The Continental Classic remains front and center for AEW Dynamite tonight from the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Three Gold League matches are on the card, including one that should be the featured bout between Jay White and Swerve Strickland. Both men won their tournament opener, so a victory tonight could go a long way toward earning one of the spots in the semifinals. Since they’re so evenly matched, a draw seems possible too, which could let some of the other participants back in it.
Speaking of those other men, they’ll be in action too. Jon Moxley will try to run his record to 2-0 against Jay Lethal, looking to rebound from an 0-1 start. The final round robin bout tonight features Mark Briscoe and Rush which should be a banger even though both lost their opening matches.
AEW often announces an intriguing match just hours before the show, and that was the case today as well, with Tony Khan casually tweeting that Julia Hart will defend her TBS Championship against Emi Sakura. It’s not going to completely shut down criticism of the women’s division getting short shrift on AEW shows, but it’s a start.
All this plus we get Bryan Danielson on commentary and we’ll hear from Christian Cage. Light the fuse!
AEW Dynamite results from Minneapolis:
Bryan Danielson is rocking the eye patch as he joins Excalibur and Taz at the announce table.
Jon Moxley def. Jay Lethal by submission in a Continental Classic Gold League match, is first to 6 points
This seems like much more of a must win for Lethal after he dropped his opener. The announcers discuss the tournament format and how a loss in your opener doesn’t mean doom, but having zero points after two matches is pretty bad news.
Danielson criticizes Lethal for strutting on the apron after hitting a suicide dive, and if you guessed Mox makes him pay for it, you guessed right. But Danielson is concerned about the way Moxley’s knees bent back on the landing.
Lethal works over Moxley’s left knee before dropping a top rope elbow. Mox kicks out at two only to get blasted into the barricade as commercials slide in.
The announcers admire Lethal’s transitions, though they wonder if his weak covers may cost him. Sure enough, Mox looks like he’s going to rally even though he’s still selling his knee damage, but Lethal snuffs it out with a Figure Four.
Jay is thinking Lethal Injection after that hold, but Moxley turtles up to avoid it and surprises his foe with a Paradigm Shift. A King Kong lariat and stuff piledriver lead to a two count, after which Moxley immediately wraps Lethal in a choke. Jay fights it briefly but has to tap.
Eddie Kingston is shown musing about his opening match loss, wondering if he came in too cocky by putting his titles on the line. He’s behind the 8-ball with Danielson up next but says he’s not going back to his old mentality and will be ready for Bryan.
Tony Schiavone reveals that AEW Revolution will take place Sunday, March 3 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Sting and Ric Flair talk about their history with that location, and the Nature Boy puts over Sting’s 45-minute match with him there that helped put him on the map.
Rush def. Mark Briscoe by pinfall, gets on the board in a the Continental Classic
Nothing subtle about this, as you’d expect. Briscoe gets the upper hand first by sending Rush to the floor and hitting a dropkick through the ropes, but he finds himself facing chops and being sent into the barricade multiple times.
Briscoe drops an elbow off the apron in response and has the fans fired up. Rush dumps him on his head with a release German suplex but takes a huge lariat seconds later.
During commercials, it appears Rush is having some leg issues, so he tries his best to ground Briscoe. They decide to stand and trade chops again until Briscoe can hit an exploder suplex; Rush answers with a belly-to-belly into the corner.
Briscoe charges out of the corner with a spear, good for a near fall. A neckbreaker gets another in quick succession.
Maybe the biggest move yet comes when Rush manages to throw Briscoe back first onto the floor from the apron. Briscoe beats the ref’s count but appears to be in trouble on the top turnbuckle … until he sends Rush to the mat for the Froggy Bow. Rush kicks out at two.
Another suplex into the corner and an elbow strike has Briscoe in the corner to take the Bull’s Horns, and Mark isn’t able to recover before the ref counts to three.
RJ City gets an audience with “Timeless” Toni Storm, who scoffs at the idea that she’d be worried about her upcoming title defense.
MJF, Samoa Joe get a challenge from the Devil
Walking out with his cane again, MJF hypes up his Worlds End title defense against Samoa Joe. The champ doesn’t like Joe as a person but respects him as a person and for his belief in AEW.
MJF recalls seeing TNA on TV when he was younger, opening his eyes to a lot of new wrestlers, but especially Samoa Joe. He reminds everyone that Joe never got a world championship opportunity in WWE, but without a guy like Joe, there may not be an AEW. So he reluctantly says thank you, and the crowd joins in.
However … MJF says he’s not too shabby himself and has helped build AEW brick by brick since day one. Their match won’t be about Joe’s legacy, but Max’s, to see if he can outlast “the final boss” of this sport one last time.
MJF says he doesn’t care about his ailments or what else might happen, and that on Dec. 30, Joe will have to put him down to take his title.
The lights go out, then start strobing before the Devil’s henchmen appear in the ring. One has a baseball bat, but Joe is able to help fight them off before the whole feed goes black.
A printed message appears, word by word, challenging MJF and Joe to a tag team match against “the unknown.” An angry Max vows to unmask the Devil and accepts the match though Joe seems less than thrilled about it.
Wardlow squashes AR Fox by referee stoppage
Can Fox fare better than some of the lesser lights who Wardlow has run through over the past few weeks? He gets his licks in outside the ring before the match officially starts, but getting in more will be the issue.
Well, he does hit a 450 Splash, so that’s something. But his kicks to the head just sort of piss Wardlow off, and he effortlessly chokeslams Fox, delivers a lariat and starts with the powerbombs.
A Swanton Bomb leads to a third powerbomb, and referee Bryce Remsburg calls a stop to it.
Dante Martin is back, sealing a win for Top Flight and Action Andretti over The Hardys and Brother Zay
Not going to do play-by-play for this one, just going to enjoy Dante Martin back in action after his horrific injury (which AEW shows again for some reason).
Andretti gets some nice time to show his stuff against Matt Hardy before making a popular hot tag to Dante. It’s great to see him fly around the ring, looking like he’s fully healthy and confident.
Some cool spots on the outside take the Hardys out of the mix, and Dante is able to pin Zay after some triple team offense to get a nice comeback victory.
Top Flight and Andretti get a backstage visit from Penta El Zero Miedo, Komander and El Hijo del Vikingo, who look like they’re issuing a challenge for a trios match.
Julia Hart retains her TBS Championship, pinning Emi Sakura
Hart sneers at her more experienced challenger, definitely not intimidated in any way. Sakura doesn’t care, of course, hurling the champ into the steel steps and splashing her there.
Things get no better for the hometown champ during commercials, as Sakura holds Hart upside-down and shows her to all four sides of the arena before dropping her down for a backbreaker.
The House Rules stipulation that Sakura selected was no wins by submission, so Hart can’t use Hartless to finish the challenger. Sakura regains the upper hand as the crowd chants for Hart. She gets Hartless applied, and even though Sakura is tapping, the match continues, with Aubrey Edwards reminding Julia about the rules.
Hart launches into a moonsault (that Sakura has to roll back into a tad) and gets the pinfall to retain.
Mariah May thanks RJ City for connecting her with Storm before going to visit Tony Khan.
Adam Copeland gives Christian Cage a taste of his own medicine
Christian Cage has plenty of security with him as he takes the ring to a chorus of boos, and he may need them as he invites Adam Copeland to the ring. He seems a little flustered when Copeland doesn’t come out immediately.
The Rated R Superstar eventually obliges, sneering at Cage behind his wall of security. Christian asks the guards to step away and says they won’t make it to next week at Montreal … because “I’m sorry.” Wait, what?
Cage says he knows everyone thinks he’s only sorry because he’s on his own as a “bulls–t” chant starts up in the crowd. But he maintains he had a road trip of reflection and soul searching after seeing Copeland Conchairto his underlings, remembering the good times he and Adam had together.
After that, they went on to become the greatest tag team ever and world champions individually. Cage says they were brothers and his dad was essentially Copeland’s father, and still Adam’s biggest fan to this day.
“I love you man. We are family.”
Cage says they should have one last run together for Copeland’s late mom. But when Copeland’s back is turn, Cage tries to attack him from behind … but Adam is ready and kicks him in the crotch.
He tells Cage to get the belt shined up because it’s going home with him and says “go f–k yourself,” which the TBS censor misses wildly so is clearly audible.
Swerve Strickland joins Mox with 6 points after Continental Classic victory over Jay White
Danielson is back on commentary, watching White send Swerve halfway over the barricade and just kind of stick there. Switchblade mocks the “Who’s house?” catchphrase before continuing his assault in the ring.
Both men light each other up with chops but White is still in command when the final commercials slide in.
Back from break, the announcers say we’ll stay with this match even if it overruns the 10 p.m. ending time for Dynamite. It’s still White in command, with Taz saying he’s executed a great game plan.
Strickland finally manages to slam White shoulder first, setting off a series of counters that Swerve ends with a Flatliner rolled into a vertical suplex. Strickland covers but White kicks out at two.
Both men hit some moves that impress Danielson before they end up on the mat together. They rise forehead to forehead as the fans get the “this is awesome” chant going. Strickland gets the better of an exchange of forearm shots, but White hits him with a chop block to the left knee.
An uranage gets White a two count as Excalibur reminds us there are about nine minutes left in the 20-minute time limit. White wants an armbar, but Strickland rolls through and snaps White’s left arm with his boot in painful fashion.
The ref nearly takes a bump, but Strickland sees the low kick coming that White used last week and hits a backbreaker. The House Call is next, and the Swerve Stomp … but White kicks out before the three.
Switchblade hits a Blade Runner out of nowhere only to see Strickland roll to the floor. White has to force him back in the ring, where his schoolboy goes for naught and Swerve’s pinning attempt does too.
Five minutes are left now, but when White goes for a Blade Runner, Swerve counters with a rollup and gets the three count.
