From Fenix and Penta El Zero's main event clash to an NBA Legend being teased as Cody's new opponent, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
The Dynamite episode after Full Gear was a good show that consisted of some huge plot teases for the future. Aside from a couple of audio issues, there wasn't a lot to complain about when this episode's actual content is taken under consideration.
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 (November 11, 2020).
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#5: The Butcher and The Blade faced Natural Nightmares in a blood-fuelled Bunkhouse Match on AEW Dynamite
Although not as iconic as other brutal AEW matches in recent memory, the Bunkhouse match between Natural Nightmares and The Butcher and The Blade was still a very engaging fight that featured some entertaining spots.
A major plot point here was The Bunny's betrayal towards QT Marshall and the Nightmare Family, as she recently joined forces with Butcher and The Blade once again.
Towards the end, a Diamond Cutter from Marshall helped him and Dustin Rhodes to win the first-ever Bunkhouse Match on AEW Dynamite. Bunny was also sent through the table at one point in this fight.
The Natural Nightmares should really look forward to chasing the AEW World Tag Team Titles at this point. The new champions, The Young Bucks, gave an up-and-coming team (Top Flight) a chance to step up against the top AEW team last night.
But it will probably end up being a tune-up match for Matt and Nick Jackson before their next major feud. If not a new feud, The Young Bucks could always continue their rivalry against the former champions, FTR.
#4: Team TAZ made it clear that they will be coming after Darby Allin's TNT Title on AEW Dynamite
Many weeks ago, Matt Sydal's introduction in AEW didn't exactly go down in the most optimal way possible. However, the commentary team did a good job of building up Sydal as an experienced competitor on AEW Dynamite.
Team Taz's Brian Cage faced Matt Sydal in a one-on-one match, and their clash wasn't a one-sided affair at all. Sydal put up a good fight against his bigger opponent, but Brian Cage picked up the victory, as expected.
Darby Allin was seated in the stands with his brand-new TNT Championship. Taz and Ricky Starks made it clear that their feud against Darby wasn't going to end anytime soon.
Starks even went ahead and said that the rankings wouldn't matter because Team Taz will run through anyone in order to get what they want.
This storyline didn't conclude immediately, as Darby Allin's rivalry against Team Taz played out in Cody's segment later in the night. Brian Cage/Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin is the perfect first feud for Darby as the TNT Champion because all participants involved already have pre-existing animosity against each other.
#3: Cody Rhodes to possibly face NBA Legend Shaquille O'Neal in AEW soon
After losing the TNT Championship to Darby Allin at AEW Full Gear, Cody Rhodes appeared on Dynamite to say that he won't be issuing a rematch against the current TNT Champion anytime soon. Instead, he wanted to go after MJF and renew the bad blood that existed between them in the past.
A mysterious woman interrupted Cody, who was revealed to be Jane Cargill. Although AEW features a more relaxed and improvised environment for promos, this particular back-and-forth between Cody and Cargill felt a bit confusing and scripted, even if that wasn't supposed to be the original intention.
Cargill talked about Cody and giants for a while, and in the end, she name-dropped Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) as someone who could step up against Cody soon. Brandi interrupted Cargill at this point and cut a fierce promo on AEW Dynamite.
Team Taz took advantage of this distraction and jumped Cody Rhodes. But Darby Allin came to The American Nightmare's rescue, followed by Will Hobbs.
Shaq has been involved in the pro wrestling business before, especially at a big stage like WrestleMania. So a Cody vs. Shaq match isn't a far-fetched possibility. Meanwhile, Cody publicly said that he wants to face MJF next, but Team Taz hasn't let go of him yet. Cody Rhodes might be involved in multiple storylines at once, which sounds like an interesting proposition on paper as of now.
#2: MJF officially joined The Inner Circle on AEW Dynamite while also creating conflict between other members of Chris Jericho's faction
MJF might have struggled all these years with only a small loan of $1,000,000 from his father, but joining The Inner Circle in AEW will hopefully add a couple of additional zeros to his bank account.
MJF was great on the microphone this week, as he and Wardlow are now official members of The Inner Circle, as per the stipulation from AEW Full Gear.
It was clear that other members of The Inner Circle weren't as excited as Chris Jericho regarding MJF and Wardlow's inclusion into their faction. But MJF bought all of them a few tickets to Vegas, which diffused some tension for the time being.
However, Sammy Guevara was left out of this celebration after being told to arrive at a beach through MJF's email. MJF said there was another email that notified everyone (including Guevara) as far as the change of location is concerned, even if Guevara said he didn't get one.
Sammy Guevara eventually got a ticket to Vegas and was told to cheer up, even though he knew that something seemed suspicious with MJF's antics in the first place.
MJF's pursuits to overshadow Guevara as the youngest member of AEW's Inner Circle may lead to a babyface turn for the latter star, as hinted in another promo by Matt Hardy, who was sure that The Spanish God would become a huge star if he followed the right path.
#1: PAC returned to AEW after a solid main event between Penta El Zero and Fenix
In the luchador tradition, a mask is considered a sacred thing in their circles. But this tradition doesn't matter much in the United States, where The Lucha Brothers didn't hold back in terms of humiliating the other opponent via several unmasking attempts on AEW Dynamite.
Eddie Kingston encouraged this fight between one of the greatest tag teams in AEW. After some engaging back-and-forth action between Penta and Fenix, the former star emerged victorious in the end.
It became clear that Penta was Eddie's favorite all along, which truly revealed Kingston's "strong replaces the weak" mentality as far as families are concerned.
PAC had formed a faction with The Lucha Brothers just before the pandemic forced him to stay away from in-ring action. But he returned to AEW with a mission of earning back his rightful place from Eddie Kingston.
The officials prevented a brawl between PAC and Kingston from escalating any further. Still, the inner-conflict between The Lucha Brothers as well as Eddie Kingston's AEW family and PAC should be an interesting storyline to follow in the next few weeks.
Do check out the video linked above, in which WWE legend JBL talks about Chris Jericho in AEW, Roman Reigns' heel turn, Ronda Rousey's 'fake fights for fun' comments, and Otis, among various other topics.