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From Hangman Page teaming up with the Dark Order to up-and-coming tag teams being highlighted on the show, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
The last two weeks had been a newsworthy ride for AEW as a lot of major plot developments occurred during that period. This week's episode didn't exactly capture the aura of a big show, but it was still a good experience in terms of wrestling.
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 (December 16, 2020).
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#5: Hangman Page reluctantly teamed-up with Dark Order's Alex Reynolds and John Silver on AEW Dynamite; Matt Hardy's heel attitude added more conflict between himself and Private Party
On one hand, the Dark Order's silly shenanigans have been a treat to watch on Being the Elite. But the transition from the faction's buffoonery on Being the Elite to AEW Dynamite has been a topsy-turvy ride, to say the least.
Hangman Page's reputation as a lone cowboy made him reluctant to accept the offer to join the Dark Order. Page had no other choice but to team up with Alex Reynolds and John Silver this week, as the Dark Order are the only ones willing to associate themselves with Hangman Page nowadays.
While the aforementioned team did work well together against Matt Hardy and Private Party to kick-off AEW Dynamite, Hardy continued to portray a selfish veteran's role.
Towards the end of the match, he tagged himself in after Private Party had basically put down Alex Reynolds for good. Hardy then proceeded to pin Reynolds for the win, thereby taking all the credit for leading his team towards a victory.
While Matt Hardy and Private Party's partnership may break down somewhere down the road, Hangman Page's storyline with the Dark Order has been booked long enough for there to be some kind of satisfying payoff in the near future.
#4: Eddie Kingston and his AEW family retreated thanks to the combustible threat of PAC and his allies, along with Lance Archer
Eddie Kingston has made a lot of enemies in AEW and outside the pro wrestling world. While Kingston's beef with God won't play out on AEW Dynamite anytime soon, his enemies within Tony Khan's promotion have a score to settle with Kingston.
Kingston claimed that PAC's career was over during this week's show, and he also took a shot at Lance Archer. This didn't sit well with The Murder Hawk Monster, who crashed Kingston's promo and lashed out at him immediately.
The Butcher and Blade arrived to save Eddie Kingston, but they were soon overwhelmed when PAC and The Lucha Bros. entered the scene.
There was a conflict established between Lance Archer and PAC, as both of them wanted first dibs on the subject of brutalizing Kingston. Archer and PAC's argument gave Kingston enough time to escape with his allies.
PAC and Archer may have to form temporary alliances in order to take care of business against Eddie Kingston and his family. But the potential discord between Archer and PAC is something that Kingston could use to his advantage on AEW Dynamite.
#3: The Acclaimed's Max Caster got involved in a rap battle against SCU's Frankie Kazarian; Top Flight challenged Chris Jericho and MJF for next week's AEW Dynamite
Up-and-coming AEW tag teams like Top Flight and The Acclaimed were showcased in a pretty formidable way on this week's AEW Dynamite.
Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) was involved in a huge 12-man tag team match during the show. They teamed up with Varsity Blondes and Best Friends to take on The Inner Circle. Although Inner Circle prevailed as the winners from this bout, Darius and Dante Martin came across as an impressive team through their performances.
Top Flight issued a challenge to Inner Circle's Chris Jericho and MJF for next week's AEW Dynamite.
The Acclaimed (Max Caster and Anthony Bowens) faced Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian of SCU in a tag team match during this episode.
Kazarian and Caster engaged in a rap battle before their match, and let's just say that the SCU veteran outshined Caster despite not being a great rapper in the first place. The Acclaimed would have the last laugh, as they defeated SCU via shenanigans. Caster also took a shot at The Young Bucks after the match was over.
The Acclaimed will get a shot at the AEW Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks next week. While it's unlikely that The Bucks will be dethroned as the champions on the next episode, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens put on an entertaining act that will certainly guarantee them the titles somewhere down the road.
#2: Kenny Omega and Don Callis provided live commentary to add a unique flair to Omega's main event match against Joey Janela on AEW Dynamite
Kenny Omega's run as the AEW World Champion led to him wrestling Joey Janela in a No Disqualification Match in the main event this week.
However, the No DQ stipulation isn't what made Janela and Omega's match unique on AEW Dynamite. Instead, Don Callis grabbed the microphone and provided live commentary for the main event. Kenny Omega also proceeded to do the same at several instances while wrestling his opponent at the same time.
Tony Schiavone refused to give up his seat at the commentary table for Callis, which was an entertaining moment as well.
After Kenny Omega defeated Joey Janela with the One-Winged Angel, the AEW World Champion received his next challenge right away.
PAC came out with The Lucha Bros. and stated that Rey Fenix was forcibly removed from the tournament that led Kenny Omega to face Jon Moxley for the World Title in the recent past.
Even though Omega wanted things to happen on his own terms, Tony Khan had already made the match official. Rey Fenix will be facing Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship two weeks from now on, the last AEW Dynamite episode of 2020.
#1: Cody faced Angelico right after a pre-taped segment which revealed that Brandi Rhodes is pregnant; Sting kept teasing the mystery behind his intentions on AEW Dynamite
Cody and Brandi Rhodes will welcome their first child in 2021. This week's AEW Dynamite saw Cody Rhodes taking on TH2's Angelico.
The question of whether or not Cody would remain focused as a competitor with Brandi's pregnancy at hand was brought up on commentary. Still, The American Nightmare was able to defeat his opponent on AEW Dynamite.
Team Taz showed up after the bout and mocked Cody and Brandi's announcement. This went on until Sting himself came out to silence Team Taz. It was interesting to see that Powerhouse Hobbs wanted a piece of The Icon, but other members of Taz's faction held him back.
The Icon surveyed the scene and looked right at Cody and Darby Allin before heading backstage.
AEW Dynamite could have featured Sting in a bigger way. It makes sense to prolong the mystery behind what to expect from The Vigilante, but Sting's segment from last night's Dynamite felt like a shorter summary of what he has already done in the past few weeks.
