AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from March 17

All Elite Wrestling presented a special St. Patrick's Day Slam episode of Dynamite on Wednesday, a show headlined by an Unsanctioned Lights Out match between Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D and Thunder Rosa.

The first women's main event in the show's history capped off a broadcast that featured the first battle between Cody Rhodes and Penta El Zero Miedo, a big eight-man tag team match, and Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston's first-time partnership in an AEW ring. 

What went down, who emerged victorious and what does it mean for a company already focusing on Double or Nothing on May 29?

Find out now with this recap of the March 17 episode.

One week after cutting a scathing promo on Cody Rhodes, Penta El Zero Miedo squared off with The American Nightmare in the opening match of this St. Patrick's Day Slam.

Rhodes continued to nurse the shoulder injury that ailed him back at Revolution as he and Penta fought to the arena floor early. Back inside, the masked Lucha Bro delivered a breathtaking chop to the chest and spent several minutes working over the former TNT champion, including a backstabber that earned him a two-count.

Cody sparked a comeback of sorts but was still a step or two slower because of the injured shoulder. Rhodes delivered a tope suicida and immediately favored his shoulder. He added a Canadian Destroyer flipping piledriver, a Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes but could not put his opponent away.

Rhodes again failed to pick up the win with the Air Raid Crash, earning just a two-count. Frustrated, he slammed Penta's leg into the steel post and applied the Figure Four. The masked rudo fought out and snapped the arm of his opponent, only for Rhodes to catch him with a sunset flip for the win. 

After the match, Penta attacked Cody until Arn Anderson, Dustin Rhodes and The Gunn Club made the save. QT Marshall took his time getting to the ring, leading his teammates to wonder where the hell he was.

    

Result

Rhodes defeated Penta

    

Grade

B-

    

Analysis

If Rhodes' arm was as injured as it was, the idea of him being able to keep Penta down with a sunset flip is pretty far-fetched. 

Nitpicking aside, this was the perfect match to kick off the show and a taste of things to come between Cody and Penta. The post-match attack suggests there will be a continuation of the program. That is a very good thing if the intention is to put Penta over.

If not, let Cody move on to someone else who will not be damaged as a singles competitor with yet another loss to The American Nightmare.

Jade Cargill made her AEW singles debut this week, battling Dani Jordyn.

Cargill handled Jordyn, tossing her with a release German suplex. From there, she delivered Jaded to earn the pinfall victory.

After the match, she talked trash with Red Velvet before making her way up the ramp.

    

Result

Cargill defeated Jordyn

   

Grade

A

       

Analysis

This was intended to showcase Cargill as the impressive physical athlete she is.

It worked, as she completely overwhelmed wrestling's resident mean girl Jordyn en route to a short, compact victory.

The tease of her feud with Red Velvet continuing was a nice touch and gives the women's division a secondary rivalry to tout, something it needs outside of the title picture.

MJF, Tully Blanchard, FTR, Shawn Spears and Wardlow made their way to the ring one week after obliterating The Inner Circle to close out the show.

Tully Blanchard spoke first, saying he spent his career with the greatest group of guys and would end it that way.

MJF insulted Chris Jericho, taking jabs at his weight, his hairline and his pecs before running down the lineup of this new faction. He bragged about the fact that he has only been on television for over a year and has 25 years left in the tank.

"When my career's all said and done, Chris Jericho's not going to be the GOAT. No, no, no, no. That spot's reserved for me," he said.

MJF repeatedly referred to the group as The Pinnacle before claiming he is better than Jericho and Le Champion knows it.

    

Grade

C

   

Analysis

MJF totally watched Triple H interviews from the early days of Evolution to prep for this, didn't he?

If not, it is eerie how similar this was to one of those, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

A typically excellent talker, this felt like a more cliche promo than usual. He ran down the lineup, made fun of Jericho's appearance, and revealed the "Pinnacle" name but accomplished exactly nothing else beyond that.

Some will prop this up as a great promo from the most talented young star in AEW, but he has delivered much better in lower-profile situations. This felt a little too one-dimensional on a night when the company really needed to stick the landing after last week's show.

In 10-man tag team action, "Big Money" Matt Hardy led a team consisting of Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade against Jurassic Express' Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt and Bear Country.

A hot start gave way to the heels grounding and working over Jungle Boy heading into and through the commercial break. A hot tag to Luchasaurus sparked the babyface comeback as the masked big man pummeled Private Party.

He downed Isiah Kassidy and scored a near-fall, but The Butcher broke up the pin and laid Luchasaurus out. The green-tongued babyface fought back into things and fed Kassidy to Bear Bronson, who laid him out with an exploder suplex.

Stunt tagged himself into the match as action broke down at ringside. Back inside, Stunt ate a big pump kick from Kassidy, who tagged Marq Quen into the match. With a little help from Hardy, Private Party managed to execute Gin and Juice.

Hardy, ever the egotist, demanded the tag and delivered the Twist of Fate for the win.

    

Result

Hardy, Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade defeated Jurassic Express and Bear Country

    

Grade

C+

    

Analysis

This was fine for what it was but somewhat of a letdown given the recent work of all involved.

It was rather formulaic, but the right team went over and Luchasaurus shined in defeat, so there's that.

It's rather hard to get too into the Hardy shtick right now when it feels like he might be the star who takes on every lost tag team or act in AEW, such as Butcher and Blade, who feel completely out of place as his cronies.

Tony Schiavone introduced Sting and TNT champion Darby Allin.

Allin took exception to his lack of title defenses and issued an open challenge to any member of The Dark Order in tribute to the greatest TNT champion of all time, Brodie Lee.

Lance Archer took exception and threatened to put Allin in one of those body bags he loves so much.

From there, Team Taz interrupted. Before Taz could speak, Brian Cage acknowledged his respect for Sting and said his own teammate, Ricky Starks, was wrong: With or without his bat, Sting is still The Icon.

Taz watched in disbelief as The Machine left.

    

Grade

A+

   

Analysis

There were two major developments packed into this promo. 

First was Archer targeting Allin. Then, there was Cage admitting his respect for Sting and, consequently, putting himself at odds with Taz.

Allin vs. Archer is a feud any fan can get behind, another example of the David vs. Goliath formula that could strengthen the current champion or put his challenger over via dominant performance.

Cage stepping out from the rest of Team Taz and showing respect to Sting was a great touch and will, hopefully, lead to him breaking out and becoming the star he probably should have been since his debut last May.

Before the advertised match pitting Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley against The Good Brothers could get started, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows attacked Kingston from behind. Moxley made the save and the teams fought to the ringside area, where the former Impact Wrestling tag team champions dominated the action. 

Anderson and Gallows flattened Moxley with the Magic Killer before teeing off on Kingston, benefiting from a two-on-one advantage. They punished and pummeled Kingston throughout the picture-in-picture commercial break but the double-tough veteran of the mat game wiped Anderson out with an exploder and tagged Moxley into the match.

Moxley tore through the competition, taking the fight to both opponents despite a clearly injured right shoulder. Anderson cut his momentum off with a picture-perfect spinebuster, then joined Gallows in a fireman’s carry/knee strike combo.

The heels wiped out both Moxley and Kingston, continuing their domination.

On the floor, Gallows sent Kingston into the guardrail while Moxley rolled up Anderson in the ring for the win.

After the match, The Good Brothers beat down Moxley until Moxley strutted his way to the ring, a chair in-hand. Kingston re-entered the ring and took a wild swing, only to fall prey to The Magic Killer. The heels stomped the leg of Kingston in a steel chair and attempted to do the same to Moxley’s neck before The Young Bucks made the save. 

The AEW tag team champions walked out on an opportunity to join Omega and The Good Brothers in a Too Sweet, only to be berated by the world champion. The Bucks told Omega he made his choice by aligning with Don Callis, just in time for Moxley to recover and wildly swing a chair at his foes.

     

Result

Moxley and Kingston defeated The Good Brothers

    

Grade

B

    

Analysis

This was a fun, physical tag match that showed off Kingston’s toughness as he weathered The Good Brothers’ offensive arsenal before making the tag to Moxley that would prove rather key in the antiheroes’ victory. 

The rollup win was, like Cody’s earlier in the night, anticlimactic, but The Good Brothers needed to be protected. They were and even managed to get all of their heat back moments later with a nice post-match beatdown.

While Moxley and Kingston vs. Omega and The Good Brothers is a top-shelf feud, the most intriguing element of all of this was the Bucks turning down the opportunity to embrace their friends and turning it down, fully aware that the men they used to know like brothers were not the men standing before them on this night.

That story, and the eventual blowoff, is AEW’s big-money attraction right now.

Rey Fenix sought to continue building momentum as he battled Angelico.

The submission-based Angelico worked Fenix over throughout the commercial, looking to force a tapout from the masked luchador.

Fenix fought back and landed a cutter coming out of the commercial break, but Angelico reestablished momentary control. Fenix fought to the ropes, forcing the break.

The competitors delivered dueling superkicks before Fenix delivered a sitout piledriver for the pinfall victory.

     

Result

Fenix defeated Angelico

    

Grade

C+

   

Analysis

Fenix has been one of the most consistently excellent wrestlers in AEW. He has been simply phenomenal since day one, and this was no different.

The match with Angelico was hindered by the commercial break in the middle of it, not to mention the lack of build to the match. It was essentially an extended squash, a showcase for Fenix as he and Pac prepare for their upcoming AEW Tag Team Championship match against The Young Bucks.

It was harmless, above average, but not much more than that.

For the first time, two women headlined AEW Dynamite. For the first time, Dynamite featured an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match.

Wednesday's show featured the latest chapter in the rivalry between Thunder Rosa and Dr. Britt Baker DMD as they battled in an unofficial match without rules.

Rebel attacked before the opening bell, catching Rosa with a cheap shot before Baker levelled her on the entrance ramp for an early near-fall. Rosa recovered, throwing a chair at Baker's face before sending the good doctor over the guardrail and into the stands, where she pummeled the dentist.

Rosa sat Baker on a chair and tried for a flipping senton, but the heel moved and the face-painted competitor crashed and burned.

Baker stomped Rosa's head into diamond plating, busting the former NWA women's champion open ahead of the commercial break.

Back from the timeout, Baker delivered a superplex from the top rope onto a pile of chairs. Rebel produced a ladder, and Rosa sent her face-first into the ladder. A corner attack by Rosa sent the ladder into Baker's face, busting her open.

Baker struggled to the ropes, where Rosa met her. She hoisted the doctor in a fireman's carry and tried for a Death Valley Driver but slipped, only slightly delivering the move into a ladder. Baker, her vision adversely affected by her own blood, dropped Rosa with a DDT onto a chair. She earned a two-count.

Baker smiled through her crimson mask and put on a glove, signaling the Lock Jaw. Rebel produced a bag of thumbtacks, and Baker emptied them in the center of the ring. Rosa blasted Rebel with a crutch, then dropkicked her through a table at ringside.

Rosa delivered a powerbomb to Baker, driving her into the thumbtacks. Baker still kicked out at two, even as her back became a pincushion.

Baker finally applied the Lock Jaw, but Rosa rolled back into the thumbtacks, breaking the hold.

The action spilled to the ring apron, where Rosa delivered a Fire Thunder Driver through a table for the win.

    

Result

Rosa defeated Baker

    

Grade

A+

   

Analysis

Rosa vs. Baker has been one of the most intense rivalries in AEW. Theirs was one that deserved this spotlight, in a hardcore match of this sort, and the competitors absolutely performed up to the moment.

This was appropriately violent, even producing blood and thumbtacks, typically no-nos for women's wrestling in major North American promotions.

Rosa may have won the match itself, but Baker was the real winner of the night's festivities, showing a level of toughness few would have expected from her. She sported the crimson mask, suffered the breathtaking agony of thumbtacks stabbing into her back and took a big table bump in the finish. She was simply phenomenal and elevated her star exponentially in this match.

More importantly than the quality of performances or the high spots within was what this match potentially means for AEW's women's division.

For too long, the company has produced a division that had all of the talent necessary to succeed but failed to build stars and tell stories. Then came Baker vs. Rosa, a genuine secondary feud that proved AEW could focus on women outside of the title picture and efficiently build a storyline.

It culminated Wednesday in a genuine Match of the Year candidate and, hopefully, opens up opportunities for the extremely talented women's division to find more opportunities in the near future.

Kudos to all involved in this one for their toughness, commitment to telling their story, and delivering the painstaking levels of violence and brutality the match type deserved.