AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - July 29th, 2020

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AEW Dynamite

This week on DYNAMITE, Cody faces another open challenge for the TNT Championship. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page put the World Tag Team Championship on the line against Dark Order. Women’s World Champ Hikaru Shida battles Diamanté. Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle go 5-on-5 against Best Friends, Orange Cassidy & Jurassic Express. And AEW World Champion Jon Moxley & Darby Allin take on Brian Cage & Ricky Starks in a Tornado Tag Team Match.


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- The Inner Circle makes their way out to kick off this week's show as the special announce trio of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Taz welcome us inside the Daily's Place amphitheater in Jacksonvile, FL.

Inner Circle vs. Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy

The big ten man tag-team match advertised for this week will be kicking off tonight's show. "Le Champion" is still wearing the white jacket he got orange juice dumped all over on a previous episode of AEW Dynamite.

Out next to the theme of Orange Cassidy are their opponents -- Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent), and the duo of Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy from Jurassic Express, along with "The Freshly Squeezed One" himself.

The announce trio this week is Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Taz. Aubrey Edwards will be the referee for this opening contest. The bell sounds and we see Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho left standing for each team. Before anything happens, however, the Inner Circle leader tags out and tags Jake Hager in.

Now the match gets underway as Hager uses his power to out-muscle and rag-doll Cassidy, all-the-while "The Freshly Squeezed" one keeps mocking the Inner Circle monster and getting in big moves in spots such as a double slap to each side of his head, ala Kazushi Sakuraba in PRIDE FC, and a well-timed drop kick.

All hell breaks loose now as all ten men enter the ring and brawl while Aubrey Edwards watches on dumbfounded, which Taz points out. The high spots start now as Best Friends do spectacular dives to the floor, crashing onto Inner Circle members. Now Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy follow suit.

Marko Stunt of Jurassic Express, who isn't a legal participant in the match, gets involved now as he hits a big dive. He is caught, however eventually with an assist his momentum takes out his target and several other Inner Circle members. Finally, Cassidy is left for a big dive. The fans cheer it on as he milks it. He hits the ropes, but in slow-motion, walks off and puts his sunglasses on instead of doing a dive. All his teammates enter the ring for one massive Best Friends Hug in the middle of the ring.

The heels enter the picture now and the action gets back underway as once again Aubrey Edwards watches on as all ten men brawl inside the squared circle. When things finally settle we see Hager in the ring for Inner Circle beating down one-half of the Best Friends. Sammy Guevara tags in and picks up where Hager left off, taking it to Trent in the center of the ring. He taunts his opposition by doing some squats while Trent was draped across his back, before dumping him down for a big samoan drop.

Hager tags back in and slaps a rear naked chin-lock on Trent. Hager tags out and back in, as fresh members of the Inner Circle continue to deliver punishing offense to Trent, who keeps showing brief signs of life being taking more punishment. Hager knocks down several of his tag-team partners off the apron, leaving only Luchasaurus, almost daring Trent to tag him in. Trent hits a back suplex on Hager and he makes the tag to the big man of Jurassic Express.

Luchasaurus takes the hot tag and comes in cleaning house on any-and-everything moving, dropping Inner Circle bodies all over the place before finally he and Hager are left alone in the ring to duke it out with fistacuffs. Hager eventually clotheslines Luchasaurus' head-off -- almost literally, as the Jurassic Express members mask almost came off, prompting J.R. to make a quick quip on commentary. He tags out, as does Hager. Jericho is in briefly before Guevara tags in. Luchasaurus ends up back in the picture and he blasts Sammy with the Spinning Lizard.

Jericho grabs the bat Floyd, but Cassidy grabs Jericho and throws him into the first row over the ringside barricade. Back in the ring, Luchasaurus goes for a chokeslam on Guevara but doesn't get it. Guevara goes to the top-rope but before anything happens, Matt Hardy's music hits and he appears and knocks Sammy off the top. This leads into a big kick from Luchasaurus for the 1-2-3, giving his team the win.

After the match we see Hardy watching on with a big smile as Guevara looks on from the ring as he tries to recover. J.R. takes us to a commercial break after reminding fans about Hardy's unfinished business with Guevara.

Winners: Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy

- After a quick check-in with the commentary trio of J.R., Schiavone and Taz, who run down some of the action scheduled for tonight's show, we head to a pre-taped promo segment featuring the AEW World Heavyweight Champion.

- Jon Moxley appears and talks about trying to stay out of people's business. He talks about handling his business with Brian Cage but then he had to do what he did to Darby Allin. He said had he just watched on and not done anything, he'd have been a punk bitch.

He says he is not a punk bitch.

Moxley goes on to address Ricky Starks jumping people when the odds are in his favor, and asks him to try and do the same later tonight when things are even.

TNT Championship Open Challenge: "The American Nightmare" Cody vs. Warhorse

From there, the announce trio run down a couple more matches on tap for tonight's broadcast and then we are treated to the ring entrance of a man making his AEW Dynamite debut -- Warhorse.

Warhorse comes out like Renegade from WCW, with slight face-paint and head-banging like an 80's rocker. The independent sensation wraps up his entrance and then the familiar tune of "The American Nightmare" plays.

The TNT Champion Cody makes his way to the ring for this week's defense of his title in the Open Challenge, as Arn Anderson accompanies him. The "Daper Yapper" as J.R. calls him, Justin Roberts, does the formal pre-match ring introductions for this 20-minute time limit contest for the TNT Championship.

Roberts does a Tenacious D style semi-comedy intro for Warhorse, which he drags the pronunciation out for, and then does the intro for the champ. The bell sounds and this week's TNT Championship Open Challenge is officially underway.

J.R. says Cody's face will tell the story in this match tonight, claiming he wouldn't make a good poker player because he wears his emotions on his sleeve. The two lock up early on. Cody pushes him into a corner but gives him a clean break in somewhat arrogant fashion. Warhorse turns him around and blasts him with chops and big shots before dropping him and going for a pin fall attempt.

Warhorse is focusing his attack on the arm of the champ now, as he has Cody in an arm-lock on the mat. Cody fights back to his feet and reverses the arm-lock. Warhorse reverses it back and slams Cody down. He tightens the arm up once again after they hit the ground. Cody again fights back up and reverses but again Warhorse reverses back. He whips Cody into the ropes but Cody slides out to the floor to regroup, as Arn Anderson comes over to give him some veteran advice.

Back in the ring, the two lock up again and Cody goes behind him. Cody gets a side head lock. They criss-cross on the ropes around each other and Warhorse blasts him when they finally do meet in the middle with a big clothesline. J.R. takes us into a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break as the action continues with Warhorse going to work on "The American Nightmare."

When we return, we hear Ross welcoming us back to the show as we see Cody having Warhorse locked in a Boston Crab in the ring. Warhorse finally makes it to the ropes to break the hold. Some highlights of Cody taking over the offense during the break are shown.

Warhorse counters a figure-four leg lock submission attempt from Cody, however the champ eventually pulls his way to the ropes to break the hold. Back on their feet, Warhorse is charging at Cody in the corner with a big clothesline. And again. He whips Cody into the ropes, blasts him with some chops and then stomps away at him before doing some headbanging out of excitement.

Now we watch as Warhorse heads to the top rope as the announcers point out that his left leg appears to be bothering him. Cody rolls out to the floor, and as he leans against the ring apron, Warhorse dives off with a double stomp onto the back of Cody. Back in the ring, Warhorse follows up with a Randy Savage-like Flying Elbow-smash off the top-rope for the closest near fall of Cody's TNT Title reign thus far, as Warhorse gets 2 and 3/4 on the pin attempt that followed the big high spot.

After a bunch of reversals, Warhorse misses a double stomp off the top, selling his knee on the way down. Cody dropkicks the knee out from under Warhorse and then locks him in the figure-four leg lock where Warhorse eventually taps out. Cody retains via submission in another excellent TNT Championship Open Challenge.

Winner: Cody

- After the match, we see The Dark Order hit the ring to break up the show of respect that seemed to be coming between Cody and Warhorse after a great match.

- As The Dark Order was delivering a post-match attack, out of nowhere, Matt Cardona -- formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE -- makes his All Elite Wrestling debut.

Cardona debuts by taking out The Dark Order members. Afterwards he and Cody stand tall as "The American Nightmare" raises Cardona's hand as we head back to another commercial break.

- We return to a promo segment from The Inner Circle's own "Le Champion" Chris Jericho and "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara.

Jericho dresses down Orange Cassidy before announcing a match in two weeks against the "Freshly Squeezed" one as well as a debate against him on upcoming episodes of AEW Dynamite.

Additionally, Guevara addresses Matt Hardy after being screwed over by him earlier in the show, which cost the Inner Circle the ten-man tag-team opener. Jericho asks him to say son of a bitch in Spanish to close out the segment.

- We head to a contract signing segment with Tony Schiavone moderating as well as AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes. The segment is for the official AEW contract signing of FTR -- Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler.

They bring in their tag-team consultant, Arn Anderson. Anderson walks in and makes sure the contract is fair and to the FTR's liking, such as ensuring that the fellas got a signing bonus.

Eventually, one-half of the AEW World Tag-Team Champions -- "Hangman" Adam Page -- makes his way into the room where he pours a beer that he shares with FTR and Arn Anderson. That does it as FTR are now signed talents. We head to another commercial break.

AEW World Tag-Team Championship: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (c) vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson

The Dark Order are in the ring now, as Evil Uno and Stu Grayson will challenge for the AEW World Tag-Team Championships. Colt Cabana joins in on guest commentary for this bout.

Out next are their opponents, the reigning and defending AEW World Tag-Team Champions from The Elite -- "Hangman" Adam Page and Kenny Omega. Page and Omega show signs of not being on the same page as the bell sounds to start this title contest off.

Grayson gets in some good offense on Omega early on. He is taking it to The Elite member now until finally Omega blasts him with a big elbow off a nice reversal, which allows him to tag in Hangman Page. The two hit some double-team offense and then Page picks up where Omega left off on Grayson.

The announcers point out that Anna Jay is accompanying Dark Order at ringside for the first time, as they talk about her being recruited. Page goes to work on Evil Uno after some tags are made. Page hits a big cross-body splash on Grayson on the floor, however Uno capitalizes and smashes him into the ring post and then the barricade.

Now we are shown Mr. Brodie Lee watching on while the announcers joke about wrestling being cheap and not turning down free meals, with Colt Cabana apparently being someone who has mastered that art. He does know the art of wrestling, after all. Now the announcers talk about Brodie Lee's leadership skills while Omega has remained forced on the apron while Page is beaten down by Grayson and Uno, who make frequent tags to keep fresh men on The Elite member.

Omega runs in and breaks up the pin attempt while J.R. points out that he and Page are the longest-running AEW Tag-Team Champions in the history of the company. We once again see Mr. Brodie Lee watching on as we are led into a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see the champions finally making their offensive comeback, which culminates with Omega and Page hitting the Buckshot V-Trigger double-team finisher for the pin fall victory to retain the titles.

Winners: Kenny Omega & "Hangman" Adam Page

- Mr. Brodie Lee immediately tells Colt Cabana to leave his spot at the commentary table and head to the back. Taz, J.R. and Schiavone speculate that Lee doesn't want Cabana seeing what he's about to do.

With that said, Mr. Brodie Lee attacks his own Dark Order members, stopping only when he notices "Hangman" Adam Page laughing in the ring. He gets on the mic and asks if he thinks this is funny. He tells him that The Dark Order is everywhere and that there is strength in numbers.

We watch as Dark Order members come from under the ring and all sides of Daily's Place, until finally FTR and The Young Bucks come out to even things up. Lee again gets mad as he sees the tag champs laughing from inside the ring.

- We hear Tony Schiavone on commentary talk about receiving a message from Dr. Britt Baker at ringside.

Britt Baker cuts a promo from her glorious wheelchair with Rebel at her side. She addresses Big Swole and says if she can beat an opponent of her choosing, she can finally have what she wants -- Dr. Britt Baker inside the ring one-on-one.

We head to commercial break after this segment ends.

Diamante vs. Hikaru Shida

We return from the break to Jim Ross building up Diamante, who is up next inside the ring in action against the AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida, in a non-title affair.

A Diamante video package is shown as she begins making her way down to the ring. When the video package wraps up, we return live inside Daily's Place where she finishes up her entrance.

Now we watch on as Justin Roberts introduces the AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida. Shida makes her way down to the ring as the announcers promote AEW action figures coming to Wal-Mart starting this Monday.

Diamante starts things off by taking the champion down to the mat and delivering some ground-and-pound which impresses mat-specialist Taz on commentary. The announcers continue to sing the praises of both ladies now as Shida starts to fight her way back into the match.

Shida is taking over now, punishing the up-and-coming contender in the AEW women's division while the announcers reflect on her win over Ivelisse on last week's show. Diamante starts slugging it out toe-to-toe with the slightly larger champion, and it brings her back into the offensive fold briefly, however Shida blasts her with a big knee that slows down her growing momentum.

Diamante fights her way back into the contest, taking it to the champ in the corner as the ref warns her. She grounds Shida in the corner and starts stomping her ala Stone Cold. Now she follows up with a move that even J.R. describes as "almost a Stunner," as her Texas Rattlesnake-inspired offense seems to be working at this point in the match.

The challenger floors the champ with a big kick to the gut before hopping on her back and flipping her over for a pin attempt, however Shida gets a hold of the ropes to escape. Now the two fight in the middle of the ring and Shida hoists her up for a big delayed vertical suplex. She sits out on the landing of the suplex for a near fall. She follows up with a big running knee for the pin fall victory.

Winner: Hikaru Shida

- Backstage, the AEW broadcast member is with Vickie Guerrero and Nyla Rose after a breakdown is shown of the rules and the trophy for the first-annual AEW Women's World Cup Tag-Team Tournament.

Former "Total Divas" star Arianne (a.k.a. Cameron in WWE) walks in and she says "Girl Hi." She is then revealed by name as Arianne -- the tag-team partner of Nyla Rose for the Women's World Cup tourney.

- Now someone walks up and knocks on the locker room door of Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF's music plays as he and Wardlow make their way out to the ring.

As they head down to the ring his music fades out and we see some presidential debate / campaign style decorations around the ring, red carpet being set up in the ring, while MJF walks around people in suits lining the aisles and waves like a beauty contest winner. His music picks back up. All of this is shown in the picture-in-picture commercial break.

MJF is finishing up his entrance when we return from the break and now he officially begins his State of the Industry Address.

Friedman goes on to make a ton of "semi-shoot" style comments, referencing some by name, while mostly alluding to and making non-direct references to WWE and WWE talents during a promo that culminated with him officially challenging Jon Moxley to an AEW World Championship match after running down Moxley as someone who is politicking and holding young emerging stars down in AEW.

- After this segment we check in with the announce team of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Taz, who run down some of the announcements from early in the show for next week's AEW Dynamite.

The trio also make some new announcements of matches for next week's show before Taz leaves the broadcast position to go backstage and get ready for tonight's main event.

That main event, which features Brian Cage & Ricky Starks against Jon Moxley and Darby Allin, is up next. On that note, we head to another commercial break.

Tornado Tag Main Event: Darby Allin & Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks

We return from the break to the theme of Darby Allin playing, however he doesn't show up. Tony Schiavone informs us that he doesn't believe Allin is back there. Now the music of the AEW World Champion plays and now we see Jon Moxley making his way down to the ring through the crowd.

Once Moxley's theme fades down, we are introduced to Taz who is backstage standing by Brian Cage and Ricky Starks. He taunts Moxley, saying he's gonna be alone tonight because Darby Allin got his ass kicked too bad by Starks on last week's show. He finishes taunting them and now the team makes their way out.

As the duo of Cage and Starks make their way out, out of nowhere, Darby Allin emerges by hitting an insane Coffin Drop off the top of the entrance tunnel, taking out Cage and Starks in the process. The Tornado Tag Main Event is now underway, as Moxley and Allin start taking it to Cage and Starks.

Taz makes his way back to the commentary table where he re-joins Ross and Schiavone to call the action in tonight's main event, which is fully underway inside the ring. Cage starts dominating the action until he is knocked out to the floor. Moxley follows him out with a big dive through the ropes, taking out The Machine as Taz watches on while we head to a mid-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Cage and Starks dominating the action to the delight of Taz on commentary. Things don't last this way for long, however, as Moxley and Allin start targeting the bad biceps of Cage after Allin turns the offensive tide with a wicked Coffin Drop. Starks ends up taking a bump onto a bunch of thumbtacks that are introduced into the bout. The skateboard of Allin is covered in thumbtacks as well as is also used leading to the finish, which sees Moxley and Allin pick up the win.

Winners: Jon Moxley & Darby Allin

As we head off the air, we see Allin and Moxley start to stare each other down while the announcers inform us via Tony Khan that Moxley vs. Allin for the title has been signed for next week's AEW Dynamite. That does it for this week's show.