Tonight on AEW Dynamite, it’s night one of Holiday Bash as Orange Cassidy takes on Adam Cole in singles action and CM Punk teams up with Sting and Darby Allin to face MJF and FTR of The Pinnacle!
AEW DYNAMITE
December 22, 2021, Greensboro, NC
Commentary: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Taz
MATCH 1
Adam Cole vs. Orange Cassidy
The two play mind games with bay bay’s and pockets, but both men start putting on a wrestling clinic. This goes on for quite some time as the scales of competition are even. Orange gets several pin attempts on Cole until Adam hits him with a backstabber in the corner. “Freshly squeezed” chants. Cole takes control.
Cole goes for a superplex, but Orange holds on. He casually pushes Cole off and nails a cross body. Signature tornado DDT. Two count. Orange ascends and out comes the Bucks with Brandon Cutler. Cassidy redirects and dives onto Cutler. Out come the Best Friends to brawl with the Bucks. Cassidy topes on them. Cole throws Cassidy twice into the ring steps. Cole charges but nails his bare knee off the steps.
Back from break, both men duke it out on their knees. Cassidy does his “heel” flurry before hitting a kick. Cole hits a brainbuster off his knee. Two count. Cassidy nails a Stundog Millionaire. Springboard diving DDT by Orange. Two count.
Cole downs Cassidy and tells him to stay there. He drags him to the corner to set him up for the Panama Sunrise. Orange backs up and rolls Cole up. Two ocunt. Michinoku Driver for another near fall by Cassidy. OC gets on the apron and puts on his shades. ange pockets, leaps off but gets superkicked. Panama Sunrise. Lazy pin with hands in trunks. 1-2-kick out!
Cole goes for a Boom, but Orange ducks to hit a Beach Break. 1-2-kick out by Cole. OC sizes up for an Orange Punch, but Cole rolls out. Bobby Fish gets on the apron. From behind, Kyle O’Reilly creeps from behind. He hits Orange. Cole hits the Boom! 1-2-3!
WINNER: Adam Cole (Bay Bay
Post-match, O’Reilly attacks Cassidy, but Cole pulls him off and stares at him. The Best Friends come out for the save, but Cole, Fish and O’Reilly attack the Best Friends. They take out Trent with their trip leg combo. Out come The Bucks. They stand in the ring and Cole looks stuck in the middle. Cole leaves as Fish and O’Reilly hugs before Cole calls for Undisputed Era to leave with him.
It’s announced that Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson II will take place on January 5, the first Dynamite on TBS.
Tony Schiavone is in the ring to introduce Hangman to the ring. Tony says he believes Hangman would have won that match if time didn’t let up. Hangman disagrees. After 60 minutes he was handed back this title. As he walked to the back he realized that in his three years in AEW that he never felt less of a champion. He feels disappointed. Out comes Danielson to interrupt. “Wait. Entitled Millenial Cowboy” still has the title on his shoulder and he’s disappointed? Poor cowboy. You know who should be disappointed is the AEW fans cause he kicked his ass for 60 minutes and if anyone should be champ it’s him. He’s gonna kick his ass again on January 5. Bryan says he hurt his leg against John Silver, but he’s not going to make that mistake again. He’s actually not going to wrestle on January 5. The only problem is still that time limit. He didn’t come out to complain like an entitled millenial. Here’s what he proposes: January 5, they have judges. Therefore everyone will see that the true AEW World Champion is Bryan Danielson. Hangman says if he had just three more seconds he would have drowned him. Hangman says lets bring some judges in (get some old guys some pay days). He’s worked to hard to be a B+ player, that’s horseshit. If the question is if Hangman Page can beat Danielson in two weeks time the answer will be “yes.”
MJF is with FTR and Wardlow. He briefly takes digs at Wardlow before saying that CM Punk is a fake nice guy. He said when he chose to walk away from his hand, he chose an early retirement. Dax says Pinnacle is a family. When you’re Pinnacle, you’re always on top.
MATCH 2
Wardlow (with Shawn Spears) vs. Shawn Dean
Four powerbombs to Dean. Foot on chest. 1-2-3.
WINNER: Wardlow
Post-match, Shawn Spears smacks Dean with a chair to steal the spotlight. Wardlow looks aware of that.
Dan Lambert is up top with Men of the Year. He cites Shakespeare and he doesn’t expect Greensboro to understand that. Tony Khan “man” uses the buddy system. If you’re not, then it’s opening match and backstage segments for life. He hypes up both Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page before noting it’s Cody Rhodes getting another title shot on Christmas evening. Look how Khan is treating him. He calls Cody a bigger dick than he is. He doesn’t give a damn who he cheers for or who he boos. His only concern is that one of these guys gets the next title shot.
Tony Schiavone is backstage with Britt Baker. He asks her about Riho. Tony notes Hayter losing to Riho. Britt calls 2021 the “Era of DMD.” She built her own throne and became her own pillar. 2022 is not going to start with Riho. She should have stayed under that bottom rope at All Out. She’s out of her league. “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”
We see Mark Henry, Adam Cole, Matt Hardy, 2point0, Eddie Kingston, Dustin Rhodes and Shawn Spears all talk about the legacy of Owen Hart in the wrestling business.
MATCH 3
AEW TBS Women’s Championship Tournament Semi-Finals
Nyla Rose vs. Ruby Soho
Nyla Rose immediately attacks Ruby and attacks her with her jacket on. Nyla finally pulls it off her. Nyla plants a running Ruby down. She hooks the face of Soho. Nyla beales Ruby across the ring. Ruby catches Nyla in an elbow hook. The fight spills to the outside. Vickie Guerrero moves Nyla away from an attack from Ruby who collides into the steps. We go to break.
Back from it, Ruby nails a DDT. Nyla introduces a chair and inadvertantly Ruby hits her with it. Vikcie trips up Ruby from up top and Nyla nails her diving knee on the shoulder of Ruby. 1-2-kick out.
Ruby has Nyla in a sleeper. Nyla signals for Vickie who hops on the apron. This allows Nyla to nail a Beast Bomb. Kick out at two! Rubo hits her Road To Nowhere kick. 1-2-3!
WINNER and ADVANCING to the AEW TBS Women’s Championship Finals: Ruby Soho
Serena Deeb is not done with Hikaru Shida. Shida has never definitively beaten her she says.
MATCH 4
Malakai Black vs. Griff Garrison (with Brian Pillman Jr.)
Griff’s aggressiveness gets him in trouble as Black immediately strikes him. Black stares down Pillman on the outside and Garrison dives on top of him. Black gains control again with ten quick consecutive strikes. Griff nails a sharp elbow and nearly gets the fall on Malakai. Black gets control back with a knee strike. Black picks Griff up and ankle picks him. Single leg crab submission. Griff aps.
WINNER: Malakai Black
Black won’t let go and Pillman attacks. Black nails him with a Black Mass.
Isiah Cassidy and Jungle Boy cut promos on one another before they fight at Rampage on Christmas.
MAIN EVENT
MJF & FTR vs. Sting, Darby Allin & CM Punk
Sting comes out with new CM Punk war paint and a CM Punk shirt on. Punk comes out with WCW Stinger war paint and attire. Punk and MJF start the match off. MJF immediately tags in Dax. Sting soons strikes Dax from the apron. Punk gets offense, Dax tags in Cash who gets body slammed by Punk. Cash and Darby go at it and Darby gains control whole rolls to his corner. Tag to Max. Darby tags Punk. Max bails. He tags Cash in. Test of strength by Punk turns to a wrist torque by Cash. Punk reverses and Sting gets the tag. Seeveral arm wrenches. Sting tries up Cash and goes for a Scorpion Deathlock. Cash bails. Max gets in and tries to chop Sting. Nothing. Sting grabs hold of Max who goes to tag in Cash, but Sting short arm clotheslines Max. Tag to Punk and Max bails once more. Punk chases Max into the crowd. Max runs back and tags in Dax. Darby dives onto all three and we head to break.
Back from it, FTR take it to Darby. They throw him into the barricade and hit a suplex on the floor. Soon, Max has a sleeper on Darby. Darby gets a near roll-up on Max. Scoop slam. Sting gets the hot tag and takes it to everyone. He hits a Ron Simmons spinebuster on Max before Stinger splashes get hit on FTR. Coffin splash by Darby followed by a running knee from Punk. Scorpion Deathlock on Dax, but Max comes in to face plant Sting. Dax covers for a two count. We go to the final commercial break.
Sting is getting beat by Dax until he catches Harwood with a body slam. Sting hits a bulldog on MJF. Sting Flair flops into MJF’s “yam bag.” Hot tag to Punk. Punk nails calf kicks and knee strikes to FTR. Bulldog clothesline combo and tope onto Dax by Punk. Diving cross body by Punk. Two count on Cash. Punks signals for the GTS. Punk has him up, but Dax tags himself in. Neckbreaker to Dax. Offense continues.
Punk goes for his Macho Elbow, but he gets crotched. Him and Dax fight up top. Superplex splash combo on Punk from FTR. Near fall, but Punk kicks out. No sign of MJF. Darby dives onto Cash Punk tries to roll up Dax. Punk roundhouse kicks Dax. Something happens at the medical table with Darby and Cash but the camera doesn’t catch it. Punk and Dax duke it out. Punk goes for a GTS but FTR hits a Big Rig. Sting break up the fall. MJF slides in and hits a DDT on Sting. Sting pops right back up. He tosses Max way over the top into his team. Sting leaps to the outside onto Pinnacle. Amazing. Punk about to GTS MJF, but Dax saves him. Dax takes the GTS and Scorpion Death Drop. Coffin Drop. Punk covers: 1-2-3.
WINNERS: Sting, Darby Allin & CM Punk
MJF gets on commentary to air his grievances a day before Festivus.
