OK, technically, winter isn’t coming for a few more days, but we’re definitely in that time of the year. AEW always rings in the season with a Winter is Coming episode of AEW Dynamite, which comes to us tonight from the Dallas-adjacent area of Arlington, Texas.
Tonight’s card features not one, not two, not even three, but four matches in the AEW Continental Classic. The biggest of them all pits Jon Moxley against Swerve Strickland in a battle of two men who have yet to taste defeat in the tournament. Will the self-titled “Ace of the World” show why he deserves that moniker, or can Swerve remain on his hot streak and take down yet another top star?
The Blue League matchup between Andrade El Idolo and Brody King is also worth noting. With Bryan Danielson still dangerous despite his ailments and Eddie Kingston desperate to climb back into contention, a victory tonight would be huge for either man.
Dynamite will also welcome back one of the pioneers of the AEW women’s division: Riho, the very first AEW Women’s World Champion. A lot has changed since she was last around the show, but she’ll get a fine welcome back (and by that I mean a potentially violent one) from Ruby Soho, provided Ruby can get her mind off her love life.
All this plus the Von Erichs return to Dallas, plus appearances from The Golden Jets and Samoa Joe. Let’s dive in before it gets too snowy.
AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming results:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- Samoa Joe wants answers but only ends up in a squabble involving Hangman Adam Page and Roderick Strong over who is behind the Devil mask
- Hangman Adam Page def. Roderick Strong by pinfall
- Andrade El Idolo def. Brody King by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match, getting to nine points as a result
- Kevin, Ross and Marshall Von Erich are with Renee Paquette, and Orange Cassidy stops by to ask Ross and Marshall to team with him on Rampage
- The Golden Jets want to speak to Big Bill and Ricky Starks, and after plentiful insults are traded, we’ve got ourselves a tag team title match at Worlds End
- Riho def. Ruby Soho by pinfall
- A hype video is shown for Wardlow, who says he’s been preparing for war ever since he’s returned and MJF’s world is coming to an end
- Rush def. Jay Lethal by submission in a Continental Classic Gold League match
- Jay White def. Mark Briscoe by pinfall in a Continental Classic Gold League match
- A hype video is shown featuring both sides in the Jay Briscoe Memorial match at ROH Final Battle
- Jon Moxley def. Swerve Strickland by pinfall in a Continental Classic Gold League match
- In the parking lot, the Devil’s masked men attack Hangman, with the Devil nodding and his goons slamming Page hard onto the windshield of a car
Samoa Joe thinks Hangman Adam Page is the Devil, but Roderick Strong still thinks it’s Max
Reminding us all that he promised to protect MJF, Samoa Joe says he was forced to look like a liar after MJF was laid out backstage last week. He suspects it was Hangman Adam Page thanks to the broken bottle and the smell of “Stetson and disappointment.”
That brings Page to the ring, and he wants Joe to accuse him straight up. Hangman doesn’t care about anything around MJF and the Devil, and their squabbling in turn brings out Roderick Strong and The Kingdom. After calling Page “my young boy,” Strong lays out what he feels is the evidence pointing to MJF being the Devil.
Page has enough and smashes Roddy with a right hand, and Aubrey Edwards has to step between Page and Joe … but it’s time for Page and Strong to have their match.
Roderick Strong isn’t Neck Strong enough to take down Hangman Adam Page
These guys definitely aren’t going to ease into this one after what we saw in the opening segment. Page hits a fallaway slam and a standing Shooting Star Press for a two count.
Strong battles back and stomps Page into the corner. He gets his own two count but keeps control of Hangman’s head on the mat until Page can free himself for a big boot.
There’s a quick vertical suplex for Page as he remains on the attack. Strong responds with a kneedrop and another near fall. Roddy is elevated out to the apron, and a jumping lariat leaves him wide open for a cross body. Hangman is thinking moonsault to the floor, but The Kingdom intervenes and prevents it. Strong drops Page’s back on the turnbuckles, bouncing him to the outside as side-by-side commercials arrive.
We return to find the two men trading blows on the feet until they both go for big shots at once and end up on the mat. Another exchange of strikes goes in Page’s favor as he stomps Strong into the corner.
Page eats a boot on the way in but responds with a Death Valley Driver for a two count. They head up to the top turnbuckle together, though Strong is knocked down, and while he escapes a moonsault, he is nailed by a popup powerbomb and has to scramble to kick out at two.
Strong hits a couple of shots and suplexes Page for another near fall. He rolls through his next suplex to chain into a Tiger Driver, then transitions right to the Stronghold. Hangman strains and manages to get a rope break.
The Kingdom gets involved again and pays for it, with both members taking a moonsault. Strong tries to take advantage of the commotion but is rolled up for two, but he isn’t so fortunate after the DeadEye.
Andrade El Idolo goes to the top of the Blue League by beating Brody King
The announcers point out the size disparity between the men despite the fact that Andrade looks like he’s been bulking up. El Idolo manages to take King to the mat, and he stays on his size headlock to ensure his foe doesn’t get rolling.
King is selling some of the damage to his neck even as he frees himself and sets off a battle of chops. Forearm shots force Andrade down, and he’s whipped into the corner but escapes from a choke and rebounds with a cross body and a one count.
Andrade takes flight with a moonsault to the floor from the middle turnbuckle before rolling his foe back inside. He looks like he’s bleeding a tad from the mouth.
Dueling chants break out from the crowd as Andrade gets chopped off the top rope all the way to the floor. King is still in command after ads until Andrade is able to send him face first into the turnbuckles.
Andrade tries to hoist King for a body slam, then switches to a couple of dragon screws instead. There’s a flying elbow strike to follow, and Andrade springs to his feet and flexes for the crowd.
A body slam has Andrade in position for a split-legged moonsault, and he covers for a near fall. He wants a corner charge as well, but King evades it and runs him over with a big lariat.
Andrade finds no escape in the corner as King finds him with a cannonball and covers for another two count. They trade forearm shots and chops, then other strikes as well. Andrade’s back elbow hits hardest, and he decides to climb up top again. King meets him by the buckles, but his superplex thoughts are foiled by a DDT into the top turnbuckle (and the buckle is exposed, though we didn’t see exactly when).
Andrade executes a hammerlock DDT and gets the three count, going to the top of the Blue League standings.
The Golden Jets antagonize Big Bill and Ricky Starks into a PPV title match
Dallas seems happy to see Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, who say the reason we haven’t seen them together recently is due to Big Bill and Ricky Starks. Jericho is none too pleased and calls out the tag team champs.
They oblige and immediately try to sow some distrust between the Golden Jets. Omega laughs because he actively doesn’t trust Jericho, then mocks Big Bill’s time in The Firm as well as making a reference to his time in WWE.
The upshot of all this is a challenge for the tag team championship, which Starks accepts for Worlds End. But he wants Jericho to remember that he beat The Ocho twice, so he’s already done half the work.
Since the champs brag that they don’t have a team name, the Golden Jets come up with some ideas that have to be bleeped out. They settle on Big Billy Starks before Jericho calls Starks a “better dressed, less charismatic version of Enzo Amore.”
That finally touches the nerve the Jets were aiming for, and the Worlds End match looks like it’s set.
Riho pins Ruby Soho, Toni Storm is unimpressed
Toni Storm joins the announce table for guest commentary, and Mariah May is with her but Luther has the day off. Soho gets off to a fast start against Riho, who hasn’t been on AEW TV since April.
A bridging suplex gets Riho a near fall, and a double stomp has Storm paying even more attention. Soho eats some elbows on the top rope before Riho comes off the top and picture-in-picture slides in.
Storm seems unimpressed by Riho’s status as the first ever AEW Women’s World Championship, so she probably enjoys Soho getting a two count with a suplex. Riho fights back with a crucifix bomb for her own near fall.
No Future puts Riho back down, but she’s able to barely kick out in time. Riho’s response comes in the form of a dragon suplex and a sliding double knee strikes, and that’s enough to wrap it up, drawing mock applause from Storm.
Rush stays alive in the Continental Classic by submitting Jay Lethal
Rush is still alive to advance from this group and Jay Lethal is not. He can play spoiler, though, as the announcers point out. Lethal definitely looks good early, showing off the strut before Rush goes on offense.
The battle goes to the outside, where Rush is brutalizing his foe. They head back inside for Rush to lay in some chops, and Lethal actually waves him in for more. That might be a mistake as he gets beaten into the corner.
The Tranquilo pose is next before Lethal runs into a powerslam and a near fall. Unable to line up his top rope elbow, Lethal goes for the Lethal Combination instead, then nearly gets caught with an inside cradle for the pin.
Lethal’s corner charge get shim thrown into the turnbuckles instead, though he bounces back to stop the Bull’s Horns. Rush counters the Lethal Injection in turn to apply a sleeper, and Lethal ends up tapping out pretty quickly.
Jay White keeps pace in the Gold League, defeats Mark Briscoe
We’re reminded by the announce team that Rush needs White to lose or draw here to stay in contention to advance from the Gold League. The fans start a “Dem Boyz” chant for Briscoe as he hits a Death Valley Driver and the Froggy Bow. White heads for the floor to avoid a pin.
Though White grabs a camera cable, Briscoe stays on top of him and takes things back between the ropes. He bites White’s forehead but ends up getting flipped over the top rope, bouncing hard off the apron.
After commercials, White runs into a big lariat and both men are down. Briscoe is trying to shake off leg damage he suffered at Switchblade’s hands during the break, and he’s able to get off some Redneck Kung Fu and land a flying forearm shot.
Briscoe’s elbowdrop off the apron is on target as well, and he gets White back in the ring to cover him for two. The battle goes up to the top rope, where Briscoe clobbers White in the back of the head and hits the Razor’s Edge for a near fall.
The “Dem Boyz” chant is back in effect but no defense for Mark against a couple of dragon screws. He does pull off an inside cradle but sees White kick out at two and deliver a sleeper suplex.
Another one follows a brief exchange, and White wants a Blade Runner but gets countered with a t-bone suplex. Briscoe heads up top but catches knees on a Froggy Bow.
The Blade Runner follows and keeps Briscoe winless in the Continental Classic.
Jon Moxley pulls out a tough victory over Swerve Strickland
Buckle up for this one, as the fans start a “holy s–t” chant as soon as the bell rings. The two men are fine with taking it to the mat early on, and Mox plays some mind games with Swerve by kissing him on the forehead in the corner. Strickland repays him in kind.
The psych out work continues as Strickland tries to get under his opponent’s skin by outwrestling him. It sort of works as Mox returns firing strikes, and Strickland is able to survive them and nail a DDT out of the corner that’s good for a quick cover.
They fight to the outside, where Moxley is run face first into the post. He’s able to explode out of the corner with clothesline and rain down shots before biting Strickland on the arm. A stalling piledriver forces Swerve to kick out at two.
Moxley tries to trap Strickland’s wrists but is flung out to the floor, but he traps Swerve in the apron skirt and crotches him with apron before sending his opponent hard into the steel steps.
A commercial break comes and goes to find Moxley in control as the match passes the halfway point in its 20-minute time limit. He connects on a cutter but can once again only get two.
A Gotch-style piledriver leads to another cover; Strickland manages to kick out again. The two warriors exchange headbutts until Swerve can hit a flatliner, and while Moxley tries to shrug it off, Strickland’s big boot nearly pins him.
Strickland steals a page from the BCC playbook with hammer and anvil elbows, then follows with a House Call. He wants the Swerve Stomp put gets shoved off the top rope all the way to the floor.
Moxley tells referee Paul Turner to count him out, and Strickland beats the count only to slide into a Stomp. Swerve kicks out and we’ve got only five minutes left now.
Mox wants a choke and switches to a cross armbreaker instead. A steel chair is Moxley’s next idea, but Strickland flies out to nail him, then hits the Swerve Stomp with Mox seated in the chair.
Strickland flies off the top with the Swerve Stomp, pausing ever so briefly to sell pain to his right shoulder, but only gets two. Swerve wants the JBL Driver, but Moxley rolls him up and holds on for the three count.