AEW Dynamite recap for October 9, 2019: The Inner Circle

AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite features five unique matches and the introduction of a new villainous stable.

Busting the Bracket

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite began quickly, with an explosive tag match starting off the show. The Young Bucks came out to a wild reaction from the crowd as did their younger counterparts, Private Party.

Nick Jackson and Isiah Kassidy started off the contest feeling each other out and with Kassidy avoiding a superkick. Matt Jackson tagged in and started going to work on isolating Kassidy and working him over. Kassidy took various punishment until he hit a beautiful springboard moonsault off the apron to the outside.

Kassidy finally got the tag to his partner, Marq Quen, who ran wild with a suicide dive, a second suicide dive, a third dive over the top rope and finally a Fosbury Flop to bring the crowd to their feet. Quen then hit a crisp-looking 450 but only garnered a two count for his efforts. The Young Bucks seemed to get their second wind here as they started up their signature sequence of several tandem superkicks.

The Bucks then dug into their old New Japan playbook and powerbombed Kassidy onto the entrance ramp in an attempt to take him out of the match. Quen was then isolated, beaten down and locked into a sharpshooter. Quen was able to get to the ropes but that only opened him up for more double-team abuse from the Bucks.

The Bucks continued their nasty streak in this match with a double stomp to Quen who was laid out on Matt’s knees. Quen looked to be able to tag out but Kassidy was pulled off the apron. Both Bucks came in to take out Quen but the young upstart was not to be beaten as he hit a double pele kick to the veteran teams.

Quen finally got the tag to Kassidy who looked to be highlighting the back injury that the powerbomb on the apron gave him, but that didn’t stop him from hitting an incredible double Frankensteiner to the Bucks. Private Party looked to hit Silly String but were blocked and Kassidy was hit with a lovely rolling Northern Lights suplex.

The Bucks went back to their original game plan of isolating Kassidy and with his new obvious back issues the vets went to work on him with a nasty Sharpshooter. Kassidy crawled and got dangerously close to the ropes but was blocked by Nick. Kassidy finally reached the rope and got the tag to Quen, who hit a nasty Poisonrana.

Private Party started to feel it with several high-impact moves. The two men hit their tag maneuver, Gin and Juice, and Quen hit a shooting star press but they still couldn’t keep their opponents down for a three count. Matt got up and tried to set up a Meltzer Driver on Quen but was rolled up as Kassidy pulled Nick to the floor and he can’t kick out in time.

In the biggest upset in AEW’s short history, Private Party eliminated The Young Bucks in Round 1 of the tag title tournament. Private Party celebrated in the crowd as the Bucks dejectedly walked to the back.

This was quite possibly the best match on Wednesday Night Dynamite yet. This was both a star-making performance from Private Party and a lovely mash up of different styles and eras of The Young Bucks. The Bucks played the subtle, bully heels here to perfection and got the new team over great in front of the rabid crowd. Where the Bucks go from here is unclear but Private Party are heading to Round 2 of the tag title tournament.

Opening the Coffin

The second contest of the night was the No. 1 contenders match for the AEW World Championship, pitting Jimmy Havoc against Darby Allin.

Allin goes for a polite handshake to start which Havoc used as an opportunity for a cheap shot. The two struggled for control as Allin threw his body against “The King of the Goths,” hitting a nasty dropkick which sent Havoc to the apron. Havoc bit Allin’s hand and hit a gruesome falcon arrow onto the outside.

Allin got worked over for a while until he finally gained some momentum and some separation. Havoc stopped Allin from charging up and slammed into the corner with a Death Valley Driver and then spiked his opponent into the mat with a double underhook piledriver. Havoc’s power moves weren’t enough to garner a three count though, and he attempted his finisher, the Acid Rainmaker, to finish the match but Allin bit his hand to stop the attack. Allin hit his signature standing Diamond Dust and flew up to the top rope where he flung himself off to hit The Coffin drop on Havoc for the win.

Allin is now the No. 1 contender to the AEW World Heavyweight Championship and it feels … almost weird. Allin has only picked up two wins during his time in AEW and his first win was on AEW Dark. Both he and Havoc don’t feel like they should be in contention for the heavyweight title due to their win/loss records. If anyone feels like the No. 1 contender right now it’s PAC (more about that later), who is undefeated. Allin came off well in this match but it also didn’t feel like a big deal.

The Doctor will see you now

Next up was the second women’s match in Wednesday Night Dynamite history as AEW Women’s Champion Riho and Britt Baker (D.M.D.) took on Bea Priestley and Emi Sakura in tag team action.

Riho and her former mentor Sakura started off the match for their respective teams. Sakura seemed to feed off of Priestley’s dark energy as she whipped her former student across the ring viciously. Priestley tagged in and bypassed Riho, rushing towards her rival Baker. The two brawled on the outside. Sakura came out to help her partner execute a double suplex on Baker but she didn’t incapacitate Riho enough as the Women’s Champion hit a massive diving crossbody onto the floor.

After a commercial break, Sakura looked to be a tad tired of her partner as she dragged Priestley’s prone body to their corner and tagged herself in. Sakura started getting into it with Baker and hit a rough double underhook backbreaker. Sakura looked to be getting frustrated as she pulled out a Vader Bomb senton and even that couldn’t get her the pinfall.

Riho flied in to fight Sakura and hit her with a gut-wrenching double stomp. Baker tried to capitalize and hits a fisherman’s neckbreaker but Sakura stayed alive. Baker was not to be denied, though, as she locked in her submission finisher and even added a mandible claw to the maneuver — the cherry on top to secure the victory for her team.

Baker and Priestley have to be separated after match as they refuse to stop fighting.

It’s great to see Sakura back in an AEW ring. Her style doesn’t exactly match up with what the AEW fans are passionate about but she is always able to pull off great matches no matter where she performs. Baker’s new mandible claw and Rings of Saturn combo finisher is super unique and fits her character perfectly. All it needs is a punny name. Riho looked solid here but the emphasis was on Baker for this match as she continues her quest to become the ace of the women’s division.

Paradigm Shift

The fourth match of the show featured two men making their Dynamite debut, as Jon Moxley took on “The Chairman” Shawn Spears. The undefeated PAC was on commentary for this contest.

Moxley came out of the gate swinging and drove Spears to the mat and to the outside. Moxley hit an elbow off the apron but was then pushed into the steel steps by Spears’ manager, Tully Blanchard. Spears went for a Hail Mary pass on the downed Moxley as he hit a running Death Valley Driver into the ringside barricade.

Coming back from another break, Spears hit a nasty powerbomb and settled into a single-leg Boston crab. Spears sent Mox to the outside and hit a suicide dive. Moxley, not to be outdone, also hit a suicide dive on Spears. Moxley built up steam and hit a running knee strike which garnered a close two count. The two competitors traded shots as the finish line draws near but Moxley was just that little bit hungrier for a win and countered a fireman’s carry into the Paradigm Shift to win the match.

The end of the match brought out Kenny Omega with a broom and a baseball bat, both wrapped in barbed wire. Omega threw the bat towards Mox. Omega looked to advance towards Moxley but was blindsided by PAC who hit his All Out opponent with a steel chair. PAC sneaked off and Moxley looked as if he was going to pounce on the prone Omega but he instead threw the bat down and walked back to the entranceway.

This was a short and gritty match that Moxley dominated. Spears didn’t come out of this match looking great but his heelish nature and style should be able to keep him afloat in the midcard. Moxley also showing some sympathy for Omega was an interesting wrinkle to add to their feud.

It’s almost as if Moxley viewed his attack last week as his way of getting even and now he and Omega are tied in the injustice category and that’s why he didn’t attack Omega once again. This feud should have some more twists and turns heading into Full Gear especially now that PAC has interjected himself into the program.

The Inner Circle

Earlier in the broadcast, AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and his cohorts from the previous week came out to the ring to cut a promo.

Jericho claimed that the men who helped him beat down The Elite are his close confidants and they are going to continue working together as a unit. Jericho individually put each member of his new group over and shuts down a “We The People” chant when he introduces Jake Hager. “La Champion” then reveals the name of his new stable, The Inner Circle.

Jericho ran down Cody and his family and claimed he is going to beat him at Full Gear and celebrate in the streets of Baltimore with his new associates.

The main event of the evening featured The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) taking on “Hangman” Adam Page and Cody’s brother Dustin Rhodes.

Rhodes and Guevara began in the ring. Jericho tried to blindside Dustin but “The Natural” snapped and started to brawl with the champion on the outside. After taking on both men opposite him in the match, Rhodes tagged in Hangman. Hangman and Dustin tag in and out as they isolated Guevara. Rhodes and Hangman strung together some power moves and Hangman went for the pin after hitting a beautiful running Shooting Star Press but Jericho broke up the pinfall attempt. Hangman went up top but Jericho ran interference which allowed Guevara to hoist up Hangman and drop him onto the top rope.

Back from the final commercial break, Jericho was running roughshod on Hangman. Hangman looked to be close to tagging out to his eager partner but Guevara was instead tagged in and blocked Hangman’s attempt. Jericho tagged in and went for the Lionsault, but Hangman got his knees up to block the maneuver. Hangman finally gets the tag to Rhodes, who beats down both his opponents. Rhodes also executes a top-rope twisting crossbody. Jake Hager, who has been the acting enforced for Jericho,  made his presence felt, blindsiding Hangman. Rhodes hit a Code Red and set up a finishing maneuver but was blindsided by Hager. Jericho picked up Hager’s scraps and hit The Judas Effect to win the match.

The Inner Circle continued to beat down on their opponents but then the went go off. When they come back on, Cody is in the ring. Cody hit a Cross Rhodes on Guevara but was then blindsided by LAX. MJF ran down to save Cody but teased turning on him. MJF remained loyal, though, and attacked The Inner Circle. MJF posed for the crowd before he is hit by a Codebreaker by Jericho. The Young Bucks then ran out and chased off The Inner Circle. Jericho bailed to the outside but was attacked by Darby Allin, who jumped off a skateboard he rode down the entrance ramp. Allin beat down Jericho and got in the ring with The Elite. Jericho grabbed a mic, running down Cody and Allin, while claiming The Inner Circle are taking over as the feed faded to black.

This was a solid main event with another fun chaotic brawl to end the show. The Inner Circle came off looking strong and The Elite got to gain some revenge from last week, making for an entertaining end to a great show.

The second episode of Dynamite delivered well and continued the hot streak AEW is on. Another win for the book for AEW as their main stories continued to gain traction and their wrestlers continued to build their win/loss records.