AEW Dynamite Diatribe 2/19/20 (Steel Cage Match)

By
Zach Perez

Welcome back to the all-new AEW Dynamite Diatribe here on Pro Wrestling Post, with me, Zach Perez! A steel cage main event match is something to look forward to! This week we got an electric night of action in Cody’s adopted home of Atlanta, GA. A mini pay-per-view in its own right, this was clearly him taking extra care of the crowd in the State Farm Arena, which spreads the love to all the viewers at home as well. And fans were treated with a few spectacles in particular that we won’t soon forget.

AEW Dynamite Diatribe 2/19/20 (Steel Cage Match)
Photo/@AEWrestling

We also had some miscellaneous mentionable moments, including a damn good promo from Nyla Rose. She ripped into the AEW women provoking Kris Statlander and Big Swole. Offering them to step up to the plate and set up a potential Revolution bout amongst some combination of the three, if not all of them.

We also had the announcement of a brand-new toy line for AEW, created by Wicked Cool Toys a company owned by Jazwares. They were announced officially by Matt Jackson’s wife, who made her television debut here. They look very well made from the few shots, and it seems we will be seeing those hit shelves sometime here in 2020.

Finally, we also had the last-second announcement by Jim Ross at the end of the night that We will be getting Kenny Omega versus PAC at Revolution in a 30-minute Iron Man match. But, speaking of matches there are plenty of gems on this night of wrestling worth getting excited about as well.

So let’s dive into it!

#1 Contender AEW Tag Team Championship
Tag Team Battle Royale

AEW Dynamite Diatribe 2/19/20 (Steel Cage Match)
Photo/ AEW Wrestling

This immediately became an all-out brawl, all the teams started out at ringside, then rushed the ring to start the night of Dynamite with a bang. Scorpio Sky breaks up the individual scraps and wipes the whole pile out by coming off the top rope. Jack Evans was thinking similar thoughts. But gets caught in the middle of what looked to be an attempted 630 splash. He was then mob lynched over the top rope to be the first one out.

T Hawk came shortly behind him being thrown out after the Silly String from Private Party. Dark Order later interrupts the match to warn SCU of the Exalted One’s impending approach and questioned the disappearance of Christopher Daniels. The distraction worked as SCU is then thrown over by Silver and Reynolds. Sky responds and jumps over the barrier and attacks Grayson starting a mini brawl on the outside as the numbers slowly work in Dark Order’s favor.

The Young Bucks eliminate Silver and Reynolds right after though with stereo superkicks sailing them over the ropes. Trent and CIMA then share chops that light their chest and the crowd up. Proud-N-Powerful enters late to play the heel thugs role perfectly.

CIMA tries for a german suplex off the apron to Jungle Boy only to eat a boot by Luchasaurus eliminating him.

The impressive tandem offense of Jurassic Express continues with a beautiful assisted headscissors by JB. Butcher and Blade attack soon after and make their presence felt. But a springboard x-factor from Nick Jackson leads to him kicking the hell out of everybody in the match as he went on an absolute tear.

Jungle Boy gets the back body drop assist from Lucahsaurus onto everybody, knocking them all down like bowling pins. That is all but two as we got a showdown of the big men with Luchasaurus and the Butcher. Both trading huge shots in a beautiful brawl that was one of the standout moments of this match. Butcher and Luchasaurus both took massive steps in proving just how badass these big dudes really are. The future looks blindingly bright for both, especially in the land of smaller wrestlers.

Private Party ends up getting eliminated by PNP mid-Silly String, ending their chances. Angelico ends up eliminated right after by some clever teamwork from Jurassic Express. But then the mob mentality wins and they are both eliminated by the remaining crowd.

Butcher and Blade commit either the cardinal sin or the token heel move depending on your stance. They break up the hug from the Best Friends and they then eliminate Chuck Taylor. Trent nearly gets the same result but gets caught by Orange Cassidy. Who rides him on his shoulders back into the ring.

PNP and Butcher try to team up on Trent and Matt, but they regain control.

Both men then hug it out to the delight of the Atlanta faithful. Butcher and Trent battle it out on the apron teasing eliminations but on the outside Bunny low blows Orange Cassidy. And to add insult to injury Trent then gets tossed out of the match in short succession. Matt tries to bite Butcher off the apron and then hits the spear through the middle rope to eliminate him with authority.

Matt then lays into LAX and then hits rolling northern light suplexes on both before nearly getting Santana over the ropes. Street Sweeper connects to Matt after Sammy trips him on his way off the ropes which nearly ends the night. Matt wills his way back in and superkicks Ortiz over the ropes. And then Sammy leaped in from the top rope! Only to get made into the best superkick gif since Shawn Michaels and Shelton Benjamin. Matt ended up winning the match by then clotheslining Santana over the ropes. The Young Bucks reunite in the ring and celebrate in the picture in picture during the break.

Winner – Young Bucks via Matt Jackson eliminating Santana with a clothesline

Kris Statlander vs Shanna

Statlander boops Rick Knox’s nose to start the contest before a tie-up. They begin slowly trading control of the wrist locks before the back and forth action as Kris leads to Shanna down in the corner.

Statlander crawls toward Shanna just to touch her nose, and Shanna feigns returning it before they start to trade…nose pokes! It’s not long before a trade of real strikes takes place. Kris takes the advantage and starts to hit rapid-fire shots ending with a two count before the commercial.

Shanna battles back into it during the break, including a Tajiri-style buzzsaw kick combo. She then rubs her boot into Kris like a cigarette she is trying to put out. Kris battles back only to catch a stiff lariat for her efforts. Shanna still can’t put her away however, slowly beginning to frustrate her more with each pinfall attempt.

Shanna works her way into holding a dragon sleeper. Kris eventually counters into a snapmare and kick combination. Statlander hits the running knee into the corner and then transitions into a spinout powerbomb. Kris tries for a moonsault but gets stuck in the tree of woe. This leads to the double stomps by Shanna for a 2 that really lowered her confidence dangerously low. Shanna tries for a tiger suplex, but it is countered as she bounces into the ropes for her own counter into a tornado DDT on Statlander.

A low well-targeted dropkick to the teeth by Shanna hangs Kris up on the bottom rope. Shanna tries to bounce off the ropes but Kris counters back with her Big Bang Theory finisher for the win in a great match. Sign me up for a rematch between these two.

Winner – Kris Statlander via Big Bang Theory

Jeff Cobb vs Jon Moxley

AEW Dynamite Diatribe 2/19/20 (Steel Cage Match)
Photo/ AEW Wrestling

The monster of a man Jeff Cobb makes his debut here against Moxley. Very fittingly, Taz was on commentary for this match highlighting the similarities of Jeff to himself. Although I think somebody dropped the ball by not mentioning Rhino. Cobb looks like Rhino’s younger but bigger brother and Taz went to war with him so many times in ECW. A video package plays, hyping his arrival. Showing his early path of destruction in AEW by taking out Moxley last week.

Jeff wastes no time out of the gate either, with a belly to belly. Followed by a dropkick to start lighting up Moxley. Jon then eats some forearms and has his head bounced off the steps on the outside. This has descended into a street fight mentality.

A low dropkick from Mox leads to a splash over the top rope putting him back into things. Mox lays into Cobb with the stiff chops but then gets it returned with an elbow. Followed by a headbutt combo from Jeff. The see-saw brawl continues, and Jon gets back into it with chops. Only to get launched chest first into the turnbuckle hard enough to give his grandchildren whiplash. Rest hold gets applied after the whirlwind start, more to let the crowd breathe rather than themselves here.

Moxley and Cobb then begin to trade shots back and forth. But a huge slam from Cobb plants Moxley by spinning him to the mat with conviction. Cobb would hold the advantage through to the end, but couldn’t quite seal the deal. Mox steals the win with a small package after Cobb hit him with the superplex. He seems content to make it out alive more so than make it pretty here.

Winner – Jon Moxley via small package

After the match, the Inner Circle lead by Jericho mob the ring and lay into Moxley. Dustin comes down for the momentary save but loses to the numbers game as well. That is until the lights go out, then get even darker. Darby Allin stands atop the ramp as the lights come back on and he returns to a thunderous ovation!

Allin glides down the ramp and storms the ring. He takes everybody out with his skateboard. It all felt very action movie, and not in a cheesy sort of way either. Allin even got flipped over at one point, landing right onto his feet and immediately swinging back with his board. The pop mixed with the energy of Darby was palpable to say the least.

Jericho and Jon then end up in a brawl in the center of the ring to tease Revolution. But Jericho decides to duck out before taking too much damage. Le Champion knows when to pick his spots, and will likely want no part (personally, at least) of Moxley until the 29th. And he is probably a smarter man for that decision, as the one-eyed man is looking for only one thing: taking everything Jericho has from him, including the AEW title.

Lucha Bros vs Kenny Omega and Adam Page

AEW Dynamite Diatribe 2/19/20 (Steel Cage Match)
Photo/ AEW Wrestling

When I sat down to type this article, this match was by far the one I dreaded writing the most. Not because it wasn’t awesome, because it was. Not because it disappointed, because it didn’t. Not because it didn’t hold up to the rest of the amazing matches, because it did. No, I simply couldn’t imagine doing this match justice with a keyboard. The pace and variety of moves in this arsenal emptying all-out war was simply dizzying to try to notate as the match went on. So my disclaimer is that you need to watch this match. I can’t describe it to you better than your eyes can perceive it. This was a masterpiece of tag team wrestling.

But jumping into my attempt to convey that, Omega and Page start off slow but strong on Fenix. Isolating him for several tandem offensive maneuvers. Page and Rey then trade chops before Hangman knocks him down with a huge one of his own. Then hits the bridging fallaway pump-handle slam as cleanly as anyone has ever done it.

Insane aerial tag team action from the champions showing great chemistry despite their much shorter track record compared to Pentagon and Fenix. Rey connects with a superkick and then pummels Hangman in a sort of weaker Lou Thesz press pushing into the corner for the first tag of the night to Pentagon.

Fluid and constant motion athleticism from the Lucha Bros ensues. Kenny and Page fight back starting an intense lightning-quick pace with a plethora of tandem maneuvers.

The match see-saws back and forth with enough crazy nonstop action throughout to make your head explode.

Lucha Bros capitalize off Adam Page hitting the buckshot lariat on Kenny but can’t quite put him away. This, of course, plays off the spiraling Adam and his numerous accidental missteps that have lost them matches in the past. Tonight wouldn’t be that night however.

A corkscrew attempt from Fenix leads to a mid-air V Trigger. It then transitions to a perfect tiger driver 98. We then got the finish as the now-signature Buckshot lariat and V Trigger combination ended the night off the tiger feint to roundhouse kick counter. This was a beautiful finish to an absolute masterclass of a match. We will now get the conclusion of the Page saga most likely as well. Plus we get to see the Bucks of Youth take on the pair at Revolution for an Elite vs. Elite battle for the gold.

Winner – Kenny Omega and Hangman Page via Buckshot/V-Trigger Combo

Steel Cage
Cody vs Wardlow w/MJF

Photo/ AEW Wrestling

An absolutely huge, massive cage slowly made it down to ringside after both men made their respective entrances. Cody accompanied by Arn Anderson got a thunderous ovation! Wardlow looked the part of the big brute here perfectly. Maybe not including the man bun? But that is just me putting my tongue in my cheek a bit here I suppose.

As expected Wardlow dominates early leading into some picture in picture violence involving the cage on the first and only break in the action. A nasty powerbomb, some cage smashes, and Wardlow tossing Cody around a few times leads into the return of the break.  Cody is now bloodied with the crimson mask his father wore so many times before him in these matches. He then throws Wardlow down leading to him hulking up and punching the blood out of his forehead. There is just something about that red splash of color that makes cage matches really mean something.

Wardlow counters back from the momentum swing with a low blow. He really did knock the ballsiness out of Cody for the time being. Spinning F10 delivered with authority by Wardlow. But he purposely doesn’t cover at MJF’s request. It isn’t about winning your first match big man, it’s about trying to murder Cody before Revolution.

Arn Anderson, after being coerced to turn on Cody, slams the cage door against MJF’s shouting face.

He wanted him to pull the same cage slam he did against Dusty Rhodes. But instead, Arn stayed true to the younger Rhodes.

A fallaway slam then gets a near fall by Cody, but it would take a lot more to put this beast away as we saw. A massive gorilla press throw against the cage by Wardlow! He hit so hard it made you check yourself for cage marks at home. Big senton off the top rope to follow by Wardlow. He made me nervous thinking we were going to see a repeat of Brock Lesnar’s shooting star press injury at WrestleMania XIX.

Wardlow then grabs the ring from MJF to attempt to use it. But fails in doing so as Cody gets back into it. On the outside, MJF is attacked with a chair by Brandi and he nearly goes after her. He instead gets laid out before he could. Back in the ring, a Cross Rhodes connects for a very near three count. Cody also returns the low blow and steals the ring in the process. But this was all just stepping stones to the big, memorable finish.

Right as the cage was lowered, I tweeted out this message:

Cody proved me wrong mere minutes later, as he skies to the top and hits the huge moonsault off the cage to Wardlow for the win. My jaw scraped my living room floor as Cody jumped. What a match, what a night, and what a victory! Revolution just keeps being built superbly week in and week out, and this is probably the highlight of that build thus far.

Winner – Cody via moonsault off the cage

Until Next Time…

There we have it, a borderline pay-per-view on television two weeks before we get the Revolution pay-per-view proper. I can’t speak for all the fans, but I personally feel that this is the best-built event in company history thus far. Especially with their use of weekly air tv. This night had a WCW quality to it, in that it felt like they were giving away a lot on TNT before the big event. But much how it worked then, when it is done right, just makes the hype that much more red hot. Now it is up to them to capitalize on that, which their track record leads me to believe Revolution will be spectacular.

But as for this week’s edition of the AEW Dynamite Diatribe, we are through for this week. As Dynamite hits the air, stick with me and expect all the reactions to catch you up on that AEW action whenever it goes down, right here on Pro Wrestling Post. But, as always, until next time…

Goodbye, and goodnight!

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