With the first two episodes of AEW Dynamite being strong in 2023, did AEW keep up with their string of good television? Here’s some quick thoughts from the January 18th episode of AEW Dynamite!

 

Orange Cassidy defeats Jay Lethal

The current AEW All-Atlantic Champion, has a controversial reign as champion. In what was a fun opening to the show, Cassidy would get the win with an “orange-punch.” It doesn’t seem like the feud between the Best Friends and the Jay Lethal are over. Maybe this could potentially lead to an Orange Cassidy and Jeff Jarrett match.

Top Flight Upsets the Young Bucks

A week after becoming AEW Trios Champions with Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks were in action against Top Flight. The Martin brothers are certainly a team that we can see getting a big push in 2023 and that got off to a good start tonight.

Top Flight got the upset win, with commentary putting them over saying how the duo can have a big 2023. Interesting way to kick off the Young Bucks reign as Trios Champions…

 

Ricky Starks defeats Jake Hager

I think this was the weak point of the show. With the poorly received promo last week between Jericho and Starks, this didn’t do much to mend it. Starks got the win with Jericho on commentary. This is clearly leading to a rematch between Starks and Jericho, which hopefully will help Starks rise to the top of the card.

The Acclaimed vs. Gunn Club?

This is the feud the AEW tag team division needs. The Gunn Club came out to cut a promo on The Acclaimed, before the tag champs came out. Before the two teams could start brawling, it was broken up by Billy Gunn. He announced next week there will be some “Family Therapy.” Could Billy Gunn turn on The Acclaimed next week?

 

Bryan Danielson defeats Bandido

This was a great wrestling match as expected. The storyline of Danielson’s journey to an AEW title match is probably AEW’s best. Bandido continues to shine and both men showed each other respect after.

What happened after the match was even more intriguing. MJF cut a dark promo on Danielson, saying “he has not taken his mask off.” Shortly after the match AEW announced Brian Cage vs. Bryan Danielson next week. Should be a fun match in what will continue this great story.

Heel Turns in the Women’s Division

After a Toni Storm victory over Willow Nightingale, Sayara and Storm turned heel on Willow. There were mixed reactions to this on Twitter but could make sense in the long run. This could set-up Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker as babyfaces, which can allow Britt to do a real heel turn on Hayter.

 

Darby Allin Defeats Kushida

Seeing the TNT Championship in the main event of Dynamite again is great to see. Samoa Joe’s reign did wonders for the title and Darby Allin has done the same in his short time as champion.

Allin won with a Last Supper rollup, as he continues to pick up more momentum. This is the strongest Darby has been booked in months and it’s great to see. It will be interesting to see if AEW continues the TNT Championship “Open Challenge,” as it fits Darby’s character very well.

Final Thoughts on AEW Dynamite

While this episode of Dynamite was weaker than last week, it was still very solid. The storyline between MJF and Danielson continues to be one of the best story’s in wrestling. It looks like Hangman’s and Moxley’s feud will continue, which is also a strong point for AEW.

Make sure to stay updated for all the wrestling content to come and make sure to check out our RAW recap as well!

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By Published On: January 19th, 2023Categories: AEW

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