AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 12

This week's episode of All Elite Wrestling Dynamite was dubbed "Tag Team Appreciation Night." For some reason, this did not include advertising the women's tag team tournament or having any of its matches happen on the show.

After destroying Chris Jericho's expensive white jacket, Orange Cassidy agreed to face Le Champion in a rematch where if he loses, he has to pay Jericho $7,000. Did AEW's popular slacker have to pony up the money?

When it came to the tag team appreciation gimmick for the night, the AEW tag team champions, Adam Page and Kenny Omega, defended the titles against Jurassic Express.

AEW also advertised Hikaru Shida as being in action, a TNT Championship match between Cody and Scorpio Sky and a live appearance by Jon Moxley. Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's Dynamite.

Here are the segments AEW advertised ahead of Wednesday's show:

• Cassidy vs. Jericho
• Page and Omega vs. Jurassic Express (AEW tag titles)
• Shida in action.
• An appearance from Moxley.
• Cody vs. Sky (TNT title)

Tag Team Appreciation Night opened with The Young Bucks heading out for the first match of the night. Before they could get to the ring, three members of The Dark Order attacked them on the stage.

Evil Uno and Stu Grayson eventually came out as the official opponents of Nick and Matt Jackson. They cleaned up after their followers, and the match started with The Dark Order in firm control.

Uno and Grayson dominated the Jacksons for several minutes before Matt was able to make a comeback. Matt was forced to crawl under the ring to escape the three masked men at ringside. He finally tagged in a fresh Nick to turn the tide in their favor.

It didn't take long before Grayson and Uno regained the upper hand. They sent Matt into one of the entrance tubes and blocked him from coming back, but Nick was still able to steal the pin to score a victory.

Grade: B

Analysis

The Dark Order has been clicking lately, and this might have been one of Grayson and Uno's strongest showings to date, even if they did lose in the end.

They kept up with one of the premier tag teams in AEW and the world. The match was just the right length and allowed all four men to get in some good offense.

The only major criticism would be how much interference happened on The Dark Order's side only for Grayson and Uno to lose. If the group was going to use that many dirty tactics, it should have won.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman was out after the commercial break for his address. He had an assistant present some fake polling numbers to make himself look good.

He said Moxley wasn't there because he was scared. He laid down flat in the ring in and gave a promo to the ceiling about how this company deserves good leadership.

He called Mox a rabid dog who likes to chase cars and now that he has caught the nicest car on the streets, he can't handle it. MJF implored Moxley to just give him the title so he could avoid an embarrassing loss. This is what finally brought out Moxley.

MJF sent his men into the crowd to cut him off, but what he didn't realize was Moxley came through the normal entrance for once. He blindsided Friedman and proceeded to beat him down with malice.

Grade: B-

Analysis

This was a farce in every sense of the word, but MJF was able to pull it off because of who he is. This is the kind of ridiculous and pompous thing somebody like him would do, and that is why it doesn't come off as cheesy.

Unfortunately, it started to get repetitive. He isn't saying anything new. He just keeps saying the same thing in new ways, and that can only work for so long.

At least this is a big step up for one of AEW's best heels. He is finally in a feud with the world champion, and Moxley is the perfect villain for a guy like MJF. They are as opposite as could be, and that usually makes for great rivals.

The TNT title was on the line in the second match of the night as Cody took on Sky. This came after Sky built up an impressive winning streak on AEW Dark and decided to challenge Rhodes for the belt.

They started off with a nice exchange of standard wrestling maneuvers. It was a textbook sequence that showed off how fluid both men are in the ring.

They upped the intensity as the fight spilled out of the ring. We returned from a break to see Sky starting to take control with an abdominal stretch. Cody broke free with a hip toss, but the former tag team champion stayed on him.

The American Nightmare came back and caught him with Cross Rhodes for a close two-count. It took another one for Cody to put him away for the win.

Grade: B+

Analysis

It shouldn't surprise anyone that this was a solid performance from both competitors. It would have been cooler to see Sky win the belt, but he still looked good in defeat.

Was this the best match they could have put on? Probably not, but that leaves the door open for them to tear down the house in a rematch down the line.

Brodie Lee appearing to challenge Cody at the end of the match was a weird way to end this. They should have saved that for a later segment and solely focused the ending of this bout on Sky's reaction to losing.

As Omega backed Jungle Boy to the ropes, Marko Stunt got on the apron to make him break away. Omega relented before slapping him down to the ground. This led to a furious exchange between JB and Omega.

Jurassic Express started to build some momentum before the former IWGP champion made the tag to The Hangman. This is when the champions began taking Jungle Boy apart.

After a long commercial break, we returned to see a fresh Luchasaurus tagging in and going to work on both opponents. Omega hit him with a V-Trigger and a pair of snapdragon suplexes.

He even went outside and hit one on Stunt just for the hell of it. Both teams got in a lot of offense as they built to the conclusion. The champs hit their finishers on Jungle Boy at the same time for the win.

Grade: B+

Analysis

Omega and Page are a good team, but this bout made Jurassic Express look like the more cohesive duo, even if JB and Luchasaurus ended up losing in the end.

Stunt's involvement could have been scaled back, but everything else about this contest worked. It was fun without being too one-sided.

Omega slowly turning heel has been fun to watch, but at some point, AEW has to pull the trigger and have him either turn or make the decision to remain a babyface.

Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy winning would have been an incredible moment, but it would be even better if it happened on a pay-per-view once fans were able to attend again.

Heather Monroe was looking to make an impression by attacking Shida as soon as the bell rang. She had the upper hand for all of a minute before the women's champion took her down with a Thesz press and several forearms to the face.

She suplexed Monroe into the corner before bringing her to the middle of the ring for some more forearm smashes and a falcon arrow. Monroe countered into a pin, but Shida kicked out and locked her in a stretch smuggler submission for the win.

Grade: C-

Analysis

This was a short match that, while being competitive, didn't do what AEW wanted. Shida is the champion. She doesn't need to be facing jobbers.

If AEW is going to book the champion, the segment needs to mean something. This spot should have been used to build up her rival or the women's tag team tournament.

The $7,000 challenge began surprisingly with Cassidy backing Jericho to the corner and unloading on him with rights and lefts. The usually lethargic wrestler was more invested than we have ever seen before.

He sent Y2J out of the ring and hit a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Le Champion waited until the opportunity presented itself to counter with a boot to the face.

Once the former world champion took control, he tried to make his opponent look like an idiot. This allowed Cassidy to get the upper hand. He started focusing on Le Champion's leg with a series of dragon-screw leg whips.

Mike Chioda prevented Jericho from using his bat as a weapon, and Cassidy almost got the win with a Michinoku driver. Santana, Ortiz and Best Friends began brawling on the stage, and while Chioda was distracted, Jake Hager took out Cassidy with a big slam. OC kicked out at two to keep himself in the fight.

In what many will call an upset, Cassidy rolled Jericho up to get the three-count and save himself $7,000.

Grade: B+

Analysis

The character of Orange Cassidy is finally starting to become a fully formed gimmick instead of a one-note punch line, and it has been entertaining to watch.

Seeing him own Jericho in the debate was great, but this match is what a lot of people have been waiting for. Seeing Cassidy finally care about something enough to put 100 percent into it made it worth the wait.

Jericho is the perfect antagonist because he understands that it is his job to get Cassidy over. Jericho already has the respect of the crowd, and he is using that to make OC a bigger star.

This was a good main event, but with the high expectations AEW set last week, it fell just shy of being great.