AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - February 22nd, 2023

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AEW Dynamite

This week, AEW World Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed take on Big Bill & Lee Moriarty. Skye Blue faces Saraya. Wheeler Yuta challenges All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy. It's the REVOLUTION Tag Team Battle Royale. Plus, Jon Moxley faces Evil Uno.


:aew:

– This week's show kicks off inside the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ. where Excalibur and company welcome us to this week's show.

– The commentary team of Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and Taz send things down to Justin Roberts, who introduces the two men involved in our opening contest.

AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

Orange Cassidy starts out offering a handshake, but Wheeler Yuta takes a swipe at him instead. Cassidy avoids it and takes Yuta down and the two men then exchange pinfall attempts. Cassidy then hits an arm drag and uses Yuta's seatbelt pinfall attempt, but Yuta can escape and that leads to Claudio Castagnoli making his way down to the ring. He slaps Yuta in the face to fire him up and he gets into the ring and slams Cassidy down and bites him, following up with a lariat.

Yuta keeps up the attack by diving out of the ring into Cassidy before sending him into the barricade and then over the timekeeper's table which he then kicks onto him for added damage. Castagnoli heads to the back, while Yuta launches Cassidy into the ring post. Back inside the ring, Yuta hits several chops and then Cassidy stops him so he can put his hands in his pockets, and with the champion not defending himself Yuta acts even more aggressively with slaps to the face.

Cassidy responds with his usual slow kicks and then a dropkick which drops the challenger as he then slams Yuta's head repeatedly into the top turnbuckle. Yuta regains control with an elbow strike from the top, and he then slides and kicks Cassidy to the floor. Yuta apples the bow and arrow submission and transitions into another pinfall attempt, but the champion kicks out.

However, Yuta misses with a diving splash as Cassidy slowly rolls away, but Yuta counters a DDT attempt with a brainbuster, but he isn't able to get the victory. Cassidy blocks the next move with a huge, but Yuta gets out of it with a headbutt and then connects with a German suplex, but Cassidy responds with one of his own. Yuta then pulls out the mouse trap pinfall attempt, but Cassidy manages to kick out just in time. Yuta spits gum at Cassidy and he fires back with spit of his own as they then trade forearm strikes as both men go down.

The two end up on the ring apron, but Cassidy counters with a back body drop and then connects with a diving DDT, and back inside the ring he hits another. The champion aims for Beach Break, but Yuta reverses with a piledriver, and then the elbow strikes. He tries a seatbelt pinfall but Cassidy responds with elbow strikes of his own. Yuta then reverses into the seatbelt pinfall, but after the kick out Cassidy hits the Orange Punch only for Yuta to kick out! Cassidy follows it with Beach Break but Yuta kicks out again! Yuta screams for more and the champion delivers another Orange Punch to retain.

Winner and still All-Atlantic Champion: Orange Cassidy

– After the match, Cassidy wants a hug, and Castagnoli comes back out and tells Yuta to come to him, which he does.

– Renee Paquette is backstage with Evil Uno and Adam Page, and Page says he asked them to stay out of it. Uno cuts him off and says he hears "Dark Order is not on your level" when he says that. He requests Page to stay out of the match.

– Ricky Starks makes his way down to the ring, and he says it isn't a secret that he has dealt with interference from the Jericho Appreciation Society. To him the message is clear, Chris Jericho doesn't want a rematch with him, and he accepts it so he is moving on from that. He has an open challenge for a match against him at AEW Revolution, as he will be damned if he is left off the PPV.

He knows someone is itching to get on the card, so he welcomes them to come and do the damn thing. However, it is Chris Jericho who makes his way out instead of someone new, and he congratulates Starks for beating him. He tells him to put it in a box and look at it every night he goes to sleep as it will never happen again as Starks isn't at his level, and he wishes him good luck for his open challenge.

Peter Avalon then appears, looking to answer the challenge but instead, he gets dropped with a Judas Effect from a spiked jacket that Jericho is wearing. Jericho says that you can't have Revolution without him, and maybe he should take the contract and have a rematch to embarrass him. Starks says he knows what will happen as JAS will come and jump him, but he doesn't know why he needs them unless he thinks he can't beat him. Jericho says he can as he is the great Chris Jericho and one of the best to do this, and he would sign the contract and write that JAS has to stay in the back, except he doesn't have a pen.

However, Starks does, and Jericho brings back the click of the pen style from his list days. He signs the contract and makes the match official for Revolution, and tells him to be careful what he wishes for as nobody outsmarts the Ocho, but that leads to Starks smiling and winking at the camera.

The Acclaimed vs. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty

Lee Moriarty gets dropped by Max Caster via a shoulder tackle, and that is followed by an arm drag from Caster, however, Big Bill takes a cheap shot and that allows his team to briefly gain control. Anthony Bowens makes a blind tag and he slams Moriarty down onto Caster's knees as Caster returns to action. However, as they attempt to hit Scissor Me Timbers, Bill comes around and shoves Bowens to the floor.

Moriarty nails a forearm to Caster and then brings in the big man as Bill attacks Caster while The Gunns then appear on the entrance ramp. Caster avoids a big splash in the corner and both teams tag out. Bowens brings the attack to Moriarty with a big kick to the face before leaping over the top of his opponent and planting him down. He then nails Bill with a thrust kick, but Bill then blows through Bowens' rolling elbow strike and hits Dddy Ass with a big boot before hitting Bowens with one as well.

The Gunns then head down and begin attacking their father which leads to The Acclaimed chasing them around, but on the outside Caster manages to send Bill head-first to the ring poster. However, inside the ring, Moriarty plants Bowens down to the mat and gets a near fall. He then hits the Arrival and Caster gets in with the Mic Drop.

Winners: The Acclaimed

– After the tag bout we see Tony Schiavone making his way over to the top of the entrance stage. He then introduces his guest at this time -- Christian Cage. The familiar sounds of Christian's theme plays and out he comes.

Before he can say a word to Schiavone, however, he is attacked from behind by "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry. He beats him down and then heads to the back, only to come back out with two steel chairs.

He thinks about giving Christian the con-chair-to, but after setting it up, he hesitates and Christian ends up getting one of the chairs and hitting Jungle Boy low with it. Christian gets on top and grabs Jungle Boy by the hair and then repeatedly bashes him face-first into the chair as the fans boo.

Christian lifts Jungle Boy's head up and we see he is bleeding. Christian heads to the back as a bunch of officials come out to help Jungle Boy.

After a video airs showing Samoa Joe responding to the comments from Wardlow last week about cutting his hair and how that meant more than people think after explaining his connection to his father and how the pony tail represented that.

He says he did it to send him a message that he is not to be messed with. He vows to prove that when they meet at AEW Revolution.

Saraya w/Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue

Saraya immediately slaps Skye Blue, but that leads to he fighting back with a flurry of punches. She manages to nail a big forearm strike, but Toni Storm gets on the ring apron to stop the next move as Saraya then stomps away on her opponent in the corner before dumping her out of the ring, and with the official distracted Storm suplexes her for further damage.

Outside the ring, Saraya launches her opponent into the barricade, however back inside the ring Blue responds with a submission attempt only for Saraya to plant her down to the ring. Blue connects with a kick of her own, but as she climbs to the top turnbuckle Saraya stops it and joins her only to be fought back down as Blue comes in with a diving crossbody before nailing a knee strike and a dropkick to the side of the head. However, Storm distracts the official which leads to her being attacked by Blue.

When she turns around Saraya connects with a thrust kick and she locks in her PTO finisher.

Winner: Saraya

– After the match Storm and Saraya aim to spray paint Blue but Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter make the save. They run up the ramp and spray paint someone's sign instead, but then Ruby Soho makes her presence known, but she is out to focus on the champion as she points to Hayter and makes it clear she wants the title.

– Bryan Danielson makes his way out and he says it seems like the crowd might want him to win the AEW Championship, which leads to a "Yes" chant. Danielson says he will be doing everything in his power to beat MJF for the title, but first he wants to address what MJF said last week. He said that he hates Bryan Danielson, and that leads to Danielson running down some of the things that MJF has done to him lately.

MJF comes out and says he is the guy who got stranded by anyone he looked up to or was thrown away like trash by people who said he loved him. He then met a girl who he fell in love with, and he got down on one knee and said he wanted to start a family, but she left him. Now, the only thing that stops him from grabbing pills and calling it a day is the World Title, but not Danielson, everyone respects him and chants for him. MJF claims Danielson has something he never will, which is a family, and he takes that for granted.

MJF reveals that he hates him because Danielson has had more head trauma than anyone in this business, yet he's still in his sport. Everytime he steps in the ring he says wrestling is more important than his family, and that spits in his face as he is taking everything he'd kill for granted. He says Danielson is no better than his drug-addicted mentor, William Regal, but he is worse as he is addicted to the spotlight and at Revolution he will get the spotlight that he needs as he will punish him.

MJF wants to speak to his children, but Danielson tells him not to dare or he will kick the sh*t out of him. However, MJF looks directly to the camera and addresses Danielson's children and says he will make dada pay for his selfishness, and he will make sure dada can never play with him again. He is going to give dada a present on March 5, and that gift is early onset CT, but he gets cut off by Danielson who begins brawling with the champion until security drags them apart. Both men break out once each to keep fighting, but that leads to more people hitting the ring to pull them apart.

– Jamie Hayter is shown backstage and says they're getting a little fed up with things for Saraya, and maybe she is worthy of a title match, but she's trying to ruin things from the ground up. She also says Ruby Soho is deserving of a title shot, and she suggest they make it a triple threat at Revolution.

AEW Revolution Tag-Team Battle Royale

The bell rings and this one starts as chaos with everyone brawling in and out of the ring, but 2.0 opt to not get involved at all. Josh Woods grabs the foot of Penta and that almost allows Tony Nese to eliminate him but he hangs on. The two end up battling on the ring apron until Mark Briscoe charges down and he begins brawling with Woods to the back, while Nese ends up hitting Fear Factor on the apron as he gets eliminated.

Lucha Bros then work together on Ari Daivari and he gets launched out. Jose the Assistant then tries to help eliminate Rey Fenix, but he manages to fight against it, while John Silver hits a delayed vertical suplex to Jay Lethal. Meanwhile, Aussie Open dominates against Dante Martin, but Darius makes the save. Aussie Open then try and make an elimination but Blade comes from behind and throws them both out, as well as Darius Martin, but he then gets thrown over by Silver.

The Butcher throws Alex Reynolds to the top turnbuckle and he falls out. Preston Vance is the next to be eliminated, but he then grabs the boot of Penta which allows RUSH to get rid of him as he turns and nails a knee strike to Fenix, but it is RUSH who gets eliminated. Butcher then launches Silver out of the ring as well. Meanwhile, 2.0 finally gets involved only for Danhausen to pop up and they throw him out. However, he curses them and that allows Best Friends to throw them out.

However, Taylor celebrates too long and Jeff Jarrett throws him away. Outside the ring, Jarrett drops Trent onto the barricade and then attacks him with a chair. Jarrett, Lethal, and Butcher then attack the three remaining babyfaces, Trent, Darius, and Fenix as they assert their dominance. Butcher shoulder blocks Fenix out of the ring but he goes through the ropes. Butcher then stomps on Martin's hands and he gets thrown out, but Fenix pops up from behind to take out Butcher. However, he has no time to celebrate as Lethal sneaks behind and gets rid of him.

Trent is left alone against Jarrett and Lethal, but as he tries t eliminate them Singh runs around to try and make the save. He does that perfectly when he holds both as they were following an attack by Trent. However, Trent gets hit by the Stroke, but he skins the cat, and while they think it is won Orane Cassidy returns to help. However, Taylor manages to throw out Lethal and Trent the almost throws out Jarrett, but Singh stops it by catching him. Inside the ring, Lethal hit the Stroke and throws him out.

Winners: Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett

– We shoot to a message from The House of Black after the tag-team battle royale wraps up. They send a message to The Elite and then a match is announced for AEW Rampage. After that, we head to another commercial break.

– Backstage Tony Khan is shown and he makes a huge announcement that he thinks it would be best made by a major star, and Adam Cole appears. He said last week he was excited about the idea of telling more of his story. He says next week in March there is a weekly one-hour television series called AEW All Access, you will get a detailed look at them and it's something you won't want to miss. He is getting to show a lot of his story on that and he's excited to share that journey. He also has more good news, the night the show debuts he will make his in-ring return.

Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno

Evil Uno charges out of the gate and attacks Jon Moxley repeatedly, even raking the back of the Blackpool Combat Club member, but he turns things around immediately and stomps down on the head of Moxley. The Dark Order star responds with a big boot and he uses his jacket to whip Moxley and choke him as he then bites the head of the former champion before hitting several splashes in the corner.

Moxley then aims to rip the mask off Evil Uno's head, yanking away at the eyes but he fires back with a big boot which sends Moxley to the floor and he then hits a senton from the top turnbuckle to the floor! However, it doesn't take long for Moxley to regain control as he launches him into the steel stairs which busts him open. As Uno gets back into the ring Moxley nails a boot to the head immediately and he repeatedly hits cross-face strikes as the blood becomes visible underneath his mask of Uno.

He fights back with a slap and then a piledriver, and Uno follows it with a second one, but Moxley kicks out! Moxley responds by locking in a sleeper hold and he transitions that into driving elbow strikes in, but Moxley then transitions yet again into the Bulldog as the blood pours out of his mask, and the masked man ends up fading out and Moxley gets his 100th win.

Winner: Jon Moxley

– After the match, Moxley refuses to let go of the submission until Silver and Reynolds hit the ring to make the save, but then Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli appear and they start fighting The Dark Order but Adam Page then charges down, and he pulls out some barbed wire and attacks his Revolution partner in the face with it which busts Moxley wide open as well. Page then aims for the Buckshot, but Moxley scrambles away to avoid it.

A huge announcement? lol Was not that huge.

Here is more on the AEW: All Access

TBS has expanded its All Elite Wrestling franchise by greenlighting AEW: All Access, a documentary series featuring the league’s biggest stars.

The show, slated to premiere this March, will feature Adam Cole, Dr. Britt Baker, Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, The Young Bucks, Saraya, Wardlow, and Eddie Kingston, along with AEW CEO, GM, and Head of Creative Tony Khan.

“With the new AEW: All Access series, they’ll have a chance to peek behind the curtain and into the lives of their favorite wrestlers like never before,” said Khan.

Each episode will showcase AEW’s stars as they navigate their week-to-week challenges. AEW: All Access joins TBS and TNT’s other wrestling content, including AEW: Dynamite and AEW: Rampage.

This marks the first new unscripted series greenlighted by TBS in 2023 and falls under the strategy by the new WBD regime for launching entertainment programming that complements the Turner networks’ sports/wrestling coverage.

“What really works on the Turner networks is sports and off-net sitcoms,” Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group, said last month. “We will commission around 4500 hours of content for this year… We like sports-adjacent, a couple of reality shows in the sports world that we’re working on.”

From Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, AEW: All Access is produced by Shed Media in association with AEW and Activist Artists Management. Executive producers are Tony Khan, Dan Peirson, Lisa Shannon, Sam Berns, Alan Bloom, Bernie Cahill and Jon Kanak.

“AEW has such an amazingly loyal and dedicated fan base that brings in more than 4 million viewers to TBS every Wednesday night,” said Jason Sarlanis, president, Turner Networks, ID, & HLN. Linear and Streaming. “With All Access, we are bringing that incredible audience a whole new way to experience the wrestling universe they love.”