AEW Dynamite (July 26, 2023) emanated from MVP Arena in Albany, NY. The show featured Orange Cassidy not backing down from the Blackpool Combat Club, Darby Allin betrayed by a mentor, and more.
Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Orange Cassidy has no fear
AEW worked two primary storylines throughout the show that intersected by circumstance. The first involved Orange Cassidy.
Cassidy opened the show as a fighting champion to defend the international title against AR Fox. Cassidy relied on his comedy style more in this match than recent contests. Fox caught him lollygagging and sprang into action to run up the ring post for a moonsault to the outside.
Cassidy fought hard when pressed, but he looked worn down in general throughout the match. That played into his current championship story of battling fatigue with wear and tear on his body. In contrast, Fox was spry with athletic offense. Cassidy still had tricks in his pockets for cool counters.
In the end, Cassidy found a way to win. Part of it was happenstance when Fox tweaked his ankle when missing the target on a 450 splash. Cassidy demonstrated savvy awareness to bait Fox into leaving his leg unprotected. Cassidy snatched the limb as a lever to execute the mouse trap pin for victory.
The title match was a high-energy opener. Fox strut his stuff, and Cassidy stayed true to character to increase his output when necessary. The finish was pretty cool in terms of intelligence. It showed how Cassidy knew his opponent’s tendencies and used that knowledge to create a game plan on the spot in the heat of the moment. That adds an extra layer to overcome for the man who finally dethrones the international champ.
Cassidy received two surprises after the match, and neither were good. I’ll save the first swerve for later. The second gift was a Death Rider. Jon Moxley entered for a sneak attack as payback for OC putting hands on Claudio during the ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV.
Backstage, the Blackpool Combat Club stated their motivation in kicking ass for the main event against the Lucha Bros and the Best Friends. Claudio Castagnoli also warned that his beef with PAC is far from over.
Fast forward to the main event. It was chaotic three-way tag team action. Only two men were legal at once, so it created a conundrum down the stretch. Best Friends hit a pair of piledrivers on the Lucha Bros. Pentagon kicked out on Trent’s cover. The Lucha Bros slapped on a pair of submission, and Pentagon snapped Trent’s arm. The Blackpool Combat Club made the save on the pin to continue the fight.
Moxley and Claudio wrecked house on the Best Friends and the Lucha Bros. As Claudio was setting up the Ricola bomb to Trent, Cassidy made his way to the ring to engage in fisticuffs. OC punched Yuta and tussled with Moxley. In the hullabaloo, Trent countered Claudio for a Strong Zero piledriver. One problem though. Claudio was not the legal man. Penta took advantage to hit a package piledriver on Trent for victory.
In the aftermath, brawling continued with Cassidy connecting on the superman punch to Claudio as the screen faded to black. It was announced that Moxley, Penta, and Trent will wrestle in a three-way next week as AEW originals to celebrate the 200th episode of Dynamite, and anything goes!
That was a hectic main event scene. The match itself was enjoyable. Even though there were no real stakes,