Winners, News And Notes On March 23, 2022

AEW Dynamite from Cedar Park, Texas advertised CM Punk vs. Dax Harwood, The Hardy’s, Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Butcher, The Blade and Private Party, the Varsity Blonds vs. Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole and the in-ring debut of the Jericho Appreciation Society.

Last week’s broadcast of AEW Dynamite garnered 993,000 viewers.

• March 16, 2022—993,00
• March 9, 2022—945,000
• March 2, 2022—966,000
• February 23, 2022—1.010 million
• February 16, 2022—869,000

• AEW Dynamite Venue: H-E-B Center (Cedar Park, Tx.)
• AEW Tickets Distributed: 4,077
• AEW Tickets Available: 278

AEW Dynamite YouTube Viewership Last Wednesday: 4,327,176 (Up from 4,327,176)

• Most-Viewed: The Hardy’s Debut (1,440,318 views)
• Least-Viewed: reDRagon and Adam Cole vs. Jurassic Express and Hangman Page (413,987 views)
• Median Viewership: 687,418 views

AEW Dynamite Results | March 23, 2022

CM Punk def. Dax Harwood

This crowd gave CM Punk an overwhelming superstar reaction, and remained hot throughout the show.

This match did everything it could to establish FTR as babyfaces. Cash Wheeler never interfered and the pair was being antagonized by the Gunn Club for the entire match.

Man, CM Punk vs. Dax Harwood is the match you show to an old-school wrestling fan who has dismissed AEW as flip, flop, flying and spotfests. They had a match straight out of territory days and this crowd ate it up.

CM Punk once again motioned the title around his waist following this match.

The Hardys, Darby Allin and Sting vs. Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade

Between the pops for CM Punk, Sting, The Hardys and Darby Allin (in that order), less than 30 minutes into the show, I legitimately questioned whether these fans would have anything left.

The highlight of this match was Jeff Hardy doing the Swanton Bomb from a window sill more than 20 feet in the air.

The finish to this match was very messy with Sting struggling to transition into a Scorpion Death Drop, but Matt Hardy improvised—as did Sting—and the crowd easily forgave them for it.

Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson def. The Varsity Blonds

Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley advertise violence and this bloodthirsty crowd was here for it.

Julia Hart sulked on the stairs in an eyepatch throughout this match. I had no idea they were still doing that House of Black storyline with her, but hopefully they pay it off soon.

Jon Moxley seemed to be blowing up during his post-match promo after a physical match against the Varsity Blonds.

Moxley repeatedly called William Regal “Lord William Regal,” which will likely be his name in AEW. It looks like the new name of this stable is the “Blackpool Combat Club.”

MJF Calls out Wardlow

MJF called Wardlow “piggy” throughout his promo.

MJF received massive heat when he said he’d strap Wardlow to a cross like Jesus.

MJF is paying Wardlow to stay home, which essentially means Wardlow is playing the role of Mustafa Ali. MJF also dismissed rumors of The Pinnacle splitting up, however I doubt FTR will be a part of this stable amid a babyface turn. Perhaps the Gunn Club takes their spot.

Adam Cole def. Jay Lethal

This match opened with chants of “Lethal,” not “Adam Cole.”

Adam Cole and Jay Lethal wrestled a very good match, and AEW really needs to consider doing something with Jay Lethal beyond putting him him on TV once a month and/or hiding him in ROH.

Christian Cage and Jurassic Express saved Hangman Adam Page from a beatdown. Conspicuous by their absence was the Dark Order.

Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti Appear Live

Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti both cut babyface promos, but there’s so much more potential in these two as a heel act.

Dan Lambert has hilariously christened himself the co-TNT champion. Then he dissed poor Tay Conti as “Lucha-whoreus.”

Guevara and Conti suggested performing lewd acts with the TNT Championship similar to former UFC champion Tim Sylvia.

Legit Leyla Hirsch def. Red Velvet

Both women are slowly improving each week and they actually did a good job getting this crowd into the match as it went on.

Hirsch stuffed a turnbuckle in her trunks, which she used as Bryce Remsburg, tossed her first turnbuckle. It’s a good heel spot in that the referee does not look completely clueless, and even seemed to question how Hirsch knocked out Velvet.

The Jericho Appreciation Society def. The Dark Order

Surprisingly, Chris Jericho continues to use his “Judas” theme, though “Daddy Magic” teased that there would be no more “Judas.”

Jericho wisely faked like he was thrown into the steps, which got the Dark Order thrown out. More effective heel cheating that didn’t make the referee look foolish.

After this match, I was even more convinced that, one day, John Silver needs an underdog run as TNT champion.