Tonight on AEW Dynamite, the opening round of the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament continues as Dustin Rhodes faces Bryan Danielson for the right to advance. Also, Lance Archer faces Eddie Kingston in the tournament and Cody Rhodes looks to snuff out his grudge with Malakai Black.
AEW DYNAMITE
October 23, 2021, Orlando, FL
Commentary: Jim Ross, Excalibur & Tony Schiavone
MATCH 1
AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament
Bryan Danielson vs. Dustin Rhodes
The two go back and forth, but Bryan nails a high hip toss and Dustin gets a deep arm drag. The two reset. Bryan twists the left ankle of Rhodes and grapevines both legs for an Indian Death Lock and then a bow and arrow lock attempt, but Dustin swiftly breaks with the ropes. Danielson hits a tope to Dustin on the outside and Rhodes hits a diving senton from the apron. Bryan breaks a pin attempt with a kick out.
Back on their feet, Danielson strikes Dustin, but Dustin switches him for a German suplex. Hard chop in the corner by Dustin. Another one and another until Bryan turns Dustin for a few receipts. Front chancery suplex for Bryan, but Dustin kicks out only to get it turned into an armbreaker.Bryan stomps on the elbow of Dustin after joint manipulation of the wrist. Tony Nese is in the crowd. Dustin hits a superplex on Bryan. “This is awesome” chants.
Back up, right hands are exchanged. Danielson flips over Dustin only to be caught with a powerslam and a modified jackhammer. Two count. Dustin soon hits a corner ten punch complete with double birds. Bryan turns the tide with a corner calf kick and some strikes. He puts Dustin up top, but Rhodes crotches him on the ropes for a flying clothesline. Two count, but Bryan rolls Dustin for a Labell Lock attempt. Bryan has it in. Dustin, however, puts his foot on the ropes.
The two men strike one another and that fires Dustin up. He goes for his signature uppercut from the knees, but Bryan backslides him. Kick out by Dustin. He stomps on the shoulder of Dustin and sizes him up for a knee strie, but Dustin lures him in with a lariat. Piledriver. Two count. “A-E-Dub” chants.
Danielson counters a vert suplex and kicks away at Dustin for a front guillotine choke. Dustin fights to a vert base briefly, but Dustin collapses. Bryan doesn’t relent and the ref has to call for the bell.
WINNER and ADVANCING: Bryan Danielson
Kenny Omega runs down Hangman Page and his Dark Order friends. He says Page isn’t “Cowboy Shit” but “Coward Shit.”
It doesn’t sit well with FTR that Lucha Brothers is making more money than them. They are proud to be the AAA Tag Team Champions, but they know they need to add those AEW belts to their shoulders. Penta is with Alex Abrahantes and he’s not pleased that they attacked his brother. Alex says revenge is coming. FTR wants them to bring it.
Tony Schiavone introduces “STIIIING” to give us an update on Darby Allin. The snow falls and out comes Sting. Before he can even get a word out, out Fargo struts MJF. He’s here to have a gentleman’s chat. He doesn’t think Sting wants to answer that question because the truth is Darby isn’t coming back. “Shut the fuck up” chants. He says it’s easy to fool these Orlando morons with gun violence and incest, but when your friends need you most, where are you? Darby ended up like Sting’s old pal, Lex Luger – in a wheelch- Sting slugs him and fights off the Pinnacle until Wardlow attacks from behind and Shawn Spears nails him with a chair. MJF puts on his jacket as Spears sets up his chair for Max to sit in. He calls out Darby. He knows he’s watching. Did he break Allin mentally now? “Look at him, Darby. LOOK AT HIM!” Max says. He says no matter how bad people want him to come back or chant his name because if he comes back, this is Darby’s future. He’ll always fall short and he’ll always be second best because he is the past, present and future of professional wrestling. Sting slowly gets to his feet only for Max to nail him with his Dynamite Diamond.
Tony Schiavone is standing with Britt Baker and reveals that she’ll be facing Tay Conti with the Women’s Championship on the line. All Tay has done is “shown her ass” to everyone while she’s worked her way to the top. She’s gonna beat that ass at Full Gear.
MATCH 2
AEW TBS Women’s Championship Tournament
Penelope Ford vs. Ruby Soho
Ford starts off stomping on Ruby but it’s not long until the two fighters get to their feet. Good front handspring and spear by Ford. Harsh forearm to the back of Ford. Ruby downs Ford for a two count with a boot. Ruby kicks Ford on the apron and punches are traded as The Bunny skips to the ring. Ruby sees her and Ford boots Soho into the head and into the ring post. We go to break.
Back from it, both women are down after Ruby hits a back suplex. A flurry of shots by Soho and she hits a knee strike, thrust kick and enziguri combo. Hard forearm for a two count.
Penelope soon nails a rebound cutter for a two count. Ruby counters a single leg crab with a pin attempt of her own. Ruby catches her with a heel trip in the corner. Penelope hits a back heel kick and Ford hits a front lung blower for a near fall. Bunny tries to give Ford the brass knuckles but Rick Knox catches it and Ruby rolls up Ford for the 1-2-3.
WINNER and ADVANCING: Ruby Soho
Bunny and Ford try to corner Ruby, but Red Velvet comes in for back-up. Ruby will be facing Kris Statlander in the second round.
MJF relishes in his actions against Darby. Wardlow asks MJF what his deal was this last week. MJF says he panicked and it was “fight or flight.” He then assigns Shawn Spears as his “accountabil-a-buddy.”
MATCH 3
Bobby Fish vs. Anthony Greene
Bobby doesn’t waste any time with an elbow shot and and a body shot. Anthony however, gets a near fall nonetheless. Springboard senton by Bobby gets a two count. Big boot by Bobby sends Greene into the corner. Bobby kicks at Greene’s thighs before hitting a dragon screw and a sliding lariat. Exploder suplex into the ropes. Knockout kick by Fish. 1-2-3.
WINNER: Bobby Fish
Post-match, Fish kicks the leg out from Greene again as Orlando boos. Mounted punches by Bobby. He cinches on a headlock as CM Punk charges to the ring. Punk checks on Anthony Greene. Punk tries to invite Bobby into the ring, but Bobby walks away.
Schiavone is with Lio Rush and Dante Martin. Lio says that he’s mentoring Dante. Matt Sydal hasn’t done that, but Dante takes exception to that. He knows that Dante is one of the best in the world. He has got themselves their first tag match together against the Sydal Brothers on Rampage.
MATCH 4
AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament
Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston
Kingston comes up from behind to attack Archer and they brawl to ringside. Archer pulls a fan over the barricade and chokeslams him onto Eddie from the apron. “Eddie” chants as the match hasn’t officially started yet until Lance rolls him in. Big corner plunges by Archer downs Eddie. Hard chest slap in the corner. Archer goes for Blackout, but Eddie wriggles free and locks in a reverse sleeper. He’s trying to wear Archer down, but the big man fights free for a running lariat from behind. We go to break.
Back from it, Lance has remained dominant. Tony mentions Archer and Eddie’s past, particularly at Grand Slam. This dominance carries on for awhile that includes a boot in the corner that shoves Eddie down. Lance goes for a moonsault and lands on his head. Bryce Remsburg checks on him. Archer rolls to the outside. Doc Sampson checks on him. Sampson briefly lets him continue and gets rolled up for the 1-2-3.
WINNER and ADVANCING: Eddie Kingston
Men of the Year and Dan Lambert are in the ring. Ethan Page exclaims that Inner Circle sucks. They beat them twice. All he hears about is Jake Hager is his undefeated MMA record. Scorpio Sky pinned. Santana & Ortiz are from the streets, but Page & Sky treat the streets like a runway. He calls out Chris Jericho who isn’t here, by the way. All Jericho did last week was flirt with Paige Van Zandt. We he can watch them from sea and he calls Sammy Guevara a “PR nightmare.” Out comes Sammy to tell Ethan to “shut the hell up.” How much are you going to complain that life is unfair. Sammy worked his ass off to become a TNT Champion. The reason Ethan is where he is is because he’s all ego and he’s the only one that believes his own BS. Sammy wants to hear his stipulation. Lambert said he’s actually proud of him, “ya little fella.” He questions Sammy’s promo skills. Lambert says he’s got his 10-man tag match at Full Gear if and only if he puts his title on the line against Ethan Page. When he loses, he not only loses the belt, but he has to leave the Inner Circle forever. He’s got a deal, but if he wins. he picks America’s Top Team to face them at Full Gear. MOTY try to attack Sammy but out come Inner Circle for the save.
We see Jon Moxley. He says he felt his daughter grab his pinky finger and it made him think about everything. He doesn’t care about the tournament, the title or anything. He cares about getting home in one piece and to do that, he’s going to win the whole damn thing.
Hangman Page visits Dark Order. He says they all were right and he thanks them for their efforts and apologizes. Next week is Halloween and he knows The Elite are gonna be in costume. What about Dark Order?
MATCH 5
Jungle Boy vs. Brandon Cutler
Jungle Boy takes it to Cutler and gets slapped, but JB slaps him back, locks in a Snare Trap and Cutler submits.
WINNER: Jungle Boy
JB grabs a mic. He says that was a nice little warm-up and to be honest, he’s feeling pretty good still. Why doesn’t one of those Elite “pieces of shit” come down right now and challenge him? No? Alright then and locks in a Snare Trap. Out comes Adam Cole. He calls JB an embarrassment He says how about him and JB fight right here, right now? Cole takes off his jacket and gets walloped on the apron. The Young Bucks super kick him from behind. They attack JB on the stage. BTE Trigger before Adam Cole lays the Boom. They act like they’re leaving but then toss JB off the stage and through the table.
Miro is still upset that his God “has forsaken” him. He reiterates that any violence he exacts is on Him.
MAIN EVENT
Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson
Shots and holds are exchanged as the crowd is heavily booing Cody. Cody soon nails a powerslam for a pin attempt Cody goes for the figure four, but Black gouges the eyes and goes for a steel chair under the ring. Here comes Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson as we go to the final break of the evening.
During the break Cody Cross Rhodes Black through a table at ringside and Black is bloody. Arn Anderson is in the ring and Cody is bleeding too with Schiavone noting he went into the ring post. Both men get to their feet as Andrade El Idolo enters. Arn spine busters Idolo’s associate, Black mists Arn and Andrade gets attacked by PAC. The two latter fight to the back. Cody hits a Cross Rhodes for a near finish.
Black soon hits a double stomp from up top, hits a massive German for a near fall. Black hits a Black Mass but Cody falls into the ropes. Black tries to hit a moonsault to the outside, but Cody avoids and nails a tope. He hits a Cody Cutter back in the ring. He then nails a Coss Rhodes and nails a Tiger Driver ’98. 1-2-3.
WINNER: Cody Rhodes
