Dynamite from Day One: October 2, 2019

My AEW fandom has been spotty at best. I grew up with WWE and WCW. WWE has been the show with the easiest (legal) access for years, though they’re making it harder lately. I cut the cable cord years ago because all I was doing was DVRing Raw and Simpsons reruns that I wasn’t watching and spending way too much to do it. Hulu had the next day Raw and SmackDown. WWE Network came along and had NXT. I didn’t need to have the USA Network or the various networks SmackDown aired on at my disposal.

AEW came along and caught our interest immediately. They got that TV deal and ended up on TNT, which was very cool. Unfortunately for those of us who cut the cord and didn’t want to pay more to subscribe to Sling or YouTube TV or whatever your choice of internet cable is, we didn’t really have a way to watch it legally. You could watch it on the TNT app, sure, but only if you had cable service to log into the app with. TNT stuff didn’t go to Hulu, so once it aired, that was it.

I caught most of my AEW stuff like I do most everything – through social media. Companies post all their important clips basically as they happen. But if I wanted to watch the entire episode? Legally at least, I was out of luck. Sure, there are other ways. Did I put in the work to use them? Nah. Besides, the amount of wrestling I actually watch in full is pretty small – I watch maybe one full show a week as it happens (usually NXT, and now the first half of Raw before I fall asleep on Netflix), a handful of matches here and there, and the rest is through YouTube and Twitter clips. I can’t possibly keep up with the 5,828 wrestling shows that are out there.

I’ve always had an interest in going back and watching Dynamite though. I genuinely like AEW. There’s a ton of potential there. The women’s side has some great names on it, though the booking is at its best spotty. There are things that are unappealing to me – mostly the blood and guts. Not my thing. I’m glad it’s there for you all who love it, but if I could go forever without seeing a person’s blood dripping on the canvas, I’d be fine. I’m also not reaching for any tribalism here. I’m a WWE girlie, but I have AEW love too. I’ll crack some jokes, but I’m never reaching for “AEW sucks because WWE rules.” That’s dumb. It’s good to have options that are different, though I do think there are things AEW could do to increase their fanbase.

That said, here we are. Thanks to the powers of Max, I’m watching the first episode of Dynamite. Max has mostly been the home to my Righteous Gemstones binge, so it’s good to use it for something else.

A few things about AEW before we get into this episode. The main thing: this episode wasn’t the start of the AEW story. We all know the story: they had All In and then decided to start a company. It had several PPVs and YouTube specials before we got to Dynamite, crowning World Champion Chris Jericho, starting a tag title tournament, and setting up a Women’s Title Match on Dynamite.

I’m going to attempt to review this without going into match play-by-play, though that might happen a bit. I try to leave that to the professionals (Scott and Thomas). I also suck at calling moves and remembering names. Even writing about NXT for my SubStack, I struggle but I have fun with it and people seem to like it. I’m here to review the show, the vibe of the show, the things happening on it, and relate it to things that might be going on in 2025. How does it hold up? Let’s find out. I’m also not going to go back and do a ton of research on things I don’t know.

We start as most shows do, with the intro package set to “Light the Fuse.” It’s lots of AEW action with colors exploding everywhere. I really dug the “colors everywhere” promotional stuff of both this and NXT 2.0 because damn it, I like color. Shows having one color or being dreary and dark like pre-2.0 NXT are bummers. We have HD TVs – light them up!

Fireworks explode at the Dynamite ramp as Jim Ross is the first voice to welcome us to Washington, D.C. with 14K fans. It’s a sold-out show, and JR introduces the masked Excalibur and Tony Schiavone. Tony is of course returning to the same channel most of us last saw him on, TNT. He is clearly a lot happier than he was then.

Tonight: Hangman Page vs Pac! The AEW Women’s World Title: Riho vs Nyla Rose! Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho, Santana & Ortiz! But first, Cody and Sammy.

We skip to a video package of Cody Rhodes running up stairs and Tony talking to Cody about Sammy Guevara. Sammy tells us that Cody is overlooking him, and Cody is focused on Full Gear but doesn’t want to overlook Sammy. Sammy says it is the biggest match of his life and he’s 100% focused on beating Cody.

Cody (2-1-1) vs Sammy Guevara (0-1)

The centerpiece of the entrance set rises, and we see Cody and Brandi rise up the Codyvator. “Wrestling has more than one royal family.” It is weird going back and hearing adrenaline being in his soul on other shows, though also cool. I love some Brandi. I know there are some not great things to come in AEW with her, but I adore her. The fans are loud for Cody, chanting his name. Aubrey Edwards is our referee, and Justin Roberts is our ring announcer. JR tells us that the American Dream lives through the heart of Cody. The crowd is HOT for Cody, with Excalibur telling us there were chants for Cody before the show even began.

Loud “Cody” chants as Sammy’s music hits and he comes out with his panda hat. I’m not sure why he wore a panda on his head, but I’m sure he has solid reasons for it. Win-loss records, both in singles and overall competition, are on the chyron for all competitors. The fans boo Sammy.

Lots of flipping around from Sammy to start, which is a thing and that’s fine. Sammy gets the early advantage, posing in the ring to boos. Excalibur notes that Darby Allin’s speed in a previous match against Cody was a struggle, which made Cody have to show him down. That’s good storytelling for this match, actually. Sammy does a moonsault press onto Cody for a one count. Tony remembers the first match on TNT, Jushin Liger against Brian Pillman, and how we’re beginning again with this match. JR jumps in and remembers also calling that matchup in the earlier 1990s. Sammy slaps Cody, which fires him up. Cody hits a nice powerslam for a two count.

Cody locks on a figure four as the fans “woo” and they talk about Sammy vlogging, JR questioning if you can say “vlog” on television. Sammy gets out with a rope break. They trade chops in the corner and Cody holds a standing vertical suplex for a good ten seconds to the crowd’s delight. As Cody does push ups, I’ll note a bit on the lighting setup – blue light bathed over the fans with yellow/green lights shining up. It looks nice on television. Cody springboards off the ropes for a cutter, but only for a two count.

Tony notes that they’re trending at both #1 and #3 on Twitter as Sammy lands his own cutter for a two count. JR tells us that win-loss records matter as Excalibur notes that Sammy is “always misbehavin’, the kind of kid that would run through the house with a pickle in his mouth.” I had to listen to that three times before looking at the timeline and realizing that Righteous Gemstones debuted three months earlier on HBO. I thought I had unlocked some sort of weird moment where Excalibur influenced Baby Billy Freeman.

With Sammy on the outside, Cody runs and jumps outside. Sammy pulls Brandi into the line of fire, Brandi hitting the barricade as the fans boo. Dr. Sampson checks on Brandi as the fans chant “asshole.” A few minutes later, Brandi socks Sammy with her shoe and Guevera kicks out of a Disaster Kick. Both men go up top and Cody hits a beautiful reverse suplex which only gets a two. JR notes just how loud these fans are for Cody. Yeah, Cody has that connection with the fans to this day. He’s something special. Sammy leaps up and hits a Spanish Fly on Cody that is only a two count as well. Sammy jumps back up and jumps into Cody’s knees, who cradles him for the three count. Cody moves to 3-1-1, Sammy falls to 0-2.

Cody tosses his weight belt into the crowd as Tony heads to the ring to talk to Cody. Cody and Tony embrace in the ring, so Tony does not have the unbiased nature of a Cathy Kelley. Sammy shoves Cody but then offers a handshake which Cody accepts. The fans get loud, and we see Chris Jericho appear, attacking Cody as Sammy backs away. Jericho drops Cody with a knee as JR runs us to commercials.

Back from break, we’re right where we left off. Jericho drops Cody with the knee again, I assume because they were afraid we missed it with the commercial break happening. Fans chant, “Thank you Jericho” as Aubrey admonishes him on the ramp. Jericho returns to the ring, grabs the title, and smacks Cody over the head with it. It’s a beautiful belt, though you wouldn’t know that from watching AEW in 2025. Jericho grabs a camera from a ringside photographer and takes pictures. As Cody tries to get back to his feet at ringside, Jericho attacks with an AEW Commemorative Chair. Not the commemorative chair! Cody falls through the timekeeper’s table. Jericho sets up several chairs and powerbombs Cody through them as Brandi gives us “upset.” Jericho grabs the mic from Tony and tells us that he is Chris Jericho and he’s the champion. Thanks for that.

Brandon Cutler (0-0-0) vs MJF (1-1-0)

“TPK” plays on the screen and audio as Brandon Cutler arrives, commentary telling us he was a childhood friend of the Young Bucks. Max cuts off Justin Roberts, calling the fans poor as they chant “asshole” at him. He says he is the hottest rising star in wrestling and these losers get to watch a star be born against a guy who got lost on the way to his seat behind the guardrail, a guy who is a complete loser.

We discuss the existence of “Dungeons & Dragons muscles” as Cutler gets a near fall. Bryce is our ref for this one. MJF plays with him, but Cutler does a dive to the outside onto MJF. Cutler tweaks his knee on a move and MJF smacks him with a fist, locking him in his armbar and getting the win.

JR plugs our main event, but right now we’re going down to Chris Van Vliet and the stars are out! Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are ringside to promote the Jay & Silent Bob reboot movie, which featured Chris Jericho. What a shame. I am mostly out of the Jay & Silent Bob atmosphere, though I did watch the one with Rosario Dawson because Rosario Dawson. TH2 appears to harass Kevin & Jason. Private Party come up and claim the seats next to the stars, then leave right when TH2 leave. Okay!

SCU welcomes us from outside of the White House, where Scorpio Sky does a good Barack Obama impression while the other two play Secret Service. Scorpio changes up and calls it the worst town they’ve ever been in. SCU!

And here they are in the arena, on the ramp with Tony. Scorpio questions which two members are going to compete in the tournament, saying it will be Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. We’re joined by the Lucha Brothers. Ray Fenix says they’re the best tag team in the universe, while Penta does his hand thing to the crowd’s delight. He spits in Daniels’ face and they brawl.

Backstage, the Bucks and Kenny are getting into their gear. Meanwhile, Jericho is telling his crew it’s the most important night in pro wrestling history. We switch to talking about the upcoming Women’s World Championship match, but first a match between dudes!

Hangman Adam Page (2-1-0) vs Pac (1-0-0)

Hangman comes out to a good response with commentary saying this is a good chance for him to rebuild. JR admonishes Tony for calling Pac “the bastard” as “the bastard” flashes on the video screen. We head to commercials before we get into the battle.

We come back and Pac runs into the ring, Earl Hebner our referee. Hebner was there? JR promises picture-in-picture if we have to take another commercial break, but that doesn’t apply to those of us watching years later on Max. It’s a good start to the match that leads outside to a brawl, Hangman leaping out and running Pac into the barricade with a suicide dive. After some in-ring action, Pac springboards onto Hangman and Hangman’s head smacks the ramp.

Pac tosses Hangman back in and lands a 450 for a two count as the fans trade “let’s go Pac” and “let’s go Hangman” chants. Hangman flapjacks Pac into a cutter for a two count. The action goes right outside in front of Conrad Thompson (Tony: “How can you miss him?”) and back in, as this match keeps doing. Pac nails a beautiful dropkick. The pace has slowed and I like both men, but I’m kinda bored with this one. JR doesn’t like the pacing of the match either.

Hangman slings Pac into a spinebuster and rolls through, Pac going out and springboarding into a powerbomb. Hangman hits a beauty of a moonsault to the outside on Page, who rolls Pac back in and misses a Buckshot. The damn bastard low blows Page, Hebner missing it as always. Pac goes up, hits the Blackout and locks on the Brutalizer, Hebner calling for the bell. This was fine but went on for a while.

Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. is out to join the announce team as we have the Women’s Title match up next. The belt is seen at ringside, surrounded by all men of course because why would you find three women in the audience to stand behind a belt when you can have the dude bros. (Yes, there were women in the audience.)

AEW Women’s World Title: Nyla Rose (0-2-0) vs Riho (3-1-0)

Nyla Rose is out first and friends, I’m a big Nyla fan. Love her character, love her look, love her absolute crazed sense of humor. I really don’t understand why they don’t do anything with her nowadays. Britt tells Tony that it took eight years to become a dentist, and she hopes it doesn’t take eight years to add “champion” to her name. Nyla won the Casino Battle Royale, in case you’re wondering how she was 0-2 and made this.

Commentary notes how small and light Riho is, and I know that’s a contentious point for a lot of people. It’s never bothered me any more than Rey Mysterio or other small people competing against larger people. Momentum still hurts, and I like the uphill battle nature. I’m sure the comments arguing about this will be totally normal. But first, Max says it’s time for me to see this commercial about Anna Faris needing pink eye meds from Walmart+ a third time!

Nyla gets the boos and Riho gets the cheers for the introductions as JR notes what a disadvantage Riho has. The belt is TINY when they hold it up, and I’m glad they fixed that eventually. Riho tries to surfboard off Rose’s back, but Rose launches her in the air. JR notes that you can’t practice much for Nyla because of her size shortly after saying that Nyla’s billed weight is a lie and she has to weigh more. Okay, JR. Nyla holds Riho up for a suplex, but Riho squeaks out. Riho hits several running knee strikes on Nyla, knocking her to the outside, and then Riho goes up and leaps right into Nyla’s arms outside, Nyla tossing her to the floor.

Nyla gets a chair and the referee takes it away, giving Riho a chance to briefly attack before getting rammed into the barricade. Nyla throws numerous chairs into a pile on the ramp and puts Riho on top of them. Nyla leaps right into the pile with a cannonball senton, Riho rolling out of the way and then landing a stomp of her own as the fans chant, “holy shit.” Riho stomps Nyla from the top rope for a two count. Riho tries for a crucifix but is caught by Nyla, who lands a Samoan drop but can only capitalize for a two count.

The fans chant for Riho as Nyla lands a nasty knee across the spine of Riho, who was hanging across the ropes. Riho kicks out and Nyla locks on a STF. Nyla wrenches back but Riho won’t give up, so she lets go and picks Riho up for a powerbomb. Riho tries to reverse but can’t, collapsing. Riho fights out of a power bomb and rolls Nyla up for a very close two count, then runs into a clothesline. Nyla lands a DVD and Riho slides out. Britt is very, very quiet on commentary. I forgot she was there until they randomly showed her on camera. Nyla goes up top and Riho hits an avalanche suplex, again for a two. Riho takes Nyla down with a double knee to the face and gets the pin, becoming the first AEW Women’s World Champion. I enjoyed that a lot.

Michael Nakazawa comes out to interview her, saying he is proud of her and doing an interview in Japanese. Nyla attacks, taking Nakazawa down and powering him into the Liger Bomb. Kenny Omega runs out to save Riho from further attack.

Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho, Santana & Ortiz (trios record 0-0-0)

A dramatic Marvel-style intro for Being the Elite brings out those known as Elite, the Young Bucks and Kenneth Omega to confetti as we have “TV time remaining.” No stats for the Elite. Santana and Ortiz come out first for their side. Jericho comes out to “Judas,” which isn’t quite at singalong level yet, but we’ll get there unfortunately.

We start with Jericho and Omega. We have thirteen minutes left. Jericho tags Santana in immediately as JR talks about Omega’s mental collapse, which is a thing I assume. Jericho finds his way in and hooks on the Liontamer, but the Bucks superkick him to break it up. The Bucks leap on the others outside. Omega threatens the same, but we have a Jon Moxley appearance, attacking Omega and tossing him outside. Mox throws Omega over the barricade, and they brawl into the crowd and then the VIP area, where Mox DDTs Omega through a glass coffee table as we run to the commercial.

Back from break, the rest of the guys are in the ring wrestling. Down Omega, the Bucks are struggling to defeat the numbers game. Matt fights out and tags in Nick and there are sentons to the outside. Jericho intercepts a Jackson with the knees and the Judas Effect, getting a three count to win the match. The Elite have lost. The attack continues but Cody runs out, trying to even the odds. Sammy follows, kicking Cody in the nuts and attacking. Dustin Rhodes is next in the train, going for the save.

Then we get the appearance of the former Jack Swagger, Jake Hager. Jake slams Dustin down and JR runs over his Bellator stats, Hager attacking everybody on the Elite side. The fans chant “We the People.” Ortiz and Santana bring in the replacement timekeeper’s table, Hager driving Dustin into it but not quite breaking it. The attack on all the good guys continues and that’s where we head to the copyright chyron and the end of the show.

I’ve seen this one a few times so there are no surprises, but I think it’s a solid first show. They started the show as they should with their hottest act Cody, ending with a decent main event and a surprise. Sure, the surprise was JACK SWAGGER, but it was something. The women’s match was a good representative of the division as well, and I’m sure they’ll continue to build on the division and not take several years to give women more than multiple matches and eight minutes a show. I’d tune in again a second week.

Next time: the tag title tournament! Shawn Spears! Darby Allin!