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Dynamite Recap – Is This the End of the Inner Circle?

Greetings, comrades! It is I, your El Presidente, reporting to you live from… at home! What? Even El Presidentes have to go home sometime. Besides, I deserve to celebrate a job well done, don't I? Now let us find out what happened on AEW Dynamite this week, shall we?

AEW Dynamite Review – January 20th, 2021

Jim Ross welcomes viewers to Dynamite with Brodie Lee's catchphrase. Do you think he'll keep that up forever? Excalibur and Tony Schiavone are also on commentary.

The Dark Order and Hangman Page vs. Chaos Project and TH2

The Dark Order gather on the stage with -1, the son of Brodie Lee. It's his birthday. They have a cake. John Silver grabs a mic and cuts a promo. He says Hangman Page is gonna join the Dark Order tonight. He leads the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Brodie.

Chaos Project interrupt. Luther cuts a promo on -1, upset by the promo -1 cut on him weeks ago on Dark. Luther's been holding this in, comrades, and take it from El Presidente: that is never a good idea. Back in the 80s, I was hanging out with my boys in the Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 and they were always telling me, "Your Excellency, you always talk about how much you hate the upper class and want to overthrow the government. Why do you not do it?" And do you know what? It turns out I was keeping my greatness bottled up inside, comrades. I decided that day to stage a coup! Haw haw haw!

Luther says he doesn't look stupid. -1 is the one who looks stupid. He says they're gonna ruin -1's birthday. A brawl breaks out. TH2 run out to join Chaos Project. Hangman Page comes out and wipes them all out. The brawl turns into an eight-man tag match. If you're wondering whether -1 got involved in the match, he did. If you're wondering if Luther got his face smashed in the cake, the answer is also yes. Alex Reynolds pins Serpentico for the win after Page hits him with the Buckshot Lariat.

Winners: Dark Order and Hangman Page
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

-1 tells off Dark Order and tosses papers at them after the match because his birthday was three days ago. John Silver compliments Hangman Page on the match and on his looks and his hair. He asks Page if he'll join the Dark Order. Page says he can't, and at that same time, banners unfurl that say "he said yes" and confetti drops. Awkward! Page says he's had fun with the Dark Order but he's done the group thing before and it didn't end well. He apologizes. The crowd boos. Page grabs his whiskey from Stu Grayson and leaves.

Alex Marvez interviews Chris Jericho and MJF about Dynamite's main event tonight. MJF says he's worried that the Inner Circle could split because of this all-Inner-Circle triple threat tag team match, but Jericho says it will bring them together and make them stronger than ever. Jericho says that no matter what happens, they will move on together as a unit at the end of the night. MJF says maybe Jericho is right.

Sting Congratulates Darby Allin

Don't look at me, comrades. That's the actual name of the segment! Tony Schiavone introduces Sting and Darby Allin, who come to the ring. Sting, well, he congratulates Darby on being TNT champ. He says he wasn't here to interrupt the last match, he just wanted to make sure things were fair.

Taz interrupts from the TonyKhantron and complains about the last few weeks. He says Sting and Darby have been fighting street style while Team Taz were being gentlemen. Taz challenges them to a street fight. Sting whispers something to Allin. Allin tells Taz to be careful what he wishes for because it just might happen.

Excalibur says that was Allin accepting. I'm not so sure, comrades, but I guess we will see.

Filmed earlier today before Dynamite, The Young Bucks arrive at Kenny Omega's house, where Alex Marvez is waiting outside because he heard there was a meeting of The Elite inside. They all go in the house and find Michael Nakazawa, who brings them into the living room where they see and mock an oil painting of Kenny and Don Callis taking sexy selfies.

Callis walks in and gives the Bucks the runaround about Kenny. He tries to pay them off to end their friendship with him. They take it as an insult and attack him.

"Pretty" Peter Avalon vs. Cody

"Pretty" Peter Avalon heads to the ring. Cody comes out next. Avalon is going to die, comrades. Or maybe not! A minute into the match, Jade Cargill comes out to distract Cody. Avalon kicks him in the cojones. That kick in the cojones is not enough to win the match, but it is enough to make it competitive. Avalon taps out when Cody threatens to slap him in the face.

Winner: Cody Rhodes
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

Jurassic Express interrupts an FTR strategy session. They argue and Jungle Boy ends up challenging Dax Harwood to a one-on-one match.

Jon Moxley in Action

Jon Moxley's opponent for tonight has been left a mystery until now. It's Nick Comoroto, who AEW Dark viewers will be familiar with. If you haven't seen Nick Comoroto, he has a great old school look, very big and hairy. He reminds me of my first wife! Haw haw haw! But anyway, he uses his size and power to manhandle Moxley for a bit but Moxley chokes him out.

Winner: Jon Moxley
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

Moxley grabs a mic and cuts a promo on Kenny Omega. All the people Kenny has gotten involved in the storyline just makes Moxley more excited to kick his ass.

Dasha interviews Eddie Kingston, who is with The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny, who starts to cut a promo on Lance Archer. But Archer and Jake the Snake show yup and talk trash. Kingston offers to fight him now. Jake tells him it's next week, one-on-one. Since when does Jake the Snake book the matches, comrades? Has there been a coup?

Kenny Omega blows off Alex Marvez and talks to Don Callis. Callis has a bruise on his face. Kenny asks what happened. Callis plays it off like it doesn't want to tell Kenny, but ends up revealing it was the Young Bucks. Marvez interrupts seeking answers, but Callis shoves him and the camera out of the locker room.

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

Private Party, the new Impact Wrestling tag team number one contenders, and their new evil manager, Big Money Matt Hardy, have a match with Top Flight and Lee Johnson. Hardy has taken a massive heel turn by becoming a greedy capitalist dog and exploiting Private Party for his own gain. Cast off this economic oppression, Private Party! Seize the means of production!

Actually, the team has improved under Hardy's guidance. Could it be that capitalism is not always bad? No! All capitalists must die like dogs! But maybe Private Party should ride this out a little longer is all El Presidente is saying. Marq Quen gets the pin off a shooting star press on Dante Martin.

Winners: Private Party and Matt Hardy
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

After the match, Hardy and Private Party beat up Darius Martin and Matt Sydal.

MJF tries to gives a pep talk to the Inner Circle. There is a lot of tension. MJF appeals to Sammy. He says he respects Sammy and he wants what's best for the Inner Circle. He says they should just go get the match done with. He fistbumps everyone, but Sammy is still skeptical.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Penelope Ford

This match was supposed to be Hirsch vs. Nyla Rose, but Rose has to quarantine due to COVID contact, so Ford replaced her. Miro and Kip Sabian are at ringside, and Miro has his new butler, Chuck Taylor with him. Orange Cassidy is in the stands. Hirsch and Ford have a good match, with Hirsch showing off her amateur wrestling skills. She also fends off interference well, but Sabian assists Ford on a pin attempt and she gets the win.

Winner: Penelope Ford
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

Miro grabs a mic and tells Hirsch to leave the ring. He wants to talk to his butler, "Charles." Charles is wearing a tuxedo. Miro orders Charles to take the microphone and tell Orange Cassidy ("that George Michael wannabe") that Miro is his best friend now. He does it. Cassidy looks mildly disappointed. He walks away slowly.

The Good Brothers are backstage kicking Penta's ass. Kenny Omega and Don Callis join them. Kenny assaults him with his cowboy boot.

Commentary tells us about next week's card: Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer. Cody responds to Shaq. Dax Harwood vs. Jungle Boy. Young Bucks and Good Brothers vs. Dark Order. And in two weeks, Beach Break. The wedding of Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford will take place there. Also: Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker. And a tag team battle royal with a title shot at Revolution on the line. After a commercial break, Tony Schiavone reveals a Women's World Championship eliminator tournament to decide a new number one contender will be "coming soon."

Chris Jericho and MJF vs. Sammy/Hager vs. Proud and Powerful

Chris Jericho and MJF have a mashup of their two theme songs that is pretty well done. No one holds back in this match, comrades. During the match, we learn the main event for Beach Break: Pac, Rey Fenix, and Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers. Jericho even tries to use Floyd, earning a kick from Hager, who also prevents MJF from using the Dynamite Diamond Ring.

MJF powerbombs Sammy and Jericho goes for a Lionsault, and he barely pulls it off, nearly falling on his head. Maybe it's getting to be time to retire that move, comrade. There is no shame in it. El Presidente very rarely performs a coup d'etat these days, even though it was one of my signature moves back in the day. Haw haw haw!

MJF pins Sammy with a rollup to win after some interference by Wardlow.

Winners: Chris Jericho and MJF
El Presidente's Rating: ☭☭½

It was a good episode of Dynamite, my friends. El Presidente gives it… two and a half stars! What? It would be unfair for one episode of Dynamite to have more stars than another one. El Presidente's socialized match ratings are the most equitable form of match ratings, comrades. Until next time, my friends.

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