AEW Dynamite Review - May 20th, 2020

AEW Dynamite
May 20th, 2020
Jacksonville, FL

Brodie Lee is out with the Dark Order and Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship. Brodie says he is just like everyone at home despite being an athlete in his prime. He names 10 a ‘high knight’ of the Dark Order and says he always knew he was special. He then says “go hurt Jon Moxley.”

1) Jon Moxley vs. 10 
Moxley storms 10 at the bell and lays a bunch of moves on him. 10 fires back and gets a little in before Mox takes control again. This turns into Moxley trying to goad Brodie back out there by hitting big moves including a gotch style piledriver and not going for a pin despite 10 clearly being done for. Moxley eventually does pin him though. This was good for what it was! Moxley holds 10 under a chair and threatens to break his arm if Brodie doesn’t bring his belt back. Brodie refuses and says he’s leaving and that “sometimes you have to make sacrifices” referring to 10. Mox pops 10’s arm with the chair and then dips out.

Match rating - **1/2

JR segways to the following match by referring to MJF as Tony’s “little buddy” and Tony says “what a jerk ass” and it was hilarious.

2) MJF vs. Marko Stunt

MJF is good at being an annoying dick and Marko bumps great so this was okay, albeit a little repetitive. MJF talked the shit the whole way through. Marko goes for a dive and eats an elbow this leads to the shoulder breaker and a submission victory for MJF.

Match rating - **

MJF makes Marko “kiss the ring” before Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus make the save. MJF faces Jungle Boy on Saturday night at Double or Nothing.

Last week, Cody drove his truck into the arena and got into a brawl with Lance Archer while Jake narrated it. A replay is aired to hype the upcoming match on Sunday.

Arn Anderson and Jake Roberts have a sit down debate thing to hype their men for the Cody/Archer TNT Title finals match. It’s really solid as all of the build to this has been. Jake makes some gross comments and Arn gets serious and says he’s glad Jake is doing DDP yoga so he can be all limbered up when she SPINEBUSTERS HIS ASS. Good LORD. Jake is pissed and flips the table. Refereees separate the two old heads. Arn did a great job speaking for Cody here although I’d have loved to see Cody and Archer in person here just days before their big match.

3) Rey Fenix vs. Orange Cassidy

Pretty insane PAC promo hyping Fenix and Death Triangle aired before this. They also played off last week with Fenix trying to attack Cassidy on the ramp only for Orange to be slick and dodge it. This was both guys doing moves for the most part and it was fun. Fenix is a nutcase and Orange has a number of tricks up his sleeves. Kip Sabian distracts Orange, costing him the match as Fenix capitalizes on it.

Match rating - **3/4

Kip Sabian’s distraction came in the form of him sitting on a ladder. Kazarian & Scorpio Sky come down and fling him off it. This brings out Jimmy Havoc and this turns into insanity to hype the casino ladder match. Fenix hits an insane springboard thing and may have injured himself bc it looked rough and they kept him out of all the spots that followed, I hope he’s okay :( Colt Cabana is out with a crazy moonsault then the Best Friends help Orange fly and take everyone out.

4) Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose & Britt Baker

Was looking forward to this because Britt rules and Shida is also very good. But it was pretty sloppy and saw our second injury scare of the night. They had a good idea here, but it didn't come to fruition very well despite some fun moments. I hope Britt's leg is okay. Nyla Rose wins despite her partner being hurt and looks strong heading into her defense against Shida at Double or Nothing. Unfortunately this did nothing to enhance the build for that.

Match rating - *3/4

Backstage interview with Jon Moxley as one last attempt to hype the title match for Sunday.

5) Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Kinda wild, but this match and the aftermath were the best things on this show. Guevara bumps like a GOD for Matt and makes up so much for Hardy's lack of mobility in his age. Sammy has grown on me so much. He is so great in the role he is in. This really picked up down the stretch and after a couple of near falls, Hardy wins with a Twist of Fate.

Match rating - ***1/4

Post-match, we get more Elite/Inner Circle goodness. Chris Jericho and Jake Hager come on the screen and they've got Kenny Omega tied up on the football field and are throwing water on him. Jericho gets ready to hit Omega with a bat when THE YOUNG BUCKS make their return and fly out of the stands onto Jericho & Hager. LAX ends up out there and Hangman Page runs from across the god damn field in his first appearance since the quarantine started. LORD. He clears house or... field? IDK! This was an awesome closer to the show and the only thing that made me excited for Double or Nothing. Inner Circle backs away as Elite & Matt Hardy stand tall. Hangman walks away by himself as Omega, The Bucks, and Hardy pose... the story continues.