The Aug. 5 edition of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was highlighted by a fiery debate between Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho as well as a hard-hitting AEW World Championship match between the champion Jon Moxley and Darby Allin.
Welcome to the second edition of ‘Diffusing Dynamite,’ hosted by Gavin Axelrod and Joseph Casciaro. Every week Gavin and Joseph give their takeaways and thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) weekly show, Dynamite.
This week’s episode was stacked top to bottom, featuring previously announced high profile matches and much more to keep everyone sports entertained. The announced main event for the night was AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley, defending against the risk-taking Darby Allin.
Elsewhere on the card was a massive 12-man tag team match, which pitted Dark Order against The Elite and FTR. Dynamite also featured the in-ring debut of Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder in WWE) who teamed with Cody against Alex Reynolds and John Silver of Dark Order. However, what I was most excited about was the debate with a mystery guest moderator between ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho and ‘Freshly Squeezed’ Orange Cassidy.
With so much high-quality content announced, you must wonder if they delivered? Keep reading to find out all about the best moments from the Aug. 5 episode of AEW Dynamite.
The Elite finds more issues
The show’s opener was the previously mentioned 12-man tag team match, where The Elite teamed with FTR to battle Dark Order. In the middle of the match, Dax Harwood of FTR went down with a knee injury and had to be helped to the back.
What left everyone puzzled was Harwood was helped to the back not just by his partner, Cash Wheeler, but also by ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, a member of The Elite. This just helped fuel the already existing speculation that FTR and Page could be riding together in the form of a stable in the near future.
This also sparks further issues within The Elite. Despite Page’s return to the match, he was pinned by Dark Order’s leader Mr. Brodie Lee.
The relationship between the ‘Hangman’ and his acquaintances has been uneasy over the past few months, but Page taking the pin will surely make things worse.
MJF continues to shine
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) showed once again he one of the best wrestlers on the microphone in all of pro wrestling. We only got a brief one minute clip of MJF this week, but his arrogance shined and he just makes you love to hate him.
Snarky things like telling his worker, Lee Johnson, to level his campaign poster and telling his other worker, Nina, to smile when she speaks, is what makes MJF such a great character. Whether he battles Moxley or Allin at All Out, a successful campaign for MJF means money for AEW.
Matthew Hardy and Sammy Guevara battle it out
Matthew Hardy and Sammy Guevara have been in a heated rivalry for quite some time, and it reached a boiling point tonight. Hardy was out to deliver a promo about how he is dropping all characters and showing the world his true self so he can help younger talent.
Hardy also says he tried to help Guevara, and he did not listen and instead, he attacked him.
During the fiery promo, Guevara slipped out from under the ring, but before he could land the first blow, Hardy turned and told the audience he knew Sammy would come.
Guevara eventually drove Hardy into the ring post, drilled him in the head with a steel chair busting him open and then delivered a 450 splash to Hardy through a table off the stage.
Guevara showed his daredevil side, somewhat like a young Matt Hardy from his days back competing in tables, ladders, and chairs matches. This feud can only go up from here, and I expect these two men to compete in an actual match very soon.
Cody’s next challenger reveals himself
Following the celebration for Cody and Matt Cardona, after they defeated Dark Order, Cody was greeted by a special guest on the ramp. Scorpio Sky of SCU, someone who Gavin said would be the next TNT Champion, appeared beside Cody.
He did not have anything to say, he just simply gave the TNT title a tap to let Cody know he wants a shot.
This is a match we can both get behind, and when it happens let’s see if Gavin can tell the future. Sky has been trending upward as of late, with 12 wins in 2020 and 24 wins overall in his AEW career.
The Super Wednesday Debate 2020
The 2020 Super Wednesday Debate showed once again that Chris Jericho is the “G.O.A.T.” and Orange Cassidy is one of the greatest up and comers in AEW. Chris Jericho works the microphone like no other while Cassidy oozes charisma even when he says nothing.
The debate was moderated by Eric Bischoff, and he ruined Jericho’s mood when he announced Cassidy winner of the debate. Throughout the segment, Cassidy said close to nothing, while Jericho continued to attack the career of Cassidy.
Jericho went as far as saying Cassidy is a pimple on the ass of pro wrestling that he is going to pop him next week in their match. Cassidy made his words count, especially by telling Jericho he has to win this match because it would be an embarrassment in his illustrious career if he “lost to a man who puts his hands in his pockets.”
Jericho had nothing left to say when Cassidy was deemed the winner and he sent his muscle, Jake Hager, to attack. Hager clobbered Cassidy, and then Jericho hit him with a Judas Effect.
The debate raised the stakes in the ongoing Cassidy-Jericho feud. Cassidy’s underdog fire coupled with Jericho’s cheap antics has made this a must-watch match,
Jon Moxley retains over Darby Allin
Since AEW Dynamite premiered Darby Allin has been a fan favourite, with his death-defying move set and crazy personality he is everything a fan looks for. Putting a character like that up against the brawling Jon Moxley is a recipe for a vicious bout, which is exactly what fans got.
Allin continued to show no remorse for his own body, flying through and off the ropes multiple times on to Moxley. The champion did whatever he needed to hurt Allin, including throwing him from the top of the stage into the ring post.
However, the match was not clean at all and in the middle of the match, MJF made an appearance. Wardlow came to the apron to distract the referee, while MJF hit Moxley between the eyes with his AEW World Championship belt.
Even with the attack from MJF and a Coffin Drop from Allin, Moxley still would not give up. This did not sit well with me because it made Allin look very weak, considering even with the help he could not put Moxley away.
Moxley ended up reversing a second Coffin Drop and hit a Gotch-style piledriver, a nice call-out to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Minoru Suzuki. However, with Allin’s never die attitude that was not enough.
It took Moxley hitting a Paradigm Shift to get the win and retain his AEW World Championship. With this win, Jon Moxley vs MJF for the AEW World Championship is confirmed for All Out. MJF was clearly not too happy about this, and he realized he just angered the wrong person, this feud has so much potential.
Next Week: Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy, Kenny Omega and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page vs Jurassic Express, Dark Order vs Young Bucks, and special appearances from the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express, Tully Blanchard, and Arn Anderson.
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