Welcome again to AEW Weekly! The exclusive location for a collection of news and an in-depth review of AEW Dynamite! Give a share, give a follow, and let us know what you think! Now, without further ado, we present AEW Weekly for 7/30/20.
AEW Weekly News and Notes for 7/30/20
- Per Dave Meltzer’s “The Wrestling Observer”, Sky Sports Italy is choosing to drop longtime partner WWE in favor of AEW. Dynamite will air on Friday nights starting this Friday on July 31st.
- Kris Statlander posted an image on her Twitter page showing that surgery to repair her torn ACL was a success. Boops all around!
- The Rhodes Wrestling academy announced earlier this week that they will be launching in January 2021. The school will be located just outside Austin, Texas.
- Cody tweeted in reply to fan stating that the TNT Championship design will be completed on August 12th. The Championship is set to have gold in the design, but the pandemic prevented the Championship to be finished by its Double or Nothing debut.
- Big Swole was this week’s guest on AEW Unrestricted. She revealed that she was struck by lightning, paralyzed for a week, had Crohn’s disease, Colon cancer, and was Patient Zero for the Nightmare Virus. What a life, but great motivation to keep pushing from SWOLE!
Dynamite Review
Still no comment from AEW on the status of Excalibur, but he was notably absent from the commentary booth. Any time where we get to hear Taz on commentary is a good day in my book. This week Dynamite started off right where they left off on last week’s dynamite.
Inner Circle vs. Jurassic Express and Best Friends
Jericho enters still donning his now orange-tinted $7000 jacket. He and Orange seemingly were going to start, but Jericho switched with Hager prior to engaging. Cassidy did a great job trying and actually got Hager off guard. As these matches tend to do, all chaos broke loose. As the dust finally settled we saw the biggest hug on Dynamite to this date. Sammy attempted to break up the hug but was left in a circle of foes.
Best Friends and Jurassic Express took full advantage of the numbers advantage treating Sammy like hacky sack. Soon after Aubrey Edwards was finally able to restrict the teams to the aprons. While the two big men were duking it out Luchasaurus’ mask nearly came off multiple times. He was able to keep his decency without any major slips. As Sammy was looking to make an impactful move from the top rope Matt hardy came in with the distraction and led Sammy right into the brutal kicks of Luchasaurus.
Winners – Best Friends and Jurassic Express
We are welcomed back to a lovely view of the Jacksonville sunset. Jim Ross made a statement about them playing by the rules and wearing masks, while literally not wearing a mask. But hey, at least their continuing to mention that a pandemic is actually happening and that they are all getting tested appropriately.
We then saw Jon Moxley with a promo talking about the actions of Brian Cage and Ricky Starks last week. He hyped up the no disqualification factor of their match and was practically foaming at the mouth.
AEW Weekly for 7/30/20
WARHORSE vs. Cody – TNT Championship Match
WARHORSE Time! Gotta give that man that fire pyro. Headbanging like it’s the match of his career and it really is. Cody continued to play the cocky champion role. Almost as if he sees these independent guys to not be on his level. The bottom line is he’s putting out great matches and giving the rub to many talents who would never dream of these opportunities.
During the match, Cody would put the figure four on WARHORSE and he immediately reversed it to flip it on Cody. WARHORSE was on his game tonight proving that he deserved this opportunity. He nailed Cody with a double stomp from the apron and then a lovely elbow drop with a near fall that could even make Danhausen swear! Cody was able to take advantage of WARHORSE’s bad leg and finally finished him off with a figure four to retain.
Winner – Cody
The Dark Order would storm the ring after and WARHORSE pushed Cody out of the way to take them on. However, the numbers would prove to be too much. Then they turned their sights on Double-A, but Matt Cardona makes the save and his AEW debut! It’s great to see him paired with Cody, and appears to be in the best shape of his life.
As Tony was about to make an announcement regarding All Out, Inner Circle interrupts. Sammy calls out Matt Hardy for messing up his return. Jericho states that he and Orange Cassidy are far from finished. Jericho announces that in two weeks there will be a rematch. The stipulation being that if Orange Cassidy loses then he will need to pay Jericho $7000 for the jacket he ruined. Prior to that match, next week he challenged Orange to a debate! I for one fully expect Orange Cassidy to be more than prepared for this battle of words against Jericho.
We then saw Tony in a video package with FTR signings their AEW contracts. Arn Anderson enters to read over the contract. A main point in the contract is that August 12th will be tag Team appreciation night. Enter Hangman with whiskey in tow. He proposes a toast to FTR on signing with AEW, and they cheered to the old days at Mid Atlantic.
AEW Weekly for 7/30/20
The Dark Order vs. Kenny Omega & Hangman Adam Page – AEW Tag Team Championship Match
Mr Brodie Lee walks out with Grayson and Evil Uno. He walked over to the announce desk and had Colt Cabana joining the commentary team. Brodie Lee was just pacing around, and we also saw new recruit, Anna Jay, with him.
For those wondering if Hangman liked having white wrist tape on last week – He didn’t.
The tensions keep rising between Omega and Hangman. Page was getting in the face of The Dark Order and start to get beat on, but Omega took a little time getting there for the save. Colt seems very brainwashed, but answered Jim Ross’ question of him being officially in the group by saying “I’m just hanging out right now”. Later in the match Omega launches Grayson over the turnbuckle landing hard on the outside. Uno would get some momentum after a Swanton Bomb on Omega nearly declared new Tag Champs. The tandem offense by The Dark Order really is remarkable. Omega and Hangman picked up the win with the Last Call.
Winners – Hangman and Omega
Before the referee could even finish counting Brodie Lee immediately tells Colt and Anna to head to the back. He belittles Grayson and Evil Uno, and starts targeting Hangman. The Young Bucks come from the seats for backup, but the rest of The Dark Order surrounds the ring. FTR comes in to clear the ring bashing their cooler over the head of Brodie Lee. They make the save as the story of FTR and The Elite continues.
Next Britt Baker addresses the audience about Big Swole. She states that she’ll fight Swole, but she needs to beat an opponent of Bakers choosing first. That will be announced at a later time.
AEW Weekly for 7/30/20
Hikaru Shida vs. Diamante
There was a video package on the unsigned Diamanté. She was talking about what it means to have the opportunity to face the women’s champion. To start the match off Shida offers a handshake, but Diamanté rejects by pushing the Champions head away. The match started with an unfocused Shida. She was lackadaisical with covers, and the aggression wasn’t there like it usually is. She did still end up picking up the win. Diamanté showed a great effort. She continues to prove her abilities to be in this division. She was able to kick out of Shida’s Falcon Arrow but eventually fell to the Shinning Wizard.
Winner – Hikaru Shida
Next, we were treated to more information on the upcoming Deadly Draw. The tournament is a random draw meaning that all teammates are at random! The Trophy Cup is the prize for the tournament and it looks great.
We then saw a backstage interview with Nyla Rose and Vicki. They talked about the draw not mattering because whoever she is paired with they will win. Rose drew her favorite color purple, and she is surprisingly paired with the former Cameron: Ariane Andrew! It will be very interesting to see her in a ring again, and it’s always nice seeing AEW build their women’s division.
MJF’s State of the Union Address
We were taken backstage as Wardlow knocks on MJF’s door Goldberg style. MJF is in full politician mode here. Kissing babies and well, gargling his mouth out with mouth wash immediately after. MJF is addressing the marks (wrestling fans). Condescending as ever he is calling out Jon Moxley. He states that Moxley is holding this company back, and using his tenure over MJF’s talent to get up the card. He calls him Dictator Jon, and challenges him to a match at All Out for the AEW World Championship. There has been no official word on this yet, but MJF is scheduled to have an update next week.
Also next week we will see Matt Cardona and Cody taking on John Silver and Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order. The Young Bucks, FTR, Omega and Hangman will be going up against members of The Dark Order in a filled up 12-man tag match. Also, the debate between Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho will have a special guest moderator to be named later.
AEW Weekly for 7/30/20
Main Event: Darby Allin & Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks – Texas Tornado Tag Match
Darby Allin did not make his entrance, but Moxley would never miss the opportunity to get his hands dirty. With Moxley alone in the ring, we saw Taz, Starks and Cage in the back. Taz hypes up Cage’s muscles because of course but then gives the mic to Starks to do what he does best.
Darby Allin drops in from the top as Starks and Brian Cage we’re making their entrance, and we were on our way. A lot of action as expected in this match. They went to picture-in-picture just as they started bringing out the toys, unfortunately. Brian Cage showed off his freakish power catching Darby while holding Mox slamming both to the ground. Ricky and Cage seemed to work well with each other. Starks is making the most of his time in the main event. Nearing the end of the show Darby locates his skateboard with tacks underneath. Moxley slid on the apron and caught Cage in an armbar while Allin drops in on Starks for the win. The drop certainly did not hit flush as Starks’ back was shredded. He could hardly hold for the pin he was shaking in pain so much.
The end of the show saw a nice stare down between Allin and Moxley. The two have had great moments in the past, and Allin has never been shy about wanting the AEW Championship. Before the end, Tony Schiavone announced that Allin gets a title shot next week!
What did you think of this week’s Dynamite? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to discuss this with you! See you next week on AEW Weekly!
