04th Jan2021

‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Dec 30th 2020)

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s AEW Dynamite review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and this whole show is dedicated to Brodie Lee. The matches have been booked as a memorial to him and there is a special ceremony for him at the end. I was a big fan of Brodie Lee’s and I will miss him just as much as anyone else. Well, I’ll skip on the sass and get right to the review, because I’m a dumb-ass.

Actually, I’m going to do this a bit differently than usual. Apparently, the entire card was booked by Brodie Lee’s son, so this is his card. Here are the matches that were on the show:

Match #1: Colt Cabana and The Young Bucks def. Matt Hardy and Private Party

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Cabana and Kassidy started the match. Cabana got the better of an offense exchange with Kassidy. Hardy ordered Marq Quen to tag in. Cabana and the Bucks teamed up for a triple dropkick on Matt Hardy, sending him reeling to the outside! The Bucks jumped over the top rope onto the opposition, and then Colt followed up with a beautiful quebrada! Marq Quen caught Matt Jackson off-guard and then tagged in Kassidy, who took the boots to Matt Jackson. Quen tagged back in and connected with a high dropkick to Matt Jackson, preventing him from getting the tag to his corner. Kassidy backdropped Matt Jackson and covered him for a two-count. Hardy tagged in and dropped an elbow onto Matt Jackson. Hardy whipped Matt Jackson into the turnbuckle and Private Party used consecutive elbows on Jackson. Hardy planted Matt Jackson with a side effect. Matt Jackson used a twist of fate for the hot tag to Cabana! “Boom Boom” cleaned house with some flip, flop and fly, and then the flying apple to Kassidy for a near fall! Cabana went for Mr. Brodie’s discus lariat but Kassidy countered with the help of Hardy. Hardy body slammed Cabana and ordered Private Party to opposite ends of the ring. Nick Jackson super kicked Matt Hardy and followed up with a hurracanrana to Marq Quen! Private Party caught Nick Jackson in Gin and Juice, and Marq Quen followed up with a shooting star press, but Colt was able to break up the pin just in time! Hardy tried to hand Marq Quen a steel chair but Quen resisted it! Cabana hit a bionic elbow to Hardy, and then dropped Kassidy with the Chicago Skyliner. After an assist from the Bucks, Cabana beat Marq Quen with the superman pin!

Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Lance Archer def. Eddie Kingston, The Butcher and The Blade

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Evil Uno booted Eddie Kingston in the head. Evil Uno and Stu Grayson suplexed Lance Archer onto Eddie Kingston! Grayson began to stomp Kingston in the corner. Bunny grabbed Grayson’s leg, allowing Butcher to blindside Grayson. Butcher splashed Grayson in the corner. Blade tagged in and powerslammed Grayson. Roberts grabbed Blade’s ankle and Grayson hit the big Brodie slam on Blade! Uno and Kingston traded Kawada slaps to the face! Uno ducked one and hit Kingston full-on with the half-and-half suplex! Archer and Blade tagged in, and Archer rip corded Blade and planted him! Blade evaded a chokeslam but then ate a running elbow to the jaw from Archer. Then Lance walked the ropes and flipped backwards onto Blade! After an assist from Uno and Grayson, Archer hit a frog splash on Blade. Kingston tagged in and DDT’ed Grayson right in front of Jake Roberts, but Grayson kicked out! Grayson tagged out to Archer and Archer attempted his blackout, but Kingston stopped him. Grayson hit the fatality on Blade (after a DDT on Butcher from Grayson), and then Evil Uno pinned Blade! Afterwards Archer, Butcher and Blade took turns striking Kingston, and Jake Roberts finished him with his legendary short-armed clothesline!

Adam Page and John Silver and Alex Reynolds def. MJF, Santana and Ortiz

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Silver and Reynolds threw wadded up papers at Santana and Ortiz before the match began. MJF was wearing gear presented to him by Santana and Ortiz earlier. John Silver stopped Santana in his tracks with an elbow strike! Reynolds tagged in and dropped and elbow on Santana. Soon Santana shifted momentum and caught Reynolds with a neck breaker and then two suplexes. Ortiz tagged in and helped Santana with the third suplex. “Hangman” tagged in and dropped MJF with forearms and then his fallaway slam. Page got outnumbered by MJF, Santana and Ortiz, and they stopped him before he could connect with his buckshot lariat! They took turns working over “Hangman.” MJF flipped off Brodie Lee, Jr., who was watching from the front row! John Silver tagged in and took out all three members of the opposition like a human bowling ball! Silver used a cannonball senton! MJF ran in and whipped Page into the turnbuckles! Silver caught MJF with a destroyer and then a tope suicida to Santana on the outside! After three heavy shots from the Inner Circle, they tried to pin Silver but Reynolds made the save. As ref Aubrey Edwards had her back turn, Wardlow ran in to chokeslam Reynolds. Erick RedBeard came out from the back and stopped Wardlow in his tracks! Brodie Lee, Jr. (aka “-1”) used a kendo stick and whacked MJF right in the head! Silver used a clothesline on Ortiz and pinned him. Erick RedBeard came back to the ring and held up a sign: “Goodbye for now, my brother. See you down the road.”

Tay Conti and Anna Jay def. Penelope Ford and Britt Baker

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Jay took down Baker with a headlock. Britt rolled through with wrist control. Jay went for the Queen Slayer finisher but Britt telegraphed it and slipped out, tagging in Ford. Conti used judo throws on Penelope Ford for a two-count! Penelope Ford countered with a release German suplex and tagged in Baker. Britt used vicious knee strikes on Conti. Rebel held down Conti and then Baker jumped from the turnbuckles to the apron, delivering foot stomps to Conti’s midsection! Jay tagged in and took down Britt with clotheslines and then a flipping neck breaker. Anna Jay blasted Baker with the Dangerous Jay kick! Baker came back with a fisherman’s neck breaker. Jay kicked out at two! Penelope Ford tagged in and nailed Jay with a flipping neck breaker for a near fall! Penelope Ford flipped backwards but Anna Jay caught her with the Queen Slayer, forcing Ford to submit!

Cody Rhodes, Orange Cassidy and 10 def. Team Taz

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Cody ran into Powerhouse Hobbs, but Hobbs didn’t budge. Starks tagged in and he and Cody traded chops in the corner. Starks hit Cody with a jumping shoulder tackle and took him down. He posed and Cody seized the moment, grabbing Starks and then tagging in 10! Starks was bounced off the top rope and then suplexed by 10! Hobbs tagged in, and then Orange Cassidy tagged in, slowly rolling into the ring. Hobbs wanted a test of strength but Orange put his hands in his pockets, still wearing his aviator sunglasses! Hobbs had enough and pushed him hard to the mat with a concrete-like shoulder block. Hobbs picked up Cassidy, spun around and powerslammed him! Hobbs dropped Cassidy after a standing vertical suplex, and then tagged in Brian Cage, who also used a delayed vertical suplex. Ricky Starks tried for a delayed vertical suplex but Orange Cassidy reversed it! Cassidy flipped over Starks and tagged Cody! Cody removed his weight belt and tossed it out to the crowd. Cage hit Cody with a knee from behind. Cody was so fired up that he powered forward, getting a tag to 10, who then powerslammed Starks! 10 nailed Starks with the Brodie Bomb! Starks retaliated with a big spear that nearly cut 10 in half. Cassidy tagged in and hit a big DDT on Starks! Cage tagged in and flatlined Cody Rhodes! 10 ran in and pump kicked Cage! Starks employed great footwork and caught 10 with a quick DDT, nearly getting the pin. Taz, frustrated, grabbed a steel chair, but Arn Anderson met him on the ramp with a steel chair of his own! While the ref was trying to settle them down and restore order, Cassidy connected with the Orange Punch! Then Cody followed up with a CrossRhodes on Stark! 10 hit Starks with a spine buster and pinned him!

Final Verdict: 5/5

Okay, here’s the deal. The matches themselves ranged from the high 3s to low 4s. Given the occasion, it’s safe to say that the matches were a guarantee to succeed and that is what happened. The Dark Order won every match and that was the way it should have gone. A better card could have been booked, but this card was good enough and it was performed wonderfully by all involved. I’ve chosen not to describe or officially rate the matches, because that’s not what this show was for. This card was very much meant as a memorial for Brodie, whose death has brought down the spirits of many in professional wrestling. There’s lots of testimonials about Brodie by the likes of Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho, to name but a few. These were all genuine and meaningful. We got pictures of Brodie in the past ten or so years of his career, so get ready to enjoy those. The announcers do refer to Brodie’s other gimmick names, including Luke Harper (suck it Vince). From beginning to end, Brodie Lee was the focus of the show and it showed. Brodie Lee Jr. got the TNT Title at the end of the show and that particular design will be retired and given to Brodie’s son. Cody did a speech at the end of the show that was very nice and served as a sermon to the character of Brodie Lee.  The Darby Allin/Sting pairing was shown standing against Team Taz near the end of the show, so we did get some advancement on that, but that was an after-thought as well.

This whole thing was about saying goodbye to one of the nicest people in professional wrestling and Brodie Lee, from everything I’ve ever heard about him, was one of the good ones. I was always a fan of his matches, but never had a chance to learn about his personality until this past year. It’s a shame that his WWE career stalled out in the mid-card, but he was the consummate mid-carder as well. Lee’s legacy in the ring may very well be that he was a smart wrestler during an era where far too many would rather just risk their lives to get the crowd to pop one time. In the full scope of life, Brodie Lee will be remembered as a dedicated family man who loved the life being a family man gave him. I hope the loss of Lee, especially at this young age of 41, inspires those who are not cherishing their lives to start enjoying themselves. You never know when it will come to an end. I hope you get a chance to watch the show, because it was a solid card from top to bottom and it was very engrossing. AEW has had a rough year as a league, but a successful one overall. If AEW is to succeed for years to come, then their booking ought to be more like what they did here, because this was simple and without pretension. This show was both a fun night and a proper memorial for a good man. I hope AEW gets their act together and gets back to the kind of genuine wrestling that was on here, instead of the obnoxious booking of the past several months. Rest In Peace Brodie Lee.

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