matt thanked the Rock ‘N Roll Express for everything they did in the business and the sport of pro wrestling.
FTR said they get to make a living as professional wrestlers because of Tully and Arn and the Rock ‘N Roll Express.
Ricky Morton said “The Young Bucks brought back tag team wrestling the way we used to do it. You are the top tag team in the world of your generation.”
Arn Anderson pointed to the Bucks and said “You’ve made tag team wrestling something entirely different, elevating it to a whole different level. My hat’s off to you.” Then he pointed to FTR and said, “This is the best tag team in the world.”
Tully grabbed the microphone from Ricky Morton. He said neither the Bucks nor FTR are the greatest because they don’t have tag team gold right now. He turned to Arn Anderson and pointed at his chest and the American Nightmare logo on Arn’s uniform. “I don’t understand that,” said Tully.
“I’m a grown ass man,” replied Arn Anderson.
Shawn Spears made his way down the ramp and Arn said, “Oh I see what’s going on here.”
Arn was about to move when Tully and Ricky Morton got into it and a melee broke out!
FTR attacked Robert Gibson, whacking him with Dax’s knee brace! Then FTR impaled Ricky Morton with a spiked piledriver! The Young Bucks and then the tag champs—Kenny Omega and Hangman Page—came down to the ring to the defense of Ricky and Robert.
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Heather Monroe was up next!
Monroe was aggressive out of the gate. Monroe draped Shida’s throat over the middle rope and pushed down with her body weight, using her leg. Shida rallied back with a running knee strike! Shida climbed up the turnbuckles but Monroe brought her down with a swift kick. Shida suplexed Monroe into the corner turnbuckles!
Shida tried for the Falcon Arrow but Monroe reversed it and almost scored an upset victory in her debut! It was a wakeup call for the champ.
Shida locked in a submission finisher and Monroe tapped!
Jake “The Snake” Roberts was backstage telling the audience what instilling fear means.
While Roberts was attempting to do this, “The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer was pummeling victims in the background. He approached Roberts and asked him if he finished yet. Roberts said he was trying to before he was interrupted.
Lance ordered Roberts to turn around. He tore the shirt off Roberts’ body and on his back was written the phrase: “Everybody Dies!”
It was time for the main event! The $7,000 Obligation Match! Jericho vs. Cassidy II!
The Inner Circle and Best Friends were banned from ringside tonight!
“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy vs. “Demo God,” Le Champion Chris Jericho!
Mike Chioda was the referee.
In an interview held earlier in the night, Chioda promised to call it right down the middle even though he’s known Jericho for years. In that same interview, Jericho reminded Chioda that the ref owed him for saving his job years ago. Jericho was not so subtly implying that tonight might be a good time for Chioda to return the favor.
The wrestling match broke out with a hockey fight! Cassidy wasted no time with the superman punch to Jericho. Orange hit a crossbody over the top rope onto Jericho on the outside!
“Jericho is getting schooled,” said Jim Ross.
Orange put his hands in his pockets and took flight off the top rope, down onto Jericho on the outside! Orange went for another superman punch but Jericho timed it perfectly and nailed him with a kick.
“Jericho has slowed the pace here,” noted Jim Ross.
“Chris has mounted a comeback of his own,” said Tony Schiavone.
Jericho blasted Orange with a springboard dropkick. It knocked Orange to the arena floor!
Le Champion held a stalling vertical suplex and finally dropped Orange to the mat! Orange kicked out at two after a Lionsault from Jericho!
Orange lured Jericho with light paint brush strikes, but then hit him with everything he had in the form of a clothesline! He torqued Jericho with consecutive dragon screws. Orange tried to hit Jericho from the turnbuckles but Jericho caught him and put him in the Lion Tamer! Orange squeezed out and applied an ankle lock on Jericho!
Orange used a cutter on Jericho! Le Champion fought back and followed up with a Code Breaker on Orange for a near fall!
Jericho walked over to the corner and grabbed his baseball bat. Jericho ordered Mike Chioda to turn around, but Chioda took the bat away instead. Orange hit a Falcon Arrow on Jericho! He followed through with the Orange Punch!
Santana and Ortiz tried to run down but Best Friends stopped them in their tracks on the entrance ramp! The referee saw this and turned to make sure they weren’t going to interfere. Unfortunately, Jake Hager was able to sneak down unnoticed. Hager grabbed Orange and suplexed him hard onto the mat!
“It was a hit and run by Hager!” said Jim Ross.
Jericho wasted no time and covered Orange but “Freshly Squeezed” kicked out! They exchanged forearms! Jericho missed the Judas Effect and Orange rolled up Le Champion in a mousetrap and pinned Jericho!
“This is the biggest win of Orange’s career! He finally pinned Jericho!” said Tony Schiavone.
Be sure to join us next week on a special day and time—Saturday, August 22nd, at 6pm immediately following the NBA Playoffs for all the explosive action as AEW DYNAMITE is broadcast on TNT!
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