Match #1. Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks
Jericho welcomes the crowd into the new year with a double middle finger. Head lock takeover by Jericho and some taunting to start. Jericho gets dropped with a slap but regains control with some heavy chops. Running clotheslines in the corner but Starks responds and goes old school! Crowd is on fire tonight. Fireman’s carry into a sit-out face buster by Starks for two. Starks heads to the apron as Jericho looks for the double jump dropkick but Starks cuts him off. Jericho follows Starks to the apron and hits a suplex to the floor! Jericho in control throughout the break but both men now exchanging chops in the center of the ring. Flying clothesline by Starks and a dropkick. Jericho fights off a RoShamBo attempt but Starks connects with a Liger Bomb for two. Jericho comes back with a Lionsault but Starks gets the knees up and heads up top. Moonsault by Starks but Jericho moves and Starks lands on his feet and Jericho lands a running Code Breaker. Judas Effect by Starks is blocked and Starks looks for the RoShamBo, but Jericho counters into the Walls of Jericho! Angelo Parker gets up on the apron on the far side, causing Aubrey to turn her back, allowing Menard to hit Starks in the face with the end of the baseball bat! Starks seems like he’s out but manages to get to his back. Cradle by Starks gets a two count! Jericho charges Starks but runs into a tornado DDT! Spear by Starks! One, two, three!
Winner: Ricky Starks
Rating: ***. Absolutely HUGE win for Starks here. Perfectly acceptable wrestling match with the good guy overcoming the odds and an absolutely bananas crowd surely helps.
Post-match, the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society hit the ring and put the beat down on Ricky Starks. It’s Action Andretti! Andretti has burns all over his face but clears the ring with a steel chair. Tay Melo and Anna Jay distract Andretti and hit him with a low blow before the rest of the JAS descend upon him. Hager powerbombs Starks from the apron through a table on the floor!
Tony Schiavone welcomes Adam Page to the ring, and Tony wants an update on Adam Page’s medical condition. Page says he’s STILL not medically cleared to compete, but he’s going to KNOCK MOXLEY’S DICK IN THE DIRT. OH. OKAY.
“Wild Thing!” Enter Moxley.
Crowd is nearly 100% pro-Moxley it seems. Moxley is surprised Page even made it this far and the mic cuts out. Moxley grabs another one. This mic doesn’t work. Three loud f-bombs on TV. Hilarious. Let’s go Seahawks. Anyhow, Moxley is sick of people throwing a pity party for Hangman. Hangman isn’t upset he got knocked out, he’s upset that Moxley made a joke out of it. Hangman says he’s got two in the chamber with Moxley’s name on them. Moxley says Page’s punk ass doesn’t belong in the ring with him and next time, Page won’t get back up.
Match #2. AEW World Tag Team Titles: The Acclaimed vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett
Max Caster references Karen and welp, we know how that will end up on Twitter. Jarrett and Bowens start but Jarrett cheap shots Caster on the apron. Back elbow to Bowens and Lethal gets the tag. Head lock by Lethal but Caster Angle Slam’s his way out of it. Ankle Lock by Caster. Oh boy. SCISSOR ME, TIMBERS by The Acclaimed. SCISSOR ME, TIMBERS, TO JARRETT. Lethal ducks out and slaps Billy Gunn in the face, which causes Gunn to retort, and get tossed from ringside! Back in the ring, Lethal mounts Bowens in the corner as Jarrett comes in and hits a Russian leg sweep. Lethal misses a Savage Elbow and Bowens can’t make the tag as Jarrett drops Caster. Sleeper by Jarrett but Bowens counters with a back suplex. Tags made! Bowens clears the ring with back elbows and back body drops. Super kick by Bowens to Jarrett and a plancha to Lethal on the floor! Caster goes up top with a diving cross body to Lethal that gets a two count. Jarrett breaks up the pin and slaps Bowens in the face. Bowens takes Jarrett down and tags Bowens. Caster goes up top, but Bowens throws him to the floor. Double team back body drop neck breaker, maybe(?) from Lethal and Jarrett. Sonjay attacks Caster but he and Singh get tossed out too! Bowens counters a Lethal Injection with a rolling elbow but Jarrett comes from behind… The Stroke! One, two, three! Sonjay had held Bowens feet down, and Aubrey Edwards is here and they reverse the decision!
This match will continue!
Caster drops Jarrett with a right hand as Lethal looks for a roll up with his feet on the ropes. Caster shoves Lethal’s feet off and Bowens counters the roll up for the three!
Winners and STILL AEW World Tag Team Champions: The Acclaimed
Rating: ***. Some people may not love this as much as I did, but this was OLD SCHOOL HEAT, BABY. MEMPHIS STYLE. DUSTY FINISH. Great win for The Acclaimed, showing they can be just as witty as these darn bad guys. Jarrett continues to impress me at whatever his age is.
Tony Schiavone is here with Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Saraya doesn’t get it, because these two are originals. How has Saraya not made up her mind? Shida exists, Toni Storm exists. Hayter is the killer. Baker is the pillar.
Jungle Boy knows that Big Bill and Lee Moriarty are looking for a problem. Next week, how about Hook and Jungle Boy vs. The Firm?
Match #3. Bryan Danielson vs. Tony Nese
Crowd is LOSING their minds for Danielson. Josh Woods trips up Danielson on the outside which allows Nese to hit a running knee in the corner for two! Danielson regains control and lights up Nese in the corner with chops and round kicks. Back flip over Nese and a diving clothesline. YES kicks and Nese’s chest is hamburger. Nese ducks a high kick and picks up Danielson with a single arm. Buckle bomb in the corner! Nese misses a charging knee and Danielson comes back with a Psycho Knee! Wrist clutch stomps! Leg lace into a cross face AKA the Regal Stretch! Nese is out!
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Rating: **1/2.
Danielson says it’s great to be HOME and he wants another fight! MJF, get your ass out here!
Enter Maxwell Jacob Freidman! Cut this man’s music.
“Brain Damage Bryan”. Yikes. “You want me to come to the ring and wrestle you? How about… no.” MJF doesn’t care about the fans at all. Danielson is a mark, bud. MJF doesn’t make more money for wrestling. If Lance Storm and Dean Milenko had a child, it would still have more charisma than Bryan. MJF says Danielson’s mom may have had sex with a goat. Danielson thinks MJF’s mom has had sex with a lot of people. MJF name drops Disco Inferno, Eric Bischoff, and Jim Cornette as people that think MJF is the greatest.
Danielson hates MJF, and it’s time to fight. MJF runs to Taz and the commentary table, in a hilarious moment. MJF says wins and losses matter here, so he talked to Tony Khan, and if Danielson wrestles every week on Dynamite for the next month, he could be number one contender. MJF says if Danielson wins all of his matches until February 8th, he’ll face him at Revolution. Danielson agrees only if he can make the stipulation at Revolution… which is a one-hour ironman match. Whoever scores the most falls in 60 minutes wins. YOU’RE ON! MJF AGREES!
Danielson says MJF will be exposed in the ironman match, because MJF doesn’t have the footwork, doesn’t have the cardio, and the reason why MJF doesn’t wrestle every week is because he’s not good enough. After everything, Danielson is going to kick his damn head in!
Match #4. AR Fox vs. Swerve Strickland w. Mogul Affiliates
Excalibur puts over the rivalry between the two men from Lucha Underground. Lots of back and forth to start as Fox backflips off the apron as Swerve dives in front of him and both men land on their feet. Moonsault by Fox off the ring post. Fox rolls in the ring holding Swerve and lands a suplex. Fox gets taken out by “Painted Face Man Henchmen” on the outside. Diving European uppercut to the back of a seated Fox. Kravat by Swerve throughout our PIP here. Both men exchange heavy kicks in the center of the ring but Fox finishes with an enziguiri and Swerve is down. Diving back elbow followed by a rolling cutter but Swerve counters into a German suplex. Bottom rope assisted Flatliner by Swerve gets a two count. Fox gets caught on the top rope but Fox rolls behind Swerve and hits a cutter for two. Iconoclsam, wrist control, into a cutter by Fox! 450 splash by Fox! One, two, no! Crowd is thrilled so far with this one. Both men are on the apron now as Swerve heads up top. AR Fox follows. Boudreaux passes Swerve a chain, which he hits Fox with. Middle rope Death Valley Driver by Swerve to Fox ON THE APRON. HOLY S. Swerve rolls Fox back in the ring, Swerve Stomp, and this one is over.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Rating: ***1/2. This was fun… and this was brutal. These two men have such similar styles and they work amazingly with each other. Great to see AR Fox on the main stage because he truly is an innovator, and Swerve continues to work past that whole awkward Mogul Affiliates debut. Can these guys run it back sometime soon?
Saraya, Shida, and Toni Storm are here with Renee. Saraya has learned that since coming to AEW, AEW has the best roster in the world. Saraya says she’s sitting next to the greatest wrestlers in the world, and that women will be her partner… and it’s Toni Storm. Shida is obviously upset. Something about this seems… fishy.
The Gunn’s are here, and they’re running down FTR. The Gunn’s remind us how many titles FTR have lost and hold a funeral for FTR’s career. FTR’s music hits and… JUST KIDDING. Gunn’s are the new living legends… Top Guys… out. Well then.
Match #5. Jade Cargill & Red Velvet vs. Kiera Hogan & Skye Blue
Red and Blue to start. Doing the color thing. Quick pinning combinations as both women get two. Two. Two. Another two. One more two. Again, two. You get the idea. Sliding kick to the head by Blue and a DDT. Two count. Jade gets the tag and business has just picked up. Jade charges and misses and elbow in the corner but Blue gets dumped to the outside anyway. European uppercuts by Jade on the outside as we go into break. Back from break and Jade catches a crossbody block from Hogan. Tour of the Islands by Jade! Two count. Jade now has Hogan but talks down to Red. Red comes in now but Hogan hits a running single leg drop kick. Red is in trouble but Jade tags herself in and pump kicks the soul out of everyone Chokeslam to Hogan. Jade tells Red “this is how it’s done” and goes to make the tag but Red Velvet leaves Jade. Jade turns around and kicks Hogan in the face and gets the pin.
Winners: Jade Cargill & Red Velvet.
Rating: *3/4. This match existed to further the storyline and that was about it.
Match #6. AEW TNT Title: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Darby Allin
Nick Wayne is in the front row for this one, son of Buddy Wayne, Darby Allin’s former head trainer and a beast of a pro wrestler himself. Darby is from Seattle, by the way. Joe grabs Wayne and Darby flies in with a suicide dive. The bell hasn’t rung yet and Darby attacks Joe with the skateboard. Darby drops in off the apron to the back of Samoa Joe! Darby grabs a ladder and sets it up on the ramp. Darby heads up to the top of the ladder and dives off with a somersault plancha! Darby throws Joe in and the bell finally rings. Shotgun dropkick by Darby as Joe rolls to the outside. Darby dives off the apron but Joe catches him and plants him with a uranage on the steps but NOT the flat part. Holy s that looked brutal. Joe wants a count out. Darby barely makes it in the ring, but Joe grabs a hold of him and bounced his head off the ring post. Darby continues to break the count to avoid Joe but Joe finally catches him and drops him with a headbutt. Joe misses an elbow drop and Darby grabs a sleeper, but Joe drops back and all of his weight comes down on Darby. Leg lace double knee breaker by Joe and Darby is in trouble. Joe kicks a field goal on Darby’s chest and hits a senton for a two count. Single leg Boston crab by Joe and Darby fights his way to the ropes. Joe looks for a Muscle Buster but Darby gets free. Darby grabs the turnbuckle pad and Joe wraps him up in a rear naked choke, ripping him off, and the turnbuckle pad at the same time. Joe locks in the rear naked choke but Darby runs him chest-first into the exposed buckle! Running Code Red by Darby! Coffin Drop to the spine of Joe! A second Coffin Drop! One, two, three! Darby wins!
Winner and NEW AEW TNT Champion: Darby Allin
Rating: ***1/4. What a story here, with the underdog Darby getting absolutely destroyed by the bigger and stronger Joe right up until the end. Darby is a guy that you can never count out in any match, and we saw why. What a special moment with Darby winning in his hometown, too.
Sting is here! Sting picks Darby up and congratulates him! Confetti rains down as we go off the air.
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