Just a few weeks away from Revolution and the card is starting to take shape!
- Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale
- Young Bucks vs. Top Flight
- Jon Moxley vs. Dax Harwood
- AEW TNT Championship Number One Contender’s: Adam Copeland vs. Daniel Garcia
- AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Matt Taven
AEW Dynamite 2/14/24
Live from the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas! Taz, Tony Schiavone, and Excalibur are here tonight and “Wild Thing” can only mean one thing!
Match #1. Dax Harwood vs. Jon Moxley
Moxley puts his hands behinds his back and invites Dax to lay into him. Dax kisses him on the lips and then lays in some chops. That’s a real sentence. Moxley fires back some elbows. Chops by Dax. Palm strikes by Moxley. Shoulder blocks by Dax, who looks for a Sharpshooter quickly but Moxley sends him to the floor with an up kick. Moxley clotheslines Dax into the front row and Dax returns some strikes. Moxley flapjacks Dax on the steel steps! Back inside the ring, Moxley mounts Dax in the corner but Dax walks out of the corner and plants Moxley with a Liger Bomb! Two count. Double suplex to the floor and we’re heading to PIP. Both men barely make it in before the ten-count and we’re slugging it out in the center of the ring. Double leg by Moxley right into a Figure Four! Dax makes it to the ropes and they’re trading hard palm strikes across the face here. HOCKEY FIGHTTTTTT. Dax’s hand is busted open from hitting Moxley so hard. Both men on the top now as Moxley drops Dax with a few elbows but he hangs on. Moxley bites the hand and Dax finally hits the mat. Moxley takes his time and Dax is back. Superplex! Both guys are headbutting each other Junkyard Dog style. Moxley rolls through an armbar and Dax traps the legs… Sharpshooter! Moxley fights to the ropes but escapes in doing so. Straight armbar by Moxley but Dax gets out. Both guys trade piledriver attempts but Dax rakes the back. Back body drop by Moxley but Dax fakes the right hand, Moxley ducks, and Dax drills him with a piledriver! Two count. Moxley pulls Dax outside and Dax works his way back in, but Moxley kicks the ropes into a low blow and a cutter. Curb stomp by Moxley and a piledriver! 2.99! Moxley looks for the Paradigm Shift but Dax counters into a sheer drop brainbuster! One, two, no! Two minutes remain, according to Justin Roberts. Dax comes off the top with a diving headbutt but Moxley rolls to the side and locks in the rear naked choke. Dax fights as much as he can but he taps!
Winner: Jon Moxley
Rating: ****. This was a battle back and forth, which is exactly what everyone expected. The start of quite the feud, and neither guy anted to give up. Big match Dax showed up tonight.
Moxley won’t let go of the hold and here’s Cash Wheeler! Wheeler lays into Moxley with mounted punches but here’s Claudio! Neutralizer by Claudio to Cash and Moxley puts Dax to sleep again.
Don Callis is here with Takeshita, Hobbs, and Renee. Callis says that nobody wants to wrestle any of these guys, so he has to look inward. Don Callis announces Takeshita vs. Will Osprey for Revolution!
Match #2. Wardlow vs. Barrett Brown
Great to see Wardlow escaped injury a few weeks ago, it for sure looked like it could have been bad. Warlow puts Brown on the top rope and drops him right into a big knee. Wardlow now poses to himself on the big screen. Last Ride. Finito.
Winner: Wardlow
Rating: NR
The Bucks showed up in a private jet, still wearing the blood-stained clothes from last week.
Match #3. AEW TNT Championship Number One Contender’s Match: Adam Copeland vs. Daniel Garcia
Copeland looks for the crossface early and Garcia rolls through and hunts for an ankle. Stalemate. Shoulder blocks by Copeland. Drop down by Garcia and Copeland stops and splashes him. Same sequence again but Garcia moves and rolls up Copeland for two. Drop toe hold by Garcia as he looks for a surfboard but settles for a double stomp on the back of the knees. Crossbody by Garcia but Copeland catches him in mid-air and it’s right into a shoulder breaker. Hammer throw in the corner by Copeland as both guys roll to the outside and Garcia gets sent into the guardrail. Copeland goes up top and Garcia quickly follows, but Copeland drops Garcia neck-first. Copeland heads back up and Garcia swipes the legs out. Dragon screw leg whip off the top sends Copeland flying to the mat. Running booth in the corner by Garcia and some fists of fire. Another dragon screw leg whip and a diving elbow to the leg. Two. STF by Garcia! Copeland reaches back and grabs a headlock but Garcia blocks the Implant DDT and grabs a single leg. Reverse dragon screw by Garcia. Garcia heads up top but Copeland dives with a headbutt and catches him. Avalanche Impaler DDT by Copeland but he can’t cover! Copeland looks for a spear but Garcia boots him in the face. Jackknife cover by Garcia gets two! Copeland locks in the crossface but Nick Wayne attacks out of nowhere!
Winner: No Contest
Rating: ***1/2.
Killswitch and Nick Wayne lay out both men as Christian and Mamma Wayne make their way down to ringside. Chokeslam to Garcia. Copeland makes the save with a chair, and Christian is cornered. Mamma Wayne goes low on Copeland from behind and the beat down continues. ConChairTo to Copeland! Copeland lays motionless as Garcia tends to him and The Patriarchy stand tall.
Samoa Joe is here! Joe says we reward mediocrity and now he’s in a three-way match at Revolution. Joe says there will be repercussions as both stars will walk in but limp out. There’s nothing anyone can do about Joe as champion.
Who’s house? Swerve’s house! Nobody outhustles Swerve. Swerve’s been in the ring with all the legends, and now is his time.
HEY HEY HEY. Page is here, and he wasn’t mad last week. Page says Swerve doesn’t deserve one single second of his time, after everything he’s done to him. Swerve doesn’t deserve five more minutes.
Joe’s had enough of this domestic dispute and come Revolution, he’s whooping both their asses.
Toni Storm’s “Wet Ink” premiers… now. Storm says that Deonna was her young girl, and she felt bad for her. Storm added to the tattoo that she shared with Deonna, added a knife going through it.
Deonna is with Renee “Toni, I’m gonna break your arm, bitch.”
The Bucks are here and Matthew looks like the lead singer of Disturbed.
Match #4. Young Bucks vs. Top Flight
Bucks try to stall as Top Flight feigns stereo dives. Snap mare by Dante and a kick to the back by Darius. Clothesline from the apron by Nick as the Bucks pose on the top rope. Matt misses a right hand and Darius hits a clotheslines and a bulldog through the middle rope. Nick is on the apron and connects with a running PK. Diving clothesline by Darius and a tag to Dante. Enziguiri to Matt and a punt to Nick. Springboard crossbody to Matt gets two. Sunset flip by Dante but Nick is here and Darius gets one. Two count in stereo. Nick gets sent to the outside and Dante tries to follow with a dive but gets clotheslined by Matt. DDT to Darius. Tieres by Dante and a tag to Darius. Over the top assisted tornado DDT by Top Flight. Two count. Suicide dive by Dante. Rebound Spanish Fly by Darius. Two count. Nick sends Dante into the guardrail face-first. Nick distracts the referee as Matt pops Dante up and low blows him in mid-air. EVP Trigger!
Winners: Young Bucks
Rating: **1/2. The new old Young EVP Bucks have almost completely changed their offense here, and I think slowing it down will actually help them not get cheered. The match was fine, but not at all what I was expecting.
The Bucks are joined by Tony Schavone. Matt thinks they’re the top team in the rankings now. Tony says Sting is not here tonight and it’s because of them and their despicable acts. The Bucks are tired of hearing Tony talk bad about them every week, so they’re fining him $1,000. Nick shoulders Tony, knocking him to the mat. Darby makes the save as the Bucks were primed to hit Tony with the EVP Trigger! Darby had to sit by and watch all of the Bucks hire their California crew, but luckily there was an EVP that had his head screwed on (Cody).
Think about the first episode of AEW… Darby wasn’t on it, but Brandon Cutler was. W T F. AEW used to be All Friends Wrestling. Darby says what the Bucks want is Darby and Sting at Revolution… and they’ve got it.
Renee is with the Bang Bang Scissor Gang. Things are going smoothly, but we’ve not yet tested out the cohesion. Billy has the bright idea for a 12-man tag team match on Rampage.
Match #5. Skye Blue w/ Julia Hart vs. Willow Nightingale w/ Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway
Blue charges and jumps on the back of Willow, but Willow runs her head-first into the top turnbuckle. Blue hits the ropes and Willow comes with the misdirection… POUNCEEEE. The match spills to the outside as Willow bounces Blue off the guardrail and the apron. Back inside, Willow connects with a snap suplex. Two count. Willow runs into a superkick but responds with a huge lariat. Bunch of clotheslines by Willow and a running hip attack in the corner. Another avalanche by Willow and a big boot. Spinebuster with the high stack gets a two count. Babe with the Powerbomb is countered with a face buster and a superkick to the face. Blue jumps on the back of Willow with a standing dragon sleeper but Willow runs her into the turnbuckle. Blue gets sent to the apron and Willow pounces her to the floor! Willow rolls Blue back in the ring and sets her up on the top rope. Skye slips underneath Willow and superkicks her in the corner. Powerbomb by Blue out of the corner! Stokely gets up from the announcer’s table as Blue hits the Code Blue! One, two, three, four… no referee! Willow kicks out once the referee finally counts the pin. Willow with a thrust kick to Blue and the Babe with the Powerbomb finishes this one!
Winner: Willow Nightingale
Rating: **1/2. These two women work really well together and this was some good stuff. Stokely is so entertaining and his timing on that finish was perfect.
Match #6. Texas Death Match for the AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Matt Taven
Shotgun dropkick by Cassidy. Big right hands by Taven and a dropkick. Enziguiri by Taven and a Blue Thunder Bomb! Cassidy rolls outside as the referee starts the ten count. Taven Irish whips Cassidy into the guard rail and Cassidy hurdles it! Taven follows and Cassidy boots him in the face, as both guys fight through the stands. The fight winds up near the entrance as Taven sets up a table. Taven beats on Cassidy and launches himself off the ramp with an elbow drop through Cassidy, but the table doesn’t break and that was a rough landing. Taven sets the half-broken table up against the ramp and suplexes him through it. Just the Tip by Taven on the ramp! Cassidy is busted wide open at this point. Both guys make it to the ring and Taven hits a big backbreaker. Taven rolls outside and sets up a table, leaning against the announcer’s table, but here’s Cassidy with a suicide dive. Kick of the King by Taven to Cassidy on the apron! Running baseball slide to Cassidy but he prevents himself from going through the table. Running dive by Taven over the top rope a la Undertaker but Cassidy moves and Taven goes crashing through the table! Taven is up by 9, somehow. Both guys are covered in blood. Cassidy finds a Valentine’s Day Gift under the ring from Chuckie T… and it ain’t chocolate. Thumbtacks! Superplex attempt by Cassidy but Taven shoves him off, through the tacks! Taven misses a frog splash and HE lands in the tacks! Satellite DDT by Cassidy IN THE TACKS. MADNESS. Taven somehow beats the count as Cassidy finds a chain under the ring. Here’s Mike Bennett and he blasts Cassidy over the head with… something. Bennett throws a bunch of chairs in the ring, but here’s Trent, and he’s got a pipe. Trent blasts Bennett in the face with the pipe but Tower of London on a chair by Taven. Orange Punch by Cassidy and Beach Break on the chair and tacks! Taven somehow gets up and rips Cassidy’s pockets. Cassidy wraps the chain around his hand and blasts Taven with the Orange Punch! Referee is counting and Roderick Strong is here, but Trent takes the jumping knee for Cassidy and Cassidy dumps Roderick to the outside. Taven isn’t up by the ten count, this one is over!
Winner and STILL AEW International Champion: Orange Cassidy
Rating: ***3/4. This came out of nowhere. I don’t know how Cassidy got busted open but he sure did, and bad. Everything after the commercial was awesome, and it’s nice to see a guy like Taven get the spotlight tonight. Cassidy continues to dominate with the International Championship
Final Thoughts: I know a lot of stuff happened tonight, and it was a good show, but I almost can’t remember all of it. BCC vs. FTR is going to be very interesting. The world title picture is really heating up and Page is almost a full-time bad guy at this moment, and he sure will be by the time Revolution is here. The Young Bucks are pretty damn dislikeable, so that tracks. Copeland and Garcia ruled and The Patriarchy are back, so that’s a good sign. The main event was an absolute blood bath and it was very unexpected, but Best Friends vs. Undisputed Kingdom forges on. Would have loved to have more than two matches announced for the show ahead of time, as the main event felt like it was just thrown together this morning… but they delivered inside the ring. 7.75/10.