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From Lance Archer appearing alongside Jake 'The Snake' Roberts during the beginning of the show to The Inner Circle's complete dominance over The Elite, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured some contrasting moments.
AEW has yet to recapture the intensity that could be felt when the weekly shows built towards its Revolution Pay-Per-View. For the most part, last night's episode focused on The Elite and The Inner Circle's renewed rivalry ahead of the Blood and Guts TV Special.
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 5 biggest news stories from this week's episode of AEW Dynamite (March 11, 2020).
#5: It was announced that The Exalted One would be revealed in next week's episode
A video package featuring Christopher Daniels aired during last night's show.
It was similarly produced to The Dark Order's video packages that have frequently aired in the past, perhaps as a form of mockery.
Chris Daniels pointed out as to whether or not The Exalted One really exists or not. It could just be a ploy to gather attention on Evil Uno and Stu Grayson's part, as far as SCU's Daniels is concerned.
Daniels challenged Evil Uno and Stu Grayson to in-ring matches at anyplace, anytime.
When The Exalted One doesn't come to save Uno & Grayson, Daniels would have proved that this mysterious entity was nothing but a fictional ploy laid by The Dark Order.
However, it was later announced that The Exalted One's identity would be revealed on next week's episode of AEW Dynamite that takes place in Rochester, New York.
Out of all the names rumoured to be revealed as The Exalted One, interestingly, Luke Harper (Brodie Lee) is a Rochester native.
Which wrestler should play the part of The Exalted One, in your opinion?
#4: Bea Priestley assaulted Nyla Rose and teased a future showdown between the two stars
The AEW Women's World Champion, Nyla Rose tagged alongside Bea Priestley to take on the team of Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida during last night's episode.
Nyla Rose's dominating presence could be felt throughout the match, where the champion would cut any sort of offense from the opposite team.
The babyfaces succumbed to the team of Rose & Priestley towards the end, where Shida took a spear and a Beast Bomb from Nyla Rose.
But it was after the competitive bout where Priestley would assault Nyla Rose.
Bea took the AEW Women's Title, held it up, and tossed the championship back at the fallen champion. Priestley is one of the most promising female talents on the AEW roster, and while you may have heard her name a couple of times before, it looks like AEW management hasn't fully capitalized on the young star yet.
She may have stood up to Nyla Rose, but Priestley isn't exactly a traditional babyface. So it will be interesting to see if and how AEW decides to build her character in front of a national audience during future episodes of Dynamite.
#3: Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and his client Lance Archer made a brief appearance during Cody's bout with Ortiz
After Jake Roberts cut an insightful promo on last week's episode, rumors circulated as to which wrestler was going to be revealed as the legendary wrestler's client.
Cody (w/ Arn Anderson & Brandi Rhodes) vs. Ortiz (w/ Santana) kicked off this week's episode. In a less-than-epic fashion, Jake Roberts appeared in the stands alongside his client, Lance Archer.
The internet had been buzzing with rumors that pointed towards Archer being Roberts' client, but a decent amount of spectacle was missing from Archer's first appearance on Dynamite.
This is mainly because Jake Roberts' promo had everyone hyped for a big reveal. Instead, Roberts didn't encourage his client in jumping over the guardrail, and both men observed Cody's in-ring game from the stands.
Archer was supposed to debut last week, but things were pushed further due to last-minute changes to the show. As Cody defeated Ortiz via submission, it will be interesting to see how Jake and his client fit in as rivals to Cody amidst an overarching plot between The Elite and The Inner Circle.
#2: Britt Baker and Big Swole insulted each other in a mixed promo with promising potential
Tony Schiavone hosted another on-stage interview with Britt Baker this week.
Both Schiavone and Baker play-off with each other as a fitting announcer-star duo. Schiavone's presence has made a huge difference in Britt Baker's promos recently.
Baker insulted the Utah audience in classic heel fashion. The content of Baker's promos is some fantastic material for an upcoming heel but Britt Baker's delivery is something that people haven't gotten used to yet.
It feels like Baker is holding back a little whenever she insults the live crowd. Big Swole came out soon, and before you know it, both women started insulting each other with Cedric Alexander (Swole's husband) and Adam Cole (Baker's boyfriend) in mind.
After drawing back a little when things became intense, Baker splashed a cup of coffee into Big Swole's face and ran off backstage.
Not everyone in the women's division can fight against the champion, and that is why it is necessary to build an entertaining secondary women's feud, which is exactly what AEW seems to be doing at the moment.
#1: The Inner Circle destroyed a fractured Elite throughout the episode
After Cody's victory against Ortiz, the former was jumped immediately following the bout.
Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega of The Elite made the save, but soon, Chris Jericho would appear on the Titantron to reveal how his gang had slammed a garage door on Nick Jackson.
This attack would foreshadow the ending of the episode, where The Inner Circle stood dominant against a fractured babyface faction.
Hangman Page and Dustin Rhodes defeated Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho in the main event, but in classic AEW fashion, the post-match events escalated into a huge brawl between The Inner Circle and The Elite.
The tipping point of this brawl occurred when Matt Jackson singlehandedly took down most of The Inner Circle, however, his personal distaste for Hangman Page led into The Inner Circle taking advantage of the babyface faction this week.
As both teams fight for an advantage in the Blood & Guts match (March 25) in a six-man tag team bout next week, a fractured band of good guys may be at a disadvantage against a cohesive unit of bad guys led by Chris Jericho.
