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From Abadon and Hikaru Shida's strange clash to Fenix and Kenny Omega's hard-hitting main event, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
Night One of AEW's New Year's Smash special episode was an engaging show from start-to-finish. Last week's Brodie Lee tribute episode was followed by an incredibly newsworthy show this week, which catered to hardcore fans as well as casual audiences.
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 6, 2021).
#5: The Inner Circle's Wardlow and Jake Hager settled their frustrations against each other inside the ring on AEW Dynamite
It's a brand new year for everyone, and The Inner Circle kicked-off their 2021 by settling their inner-conflict inside an AEW ring.
Almost everyone was on the same page when it came to The Inner Circle, except the faction's two giant powerhouses - Wardlow and Jake Hager. Hager thought Wardlow's priorities with The Inner Circle weren't as strong as the rest of the faction's members.
Wardlow stepped into the ring against Hager to prove him wrong, and both men gave AEW fans an entertaining slugfest this week.
Towards the end, Wardlow capitalized on an opportunity that allowed him to hit Hager with the F-10. The relatively younger member of The Inner Circle (Wardlow) was able to defeat Jake Hager on AEW Dynamite.
Wardlow gave Hager a peace offering after their clash, and it probably looks like both men have settled their conflict for the time being.
Backstage, Jake Hager was still frustrated because of the loss against Wardlow. MJF approached an enraged Jake Hager, but he managed to form a bond with the big man after saying a few kind words to Hager.
MJF was expected to be a poison for the faction, but he has slowly reached out to Inner Circle members to establish his position in Chris Jericho's gang over time.
#4: The AEW TNT Championship weigh-in segment resulted in another appearance by Sting
The red-colored AEW TNT Championship belt was given to Brodie Lee Jr. in memory of his father on last week's episode. Darby Allin came out with the new TNT title design for a weigh-in segment between himself and Brian Cage.
Cage weighed in first at 275lbs, while Darby weighed in at 170lbs. Taz pointed out that the current TNT Champion was wearing extra clothes during the weigh-in. Darby Allin wanted to skip ahead to the part where Team Taz would attack him. However, the lights quickly went out, and Sting entered the scene to save Darby Allin.
One has to wonder if Sting will also be in Darby Allin's corner during the AEW TNT Championship match between Darby and Brian Cage next week.
Sting's appearances have played out in pretty much the same fashion since the Winter is Coming special episode last year. It makes sense to build up the intrigue with Sting's true motivations in AEW, especially when he is somewhat physically limited at this stage of his career.
However, booking his appearances in standard fashion week after week only sucks away The Vigilante's special status in AEW.
#3: Abadon channeled her inner-Bray Wyatt in a bizarre AEW Women's World Championship match against Hikaru Shida
The comparisons between Abadon and Bray Wyatt are inevitable, as the female AEW star executed Wyatt's popular spider walk to freak out Hikaru Shida on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite.
Many WWE and AEW fans have called Abadon the female Fiend to some extent, and Abadon fought Shida in a strange match last night. It wasn't one of Shida's traditional title matches, as Abadon's presence made sure that technical precision wouldn't be a huge factor in their match.
Abadon took a bite out of Hikaru Shida's neck in this fight, and the referee did not stop the match for some reason. Abadon kept coming back at the champ like a true zombie, but Shida was able to put down her opponent with the Tamashii No Three in the end.
Some aspects of the match didn't work so well, even though it was appreciable that AEW stepped out of their comfort zone to treat their fanbase with something different.
It will be interesting to see if AEW will continue this feud or if someone else will step up to Hikaru Shida over the next few episodes.
#2: Snoop Dogg hit a frog splash from the top rope on AEW Dynamite
It is always good exposure for AEW if they showcase a popular celebrity on Dynamite. Snoop Dogg is no stranger to the pro wrestling world, as he is a cousin of Sasha Banks, and Snoop has also made appearances for WWE in the past.
On AEW Dynamite, Snoop Dogg accompanied Cody Rhodes to the ring. Both stars appeared together to promote the extreme talent competition titled Go-Big Show, in which Cody and Snoop Dogg will also appear as celebrity judges. Snoop Dogg came to the ring alongside Cody with a remixed version of The American Nightmare's theme song.
Cody faced Matt Sydal in a great match on AEW Dynamite this week. It was a great showcase of pro wrestling and a good entry point for casual viewers who might have tuned in just to see Snoop Dogg.
During the match, Cody mistakenly punched Serpentico while brawling with Sydal near the barricade. After Cody defeated Sydal, Serpentico and Luther jumped the competitors inside the ring.
Even though Serpentico and Luther were taken care of inside the ring, Snoop Dogg wanted to be a part of the action on AEW Dynamite. He went to the top rope and executed a pretty awkward looking frog splash on Serpentico.
While Snoop Dogg's frog splash may need a lot of work, the whole segment was labeled as silly fun that led to a few hilarious reactions by the fans on social media after it was over.
#1: Rey Fenix and Kenny Omega faced each other in an exhilarating main event match; The Good Brothers invaded AEW Dynamite, which led to a Bullet Club reunion
Kenny Omega's run as the AEW World Champion resulted in an excellent main event this week, which is also being touted as an early AEW match of the year contender on social media. Rey Fenix and Kenny Omega gave it their all, but Omega successfully retained his title in the end.
Earlier in the night, Jon Moxley had returned to AEW Dynamite in the flesh. He wasn't done with Kenny Omega by any means, and this plot point factored into their storyline after the main event was over.
Don Callis took to the microphone to reveal that Fenix's allies, Penta El Zero M and PAC, were laid out backstage at the hands of Eddie Kingston and his family.
Jon Moxley arrived with a barbed-wire baseball bat to rescue Fenix from Omega's post-match beatdown. But the big surprise of the night occurred when IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champions, The Good Brothers, invaded AEW Dynamite. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows drove Moxley into the mat with The Magic Killer.
Nobody could stop the trio from wreaking havoc. The Young Bucks arrived to reason with Omega and The Good Brothers, but the AEW Tag Team Champions aligned with Omega, Gallows and Anderson, soon after.
A Bullet Club reunion closed out the show as all five men threw up the Too Sweet gesture. This was certainly a huge moment in the pro wrestling industry. The Young Bucks' arc as pseudo-heel wrestlers should play out in an interesting manner over the next few episodes.
The Bucks and Omega (The Elite) are set to wrestle an unannounced team of three men on the second night of AEW's New Year's Smash next week.
