AEW Dynamite Review: February 12, 2020

AEW Dynamite Review: February 12, 2020 by Felix Pichler

“The Elite” Adam “Hangman“ Page and Kenny Omega (C.) vs. “SCU” Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian (w/ Christopher Daniels) for the AEW Tag Team Championships

This was the perfect match to open the show as it was really entertaining with four great athletes. Before the match even started, the Dark Order appeared on the big screen and said that they were watching and that they would strike soon. Christopher Daniels headed backstage to confront them (even though he didn’t know where they were).

Then the match started, and it took about 13 minutes. In the end, Adam Page and Kenny Omega performed a combination of the Buckshot Lariat and the V-Trigger against Frankie Kazarian for the win to defend their titles. After the pinfall, Page left through the crowd and took some beer with him and Omega also left. So, SCU was left in the ring and the Dark Order came out. They surrounded the ring and then the Best Friends joined Scorpio Sky and Kazarian in the ring. However, the Butcher and the Blade also made their way to the ring together with the “Hybrid 2” who also surrounded the ring. Then, the Young Bucks also entered the ring and so we had all faces in the ring while the heels surrounded the ring and suddenly a brawl broke out, and in the end, the Young Bucks were the only one left in the ring (this was a hint for next week’s battle royal as the winning team will face Omega and Page for the AEW Tag Titles at Revolution).

Opinion: Good opening match and they keep on working towards the split and a feud between Omega and Page what will be absolutely amazing. I’m not interested at all in the Dark Order and hope that they will get a restart or something like that.

Rating: B+

Sammy Guevara (w/ Jake Hager) vs. Dustin Rhodes

Before this match started, we saw an interview with Jim Ross and Santana. Santana talked about his father being blind, and how he was stolen from him and that he never had the chance to say goodbye. Ross brought up that Jon Moxley just took revenge as Jericho stabbed his eye and asked if Santana shouldn’t be angry at Chirs Jericho. Santana explained that it started when Moxley rejected the offer to join the Inner Circle.

Then they aired a little video package as Darby Allin challenged Sammy Guevara for a match at Revolution and he also questioned if Guevara would have gotten herpes because he is kissing Jericho’s ass.

Then the match between Guevara and Rhodes started and even though Jake Hager distracted Dustin several times, he completely dominated Guevara in this match and also won after the Final Reckoning. After the fight, Hager helped Guevara going to the back while Rhodes was in the ring, took a mic and called Hager “Jericho’s bitch” before challenging him for a match at Revolution. However, Hager and Guevara just walked backstage; but later that night this match was made official.

Opinion: Strong interview by Santana and also a solid match from Guevara and Rhodes. However, it’s weird to let Sammy look that incredibly weak just moments after Allin’s challenge. Anyways, the fans finally get the match between Rhodes and Hager

Rating: B

Riho (C.) vs. Nyla Rose for the AEW Women’s Championship

Ahead of this match, Britt Baker once more came out to talk with Tony Schiavone on the stage. She once more acted perfectly like a heel and also explained that even though she is impressed by Nyla Rose, she is better than her. Then, she continued to draw some heat by talking shit about the crowd before she walked backstage.

The match between Rose and Riho was quite interesting as we saw several near falls and both women were in several situations close to winning it. However, in the end, Riho wasn’t able to kick out after the Sit-out Powerbomb and Rose crowned herself the new AE Women’s Champion.

Opinion: Incredibly strong fight and maybe the best women’s match in AEW until now, but surely the best one on AEW Dynamite. The fans liked Riho, but it’s good to have a new champ to start new storylines and feuds.

Rating: A

MJF (w/ Wardlow) vs. Jungle Boy

Next, we saw Jericho and his Inner Circle fellows who got interviewed in the backstage area. Jericho said that Moxley would be trash because of what he did to Santana with the keys of the car which he has stolen from them. The AEW Champion added that if he would survive Santana in this week, he would take a tour of the islands next week with Jeff Cobb.

The match between MJF and Jungle Boy was quite competitive and took almost 13 minutes without anyone really dominating the fight. In the final phase of the match, Wardlow gave MJF his AEW Dynamite Diamond ring what the ref didn’t see. MJF punched Jungle Boy in the face followed by a CrossRhodes for the win. As the match was over, Wardlow picked up Jungle Boy in the fireman’s carry and put him down with something that looked a bit like an F5. Then, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt came out to make the save.

Opinion: Good match and MJF continues to be the most-hated person on AEW Dynamite. It will be interesting to see what happens next week when Cody faces Wardlow in a Steel Cage match.

Rating: B

Jon Moxley vs Santana (w/ Ortiz)

Before the main event match of this episode of AEW Dynamite took place, we saw another video package of Pac who will face Omega in two weeks in a 30 minutes Iron Man match. He explained that Kenny knows that he’s the best and that this eats him inside.

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager were shown in a VIP suite above the fans and they watched from there the match while Ortiz was at ringside. After about 10 minutes, both stuck their thumbs into the eyes of the other one and so both acted as they would see nothing. Both stumbled and as they accidentally bumped into each other, Moxley immediately performed the Paradigm Shift for the win.

Logically, after the match, Ortiz entered the ring to beat up Moxley and then all other members of the Inner Circle joined him. They completely bet Moxley up and, in the end, Jericho also performed the Judas Effect. Then the AEW Champion called out Jeff Cobb who made his entrance to perform the Tour of the Islands against Moxley as the show closed.

Opinion: The match between Moxley and Santana was really entertaining, and the Inner Circle continues to draw heat every week. It’s the same as for the match MJF vs. Cody as the fans want to see at Revolution how the face beats the hell out of the heel. Besides, I’m looking forward to the way Jeff Curbb will be implemented in the show.

Rating: A-

Summary

We had in this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite not that much matches but because of that every single fight received enough time and they were all great. This was clearly one of my most favourite editions of AEW Dynamite until now!

Rating: A-