AEW Dynamite Recap, Grades, and Opinion: January 13th, 2021

AEW Dynamite Results: January 13, 2021

A.K.A. The One Where It’s New Year’s Smash Night Two

Results:

• PAC def. Eddie Kingston
• Miro def. Chuck Taylor
• Good Brothers & Kenny Omega def. Danny Limelight & Varsity Blondes
• FTR def. Jungle Express
• Serena Deeb (c) def. Taynara Conti to retain the NWA Women’s Championship
• Darby Allin (c) def. Brian Cage to retain the AEW TNT Championship

The Main Event: All In on Allin

Dynamite’s main event pit their underdog TNT Champion Darby Allin against the man most commonly confused for an actual gorilla, Brian Cage. Cage was in control early, but Allin was able to fight back into it. Allin hit an excellent Coffin Drop onto Cage on the steel steps.

.@DarbyAllin is down but not out!
WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama. pic.twitter.com/Pltz43hQpv

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Cage was looking to get some assistance from Team Taz teammate Ricky Starks, but it was Sting who provided the equalizer. Sting took Starks out of the equation, helping his new protege retain the title by putting away Cage

.@Sting has come to the aid of @DarbyAllin!
WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama. pic.twitter.com/fOQdBGfOTd

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Now that Allin has survived Team Taz, who will be the next man up to challenge for his belt? Also, how far will his tutelage with Sting take him? I’m excited to see it, so long as Sting stays out of the ring. Let the man rest!

The Undercard:

Wednesday’s other title match had Serena Deeb retain against Taynara Conti. AEW’s crossover with NWA is one way to work more women’s content onto the card, but it continues to be the weakest part of Dynamite’s presentation. Give them more time to build character and feuds, and let them just work. Deeb and Conti did well in the time they had.

Transition to transition in this submission exchange between the @NWA Women's World Champion @SerenaDeeb and challenger @TayConti_.

WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama. pic.twitter.com/E4tdJIVhQq

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

The Impact crossover continued this week as the Good Brothers teamed with Kenny Omega in a pretty easy win. Afterwards, Jon Moxley attacked all three men as he continued to look for revenge against Omega for taking his championship. Omega & The Good Brothers will team this weekend at Impact’s Hard to Kill, and Omega will likely come back to AEW and have Moxley waiting for him once again.

1…3…5….10…@JonMoxley doesn't care who is in his way.
All he wants to do is fight.
WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama. pic.twitter.com/bCxscdikvO

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Next week the Inner Circle will have a tag team challenge after a team meeting this week. The “true” tag team of Inner Circle, Santana & Ortiz, will face Chris Jericho & MJF and Sammy Guevara & Jake Hager to determine who should be the official tag team of The Inner Circle. I’m hoping this is what drives Santana & Ortiz out of the Inner Circle and into a face run. They’re an excellent team who could thrive in a feud against their former stablemates.

NEXT WEEK for the fiirst time ever!
It's the Inner Circle Tag Team Challenge.@santana_proud & @ortiz_powerful vs. @sammyguevara & @realjakehager vs. @IAmJericho & @The_MJF.

WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama pic.twitter.com/4PT1N8ZcnX

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Miro now has Chuck Taylor as his “young boy” for a month. Now with Trent also out with injury, Orange Cassidy is all alone. Will the most relaxed wrestler of all time find a way to free his friend from Miro & Kip Sabian? Chuck, if you’re okay, give us a very weak thumbs up.

.@SexyChuckieT is now the butler for @ToBeMiro and with @trentylocks out with injury, there's absolutely nothing @orangecassidy can do about it.

WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama pic.twitter.com/hbwCLVGYs7

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Grade: B-

The main event this week was excellent, but the rest of the show felt alright overall. FTR put on a great tag clinic, but we’re used to that by now. Miro looked like a true beast in his match, and PAC & Eddie Kingston put on a good show to open the night. Maybe it’s that some of the storylines aren’t grabbing me the way they usually do, but AEW continued to progress their narratives as we start the new year. It wasn’t bad, but it isn’t going to be a legendary show.