AEW Dynamite 1/20/21 Quick Take

–1’s Birthday Celebration

The Dark Order is out to celebrate the birthday of -1. As the group begins to sing, the party is interrupted by Sperpentico and Luther. As the Dark Order and Chaos Project brawl, TH2 comes out and makes their presence known. Adam Page’s music hits and the Hangman jumps off of the stage and takes out the heels. This eventually turns into an 8-man tag. Brodie Jr. gets involved briefly, stopping Luther from powerbombing Colt Cabana onto his cake by hitting the deathmatch icon with a kendo stick. This allows Cabana to turn the tables, smashing Luther’s face into the cake. Whilst this is going on, Page, Silver, and Reynolds hit a really cool Buckshot Lariat/ German suplex combo for the win. Afterward, -1 gets one more shot in, nailing Serpentico in the head with another kendo shot.

In the ring, we are finally going to see if Page will join the Dark Order. Silver gets on his knees and asks for the answer. Page declines the invitation. John doesn’t hear this and starts celebrating as the rest of the Dark Order tries to help him realize what’s happening. Hangman explains that he’s done the group thing before and he didn’t like the result. He then grabs a bottle of whiskey and leaves.

Sting Congratulates Darby Allin

Tony Schiavone introduces Sting as only he can. He then introduces the TNT champion, Darby Allin. The Icon starts things off by saying that Darby reminds him of himself and he likes it. Sting wants to be the first one to publicly congratulate Allin on being the TNT champ. This is quickly interrupted by Team Taz. Taz complains about how Darby won last week, saying that his guys wouldn’t fight like that because they are “gentlemen.” He says that his guys are also “street” and they could be street fighters. Taz officially challenges Sting and Darby to a street fight. Sting whispers something to Darby and Allin accepts the challenge.

The Elite Greet and Meet

The Young Bucks ( and Alex Marvez) go to Kenny Omega’s house to have a team meeting. They meet Don Callis instead. Don says that Kenny isn’t home but the Bucks are always welcomed. Callis has Michael Nakazawa take Marvez out of the room, dragging him to the “dungeon”. The Bucks say that that they’ve been trying to call Kenny but are told that Kenny changed his number. Matt, Nick, and Don go back and forth about how long they’ve all known Kenny. Don tries to pay off the Bucks, asking them to go away and leave Kenny alone. The Young Bucks rip up the check, saying that a check from Impact isn’t worth anything.

Cody Rhodes vs. Peter Avalon

This was about to be a very quick squash as Cody hits a Cross-Rhodes almost immediately. Jade Cargill comes out for the distraction. This allows Peter to recover and get some offense in, repeatedly going for Cody’s knee. A bit of give and take between the two for a while until Cody lands a really awkward Cody-Cutter. Cody has the advantage, hitting the big powerslam and goes for a figure four. Avalon punches Cody in the face but quickly taps out as soon as Cody tries to retaliate.

Jon Moxley vs. Nick Comerado

Full discloser, I know nothing about Comerado other than that he’s a student of QT Marshall. He is a very big guy and uses that to his advantage. At one point, Mox resorts to biting his opponent to avoid taking more punishment. Comerado overpowers Moxley but eventually misses a big splash. Mox tries to hit a series of moves but Nick is too big. Moxley eventually goes for the rear-naked choke and gets the win. Post-match, Jon says that anything can happen here on Dynamite. He says that it’s really hard to keep up with everything that’s going on here. Who’s in the Elite? Who’s in Bullet Club? He also says that it doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, all roads lead to him and he will be ready.

Backstage, Alex Marvez does a quick interview with Kenny Omega and Don Callis. Callis is now sporting a black eye but tells Kenny not to worry about it. He does let it slip though that it was a result of the earlier encounter with the Young Bucks.

Top Flight and Matt Sydal vs. Private Party and Matt Hardy

This was a very frantic and very high energy match. Top Flight and Private Party matched up nicely with each other. The two Matts played their role as the player/coaches very well, too. As Hardy directs traffic, Private Party becomes more aggressive as the match goes on. Towards the end of the match, Matt Hardy distracts the ref and Marq Quen lays out Top Flight with a chair. Isiah Kassidy hits a big top rope move for the win. It would seem that the Private Party heel turn is complete.

Penelope Ford vs. Leyla Hirsch

Layla dissects Ford early on with her technical background. Every time Hirsch gains an advantage, Kip Sabian finds a way to get involved. Eventually, the distractions pay off and Ford gets the win. After the match, Miro calls for his new butler, “Charles.” He tells Charles to forget the past and let everyone, especially Orange Cassidy that know that Miro is his best friend now. Charles does what he’s told but does it with reservations.

MJF and Chris Jericho vs. Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager vs. Santana and Ortiz

Keeping with the theme tonight, we get another chaotic multi-man match. This one was interesting because we get a chance to see all of the different dynamics within the Inner Circle. Of all the combinations we could see, I was most interested in seeing how Sammy and Jericho would stack up against each other. They did not disappoint. They tore into each other. It was nice to see Santana and Ortiz get a chance to shine here. A few years ago, they were considered one of the best tag teams in the world and it great to get a reminder of that tonight as they used some devastating double team moves. I was really impressed with the team of Sammy/Hager. I’ve always liked the team relationship of a bruiser teaming with a high flyer and I would like to see more of this team down the road. MJF did what he was there to do. Get heat. He tries to get the Dynamite Diamond ring but gets cut off by Hager. Jericho goes for a really bad Lionsault for a near fall. Sammy tries an awkward standing shooting star press for a near fall of his own. Just as Sammy is about to try for a finish, he gets a quick roll-up from MJF, complete with a handful of tights, giving MJF and Chris Jericho the win and the title of the official tag team of the Inner Circle.

Final Thoughts

1. Peaks and Valleys. There were parts of this episode that I really liked and there were a couple that I did not.

2. I thought that this was kind of a holding pattern episode that was buying time until the next special edition of Dynamite.

3. I liked the Private Party heel turn. If you’re unfamiliar with their heel work, they do quite well.

#InnerCircle #JonMoxley #ChrisJericho #AEWDynamite #wrestling #CodyRhodes #KennyOmega