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From Jon Moxley and Jake Hager's No Holds Barred main event to Chris Jericho's entertaining shenanigans on commentary for the second consecutive time, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured some contrasting moments.
This is a very sad day for Professional Wrestling indeed. Several men and women have been tasked with the job of entertaining wrestling fans even during a global pandemic, and a few of them lost their livelihood this week.
The usual excitement was missing from last night's episode of Dynamite. Whether that seemed to be the case because of WWE's announcements or the actual content itself is something that I'll leave up to the readers to decide.
What were your thoughts on this episode? 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 (April 15, 2020).
#5: Kip Sabian defeated Chuck Taylor with some unconventional help
Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone's on-air chemistry was at its peak during this bout.
AEW's Tag Team Division has been put on hold because of Hangman Page's absence, which is an unfortunate situation. The Tag Team Division is one of the company's biggest strengths, and with that out of the way, several tag team stars have been relegated to meandering singles matches.
Although Chuckie T and Kip Sabian's bout was made entertaining by the commentary team as well as Orange Cassidy and Penelope Ford's interruptions, Jimmy Havoc's allegiance towards Sabian & Ford felt a little forced.
Best Friends are at their "best" when together, as evident by their ridiculously entertaining bout against Kenny Omega & Michael Nakazawa last week.
But if there is one takeaway from Chuckie T versus Kip Sabian, it has to be the fact that Jimmy Havoc and Orange Cassidy will clash in what should be an unorthodox bout next week.
#4: Lance Archer cruised past Colt Cabana and moved to the Semi-Finals round of the TNT Championship Tournament
Colt Cabana suffered his first AEW loss at the hands of The Murder Hawk Monster, Lance Archer.
Heading into the bout itself, we all knew that Archer was the odds-on favorite here. Cabana really stuck out as someone different and quite unorthodox upon his arrival in AEW.
Colt's in-ring tomfoolery combined with his wrestling ability couldn't take Archer off his own game last night. To some extent, Cabana proved that he can hang with big guys like Archer inside the ring.
The Murder Hawk Monster didn't squash Colt Cabana by any means, and if you saw the post-match interview with Cabana, the man wanted to push himself even more than ever before by challenging big wrestlers like Brodie Lee and Jake Hager.
Jake Roberts' pupil has moved on to the Semi-Finals round of the TNT Championship Tournament.
Dustin Rhodes will battle Kip Sabian next week, and the winner will eventually face Archer before the Finals round. At this stage, it looks like Lance Archer is very likely to become the first TNT Champion on Dynamite.
#3: Sammy Guevara picked up an essential victory before his TNT Title Tournament match against Darby Allin
Sammy Guevara is often seen as one of the lowest-ranking members of The Inner Circle.
But that doesn't put him against a huge disadvantage because Sammy Guevera is one of AEW's youngest prospects with a long road ahead of him.
Still, The Spanish God often eats the pinfall on behalf of his Inner Circle teammates. So the situation had to change when Guevara faced Sugar Dunkerton on this week's show. This bout was a filler stop for The Spanish God before his eventual encounter against Darby Allin as part of the TNT Championship Tournament.
Guevara defeated Dunkerton and picked up an essential victory last night. Even though Guevara is unlikely to win the TNT Title when compared to stars like Lance Archer or Cody Rhodes, his battle against Darby Allin should be an entertaining one.
Both men previously encountered each other at AEW Revolution and made the best out of the time limit they were provided with.
After the match last night, Allin tried to get his hands on Guevara when the latter proceeded to assault "Suge D", thus setting up their upcoming encounter on AEW Dynamite.
#2: Dr. Britt Baker and Shawn Spears redeemed themselves this week
Last week, Shawn Spears and Britt Baker lost against their respective opponents, however, both of them earned a spotlight for themselves despite the circumstances.
This week, Baker and Spears were featured in short matches against relatively unknown competitors.
Baker picked up a victory against Cassandra Golden last night. The bout itself wasn't memorable, but it re-established Baker as one of the top female characters on AEW right now.
Dr. Britt Baker's "role model" schtick has earned her a lot of TV time as compared to several other female stars on the roster. Baker has improved since her initial promos, and despite losing to Hikaru Shida last week, Baker's persona has made her a real star over the course of the recent few episodes.
Similarly, Shawn Spears picked up a victory against Justin Law this week. After losing to Cody during their TNT Championship Tournament encounter in the previous episode, this was an essential victory for Spears.
Despite being under Tully Blanchard's tutelage, Spears is yet to cross the barrier to become one of AEW's elite names.
#1: Jon Moxley defeated Jake Hager in a grueling Empty Arena No Holds Barred title defense
The main event of the night saw Jon Moxley successfully defending his AEW World title against Inner Circle's Jake Hager.
This was a grueling battle that tested the endurance of both performers involved. The bout started off in technical fashion, and gradually evolved into a Pro-Wrestling style as the match proceeded.
AEW hyped this bout to a good extent with predictions and thoughts from combat sports as well as AEW names playing throughout the episode. But the match would have benefited a lot from a live audience. This can be said for every empty arena Pro-Wrestling match out there, but at some point, Moxley and Hager's battle felt dragged past its limit.
Jim Ross tried his best to fill the silence with some good commentary, but under these circumstances, a one-man commentary booth leaves a lot to be desired. Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone were doing a great job as it is.
We also knew that Moxley would be retaining since this is his first major feud after winning the AEW World Title. Still, Moxley and Hager did a decent job last night, especially when you consider how a match like Edge versus Randy Orton felt somewhat diminished in terms of charisma during these times.
