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From Brodie Lee Jr's birthday celebration to backstage politics within The Elite, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
After two weeks of New Year's Smash episodes, last night's Dynamite was somewhat inconsistent throughout its two-hour runtime. There were several noteworthy outcomes, but the show was riddled with botches and mistakes to some extent.
How did NXT fare against AEW in terms of quality this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of AEW Dynamite (January 20, 2021).
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#5: Leyla Hirsch impressed viewers in a singles match against Penelope Ford; Miro embarrassed Chuck Taylor on AEW Dynamite
The AEW Women's Division is gradually developing into an integral and interesting part of Dynamite. The women of AEW still have a long way to go, but a couple of good matches in recent memory have showcased the impressive potential of female stars in Tony Khan's promotion.
On this week's AEW Dynamite, Leyla Hirsch stepped into the ring against Penelope Ford. The match did feature a couple of awkward sequences on Ford's part, but Hirsch looked quite impressive in this instance.
Chuck Taylor accompanied Miro and Kip Sabian to ringside as Miro's butler, according to the stipulation from the previous week's episode. Hirsch wiped out Kip and Chuck with a top rope dive at one point, even though Kip later influenced the result of the match.
Hirsch may have lost against Ford this week, but she ended up showcasing her excellent in-ring potential on AEW Dynamite.
Since Hirsch was wronged by Ford and her crew last night, it would be interesting if she were to interfere in Ford and Sabian's wedding at AEW Beach Break next month.
As for Chuck Taylor, he was forced to acknowledge Miro as his new best friend in front of Orange Cassidy. Cassidy walked away from the scene when Chuck was being intentionally embarrassed by The Best Man.
Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford's wedding will most likely feature some shenanigans so that Best Friends can eventually retaliate against the heel stars (Kip Sabian, Penelope Ford, and Miro) on AEW Dynamite.
#4: Brodie Lee Jr's birthday party was interrupted by Chaos Project; Hangman Page is still on the fence about joining AEW's Dark Order
One has to appreciate AEW's willingness to do as much as possible to make pro wrestling a happy place for Brodie Lee Jr. Negative One of the Dark Order celebrated his birthday with the faction to kick-off this week's AEW Dynamite.
The celebration was soon interrupted by Luther and Serpentico (Chaos Project). Luther cut a classic heel promo to spoil Negative One's birthday plans, and it all led to a brawl as Angelico, and Jack Evans (TH2) also joined Chaos Project in an eight-man tag team match against the Dark Order.
Hangman Page tagged alongside Dark Order in the bout, and his potential inclusion in the faction was the other major plot point apart from Brodie Jr's birthday party. Luther's face was slammed into the birthday cake at one point. Page's chemistry was excellent with the Dark Order, as they were able to defeat the antagonists on AEW Dynamite.
Brodie Jr got his own spotlight when he attacked Serpentico with a kendo stick and revealed that his birthday was actually three days ago.
The main conflict occurred when Hangman Page revealed that although he has had a lot of fun with the Dark Order, he cannot join another faction since it didn't end too well for him with The Elite.
Hangman Page's segments with the Dark Order are quite entertaining. Unlike The Elite, there is a sense of belonging for misfits within the Dark Order. Hangman Page is a certain kind of misfit himself, so the Dark Order seems like the perfect stable for him to join down the road.
#3: The Young Bucks confronted Don Callis as The Invisible Hand made a big accusation against the AEW World Tag Team Champions
In a video clip that was aired on this week's AEW Dynamite, The Young Bucks were set to meet Kenny Omega at Omega's house. However, the AEW World Tag Team Champions were soon confronted by Don Callis and his egoistic display of influence.
The little things from this segment, such as Michael Nakazawa and Alex Marvez's roles, along with the big oil painting featuring Callis and Omega, added a lot of layers to The Elite's storyline. These small elements showcased Don Callis as a master manipulator, who even tried to buy out The Young Bucks and Omega's friendship.
Matt and Nick Jackson kept arguing with The Invisible Hand towards the end of the video clip. Later in the night, the camera panned to the backstage area, and it looked like Callis had a black eye. Callis blurted out in front of Omega that The Young Bucks were responsible for his bruises.
It seems like Callis is the one playing everyone here, even Omega. The Young Bucks and Omega may have been pitted against each other because of The Invisible Hand's manipulative agenda.
There are also a lot of other variables involved in this storyline, including Jon Moxley and IMPACT Wrestling's Good Brothers. Moxley made his in-ring comeback this week and sent a clear warning to Omega and his allies on AEW Dynamite.
Omega and the Good Brothers also jumped Penta El Zero M in a backstage brawl later in the episode.
Next week's AEW Dynamite should be an interesting episode as The Young Bucks are set to team up with the Good Brothers against Dark Order.
#2: Sting's first AEW match was discussed along with Darby Allin and Team Taz
For weeks now, Sting's AEW appearances have revolved around Team Taz and Darby Allin's rivalry. The Icon has repeatedly prevented Team Taz from ambushing the AEW TNT Champion, but it was this week where Taz and his crew decided to do something about Sting's involvement.
Sting congratulated Darby Allin for retaining his TNT Title and even acknowledged the comparisons between himself and Allin. Team Taz interrupted this segment and challenged both of them to take it to the streets.
Sting gave Allin a piece of advice, and the TNT Champion responded to the heels by implying that Taz's challenge could be a likely possibility on AEW Dynamite.
The exact stipulation of a match pitting Sting and Darby Allin against Team Taz wasn't made clear, but the repeated use of the word 'street' probably means that Sting's first AEW match will take place in a No Disqualification setting.
This would allow The Vigilante to rely on weapons and other competitors at the age of 61.
#1: In an entertaining main event, Chris Jericho and MJF became the tag team that will represent The Inner Circle on AEW Dynamite
The inner conflict between The Inner Circle led to a triple threat tag team main event on this week's AEW Dynamite. MJF and Chris Jericho faced the team of Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager and the established duo of Santana and Ortiz to determine the official tag team of The Inner Circle.
Guevara and Hager received major support from the fans when both of them took part in impressive in-ring sequences to light the crowd on fire, figuratively speaking.
The team that received the least support was that of Jericho and MJF, as they resorted to shenanigans that made them the biggest heels in a match where there were no babyfaces involved.
Guevara was going to win the match for his team, but Wardlow got involved towards the end, which allowed MJF to successfully roll-up The Spanish God for the victory. MJF and Jericho will now represent The Inner Circle as the faction's official tag team in AEW.
Jericho seemed a step behind inside the ring compared to his peers, but it was still a very entertaining main event as a whole.
MJF showcased his duality by initially trying to bring the faction on the same page earlier in the episode, only to cheat and win towards the end of this week's AEW Dynamite. The conflict that exists within The Inner Circle is far from over, especially when it comes to the equation between Guevara and MJF.
Moreover, Santana and Ortiz can't be too happy about being replaced from their positions as AEW's official tag team, which will probably be addressed over the next few episodes.
