WORCHESTER, MA – On the first night of Fight for the Fallen on AEW Dynamite, matches included Jon Moxley, Ricky Starks and Thunder Rosa defending their championships and Bryan Danielson’s first match since Double or Nothing in May.
Jon Moxley (C) vs. Rush – Interim AEW World Championship Match
Following his win at Ring of Honor: Death Before Dishonor on Saturday, Rush opened Dynamite by quickly taking control in his match with Moxley.
Battling in and out of the ring and a bite to Moxley’s forehead, Rush licked the blood and threw him into the barricade before taking a chair to Moxley. When Moxley starts fighting back, the two trade chops and German Suplexes until Moxley gets Rush in position for Wristlock Stomps, which seemed not to affect him.
When Andrade interferes with the match, the Lucha Bros. chase him away, allowing Moxley to roll up Rush for a near fall. Rush came at Moxley with a Straightjacket Piledriver and attempted a running dropkick. However, Moxley caught Rush with a Paradigm Shift before applying the Bulldog Choke for the submission win to retain his championship.
Ricky Starks (C) vs. Danhausen – FTW Championship Match
Danhausen goes for a curse, but Ricky interrupts him with a boot and his own curse. Danhausen responded with a Northern Lights Suplex. Starks went for a spear and hit the turnbuckle, then landed a Roshambo Spear on Danhausen for the win to retain his FTW Championship.
However, Ricky still had more to give the Worchester crowd as he issued an open challenge for the FTW Championship that Hook answered.
Ricky Starks (C) vs. Hook – FTW Championship Match
When Starks misses his punch, Hook capitalizes and lands body shots in the corner. In a back and forth match, Hook is met with a spear by Starks. To keep his momentum going, Starks attempts a Roshambo to retain his title, which Hook escapes from and locks in the Redrum. Starks taps to Hook, making him the new FTW Champion.
The title change is between Hook and Starks as the two fist bump. However, Ricky stays in the ring for an interview with Tony Schiavone, talking about everything he did to elevate the FTW Championship and how it is time for him and Hobbs to get what they deserve. Hobbs interrupts this with an attack from behind and a spinebuster, leaving the future for the third-ranked AEW tag-team different than Starks and AEW fans imagined.
Sammy Guevara vs. Dante Martin
This match was exactly what fans expected from a Guevara and Martin match with Tay Conti and Skye Blue at ringside. Guevara lands an arm drag, taunting Martin. Dante repeatedly leapfrogs Guevara and returns his taunts. When Martin went for a springboard to ringside, Guevara caught him in a rising knee strike. Guevara went for a Suplex off the ropes, but Martin landed on his feet. With the help of a distraction by Conti, Guevara lands a cutter and GTH before pinning Martin for the win.
Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese and “Smart” Mark Sterling
In a two-on-one handicap match, Tony Nese teamed with his attorney “Smart” Mark Sterling to take on Strickland with Keith Lee barred from ringside.
Swerve double stomped Nese on the floor and went back to the ring. After Sterling spent the entire match trying to avoid Strickland, he was hit with a pump kick and pinned by Strickland for the win.
Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita – AEW Women’s World Championship Match
After her victory over Thunder a month ago, Yamashita is now going for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Yamashita quickly goes for a pin, but Thunder kicks out. Thunder hits a shotgun dropkick before a barrage of chops to Yamashita. Landing a Northern Lights Suplex, Thunder pins Yamashita for a two count. Yamashita hit a Skull Kick, which led to a series of roll-ups between her and Thunder before Yamashita stopped it with a spinning kick. Thunder lands the Fire Thunder Driver for the win to retain her championship.
Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia
Danielson went right for Garcia in his first match back from injury with a tope suicida. Garcia landed solid uppercuts and a neckbreaker to control the match. Garcia took advantage of Danielson’s injury history with a DDT outside the ring onto exposed concrete. Garcia maintained control in the ring with stomps and boots to Danielson’s head until Danielson fought back with kicks of his own. When Garcia locked in a chokehold, Danielson broke it with a roll-through.
Before Danielson could get Garcia in the Labelle Lock, Garcia rolled out of the ring. When Danielson went to throw and follow Garcia back into the ring, Jake Hager grabbed his leg. Hager gave Garcia just enough time to land a piledriver and put Danielson in a modified Sharpshooter. Garcia won the match as Danielson passed out.
Fight for the Fallen continues Friday on AEW Rampage with matches like Ruby Soho vs. Anna Jay, and Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, and Sojay Dutt vs. Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends at 10 pm EST on TNT.
