AEW Dynamite – “4 Year Anniversary”
October 4th, 2023
By: John Siino
Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
Dark Match: The Dark Order defeated Brandon Cutler, Colt Cabana & Matt Sydal
On The ‘Edge’ Of My Seat
The show started with a backstage segment as Renee Paquette is with Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho and mentions how four years ago, they were on opposite sides and now tonight, they are teaming up. Adam Copeland interrupts and says there should be maple syrup flowing with all the Canadians here. He tells Renee & Jericho that it’s good to see them, as Omega says it’s good to meet him and the other night he had him on the ‘edge’ of his seat, as they shake hands. Copeland tells them to take care of Don Callis, as he still doesn’t like them, before yelling ‘4 years, baby!’ Jericho, Omega & Renee have an awkward exchange before looking into the camera even more awkwardly.
AEW International Championship: Rey Fenix (c) (w/ Penta El Zero Miedo & Alex Abrahantes) vs. Nick Jackson (w/ Matt Jackson)
They start the match with a bit of back and forth, trading pin attempts, but two minutes in, Rey Fenix shows a bit of his injury from WrestleDream, which Nick Jackson takes advantage of, trying a sunset powerbomb on the floor, that Fenix reverses out of and hits an arm drag off the apron to the outside. Jackson whips Fenix into the barricade, and they then fight in the crowd with Jackson springing off the barricade with a hurricanrana. Back inside, Fenix gets tripped up on the ropes as Jackson hits him with a backstabber. Fenix escapes to the outside, but Jackson misses him and kicks the post instead. Fenix trips Jackson off the apron, as he lands on his head before we go to picture-in-picture.
When we return, they are trading kicks until they both get knocked down. They start fighting on the apron before Jackson catches Fenix on the outside with a cutter. Back inside, Jackson takes control, until they go back into kicking each other. They start battling on the ropes and onto the top rope, where Jackson hits an avalanche cutter for a close two. We get a poisonrana and a destroyer from Jackson for another two-count. Fenix takes advantage with a pair of kicks off the ropes and a frog splash for two. Jackson reverses a Fenix driver into a pin attempt, but Fenix reverses that and holds on for the win.
Winner: Rey Fenix by pinfall at 13:44, to retain
Fenix shows signs of his injury after and keeps falling down while trying to celebrate.
Take One
We see footage of Adam Cole going to visit Roderick Strong at his house, and we see a comedic montage of them racing around with the wheelchair and a scooter that Strong gifted Cole as The Kingdom looks on disgusted. The audio is very low for this segment making it hard for me to understand exactly what they were discussing.
Wardlow vs. Griff Garrison
Wardlow makes his return and goes after Griff Garrison right away hitting five back-to-back power bombs, as the referee has to stop the match. Wardlow is pissed and just leaves through the crowd.
Winner: Wardlow by referee stoppage, at 1:02
Sammy Out
Renee is backstage with Don Callis & Konosuke Takeshita as Callis says that Sammy Guevara isn’t medically cleared for tonight’s main event, so on the recommendation of Will Ospreay he has chosen Kyle Fletcher as his replacement. Callis sends a message to Jericho & Omega, that nobody remembers who wins the battles, but who wins the war and he’s going to win this one, no matter what it takes.
Take Two
They replay the Adam Cole & Roderick Strong segment, now with the audio intact as Excalibur mentions TBS having audio issues the first time. Strong tells Cole he needs to move some furniture for him, as The Kingdom says he owes him one. Cole says he’s injured, but moves a table and coach anyway while showing signs of struggle. Cole asks if they are good now, as Strong says he loves what he did as it’s unique just like Cole. Cole says he’s got to get going and get surgery for his ankle, but before Cole leaves Strong says he can’t go yet, as he seriously needs his help.
AEW World Trios Championship: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn (c) vs. The Butcher, The Blade & Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford)
Max Caster’s freestyle mentions Kip Sabian looking better with a box on his head. The heels attack the champions before the bell rings, and start brawling in and out of the ring until The Blade & Caster enter the ring to officially start the match. Sabian takes out the Acclaimed on the outside with a moonsault off the ropes before we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Anthony Bowens is attacking all the heels, until they hit Scissor Me Timbers and the Mic Drop to get the pin and retain.
Winners: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn by pinfall at 5:18, to retain
Timeless Toni
We have another RJ City & Toni Storm segment, as Storm starts throwing shoes at RJ when he brings up the amount of time she’s been wrestling. Storm grabs RJ and starts yelling at him about all her concerns and how a roll of a dice could take everything away. RJ brings up how Storm isn’t even that old, as Storm says she’s timeless.
Danielson & Swerve
We see Bryan Danielson & Zack Sabre Jr. after their WrestleDream match, Danielson said he had to knock ZSJ out, but they didn’t find out who the most technical wrestler is. Danielson says Sabre doesn’t have the heart & soul to go out there and compete like him. They show highlights and comments from the Swerve Strickland/Adam Page match before announcing next week we will get Danielson vs. Strickland in a TNT Championship #1 contenders match.
The Talentless Taint, Assboys & Tofu
Juice Robinson and the Gunns come to the ring, as Jay White is still injured from the mysterious attack from last week. Austin Gunn mocks Cole’s ‘storytime’ line before they start making fun of Cole’s injury & MJF’s height. They start making fun of the ‘tofu’ line and say MJF jumped White because he is scared. They call MJF out, and he does come out. MJF throws ass-boy insults and calls Juice Robinson ‘Talentless Taint’, which leads to MJF having the Stockton crowd chant both those insults. MJF talks about all the highlights he’s done in the last 4 years, bringing up his matches with Chris Jericho, and Cody Rhodes, giving children dodgeball-related injuries and almost getting them kicked off the TV when he called Tony Khan a ‘fucking mark’. MJF says they should have a Stockton Street Fight and heads to the ring to try and take on all 3 of the Bullet Club Gold members.
As MJF has his back turned, Jay White attacks him from behind, as the Bullet Club Gold stands over MJF. White takes the AEW World Championship and starts to leave. White gets on the mic and says the title looks nice and right on him. White says MJF’s games don’t work here and he isn’t fooling anybody and calls him a bunch of insults and says they need a truly elite champion, as MJF is not him. White challenges MJF for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear on November 18th. MJF says if White wants him at Full Gear then ‘he’s on’.
Great Champion
Renee is with Hook & Orange Cassidy as Hook says they would have been great champions if they won their match at WrestleDream. Cassidy says Hook is still a champion, as Hook says Cassidy should be getting the title shot next week instead of Jon Moxley. Cassidy mentions how long he was champion for, compared to Moxley before they offer chips to Renee, which she declines.
Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher
Don Callis joins commentary, as Tony Schiavone questions the Last Supper painting, as he was very taken aback by it (he must not have seen it on WrestleDream). Konosuke Takeshita & Chris Jericho start the match, but Jericho takes control and quickly tags out to Kenny Omega. Jericho & Omega stay in control going into picture-in-picture, as Callis says his team didn’t have much time to prepare for them.
When we come back, Jericho hits the Lionsault on Kyle Fletcher and tags out to Omega. Omega starts attacking both Fletcher & Takeshita, but they both reverse out of Dragon Suplex’s attempts and take out Omega. Fletcher & Takeshita start attacking Omega & Jericho in the corners with kicks before hitting a Blue Thunder Driver & Michinoku Driver at the same time for a two-count. All four men go at it with knees and kicks, until Fletcher hits a brainbuster on Omega. Jericho & Fletcher start exchanging blows from their knees to their feet and take each other down after running the ropes before we go to picture-in-picture again.
Omega & Fletcher are trading blows after the break. All four men go at it for a while until Omega hits Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel for the win. Callis starts shouting on commentary how ‘the kid screw him and the whole family’ at Fletcher.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega by pinfall at 15:15
After the match, Powerhouse Hobbs shows up from behind and attacks Jericho & Omega, sending Omega over the barricade onto the chairs in the crowd (no fans were in them, luckily). Hobbs traps Omega’s neck in between the bars of a barricade as the crowd chants ‘You suck’. Takeshita sends Omega back in the ring, as Excalibur brings up The Young Bucks being at the hospital and Adam Page not being here tonight. They start taping Omega onto the ropes with duct tape and hit him with an unprotected chair shot as the crowd chants ‘Fuck you, Don’.
Adam?
Renee Paquette is in the trainer’s office with MJF, as Max Caster shows up and starts massaging MJF’s shoulders. MJF starts yelling at Caster to stop it with all the harassment he’s been getting from him. MJF goes to call Adam Cole, but it goes to voice mail which upsets MJF.
Hungry Joe
We get a video from Samoa Joe who says he’s focused and ready to be AEW World Champion and tells MJF that when he’s hungry he’s always ready to eat.
Skye Blue vs. Toni Storm
Toni Storm comes out in her new ‘Timeless’ character, as her makeup is all smeared, and introduces herself to Paul Turner & Skye Blue before attacking Blue, as the match officially starts. Blue dodges Storm in the corner, and heads to the top rope, but Storm chops her down and sends her to the outside with a hip attack. Storm looks into the camera and pictures to commercial before promising a ‘titty slap’.
When we come back, Blue is in control with multiple pin attempts, including hitting a superkick for two. Storm starts pleading with Blue, who tells her to get off of her. Storm follows this distraction with a German Suplex, asks for a close-up, and hits the hip attack and the Storm Zero for the pin.
Winner: Toni Storm by pinfall at 6:49
Rampage Line-Up
- Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, Jake Hager & Daniel Garcia vs. The Hardys & Best Friends
- Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir
- Johnny TV vs. Komander vs. Lince Dorado vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (Winner gets a shot at the ROH World Championship; Eddie Kingston on commentary)
Collision Line-Up
- Special start time of 7 pm EST
- AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. Big Bill & Ricky Starks
- Toni Storm vs. Kiera Hogan
Dynamite Title Tuesday Line-Up
- AEW International Championship: Rey Fenix (c) vs. Jon Moxley
- Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson (#1 Contender’s match for the TNT Championship)
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Saraya (c) vs. Hikaru Shida
- Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Chris Jericho
- Jay White vs. Hangman Adam Page
- Adam Copeland vs. Luchasaurus
Rated R For Language
Tony Schiavone introduces the Rated R Superstar, Adam Copeland who avoids going to the right side during his entrance, kind of funny. Copeland tells Schiavone he was the soundtrack to his childhood, but jokingly tells him to leave the ring as it’s now his. He gets an ‘Adam’ chant which he admits he’s never heard before. Copeland continues that he was told he could never wrestle again, but now he’s here in AEW and talks about the reasons why he’s here and mentions the people he can wrestle like Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Miro, Powerhouse Hobbs, Jay White & Juice Robinson. The main reason he came to AEW was because he sat down with his family and asked his 7 and 9-year-old girls Lyric & Ruby what he should do, and asked them if he should retire.
Lyric tells him that he should go have fun with Uncle Jay, and calls out Christian Cage so he can tell him the real reason he’s here. After a slight delay, Christian comes out, without Luchasaurus. Copeland knows Christian is questioning why he did what he did at WrestleDream, but it’s quite simple as he says Christian looks more like a dick than usual. Copeland brings up how he attacked Sting and says how he used to want to be like Sting, as he looked like Lex Luger. Copeland talks about his wife’s parents even loving Sting, despite not being able to speak English. Copeland brings up how Nick Wayne & Luchasaurus will drop Christian like a bad habit once they suck the knowledge out of his brain, but he won’t see it. Copeland says he’s here because it’s time and for the first time since 2011, and for the first time properly in over 20 years for them two to team together again and face teams like FTR, The Young Bucks, and to show a whole generation of fans how they are one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Copeland says they should show everyone what they could do and end their careers together. Christian asks for the mic and hugs Copeland but says ‘go fuck yourself’ (which gets censored on TBS). Christian goes to leave but reminds Copeland what he has in store for next week, as Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne come out and stand with Christian to stare at Copeland as the show ends.
