'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
From the aftermath of Bullet Club's reunion to the debut episode of The Waiting Room on TNT, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
Night Two of AEW's New Year's Smash was a good follow-up to the previous week's special episode. A few storylines progressed further in interesting ways, and the women's division of AEW got its own special spotlight this week.
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 13, 2021).
#5: Chuck Taylor became Miro's butler on AEW Dynamite
Miro recently put Trent of AEW's Best Friends on the shelf for a few months with a torn pectoral muscle. Trent's tag team partner, Chuck Taylor, stepped up to Miro in a singles match this week.
The bout's stipulation stated that if Chuck were to lose, he would have to become Miro's butler on AEW Dynamite. The butler position was referred to as "young boy" last week, which basically refers to young pro wrestlers in Japan who are still in the training stages of their career. They usually assist veteran pro wrestlers, and most of them are outmatched inside the ring until they graduate to the next level.
Chuck Taylor is certainly not a young man, and he already has more than a decade's worth of experience inside the squared circle. However, Miro managed to tap him out inside the ring, which meant that Taylor will now have to assume a butler's role to Miro - The Best Man - on the road to Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford’s wedding at AEW Beach Break.
Miro certainly looked like a beast on AEW Dynamite. Still, there might be a lot of silliness and shenanigans involved when The Best Man decides to unleash a set of humiliations on Chuck Taylor over the next few episodes.
#4: The Inner Circle's new year's resolutions resulted in an argument about the faction's official tag team in AEW
Wardlow and Jake Hager may have temporarily resolved their conflict on last week's AEW Dynamite, but there was still a lot of work to be done to get each and every member of The Inner Circle on the same page.
Chris Jericho and his faction buddies came out for a segment on this week's AEW Dynamite, where all members were supposed to state their new year's resolutions for 2021.
Jake Hager boldly implied that he would pursue more championships. MJF wanted to strengthen the friendships he had formed with members of The Inner Circle, while Ortiz wanted nothing but to perfect his grandmother's sofrito recipe.
However, the real conflict appeared when Chris Jericho said that he would be pursuing the AEW tag team titles with MJF.
Santana and Ortiz were the established tag team from The Inner Circle. And Santana wasn't too happy that Jericho and MJF were now taking the tag team spotlight within the faction. Sammy Guevara lashed out at Jericho as well.
As a result, a huge triple threat tag team match was announced for next week's AEW Dynamite - Jake Hager and Sammy Guevara vs. Santana and Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho and MJF. The winning team will be regarded as The Inner Circle's official tag team.
There is a chance that being replaced as Inner Circle's official tag team won't sit well with Santana and Ortiz if they fail to win next week. It could potentially lead to another huge conflict within The Inner Circle on AEW Dynamite.
#3: The Waiting Room segment with Cody Rhodes led to a huge brawl on AEW Dynamite
The Waiting Room, hosted by Dr. Britt Baker with Rebel, debuted on this week's AEW Dynamite. There was a certain degree of farce involved throughout this segment, as Cody Rhodes appeared as the special guest this week.
Jade Cargill interrupted the proceedings, and this wasn't the first time she had confronted Cody Rhodes on AEW Dynamite. Cargill was tired of waiting for her opponent, and shots against Brandi Rhodes were also fired during this segment.
Red Velvet appeared to confront Jade Cargill, and a huge brawl broke out on the set while other AEW stars tried to separate Velvet and Cargill.
Dr. Britt Baker seemed to be enjoying the chaos, but she would receive some bad news of her own in the form of Thunder Rosa. Rosa appeared on the big screen and delivered a warning to Baker. Both of them will face each other in singles action at AEW Beach Break, and AEW's resident dentist didn't look too happy about it.
The Waiting Room segment felt like something different from AEW's usual programming, and it could become a staple concept on Dynamite over time.
Tay Conti also faced Serena Deeb in an impressive clash this week. Even though the women's division of AEW still has a long way to go, the division's current state is somewhat better compared to the previous year.
#2: The Bullet Club reunion remains complicated, as The Young Bucks were snubbed from the group on this episode of AEW Dynamite
Many people thought that the "Too Sweet" moment with Kenny Omega, The Good Brothers, and The Young Bucks from last week's AEW Dynamite meant that everyone was on the same page again. But a conflict was introduced between the group this week.
The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) were set to wrestle in a pretty straightforward six-man tag team match last night. The Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison) teamed up with Danny Limelight as the lesser-known, up-and-coming unit against The Elite on AEW Dynamite.
However, Don Callis pulled off a pretty slick move at the last minute. He encouraged The Young Bucks and Omega to make separate entrances. After the AEW World Champion entered first, Callis immediately announced that Omega would be teaming up with The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) instead. The "Elite" went on to win the match, as expected.
Jon Moxley came out to confront the trio, and a brawl broke out immediately. Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero aided Moxley in the post-match brawl. The Young Bucks tried to diffuse this situation despite being snubbed by Omega earlier. However, The Bucks were super kicked by Fenix and Penta in the end.
Matt and Nick Jackson's priorities remain somewhat unclear as a result of what went down during this week's AEW Dynamite. It is possible that this storyline could lead to a cross-promotional tag team match between IMPACT Wrestling's Good Brothers and The Young Bucks.
#1: Brian Cage and Darby Allin's AEW TNT title match turned into a brutal fight; Sting got physically involved for the first time on AEW Dynamite
The main events of both AEW New Year's Smash episodes delivered massively. While Rey Fenix and Kenny Omega put on an exhilarating main event last week, Brian Cage and Darby Allin's match entered into a vicious territory on this week's AEW Dynamite.
Darby Allin was physically outmatched against a specimen like Brian Cage. Cage threw the TNT Champion around like a rag doll in some of the most unbelievable ways possible.
Allin was able to gain some momentum through a few creative tricks. However, this particular match reminded everyone how efficiently Brian Cage could portray the role of an absolute beast in the world of pro wrestling.
When Ricky Starks got involved in some shenanigans near ringside, the lights went out, and Sting appeared to attack him with the baseball bat. Darby Allin then hit a Crucifix Bomb from the top rope onto his opponent to successfully pin Cage for the victory.
Sting's involvement in the TNT title scene indicates that The Icon will probably team up with Darby Allin somewhere down the road, on AEW Dynamite. In this potential case, it seems like Team Taz may end up being the perfect tag team opponents for Sting and Darby Allin.
In the video linked above, do check out Eric Bischoff's thoughts on AEW in an exclusive interview with SK Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta.
