AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - October 4th, 2023

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AEW Dynamite

This week we celebrate the four-year anniversary of DYNAMITE! Following his shocking debut at WRESTLEDREAM, we'll hear from the "Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland! Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho team up once again to face Sammy Guevara and Konosuke Takeshita. In a rematch of their epic first encounter, the Young Bucks' Nick Jackson challenges Rey Fenix for his AEW International Championship.


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– The "Light the fuse ..." theme plays and then we shoot inside the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA. The fireworks explode and Excalibur welcomes us to the special four-year anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite on TBS.

Excalibur then runs down the advertised lineup for tonight as the official match graphics flash across the screen.

– We shoot backstage where Renee Paquette is standing by with Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega.

She mentions it's been four years since the first Dynamite main event between Jericho and Omega. She then asks them about teaming up once again to battle The Don Callis Family duo tonight. As they keep talking, Adam Copeland walks up. Copeland jokes about how many Canadians are in one room right now.

He says he'll be here for the 8th and 12th anniversary because he's here now. Copeland smiles at Jericho and shakes his hand. He looks at Omega. Omega mentions being on the "EDGE" of his seat at Wrestle Dream when he debuted. The two shake hands and Copeland tells them to stick it to Don Callis because he still can't stand him.

AEW International Championship: Rey Fenix (C) vs. Nick Jackson

We head back inside the Stockton Arena where The Young Bucks theme hits. Out comes Nick and Matt Jackson, the former of which kicks action off in the ring tonight in the scheduled AEW International Championship match. He settles in the ring and the music dies down.

Now the super-bad ass theme for The Lucha Bros plays and out comes Rey Fenix accompanied by Alex Abrahantes. The two settle in the ring and his music fades down. It's time for this high stakes opening contest here on this week's show.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see Fenix doing well early on, but then Jackson takes over. He seems to be focusing his attack on the injury Fenix has been recovering from. Fenix hits a sunset flip power bomb on Jackson from the apron to the floor. Fenix launches Jackson over the barricade, but then Jackson hops over and connects with a hurricanrana on the floor.

Back in the ring, Jackson continues focusing his attack on the weakened back of Fenix. Jackson crotches Fenix on the top-rope in the corner and then connects with a back-stabber. Fenix rolls out of the ring in pain. Penta El Zero Miedo and Alex Abrahantes check on him. Jackson goes to kick him but kicks the ring post. Fenix sweeps him on the apron and we head into a mid-match commercial break.

When we return, we see Jackson blasting Fenix with a super kick. The two kip up and he hits him with another. The crowd pops. Fenix tries firing up but Jackson takes back over and cuts his momentum short. The fans break out in a "This is Awesome" chant. They are correct, for the record. Jackson hits a cutter on Fenix on the floor.

As the action continues, we see Fenix and Jackson hold hands and then leap up to the middle rope and then the top-rope where Jackson hits a leaping avalanche cutter for a close near fall. Wild. Jackson hits a destroyer and goes for the cover, but once again Fenix kicks out to keep this one alive. The two each go for roll-ups and Fenix ends up pulling off the win to retain. Excellent opener.

Winner and STILL AEW International Champion: Rey Fenix

– We see footage of the Adam Cole, MJF and The Kingdom segment from last week's show, but the audio is horrible. They then send us into a brand new segment and the audio is even worse.

We see Cole at Roderick Strong's house. He's in a wheel chair and he got Cole a Segway as a gift. They chase each other around while Matt Taven and Mike Bennett stroke a stuffed giraffe. If they're saying anything important, no one watching TV is hearing much of anything. The segment ends with Cole shaking his head, presumably in disgust at something they said.

Griff Garrison vs. Wardlow

Now we return inside the Stockton Arena where Griff Garrison of the past Varsity Blondes duo is introduced. We await the announcement of his opponent. Some music hits and out comes Wardlow.

Wardlow has a different look. He heads to the ring to a lukewarm reception. The bell sounds and the fans seem to realize who he is now. They chant "Wardlow! Wardlow!" in the same fashion fans would chant "Goldberg! Goldberg!" in his prime in WCW.

We see Wardlow manhandle Garrison from the word "go." He hits a gut-wrench into a power bomb. He hits his finisher over-and-over-and-over again. He gets the easy squash match victory via ref stoppage. He exits the ring and leaves through the crowd. That was fast!

Winner: Wardlow

– Excalibur and company introduce footage that shows how the AEW Wrestle Dream 2023 main event played out, including the highly-anticipated AEW debut of Adam Copeland. After the package wraps up, they promote Tony Schiavone's live in-ring interview with Copeland later tonight. We then head into a commercial break.

– We return from the break to "earlier tonight" footage that shows Renee Paquette backstage with Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita. He mentions Sammy Guevara not being medically cleared to compete tonight.

He says there is no shortage of eager athletes who want to show themselves in hopes of joining The Don Callis Family. He mentions Will Ospreay recommending Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open for the spot. It will be Fletcher and Takeshita taking on Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega later tonight.

– From there, Excalibur acknowledges the segment with Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and the rest of The Kingdom having audio issues earlier. They re-introduce it and it plays once again, this time so we can hear it.

The segment shows them goofing around in a wheelchair and Segway as the others pet the stuffed giraffe. We then hear Strong ask Cole to help move stuff for him as the emergency he called him over for. Cole mentions having a broken ankle and asks why The Kingdom can't do it.

Strong says they know nothing about interior design. We see a montage of this and then when Cole goes to leave Strong yells "ADAM!" and says he still needs more help. Cole looks annoyed. That's how it wraps up.

AEW Trios Championships: The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn vs. The Butcher, The Blade & Kip Sabian

Now we return inside the Stockton Arena where The Acclaimed theme hits. Already in the ring are The Butcher and The Blade, with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford at ringside. Out comes Max Caster doing his freestyle rhyme, mocking Sabian for his old box-head gimmick. They settle in the ring and the fight is immediately on.

Billy Gunn helps Caster and Anthony Bowens beat down the heels and then they do a big "Scissor me" hand-shake for a big crowd pop. Caster and Blade then settle in the ring as the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running.

Sabian hits a big moonsault onto The Acclaimed at ringside as we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see The Acclaimed fire up and hit their usual three-move finishing sequence for the win to retain their Trios titles.

Winners and STILL AEW Trios Champions: The Acclaimed

– We go to another video package of "Portrait of a Star with Toni Storm." She hits every emotion in her old-school acting parody. She freaks out until she realizes she is timeless. Wild stuff. "Timeless Toni Storm premieres tonight" is how it wraps up. We head to another commercial break.

– When we return, we see footage of Bryan Danielson crying and emotional and then going into a rampage backstage in reaction to his match against Zack Sabre JR. at AEW Wrestle Dream. Isn't that Toni Storm's new gimmick? Whoops! We also hear from ZSJ about the match.

– From there, we are shown footage of Swerve Strickland's victory over Hangman Page from Wrestle Dream. The package features post-match comments from Hangman. Excalibur then announces Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page in a non-title match at Title Tuesday.

– We see footage of the masked man attacking Jay White last week. The commentators remind us that MJF said someone stole the mask from his locker room. We return inside the arena to new theme music for The Bullet Club Gold. The Gunns and Juice Robinson head to the ring.

Robinson asks who is ready for story-time with the Bang Bang Gang, bay-bay? The crowd boos. They mock MJF for being short and then call him "The People's Douchebag" instead of "The People's Scumbag." They mock the best he could come up with for Jay White as an insult is "Tofu." The crowd isn't reacting, but they're kinda making good points.

They call out MJF and the theme for the AEW World and ROH Tag-Team Champion hits. Out comes "The Devil." He mocks The Gunns for being Ass-Boys and then calls Juice Robinson a "talentless taint." He leads fans in a dueling "Ass Boys / Talentless Taint" chant.

Friedman mentions this being the four-year anniversary of Dynamite. He mentions some of the many moments he's had in that four-year span. He proudly boasts being the fans' scumbag. They chant "He's our scumbag!" He then mocks Jay White for being "Tofu" again. The fans chant "Tofu! Tofu!" MJF calls them out for a Stockton Street Fight.

He heads to the ring for such a street fight, but Robinson and The Gunns exit the ring. We see Jay White appear from behind and take him out. Robinson and The Gunns re-join him in the ring and they grab MJF's world title. White holds it up and then decides to steal it. He walks off with the belt as The Bullet Club Gold gang head to the back.

White says he doesn't know what type of quality of athlete he's used to dealing with, but he's a cut above the rest. He says MJF got the best of him last week with the sneak attack at the end of the show, but he's not done yet. He says he doesn't believe him when he claims it wasn't him under his own "Devil" mask.

White challenges MJF to a showdown for the AEW Championship at AEW Full Gear 2023. MJF says you're on. He accepts for 11/18 in Los Angeles, CA. at the Kia Forum.

– Now we shoot backstage, where Renee Paquette is with Orange Cassidy and HOOK. They talk about how Cassidy deserves a shot at the AEW International Championship more than Jon Moxley. We then return inside the arena for our next match of the evening.

Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

The theme for Chris Jericho plays and as the fans sing along with "Judas in my Mind" by Fozzy, "The Ocho" heads to the ring. The music dies down and now Kenny Omega's theme hits. "The Cleaner" settles in the ring and shakes hands with Jericho.

A portrait of The Last Supper is shown on the big screen and Tony Schiavone freaks out as The Don Callis Family team of Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open make their way out. They head to the ring as Callis settles in on special guest commentary.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Jericho and Takeshita kick things off for their respective teams. Jericho takes control and then Omega hits the ring. The two hit a double-suplex on Takeshita. Takeshita takes over and tags in Fletcher, who goes to work on Jericho as we head to a mid-match commercial break.

When we return, we see Fletcher and Takeshita dominating the offense until Jericho and Omega finally make the hot tag. The baby face duo shift the momentum in their favor. As Jericho continues working over Fletcher, we head into another mid-match commercial break as the action continues.

As we settle back in from the break, we see Fletcher dominating the action until finally Jericho makes the much-needed tag to Omega, who finishes things off with a One-Winged Angel. After the match, Callis blames everything on Fletcher.

Winners: Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega

– Once the match wraps up, we see Powerhouse Hobbs hit the ring out of nowhere from behind and attack Jericho and Omega. He beats the two down by himself as Don Callis watches on with a big smile on his face.

Hobbs beats Omega through the crowd. We see Takeshita over with Jericho as Callis stands feet away and watches Hobbs beat down Omega. Hobbs breaks a piece of steel off the guard rail and beats Omega with it.

Excalibur explains why The Elite aren't coming out to help, noting Hangman Page isn't here and The Young Bucks went to the hospital after the opener. We see Hobbs bring Omega in the ring and he and Callis duct tape him to the ropes.

Takeshita keeps Jericho beat down so he can't help. This is going on for what feels like forever. They beat Omega down with a chair.

– Now we shoot to the trainers room where we see MJF being checked on as Renee Paquette interviews him. We see The Acclaimed in the background. Max Caster comes to massage his shoulders. MJF pops up and says he's sick of him.

He calls him a stalker and says if he doesn't leave he's getting a restraining order. He tells him no one is scissoring anyone. Paquette brings up the tweets from Caster and says they have been aggressive. MJF says he can't deal with this alone. He calls Adam Cole on speaker phone.

Cole doesn't answer. The crowd boos in the arena when it goes to voice mail. MJF hangs up but the voice mail operator keeps talking, whoops! We head to another commercial break after this.

– When we return from the break, the theme for Skye Blue hits and out comes the internet's favorite "booty-licious" women's competitor. The new-and-improved "Timeless" Toni Storm makes her way to the ring in black-and-white with smeared make-up from crying.

Skye Blue vs. "Timeless" Toni Storm

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Taz tries putting over the new "Timeless" Toni Storm and says with seriousness that "she's gonna live forever." And I belly laugh. The two finally start getting after it.

Storm knocks Blue to the floor and then talks into the camera to send us into a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break. Nice. When we return from the break, Storm is working over Blue in the ring. Blue makes a comeback and takes over on offense. Storm fights back and hits a Storm Zero for the win.

Winner: "Timeless" Toni Storm

– We hear Excalibur speed-read through updates to the lineups for Friday's Rampage, Saturday's Collision airing at a special start-time, as well as next week's AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday show. After that, we head to another commercial break.

– When we return from the break, Tony Schiavone is standing in the ring. He introduces Adam Copeland. He makes his way out and heads to the ring for his "mission statement."

Copeland talks about how Schiavone was the soundtrack of his childhood. He then tells him this is his ring now and to hit the bricks. He mentions some of the fresh faces he can square off against now that he's in AEW.

He talks about discussing with his family the prospect of coming to AEW. He mentions his daughter telling him he should go have fun with Uncle Jay, who he informs us is Christian Cage. He then calls out his longtime friend and former WWE tag-team partner.

Adam Copeland says he's gonna tell Christian Cage the real reason he's here. The TNT Champion makes his way to the ring as the commentators inform the viewing audience of their storied history together. The fans chant "Holy sh*t!" as they stand next to each other in the ring.

He talks about them being best friends for 40 years. He says it was the wrestling business that made him realize they were gonna be best friends forever. He then brings up his actions from Wrestle Dream. He mentions Cage looking more like a dick than usual.

The fans chant "Dick! Dick! Dick!" He says even knowing that about him, he still loves him. He says that's never gonna go away, but he saw him standing over Sting. He gets worked up and in his face as he talks about them both being fans of Sting. He mentions Cage wanting someone to get his haircut like Sting.

Copeland says he got his done like Lex Luger. He gets bright red in the face as he talks about how Beth Phoenix's family can't even speak English, but they loved Sting. He says that's why he did what he did on Sunday.

He said he also did it because he knows that Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne are gonna drop you like a bad habit as soon as they've sucked all of the information out of your brain. He says Christian is so egotistical he won't see it coming. He says he's here because it's time. He says for the first time since 2011.

For the first time in 20 years for them to team up together once again. The fans explode. He mentions how they can face teams like FTR, The Young Bucks and to show an entire generation of the best tag-teams of all-time. He says let's end our careers together.

Fans chant "One more time!" Christian holds up his TNT title. He then out-stretches his arms. The two hug. Cage then says into the mic, "Go fuck yourself," which is bleeped off, of course. Cage then simply walks out of the ring. He heads to the back but still has the mic in his hand. The fans chant "Asshole! Asshole!"

Christian Cage soaks up the hate from the crowd, stops and then says before he goes, just a quick reminder of what you'll be up against this Tuesday live at Dynamite. The theme for Luchasaurus hits. Out comes Christian's masked monster accompanied by Nick Wayne. The three stand side-by-side and glare at Copeland. That's how this week's show goes off the air.