Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: AEW Dynamite New Year’s Smash

For the final time in 2021 and for the final time on TNT, Dynamite hit the airwaves this week from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL with plenty of scores to settle before we head into 2022. AEW had several returns and debuts in store, of both the expected and unexpected variety, and some consequential matches including the final semifinal match in the TBS Championship tournament. (Hmm, are there any other ways I could crowbar the word “final” into this intro? …Nah, let’s just move on.) Which moments impressed and which underwhelmed? Let’s take a look.

Best Match of the Night

With all due respect to Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz vs. 2point0 & Daniel Garcia, Jade Cargill vs. Thunder Rosa, and the Wardlow squash over Colin Delaney, there were really only two standout matches on the card, and unsurprisingly they opened and closed the show. The opening 10-man tag featuring Jurassic Express, Christian Cage, and the Lucha Brothers against FTR, Matt Hardy, and Private Party was a fun and energetic match that exemplified the multi-man formula AEW has seemingly perfected over the first years of its existence. Each tag team had its opportunities to shine, with the Lucha Brothers and FTR unsurprisingly standing out in particular. Besides the in-ring action, there was a nice bit of storyline progression as Penta’s blind tag to Luchasaurus caused some friction with the dino-man and his partner Christian, and the finish saw Christian return the favor on Penta at an inopportune moment, which led to FTR hitting the Big Rig to take the victory. This moment and the post-match confrontation between the two teams served two storylines at once – most obviously, it sets up a tag team title match between the Lucha Bros and Jurassic Express, but it also furthers the idea that Christian is bringing Jurassic Express down. Not only did he lose the match for them, but he’s also hurting their chemistry as a team. He issues challenges on their behalf, gets them involved in matches they may not be ready for, and encourages them to use tactics that they may not be comfortable with. It’s no wonder Penta (via his mouthpiece Alex Abrahantes) told Jungle Boy that he needs to leave the past behind if he’s going to have any real future. The Christian heel turn has been simmering just beneath the surface for a while now, and I’m still looking forward to the eventual feud between him and Jungle Boy or, potentially, him aligning himself with another tag team to feud with Jungle Express. On the other side of the equation, the win for FTR keeps them looking strong, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they aren’t back in the title picture again soon, as their issues with the Lucha Bros don’t seem to be entirely settled yet. Only the HFO seemingly comes out of this without any real direction, but that has been true for a while and yet AEW could decide to heat up Private Party at any time really.

The best match of the night was definitely the trios main event of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and the debuting Kyle O’Reilly vs. Orange Cassidy and Best Friends. Realistically, I should say it was Cole and ReDRagon as the former ROH tag team standouts had their own spiffy entrance music and video (that was prematurely cut off by Cole’s solo entrance in a nice bit of foreshadowing) that will hopefully portend big things for the duo going forward. This match also stuck to the familiar multi-man format of the opening match, but with fewer participants, each competitor was given more time to shine, and the action felt more coherent overall. (No production errors leading to missed dives in this match, of which there were nearly two in the opening match.) Orange Cassidy’s schtick remains incredibly over, and Adam Cole constantly attempting to thwart him putting his hands in his pockets or delivering the Kicks of Doom is an easy source of heel heat even for someone as cool and over as the Panama City Playboy. Fish and O’Reilly have tremendous tag team chemistry, as do Best Friends, and both teams seem to have picked up where they left off without missing a beat in the time they were apart. Both teams explored the unique space outside the ring at Daily’s Place, with a sequence of the match focusing on the entrance ramp area. Bobby Fish hit a slingshot suplex on Trent off the ring ropes and onto the entranceway, and Chuck Taylor countered an attempted Panama Sunrise into a back body drop on the ramp. The finish once again played into an ongoing storyline, as O’Reilly mistakenly kicked Cole off the apron before Brandon Cutler emerged to distract the ref while the Young Bucks took out Best Friends with a pair of superkicks. Chasing the Dragon followed for the heel win, but Cutler and the Bucks positioned themselves on Cole’s side as ReDRagon celebrated by themselves in the ring. With tension obviously brewing between Cole and the Bucks already, the ending of the match left Cole questioning whether Fish and O’Reilly are really on his side the same way O’Reilly had questioned Cole’s loyalty earlier in the evening. At the same time, the Bucks can either claim credit for ReDRagon’s big win as a way of undercutting their triumphant reunion, or they can continue to play mind games with Cole by claiming they were just there to help their good buddy and make sure he was okay, which is more than his supposed “friends” Fish and O’Reilly did. The Elite are not doing great without their leader Kenny Omega around to keep things together, and a match like this shows that even in victory, they cannot entirely cure what ails them or slow their inevitable collapse.

Best Moment of the Night

Right off the top, an obvious highlight was the return of good ol’ Jim Ross to the commentary desk after finishing his cancer treatment and announcing that he’s officially cancer-free. Mark Sterling revealing that anything Wardlow accomplishes as part of the Pinnacle is technically the property of MJF was a great twist in the convoluted saga between them. (Also, doesn’t that same contractual requirement apply to FTR as well, since they’re also members of the Pinnacle? Doesn’t that mean MJF could crown himself AAA Tag Team Champions at any time?) The reveal of Mercedes Martinez as an ally of Jade Cargill was a cool moment and makes a ton of sense going forward – pairing a veteran like Martinez with a rookie like Cargill should benefit the younger star immensely, and their alliance adds another wrinkle to the TBS Championship match between Cargill and Ruby Soho.

As is often the case, CM Punk‘s promo segment was a significant high point and my pick for this week’s moment of the night. First and foremost, giving props to JR on commentary and talking about the importance of showing people appreciation while they’re around while referencing Brodie Lee as deserving of all the recognition he’s gotten over the past year was just plain classy and appropriate. Beyond that, the purpose of Punk’s promo to seemingly put his feud with MJF behind him while still implying that they’ll likely cross paths again in the future hit just the right tone for where the feud is at this point. After last week’s match, it should be clear that Punk and MJF are far from done, but they’re also far from really mixing it up physically. I said at the start of this entire thing that AEW should stretch this feud out until the next pay-per-view, which is not until Revolution in March. That means there needs to be a justification for keeping the feud going while keeping it from getting stale, and the idea that neither man really cares about facing the other but they just happen to have the same goal fits the bill – they may not actively be trying to feud, and it isn’t exactly personal yet, but they also can’t exactly get away from each other for good. There’s plenty of room for AEW to heat this feud up in the coming months – and I expect they will – but having Punk state that he’s done with MJF at this point makes sense, though of course Punk couldn’t resist laying in a few shots verbally at the same time. The Jacksonville crowd may not have loved the claim that MJF is “a bigger waste of Khan money than Tim Tebow” for…some reason, but it was accurate and hilarious. 2022 should be an exciting year for plenty of AEW wrestlers, but I’m really looking forward to what it has in store for CM Punk in particular.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

The entire segment between Dan Lambert and Brandi Rhodes was an absolute dumpster fire. There is no overstating it. There was nothing else worth mentioning from this week’s episode that is anywhere close to this bad, so I’m not even going to mention anything else here. You can argue that Lambert’s misogyny is acceptable because he’s a heel, but it’s cheap, go-away heat that really does not have a place in modern wrestling. I don’t want someone to beat him up for saying these things – I want the company to stop giving him a microphone and devoting TV time to having him speak. It’s especially gross considering Brandi has no real role to play in the feud – sure, maybe Lambert could bring back Paige VanZant (herself a prop in the Inner Circle/American Top Team that finally, mercifully seems to be over) for some sort of mixed tag, but there are no stakes for Brandi personally as Lambert only insulted her as a way of getting to her husband, the same way Chris Jericho insulting VanZant was just a way of getting under the skin of the ultra-macho ATT. Lambert didn’t even succeed in bringing out Cody – it was Dustin Rhodes who came to prevent her from having to face 3-on-1 odds. What was the point of all this? AEW: stop using women as props whose only role is to be insulted, slut-shamed, and minimized. Your women’s division has been making so much progress lately. Do not undo it with this Attitude-Era-at-its-worst garbage.

Parting Shots

• Chris Jericho’s return was fine, but I always hate when someone runs out to make the save after something they really should have tried to prevent has already happened. What’s the point of bringing a bat to the ring to defend your buddies Santana and Ortiz when Daniel Garcia has already clocked Santana in the head with the ring bell? No wonder Eddie Kingston was upset with him – you couldn’t have left catering just a couple of minutes earlier?
• Did AEW just invent the term “powerbomb symphony” for Wardlow’s preferred method of finishing opponents, or have I just not noticed it until now? It’s a good idea but feels like it’s trying a little too hard to become a catchphrase. I suppose it’ll be fine as long as they don’t overuse it and run it into the ground.
• Thunder Rosa’s entrance gear inspired by X-23, better known as the female Wolverine, was very cool, but unfortunately I feel like anyone who goes above and beyond for their entrance/ring attire is destined to lose. It’s kind of like “if I’m going to lose anyway, I may as well look good doing it.”
• I’m glad they gave Hikaru Shida an opportunity at a rebuttal to Serena Deeb’s claim that her victory was fraudulent due to the use of the exposed turnbuckle. Too often in situations like these the babyface would just be like “well if that’s how you feel, let’s fight” and that’s about it. Shida pointed out that Deeb’s entire reasoning is BS – it was Deeb who exposed the turnbuckle in the first place, and there’s no way she would have called it a tainted victory if she had used it on Shida to win – and it’s always nice when a babyface looks smart instead of just letting the heel drive the narrative. It’s a small thing, but the fact that Shida rejected the need for a rematch but still wants to fight again just adds a little added spice to their match at Battle of the Belts.

That’s it for another week! Just a quick note here that I will be taking next week off, so no Chair Shots for the first Dynamite on TBS. I’ll be back in two weeks, so I hope everyone has a safe, happy New Year’s and enjoys the start to the TBS era of AEW!