AEW Dynamite Results (2/1): TNT Championship Match, Adam Page Faces Jon Moxley, Thatcher Debuts
This is Wrestling INC.'s results of "AEW Dynamite" for February 1, 2023!
It promises to be an exciting night of in-ring action with a stacked card being headlined by a No Holds Barred TNT Championship match. Darby Allin will once again put his title on the line, this time against the man he won it from in the first place, Samoa Joe. The two have traded one victory over the other, with this serving as a rubber match in their rivalry.
Elsewhere, Timothy Thatcher will be making his first-ever AEW appearance as MJF's handpicked opponent for Bryan Danielson. A defeat for the "American Dragon" would take him out of the AEW World Championship match at the upcoming Revolution event, and he does head into this one with an injured shoulder.
Konosuke Takeshita came out to the aid of Danielson last week after Brian Cage looked to destroy his arm, and now he will go one on one with the current ROH World Six-Man Champion in singles action.
The rivalry between Jon Moxley and "Hangman" Adam Page is also set to continue tonight. Both men have one win each over the other, and in both the previous matches one of them has been left hurt as they now look to settle the score and prove who is best.
Another championship match that will be happening tonight will see Jade Cargill defend her TBS Championship against former "Baddie" Red Velvet, who will be aiming to end the undefeated streak of her former friend, as she attempts to take the title in the process.
Finally, AEW World Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed are set to be in tag team action, but their opponents are unknown. However, they have been dealing with issues revolving around the Gunn family recently, with Billy's sons circling them for a title shot.
Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Adam Page
Before "Hangman" Adam Page can even get into the ring, Jon Moxley jumps him and starts launching him around the ringside area, smashing Page through the safety rail. Moxley then launches him over the barricade and the two begin brawling around the fans as Page nails a big boot as Moxley then responds with a Figure Four until Page throws some beer in his face to break things up.
As they get back to ringside, Moxley uses a chair to create some separation as he then wraps his leg inside it but he gets out and then launches it into the face of Moxley! Page suplexes him onto it and once they get inside the ring the match officially begins as they go back and forth with forearms as the former WWE Superstar is busted open. Page hits a German suplex as he slowly picks apart his opponent.
Page connects with a Fallaway Slam, but Moxley then swings blindly and connects with a lariat as he locks in a sleeper hold, but the Cowboy gets the best of this situation as he throws Moxley head-first into the ring post. The two men then continue the fight with chops and forearms outside the ring and when they get back in he tries to stomp on Moxley but he takes too long and that allows the Blackpool Combat Club star to charge him into the corner and rake the back.
Despite that, it is Page who sends Moxley back down to the mat with an Avalanch Deathvalley Driver, but Moxley can kick out! Page demands he stays down but Moxley gets back up and slaps him and then leaps into a cutter. The two men trade chops as Moxley looks for a sleeper, but Page suplexes him to break it up only for Moxley to pop up immediately and nail a suplex of his own.
Moxley launches Page across the ring from the top turnbuckle and he then hits the classic stomps to the face as he transitions into an armbar. Page escapes again and dumps Moxley out of the ring as he aims for a moonsault but Moxley moves and he then gets nailed by a lariat. The two then clobber each other with lariat attempts and "Hangman" opts to powerbomb Moxley through the timekeeper's table.
Moxley just beats the 10 count and immediately walks into a lariat and then the Deadeye, but Moxley kicks out again. Page attempts a big boot but misses, with Moxley then hitting a King Kong Lariat and once again they trade forearm strikes. Page hits a small package driver, but once again the veteran kicks out. Page then aims for the Buckshot Lariat but Moxley blocks it only to be nailed with a Tombstone Piledriver, and then the Buckshot Lariat is hit...but Moxley kicks out! Page locks in a Bulldog Choke straight away, but with Page focusing on that, Moxley counters it with a pinfall.
Winner: Jon Moxley
After the match, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta check on Moxley and Page pushes them off which fires Moxley up
The Acclaimed Are In Action
Renee Paquette is shown backstage as The Bunny tells Jamie Hayter they were impressed with her last week. She then challenges her to an eliminator match last week and Hayter agrees. However, Saraya and Toni Storm are then shown on a television attacking Britt Baker elsewhere backstage.
The Acclaimed vs. Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum
The Acclaimed are out next taking shots at their opponents calling them the bootleg Beverly Brothers. Their opponents then look to scissor before the match begins, but that leads to Max Caster hitting a superkick. The match then begins and Anthony Bowens hits Scissor Me Timbers, and then the champions and Billy Gunn hit the scissor properly. Meanwhile, Bowens nails the Arrival and Caster follows with the Mic Drop for a routine win.
Winners: The Acclaimed
Post-match The Gunn's make their way to the ring and they praise the match, but they want a shot at the titles and they want an answer right now. Bowens reminds them that they're interrupting the top tag team in AEW right now, so they decide to ask the people. Unfortunately for the Gunn's, the fans say no when asked if they deserve a shot at the titles, so Bowens agrees and says no.
This leads to them squaring off until Billy Gunn pulls them all apart, he says he is sick of it and they can go ahead and beat the sh*t out of each other. He walks away as Austin Gunn says he is doing what he did their entire childhood, and turn their back on them as he suggests he drowns his sorrows in the bottom of a pill bottle. Billy then returns to the ring but his microphone cuts out. He throws one down in anger, but he asks them if they think they have what he has and he agrees to the title shot, which leaves the champions a little confused.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Brian Cage
Jack Perry is shown backstage as he says he had an amazing time teaming with HOOK, but he's done the tag team thing before. This year isn't about that, this time he will be champion again all by himself.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Brian Cage
The two men go straight after each other with hard-hitting strikes until Konosuke Takeshita boots Brian Cage in the face to send him to the floor as he then leaps over the top rope to attack him again. However, Cage then manages to powerbomb Takeshita into the ring post, and back in the ring he hits a low dropkick which gets him a near fall. The two exchange forearm and elbow strikes, but Takeshita then nails a Blue Thunder Bomb, which gets him a near fall this time.
However, as he looks for a jumping knee Cage avoids it as he crashes over the ropes, and Cage then suplexes him over the top rope and back into the ring to showcase his strength. They then start trading chops, but the Cage then sets Takeshita up and connects with the 619! He follows with a back elbow and kick to the face as Takeshita then gets thrown across the ring.
Takeshita manages to respond with a jumping knee to the back of Cage's head as he then hits a shotgun dropkick as both men go down. He follows it with a stalling German suplex, but it isn't quite enough to keep his opponent down for a three-count. While Cage tries to fight back he is instantly dropped to the mat again, this time by a Liger Bomb, but Cage kicks out only to be hit with a rolling elbow. However, Cage absorbs it all and he then hits a discus lariat, and this time it is Takeshita having to kick out at the last second. Cage hits a brainbuster, yet Cage now fights out.
The two men then scale to the second turnbuckle and it is Takeshita who wins out with an avalanche brainbuster that is followed by a huge knee strike, and this time Cage cannot respond.
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita
The Jericho Appreciation Society are then shown backstage and he says Ricky Starks didn't lose to a baseball bat, he lost to them as a group. Sammy Guevara says they came up with an idea for the Garcia-Guevara gauntlet. Starks has to beat 2.0, then either Guevara or Garcia, and if he gets through all that he will face Chris Jericho.
Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher
The Elite are shown backstage and they will put the titles on the line next week against Top Flight and AR Fox. Stokeley Hathaway then appears and Ethan Page says he keeps his boys going and they set up a trios match.
Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher
Timothy Thatcher wastes no time going after the arm of Bryan Danielson, bringing him down with a wrist lock before kneeing the shoulder, but Danielson fires back with a series of quick punches and kicks as he then brings Thatcher down to the mat by working on his leg before the bow and arrow stretch. Thatcher doesn't go for the ropes though, he pulls the injured arm and then stomps away on it.
Danielson comes back into it briefly with a running dropkick, but Thatcher immediately twists the arm and just yanks Danielson down into the mat before he lifts Danielson up by his injured arm alone. He then takes Danielson and slams the arm onto the ring apron, but back in the ring he becomes too casual which allows the "American Dragon" to try and set the LeBell Lock, but Thatcher stops it by reaching the ropes.
Danielson fights back with some headbutts, but Thatcher immediately regains control with forearms to the shoulder before he throws him across the ring. They then head to the top rope but Danielson fights back and sends Thatcher down not just once but twice as Danielson hits a dropkick from the top turnbuckle. Danielson hits some of his trademark strikes until Thatcher just slaps one away and as he avoids the big one a couple of times after Danielson rolls out of a pinfall attempt he nails Thatcher in the head.
The referee is then accidentally taken down, and that leads to MJF appearing. However, before he can get into the ring Takeshita appears through the crowd and jumps MJF as he fights him to the back. Meanwhile, inside the ring, Thatcher locks in the Fujiwara Armbar, but Danielson gets to the ropes and hits a German suplex, following it with the Busaiku Knee.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Takeshita and MJF are then shown brawling as the champion launches a chair at him and they keep brawling until security pulls them apart. Renee Paquette then reveals next week in an eliminator match it will be Takeshita vs. MJF.
Jade Cargill (c) vs. Red Velvet
MJF is shown backstage giving RUSH a briefcase of money, and he has five more of them if he can beat Bryan Danielson next week and rip his arm off.
Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet
Red Velvet wastes no time as she jumps Jade Cargill while she is posing in the ring, but after a flurry of attacks, she is then dropped by an elbow strike from the champion. Velvet uses her speed to avoid Cargill as she slips out of the ring and Velvet follows by diving out with a dropkick before chopping her. Back inside the ring, Cargill blocks a superkick and then nails a huge suplex, but Velvet kicks out.
Cargill manages to slam Velvet to the mat, following up with a jumping elbow drop, and she then slams her off each turnbuckle to add to the dominance. With the official distracted with Cargill, Leila Grey decides to take a shot at Velvet, but back outside the ring, the challenger nails a big boot to Cargill. However, as she tries to dive onto the champion she gets caught and then slammed into the ring post. Impressively Cargill then presses up Velvet above her head and she carries her up the stairs before launching her onto the top rope.
While Velvet manages to kick out, Cargill throws her across the ring and then starts doing push-ups inside the ring to mock her former "Baddie." Velvet doesn't take kindly to that with a dropkick and then a Codebreaker, but she then runs into a huge pump kick. Outside the ring, Kiera Hogan appears and sends Grey down the stairs, but she then gets sent to the back. Meanwhile, inside the ring Velvet catches Cargill with a kick to the face, and that does get a three count but the official is distracted, and when Aubrey Edwards turns around Cargill can kick out.
Velvet then locks in a submission, but Cargill powers up to escape it and she throws Velvet into the air, catching her to then hit Jaded.
Winner (and still TBS Champion): Jade Cargill – who is now 50 – 0
Backstage Britt Baker is in the medical room and she says she is fine, and then Ruby Soho appears to check on her. Baker says they are Soho's girls but she claims that she had nothing to do with it.
Darby Allin (c) vs. Samoa Joe (No Holds Barred TNT Championship Match)
Darby Allin hits the ring with a jacket full of thumbtacks so he launches into Samoa Joe from the start, but he manages to fight back. Joe smartly uses his towel to wrap around his arm and deliver a massive lariat, and he then pulls the jacket off the champion as Joe stomps him down. Allin instantly fights back though and busts open Joe, but that just angers him. He pulls the stairs and launches him into them as he bounces off them, and over the barricade to the floor!
They then brawl up the stairs through the fans as the challenger then just slams Allin down them. They then fight back to the ringside area as Joe slams Allin down onto the stairs once again as Allin tries to crawl away from him. Joe catches up with him and methodically beats him down with a huge chop to the back of the neck as he then hits a massive elbow strike as Allin tries to build some pace from the ropes.
The champion showcases his fighting spirit with a few strikes, but as he runs into Joe in the corner he just plants him straight back down to the mat. While Allin kicks out of the pinfall attempt, he is instantly sent back down with a couple of chops as Allin then gets roughly booted to the floor. Joe sets a table up onto the barricade in front of the fans, but as he goes back to Allin he ends up hitting a jawbreaker as he then fires back with a series of chops only for Joe to just dump him to the floor by launching him over the top rope.
Joe grabs a couple of chairs and sets them back-to-back as he just drops Allin spine-first onto them as the veteran smiles at the fans chanting, "Joe is gonna kill you." Joe aims to powerbomb him through the chairs but Allin blinds him with some powder, following it with a Code Red and a Stunner. Allin then puts the thumbtack jumper back on and hits the Coffin Drop, but Joe manages to kick out!
Allin finds a blade and he starts cutting the canvas away and he exposes the wooden boards, but as he goes back to Joe with a dive outside the ring, the ROH star hits his trademark walk away and Allin crashes through the table. Joe then powerbombs the champion onto the thumbtack jacket as he then pulls it onto his face, but Allin gets out of it by poking him in the eye.
Allin follows up with a series of chair shots, but as Allin prepares for a Coffin Drop the challenger pushes the official onto the ropes which knocks him. Joe then heads to the top turnbuckle and nails a Muscle Buster onto the exposed wood.
Winner (and new TNT Champion): Samoa Joe
After the match, Wardlow's music hits and he charges down to the ring as he Spears the new champion and then aims for the Powerbomb Symphony, but Joe slips away and escapes.