Jon Moxley is a man on a mission. For over a decade, Moxley toured the bingo halls and back alleys of America, creating a fearsome reputation as a sadistic soul that embraced the worst of wrestling. When Moxley finally got the call to the big time, he did what many thought he couldn't, and gained the trust of the most stubborn of wrestling minds, changing the game along with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in The Shield. But as the years waned on, Moxley, despite his gravitational charisma and solid in-ring skill, was passed over by his brothers, who reached a level that was fiercely guarded against the likes of Mox. In 2019, after over half a decade spent in the WWE system, Moxley was done. He was exhausted from battling with creative, depressed over his perceived lack of drawing power, and questioning his future earning potential after a cavalcade of damaging booking decisions. Moxley needed a new challenge and a new stage, and it was love at first sight for AEW, who saw a distinguished worker and former world champion waiting to be snapped up. Moxley had his doubts about the fledgling promotion, but they were determined to treat him like the force of nature he once was, and almost immediately, that's what he became again. Moxley has ran through every challenge he's faced thus far, quickly establishing himself as a headline attraction with an eye-catching pay-per-view main event already under his belt. In the midst of his dominance, Moxley has yet to be defeated, but an intriguing new opponent awaits. Darby Allin walks into the serpent's nest devoid of fear, determined to make a name for himself at Moxley's expense.
- AEW Dynamite #8 comes to you from the Indianapolis Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana, which, to my knowledge, makes this the first major wrestling show ever hosted in the venue. You can tell it's had a long history with ice hockey, as sections of fans are divided by the glass boards, which creates an interesting look on the hard cam. Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone are on the call.
- Our opening contest is a rare glimpse at Nick Jackson in singles action, as with Matt written off to sell the powerbomb through the stage he took last week, Nick is on his own to battle Rey Fenix. There's no current beef between The Young Bucks and The Lucha Bros, so this is a pure exhibition of each man's wrestling abilities, and what an exhibition it was, especially for Fenix. This was an outstanding reminder of how tremendous Fenix is as a singles performer, as he doesn't put a single foot wrong all match, with ridiculously accurate kicks, insane balance on the ropes, and a knack for timing every move to engineer the loudest possible reaction. Fenix gets going early with several headbutts and a huge diving flip senton, before the match hits an extra gear with several exhilarating spots. Nick tightrope walks the middle rope to leap up for a hurricanrana, before both men exchange superkicks, with Fenix getting the better of it after bouncing back up after taking a superkick to deliver one more. Fenix one ups Nick, lithely walking the top rope to send both he and Nick tumbling to the floor with a hurricanrana, but Nick wins a battle on the apron, delivering a wincing stalling German suplex. The crowd bites hard on a sequence where Nick delivers a slingshot Canadian Destroyer, then snatches the legs to apply the Sharpshooter, but he's no submission expert. Fenix is able to find the ropes, and turns the tides with a twirling kick that stops Nick on the top rope. In a blur of motion, Fenix deposits Nick on the mat with the Black Fire Driver (I believe that's the name, it's a spinning Muscle Buster that finishes in a Michinoku Driver) for the win. This was a dazzling display of acrobatic wrestling, that only falls short of being an absolute classic due to the lack of stakes. It's still a must-watch, if only to admire the athleticism and poise of Rey Fenix, who has to be the best luchadore going today.
- Following that up would be a tall order, so AEW smartly booked an important clash in the women's division to try and hold the momentum, as the 1st and 2nd ranked women, Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida, face off. On paper, this is a huge showdown, but the hype is non-existent in Indy, and neither woman is able to win them over. This was definitely the best Baker has looked in AEW thus far, as you can tell that both have chemistry and are looking to put on a show, with Baker adding a pumphandle facebuster and pendulum DDT to her move-set. Baker looks even more impressive when she shakes one of Shida's many knee strikes to score a takedown and apply the Lockjaw, but Shida won't be denied. The kendo stick afficionado takes the cheap path, prodding Baker in the eyes, and finishing the dentist off with a Busaiku Knee. Shida was as entertaining as ever, that judo hip toss was a thing of beauty, and this match showed promise for what Baker could be with the right opponent.
- It's been a while since AEW featured a Dark Order vignette, which was a staple of Being the Elite earlier in the year, and I was very excited to hear Excalibur throw to one after the first two matches. Unfortunately, while this video documenting the group's message was well-produced and appropriately unnerving, it didn't do much to develop their identity. A Dark Order recruitment video is shown to a distraught man riding the subway, as a spokesperson beckons downtrodden members of society to join the collective, giving up themselves in pursuit of freedom. It's exactly what you'd expect as a cultish manifesto, and while it is an engaging concept for the faction, I'd rather have seen more about how this process will work in wrestling. I guess I have to be patient with Dark Order, who do eventually find their feet, but it's frustrating to see them continue to toil in mediocrity.
- The Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale is up next, as 12 men compete to be in the final 2 spots, with that pair then moving on to fight in a singles match next week for the jewel-laden Dynamite Diamond Ring. To be completely honest, I hate this concept, it echos so much of the worst "LOLTNA" booking to intentionally create a match that no one will win, which would obviously lead to an insanely awkward finish where the final two men have to stop fighting and wait until next week for no discernable reason. The journey to that weird conclusion was enjoyable enough, as the match is structured well, with tons of story nuggets sprinkled throughout. Christopher Daniels distracts Penta El Zero Miedo right off the bat to ensure Penta is tossed out, Billy Gunn (wrestling in AEW for the first time) dominates against his smaller opponents, Sonny Kiss (twerking at Billy), Jimmy Havoc (running wild with a stapler), and Orange Cassidy (shin kicking Billy) all get in crowd-popping spots before being eliminated, which was smart to keep all of those characters relevant even in a match they had no chance to win. Shawn Spears sneaks in to cause Joey Janela's elimination, jabbing him with a chair while Janela was up top, and MJF suffers the indignity of taking the Fameasser from Gunn. For the second week in a row, Wardlow has to save Maxwell's hide, staring down Billy, allowing MJF to thumb the veteran in the eye, and then Hangman Page, invisible for much of the match, rings Billy's bell with the Buckshot Lariat and tosses him out. This was a clever advancement of Page's character arc, as he appeared to leave The Elite on BTE in the aftermath of his crushing loss to PAC, and now, he appears to be willing to be less honorable in pursuit of his goals. Penelope Ford causes Chuck Taylor's elimination, holding Taylor's foot to allow her boyfriend, Kip Sabian, to connect with a kick, but "Superbad" doesn't last long after that, going to the floor after a hurricanrana by Jungle Boy, who now seems to be scheduled to face Page next week. However, MJF has been in hiding, as heels often do in battle royals, and he sneaks in to literally pull Jungle Boy's legs out from under him, punching his ticket to the match with Page. As anticipated, it's odd to see these two prevented from fighting each other, but to be fair, the match was one of the best booked battle royals I've seen, so I didn't leave end this that peeved off.
- Chris Jericho turns up to apologize for swinging around a chair in the aftermath of his loss in last week's main event, and to announce a Thanksgiving celebration next week, before getting into a verbal sparring session with Scorpio Sky. Sky, to be charitable, isn't the most charismatic man in the world, so putting him opposite Jericho had the potential to end poorly, but he held his own with several quality lines. Sky revels in his victory over Jericho, which even lead to a date with his high school crush Melanie, whom Jericho points out has put on extra weight, and Sky gets him back by quoting Sir Mix-a-Lot (you know, the line about big booties and not lying). Jericho is irritated into putting the AEW Championship on the line in a bout next week, and Sky promises to turn Le Champion into Le Bitch (hey, they can't all be winners). It all turns into chaos from there, as The Inner Circle handcuff Daniels and Kazarian to the ropes, with Sky dropping to the Judas Effect, before Jurassic Express make the save. Luchasaurus is ready to tangle with Jake Hager, but Hager stands down, saving this big boy battle for a future date. This wasn't Jericho's best verbal work, as he held to hold himself back to avoid overwhelming Sky on the mic, but at least this has more of a personal edge to it, which is something a lot of Jericho's promos have lacked recently.
- Luchasaurus sticks around to flatten Peter Avalon, as the less-friendly AEW librarian goes down in less than a minute to the Tail Whip and a Tombstone facebuster. Who wanted this?
- Private Party's battle with Ortiz and Santana has an extra tinge of emotion to it on this night, as both teams are honoring Matt Travis, a man who helped train all four men and who tragically passed away at a couple weeks prior at the age of 25 when he was struck by a car while riding his bike. Both teams are out to impress, although it takes a while for them to really get into it, as this match grinds to a halt working through two commercial breaks. They do work in moves here and there, as Santana delivers an impressive avalanche Russian legsweep, and both members of Proud n' Powerful exchange Marq Quen in a long stalling vertical suplex spot, which the crowd appreciated. Quen and Kassidy get rolling with big dives to the outside, but all hope appears to be lost for the fun-loving babyfaces, as they fail to execute the Silly String when Quen's back gives out. Kassidy is saved from the baseball-filled sock by Nick Jackson, who steals it away from Santana, and Private Party close it out with Gin and Juice. Nick pays for that thievery as Sammy Guevara blindsides him, filming the attack as part of his weekly vlog, but Dustin Rhodes ensures the good guys leave triumphant, returning with a fury to floor Guevara, Ortiz, and Santana, while also doing some vlogging of his own. It does appear that we've seen the extent of what Private Party can do at this point, and while I'm thankful that both guys got to win in honor of Travis, they are in danger of being completely overshadowed by the rest of this stacked tag team division.
- Kenny Omega provides a brief update from the weight room, as he promises to stop getting away from what he does best and return for redemption in his All Out rematch next week against PAC. Their first encounter was solid but lacked importance, and after a short lay-off for Omega, I think we're likely to see the second match truly bring the fire both men are capable of.
- Main event time, as Jon Moxley battles Darby Allin, who has lost the rest of his remaining marbles, entering in a bodybag with Mox's name on it, and diving onto Moxley before the opening bell can ring. Darby is all over Moxley with his blazing speed, but he just can't compete in the power department, and his early hope is extinguished as Moxley takes control with a belly-to-belly on the outside. Moxley's girth is again demonstrated as Darby bounces off him attempting a crossbody, and Darby is crumpled as Moxley takes flight with a Shotgun Dropkick. Darby scraps and claws for every advantage he can find, stepping on the fingers of Moxley to try and negate that deadly grip, but Moxley simply switches hands for a release suplex, then Darby is sent flipping, arse over teakettle, on a stiff lariat. Darby makes one last comeback, scoring with a Code Red, before leaping for the Coffin Drop. Moxley counters beautifully, snatching a Rear Naked Sleeper, but Darby flips through into a narrow near fall, as AEW plays on their reputation for false finishes to create a heart-stopping two count. Moxley and Darby then duke it out on the top rope, and Moxley ends it, stopping Darby's finger manipulation with a savage face bite, before both men perfectly time an avalanche Paradigm Shift, the move that rightfully ends this wild war. I loved the psychology both men incorporated here, utilizing Moxley's muscle and Darby's willpower to construct a match that never felt immersion-breaking or unrealistic, a difficult feat when you consider how many spots they stuffed in. Those final few minutes were breath-taking, and Darby loses absolutely nothing by taking the clean pin here.
9/10
Outside the weird ending to the battle royal, and some bloat in the Jericho/Sky promo battle, this was a rock-solid episode of Dynamite, one of the best to date. The opener and closer were outstanding in distinct ways, and outside of Peter Avalon, it's tough to say that anyone looked worse for appearing on this show, which is an astounding feat.
- Henry
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