AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash Live Coverage - December 18th, 2024
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AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash
This week, Mercedes Moné defends the TBS Championship against Anna Jay. The AEW Continental Classic continues as Will Ospreay collides with Darby Allin and Shelton Benjamin faces The Beast Mortos. Plus, MJF speaks ahead of WORLDS END PPV.
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– This week's show kicks off with an arrival shot of Jon Moxley and The Death Riders in the parking lot, as Excalibur and Tony Schiavone welcome us to the show.
– Backstage, Renee Paquette is standing by with Orange Cassidy and Jay White. She asks if they're more focused on The Death Riders tonight, or each other heading into their world title tilt at AEW Worlds End 2024. White says Cassidy is all talked out, so he'll answer. He mentions being focused on the world title. He says he doesn't have the Bang Bang Gang by his side, so he's got to rely on Orange and Hangman Page. Hangman walks up and cuts White off and says Jon Moxley is all his tonight.
– From there, we go to a quick one-line promo from Darby Allin about his Continental Classic showdown tonight against Will Ospreay. After that, we cut to "The Aerial Assassin" himself, who also talks about the match and closes with his new "on another level" catchphrase. Excalibur runs down the Continental Classic Standings.
TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Anna Jay
MJF is shown walking the halls and looking at his phone as we head back inside the arena for our opening contest. The theme for Mercedes Mone hits and "The CEO" makes her way out for her latest TBS Championship defense. She does her annoying little bounce dance as she heads to the ring.
Matt Menard joins Excalibur and Schiavone on commentary as they talk through split-screen highlights of Mone and Mina Shirakawa from last week. The theme for Anna Jay hits and out comes the challenger for her big title opportunity.
"The Dapper Yapper" Justin Roberts handles the final formal pre-match ring introductions and then the bell sounds to get this title match opener officially off-and-running. As things get going, we see Jay get off to a good start. Fans are loudly behind her in Washington, D.C. tonight. Mone begins taking over as a "Let's go Anna' / "CEO!" dueling chant breaks out.
Mone maintains the offensive lead as the show heads into the first commercial break of the evening. When we return, Jay takes over control of the action, and gets close to a finish until Mone bites her way free. Mone then hits a sequence of big trademark moves, culminating with her Mone Maker for the win in her 11th TBS title defense. Kris Statlander is shown watching on afterwards.
Winner and STILL TBS Champion: Mercedes Mone
– FTR is shown from home in a promo segment. They announce that Doctor Sampson won't medically clear them until January 1. So for the rest of 2024, don't expect to see them in action. They mention that on January 1 in Ashville, N.C. at Fight for the Fallen they will be there, they'll be cleared and they will fight The Death Riders. "And we won't be coming alone. Top guys -- out." The commentators promote AEW Fight for the Fallen airing via simulcast on MAX as well.
– MJF's theme hits and out he comes to the ring. He talks about how the Washington Wizards suck. Fans chant "Wizards suck!" He says they do. He then talks about it being the holiday season and says he's not scrooge. He says the most important holiday is coming up. Hanukkah. He says if you're not down with that, Santa's not real.
Fans chant for Santa. MJF mentions a charity effort he is part of and says he may get emotional. "Please start the music." With a shaky voice, he talks like those sad commercials with sick children and dogs. He then introduces the small child, and it's "This Bay-Bay." We see a small body doing the Adam Cole pose with Adam Cole's real head on his body.
He tells us to scan the QR Code we see on the screen now to help that small kid out. He says if they buy that PPV a part of the money will go to his foundation, which is to put this small Cole child out of his misery. He gets legitimately annoyed at fans chanting over him in the background. Cole then appears on the big screen. Cole says there are going to be two men, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, to make sure MJF has nowhere to run or hide, so he can finally finish things between them at Worlds End.
Cole says he forgot something. "Oh yeah ...hey Max, am I kicking your ass yet?" With that said, MJF looks confused, the video screen fades to black and Cole is shown standing behind MJF in the ring. MJF turns around and Cole proceeds to beat him down. He goes for the Panama Sunrise but MJF scurries out of the ring and retreats to the back. Cole's theme hits to end the segment.
– Highlights are shown of Willow Nightingale beating Jamie Hayter on AEW Collision to qualify for the International Women's Cup Tournament at Wrestle Dynasty. Back live, Hayter appears backstage and addresses Julia Hart's AEW return and attack of her after the Nightingale bout. She issues a challenge to Julia for AEW Fight for the Fallen.
– From there, Excalibur mentions that Kenny Omega has been gone from the scene for a while. He says he's scheduled to return to the ring at the Tokyo Dome for NJPW in January, and mentions that he'll be back in AEW "soon" as well. A video package airs to promote the highly-anticipated return of Omega. When it wraps up, we hear the crowd chanting his name.
Nick Wayne & Christian Cage vs. HOOK & Katsuyori Shibata
Inside the arena, the theme for Christian Cage hits and out he comes accompanied by HOOK. The two settle inside the squared circle for our next match of the evening. As they do, the show heads to another pre-match commercial break.
When the show returns, HOOK's theme hits and he comes to the ring with Katsuyori Shibata as footage is shown of the glass break to explain a cast on his hand. The bell sounds and off we go. Wayne and HOOK kick things off for their respective teams.
As we settle back in from the break, the match is in progress and sees a lot of back-and-forth swings in momentum. Just as it seemed HOOK and Shibata went on their way to victory, Mama Wayne hits the apron for the distraction, setting up The Patriarchy duo for the win.
Winners: Christian Cage & Nick Wayne
AEW Continental Classic Match: Shelton Benjamin vs. The Beast Mortos
A "King of New York" vignette airs showing Chris Jericho with his ROH Championship traveling around hot spots and tourist attractions in New York City to promote his title defense against Matt Cardona at ROH Final Battle 2024.
A new Bandido vignette airs to promote his upcoming AEW return. The show heads into another commercial break at that point.
When we return, "The Glamour" Mariah May is shown backstage cutting a promo accepting the Tijuana Street Fight challenge from Thunder Rosa for AEW Worlds End 2024. She encourages her to bring her dad so she can ruin two generations at once.
Tony Schiavone is in the ring when we return inside the arena. He introduces his guest at this time, Ricochet. Ricochet makes his way out in a suit. Schiavone brings up him having six points in the AEW Continental Classic. He brings up Ricochet's recent change of attitude the last time we saw him. Ricochet says it looked real good on him, though.
The theme for The Hurt Syndicate hits and out comes MVP with Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin. They confront Ricochet in the ring, who acts nervous and starts sucking up, trying to act friendly with the trio. They aren't acting friendly back. In fact, MVP asks Ricochet if he still has the business card he gave him.
Ricochet goes to pull it out as Lashley snatches him up by the scruff of his neck and coat. MVP tells Ricochet no one likes a kiss-ass or a suck-up. Ricochet backs off and heads to the back. Benjamin stays in the ring. MVP tells him to "hurt somebody," and he awaits the arrival of his opponent for tonight.
Meanwhile, MVP heads over to join the gang on special guest commentary for this one. The Beast Mortos makes his way out, the bell sounds and off we go with AEW Continental Classic action. Benjamin takes the early offensive lead and after dumping Mortos out to the floor, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, Benjamin hits the Hurt Fall to win. He has six points now.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
– MVP gives Benjamin orders to further attack Mortos afterwards. He tells Daniel Garcia this is what he has to look forward to on Saturday. Garcia comes out and says he's not stupid and knows he's at a numbers disadvantage. He calls for some back-up and Mark Briscoe's theme hits to bring him out.
The two hit the ring and fight three on two against The Hurt Syndicate. Lashley and Benjamin end up running them over. Benjamin takes Garcia's TNT title and holds it up over him before draping it across his unconscious body. The Hurt Syndicate theme hits again to end the post-match scene.
– The show heads to another commercial break. When we return, we see Ricochet backstage with Renee Paquette. He talks about The Hurt Syndicate snubbing him and plays it off. He talks about the Continental Classic and Will Ospreay and their upcoming match.
As he turns to leave, he runs into Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana. He talks about how he's going to win the Continental Classic, something Swerve didn't do last year. Swerve calls him by his real name and says he can see he's still a follower.
AEW Continental Classic Match: Will Ospreay vs. Darby Allin
A quick "Portrait of a Rock Star: Toni Storm" segment airs with her acting like she's new on the scene in AEW and completely unaware of "Timeless" Toni Storm. After it wraps up, we return back inside the arena in Washington, D.C. for our next match of the evening.
We return to the AEW Continental Classic as Will Ospreay's theme hits and he makes his way out. The theme for his opponent hits and out comes Darby Allin. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this highly-anticipated tilt. Fans chant "Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!" before they even touch.
Ospreay takes the early offensive lead. After things spill out to the floor, we see Allin head to the top-rope and look for a Coffin Drop onto the hard part of the ring apron. Ospreay rolls out of the way and Allin flies backwards and bounces right off the corner of the ring apron. His body smacked off the floor like a ragdoll. Ouch. We head to a mid-match commercial on that note.
As we settle back in, Allin goes for Code Red, but Ospreay counters with a Hidden Blade. Allin fights back and hits a huge high spot for a super close two-count. The crowd is split, with both guys getting pops and chants, something the commentators continue to point out.
Allin hits a springboard Coffin Drop off the middle rope for a close two. Ospreay hits an insane Styles Clash from the ring apron to the floor, but Allin survives and takes over, hitting two back-to-back top-rope Coffin Drops for the win to pick up three more points in the AEW Continental Classic. An excellent match.
Winner: Darby Allin
Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & PAC vs. Jay White, Orange Cassidy & Hangman Page
Once the match wraps up, The Death Riders theme cuts off Allin's music during his post-match celebration in the ring. Claudio Castagnoli, Allin's next opponent in the AEW Continental Classic, comes out through the crowd and stares Allin down. The show heads into another commercial break.
When we return, Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, PAC and Marina Shafir are with Castagnoli at ringside. It's main event time! The theme for Jay White hits and out comes "Switchblade" by himself. He stops and Orange Cassidy's theme hits. The "Freshly Squeezed" one joins him and then Hangman Page's theme hits and the three head down to get our final match of the evening officially off-and-running.
Hangman demands he start because he wants to get his hands on Moxley. Once he sees Yuta starting off for the opposition, he stomps over and tags Cassidy in. Cassidy throws his sunglasses at Yuta and the fight is on. Mox lures Cassidy to the ropes and the distraction allows PAC to yank his hair from behind.
Things continue with Mox in the offensive lead until the fight spills out to the floor, where we see Marina Shafir provide a distraction that once again allows The Death Riders to take over. Jay White tags himself in when Hangman is going to finally get his hands on Mox. Hangman gets upset and storms off to the back, abandoning his partners.
As The Death Riders continue to widen the gap they have in the offensive lead over their opposition, the show heads into the final commercial break of the evening. When we return, Yuta is having his way with White. Fans chant "F*ck you, Yuta!" as he works White over in The Death Riders corner. White ends up sending Yuta crashing out to the floor.
Mox takes over as the legal man for his team and continues to deliver punishment to White, as Excalibur does the usual show-end speed-read through updates to multiple upcoming AEW shows, which literally no one can fully digest and remember due to the sheer volume of updates usually included, especially if they're trying to pay attention to the match.
White finally makes the much-needed tag to Cassidy, and the "Freshly Squeezed" one takes the hot tag and begins a fired up offensive comeback, shifting the momentum to his team's favor for the first time since Hangman walked out on the rest of his teammates. Mox ends up taking out Cassidy with a cutter. Just as he does, Hangman returns and begins brawling with Mox.
He sets up for a Buckshot Lariat, but Cassidy ends up hitting an Orange Punch before he can. Hangman goes for a Buckshot Lariat, and it looked like he was going for Cassidy, but Cassidy ducks and he takes out Yuta. White hits a Bladerunner. As he and White argue, Mox comes up from behind and rolls Cassidy up for the win.
Winners: Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & PAC
– The Death Riders exit through the crowd as White and Hangman continue to argue. Cassidy recovers and all three begin shoving each other. As they argue, Mox and The Death Riders surround the ring on all sides of the apron. They all begin brawling. They eventually go their separate ways through the crowd and entrance tunnels as Excalibur plugs AEW Worlds End 2024 as this week's show goes off the air.
