AEW Dynamite Thanksgiving broadcast with CM Punk vs. QT Marshall.
AEW Dynamite advertised CM Punk vs. QT Marshall, Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana, The Lucha Brothers, Cody Rhodes and PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo, FTR and Malakai Black and Jamie Hayter vs. Thunder Rosa. Dynamite also featured an unadvertised promo battle between CM Punk and MJF.
Last week’s broadcast of AEW Dynamite garnered 984,000 viewers.
- November 17, 2021—984,000
- November 10, 2021—912,000
- November 3, 2021—878,000
- October 27, 2021—941,000
- October 23, 2021—575,000
2021’s 10 Blackest Things in Wrestling (Pro Wrestling Bits)
AEW Dynamite YouTube Viewership Last Wednesday: 4,087,206 (Up from 2,456,361)
- Most-Viewed: Bryan Danielson and Hangman Adam Page Face off (694,368 views)
- Least-Viewed: Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida (121,143 views)
- Median Viewership: 430,223 views
CM Punk vs. MJF Promo Battle
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To kick off this long-awaited (and unadvertised) promo exchange, MJF sleepwalked through a couple of uncreative burns about CM Punk’s UFC career and him quitting WWE.
The biggest heat in AEW comes from WWE references, and this promo battle was chock-full of them. If nothing else, by the time these two were done speaking, you even the most hardened AEW fan got an education in Stamford University.
MJF and CM Punk got through an intense, personal promo battle and MJF was too scared (or wasn’t allowed) to make a reference to Colt Cabana.
MJF was very good in this battle, but Punk was on another level. MJF was outclassed and I’m shocked.
CM Punk def. QT Marshall
This was one of the rare occasions where a wrestling match had trouble following a promo segment. Even the announcers couldn’t stop talking about the segment throughout the length of this match.
QT Marshall being such a significant underdog also hurt this match. Marshall got a lot of offense in this one, perhaps more than he should have because nobody bought the possibility of him going over for a second.
During a backstage pull-apart brawl between Eddie Kingston and CM Punk, Jim Ross remarked “where’s Tony Garea when you need him?”
The Gunn Club def. Bear Country
It doesn’t get any more generic than The Gunn Club’s theme music.
AEW doesn’t do enough with Bear Country. They’re so impressive-looking, there’s pretty much nothing in wrestling like them now that Heavy Machinery is kaput.
Colton Gunn’s Colt 45 finisher is awesome.
Darby Allin looked so explosive sprinting out of the tunnel and hitting Colton Gunn with a shoulder tackle after this match.
Thunder Rosa def. Jamie Hayter—TBS Championship Quarterfinal
Thunder Rosa is 29-1 in her last 30 matches.
Tony Schiavone was invited to Britt Baker’s Friendsgiving feast, and that might finally be the moment where Adam Cole puts hands on him.
This was easily Jamie Hayter’s best match, and it helped that she was able to rag-doll Thunder Rosa like a powerhouse.
Referee Rick Knox couldn’t have looked any more foolish during the finish of this match.
Bryan Danielson def. Colt Cabana
During a backstage Friendsgiving segment, Britt Baker got a lot of heat for disinviting Tony Schiavone from her Christmas party because he announced a Black Friday Deal match between Riho and Jamie Hayter. If Riho wins, she gets an AEW women’s world title shot.
It was good to see Colt Cabana play the hits with some of his signature spots in his hometown of Chicago.
Bryan Danielson didn’t overthink it with this week’s finisher, a LaBell Lock.
Danielson cut a heel promo after this match, but I predict he’ll be back to being a babyface by the end of this feud with Hangman Adam Page.
I love the idea of Hangman Adam Page constantly challenging Bryan Danielson to a match, only for Danielson to continue to deny him.
Andrade El Idolo, Malakai Black and FTR def. Cody Rhodes, PAC and The Lucha Brothers
Today, I learned Malakai Black is the only AEW star to beat Cody Rhodes twice.
Dax Harwood had a great heel moment when he reached his hand out for a young fan, but did so in a way that made it difficult for the fan to touch him. The fan’s dad even picked the kid up to help him get closer to Harwood, but Harwood promptly pulled his hand away and gave the fan a rude gesture.
Dax Harwood posed for this crowd, only to get booed, then babyface Cody Rhodes did the same, only to get booed more.
Cody Rhodes threw his belt in the crowd, only for a fan to get peer-pressured into throwing it back in the ring. Cody eventually tried it again toward the end of the match, and this time the wise fan kept the commemorative item.
