Winners, News And Notes On January 4, 2023

AEW Dynamite advertised Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks, an update on Hangman Adam Page and The Acclaimed defending the AEW World Tag Team Championships against Jeff Jarrett. The Acclaimed-Jarrett situation veered into “worked-shoot” territory, where most AEW feuds go to die, as Jarrett was none-too-pleased about Caster’s remarks about “stealing Kurt Angle’s wife” during the most recent Acclaimed diss track.

AEW Dynamite also saw Saraya name her mystery tag team partner ahead of next week. That woman will be Toni Storm—for now. During a backstage segment, Saraya announced Storm as her mystery tag team partner while giving the cold shoulder to Hikaru Shida.

The main event featured hometown hero Darby Allin (one of many alongside Swerve Strickland, Bryan Danielson and Aubrey Edwards) challenging Samoa Joe for the AEW TNT Championship. Allin prevailed as he captured his second TNT Championship after two Coffin Drops.

Last week’s broadcast of AEW Dynamite garnered 876,000 viewers.

AEW Dynamite Results | January 4, 2023

• Ricky Starks def. Chris Jericho
• The Acclaimed def. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal | AEW World Tag Titles
• Bryan Danielson def. Tony Nese
• Swerve Strickland def. A.R. Fox
• Jade Cargill and Red Velvet def. Kiera Hogan and Skye Blue
• Darby Allin def. Samoa Joe | TNT Championship

AEW Dynamite Ratings

• December 28, 2022 | 876,000
• December 21, 2022 | 957,000
• December 14, 2022 | 950,000
• December 7, 2022 | 840,000
• November 30, 2022 | 870,000

• AEW Dynamite Venue: Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, Wash.)
• AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash Tickets Distributed: 8,822
• AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash Tickets Available: 2,434

AEW Dynamite Winners And Highlights

Chris Jericho def. Ricky Starks

AEW’s new set still had elements of the old set (with screens instead of tunnels) but also reminded me of 2010s Raw.

This match started off with loud “Aubrey” chants for the Seattle native. There may be more hometown heroes from Seattle than from any other city in AEW. Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland are also from Seattle.

AEW had some great crowd shots of a good-sized crowd that was just under 10,000.

Not only did Ricky Starks beat Chris Jericho, he fought off multiple false finishes from outside interference to beat Jericho clean. Chris Jericho is doing God’s work for the next generation in AEW.

Starks was brutally laid out immediately after beating Chris Jericho, which took the shine off his big win. It’s surprising mostly because Jericho allowed the unknown Action Andretti to beat him clean and bask in it.

Hangman Adam Page Faces Off With Jon Moxley

Hangman Adam Page said his doctor told him that if he keeps coming out to fight Jon Moxley, it’ll set him back one more week each time. Hangman’s Page’s doctor sounds more like an over-controlling parent.

Fans started chanting “we can’t hear you,” even though the mic came through on TV. So much for that new production. After another snafu, Moxley dropped two F-bombs.

This segment did a good job of capturing the tension of two men who wanted to destroy one another, but knew they couldn’t.

The Acclaimed def. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal

After Max Caster stirred up controversy with his diss track against Jeff Jarrett, Caster doubled down by saying Jarrett’s wife is being dragged “worse than Skip Bayless.”

Taz made multiple references to Caster “crossing the line” and legitimately pissing off Jeff Jarrett. AEW going over-the-top with how this is a shoot made me more confident that it wouldn’t turn into one like so many AEW feuds have.

The Acclaimed wasted no time doing Kurt Angle’s moves on Jarrett and Lethal.

Satnam Singh was ejected, and it took several extra referees just to tell him to leave. It’s not like they physically had to impose themselves at all, one referee could have done that job.

Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal appeared to win, after Sanjay Dutt removed Anthony Bowens’ leg from the bottom rope. All the air was let out of the Climate Pledge Arena, and hometown hero Aubrey Edwards stepped in to restart the match.

Bryan Danielson def. Tony Nese

Bryan Danielson surpassed fellow hometown hero Aubrey Edwards when it came to the reaction from this crowd. Nobody is going to surpass that reaction.

As expected, this was nothing more than a showcase match for Bryan Danielson, who felt more like Daniel Bryan with all the “yes” chants in the crowd.

MJF came out and this partisan crowd booed him like an actual heel.

Bryan Danielson asked who has been MJF’s mom’s human suitor, and the entire Climate Pledge Arena lost its mind.

In his latest hoop-jumping proposition, MJF said Bryan Danielson has to win every week until February 8. Danielson responded by saying “no.” Then he agreed to the stipulation as long as he got to make a stipulation for their match. Needless to say, this segment went way too long. Fittingly enough, Bryan Danielson chose an hour-long Iron Man Match.

Swerve Strickland def. A.R. Fox

Swerve Strickland hometown reaction ranked third behind Aubrey Edwards and Bryan Danielson. Darby Allin is on deck.

Excalibur noted Swerve Strickland and A.R. Fox had a rivalry in Lucha Underground.

Parker Boudreaux was mentioned by name, but the other guy was referred to as “the painted man.”

Swerve Strickland hit A.R. Fox with a brutal Death Valley Driver on the apron before finishing him off with a double stomp.

During a backstage segment, Saraya selected Toni Storm as her partner, all while dissing Hikaru Shida.

The Gunn Club Hold an FTR Funeral

The Gunn Club coined the term FTRIP. It’s a fitting term considering how FTR lost all their titles over the past month.

The Gunn Club effortlessly shook off “what” chants and even made a reference to Dax Harwood’s podcast “that nobody listens to.”

The Ass Boys borrowed from Shawn Michaels’ famous promo in Montreal when he swerved the crowd into thinking Bret Hart was going to walk out.

Jade Cargill and Red Velvet def. Kiera Hogan and Skye Blue

Red Velvet walked out on Jade Cargill and Cargill immediately won, pinning Kiera Hogan.

Red Velvet will be a formidable next opponent for Jade Cargill, but Willow Nightingale is the one woman who should end the streak.

Darby Allin def. Samoa Joe

Darby Allin was No. 3 in the Hometown Hero power rankings.

AEW showed 17-year-old Nick Wayne in the crowd, who has a futures contract with AEW. Samoa Joe pounced on Wayne the first second he got the chance.

Darby Allin did a Swanton Bomb off the ladder onto the ramp and it was actually one of the tamer bumps he’s ever taken. Think about that for a second.

It was great to see Darby have his moment after two Coffin Drops, but given how great Samoa Joe has been as TNT champion, AEW could have built this feud up a bit more.