AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 26

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

The increasingly personal rivalry between Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland wrote its latest chapter Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite.

That grudge match headlined a broadcast that also featured the latest from everyone's favorite bromance between AEW world champion MJF and Adam Cole, the latest defense by international champion Orange Cassidy and a blockbuster three-way tag team main event.

Find out who emerged victorious from the Allin-Strickland match, what went down when PAC and Gravity took to the skies in a hotly anticipated showdown and what it means for All Elite Wrestling ahead of the All In and All Out pay-per-views with this recap of the July 26 show from MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

Announced in advance of Wednesday's show were:

• Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta)
• Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. AR Fox
• PAC vs. Gravity
• Britt Baker vs. Taya Valkyrie
• MJF and Adam Cole promo
  

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Orange Cassidy has settled nicely into the opening-match act for AEW, a guy who is consistently over and will always pop the crowd.

That he has a knack for having good contests against opponents of differing styles and backgrounds, all while telling the story of a competitor being consistently battered, has only helped the formula work.

Such was the case Wednesday when he successfully defended the AEW International Championship against AR Fox in a competitive match that saw Freshly Squeezed fight from behind to secure the victory.

The match was a ton of fun, with some great sequences, and the right person went over.

Most interesting was the teased heel turn by Fox and the subsequent confrontation with his friend, Darby Allin, who went out on a limb to get him the title opportunity.

While one would hope Fox would have a little more build, if this leads to a short program with Allin, so be it.

The attack by Jon Moxley on Cassidy, hopefully, is merely revenge for attacking one of his Blackpool Combat Club teammates and not an indicator that Mox is getting the International Championship because that dude does not need more gold.

Result

Cassidy defeated Fox

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Darby Allin recalled Fox letting him live with him while training in a nicely produced video package that explained why he went in to bat for the veteran competitor and got him this title opportunity.
• Excalibur recapped the numerous challengers Cassidy has defended against and the physical punishment he endured from each. Little things like that explain and remind the audience of essential story elements. AEW could use more of this.
• Cassidy, despite absorbing considerable offense early, ultimately tied Fox up in the Mouse Trap and scored the come-from-behind pinfall. 
  
• Post-match, Fox broke Cassidy's trademark sunglasses and blasted the champ from behind. Allin confronted his friend and demanded to know what he was thinking before sending him to the back.
• Moxley attacked Cassidy in retaliation for the Orange Punch to Claudio Castagnoli on Rampage.

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Jerry Lynn has had enough of the new Jack Perry attitude and interrupted an in-ring promo Wednesday to tell him as much.

It did not go over particularly well, with the brash FTW champion talking back to his elder and a match (fight?) announced for next week.

Perry is talking the talk of a heel and hopefully can continue to develop his ring work in that role. If so, he will thrive.

He could not ask for a more respected babyface and influential legend to work across from next week than Lynn, who will do whatever he can to put Perry over.

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Don Callis convinced Chris Jericho to partner with Konosuke Takeshita to battle the Jericho Appreciation Society stablemates Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia. He then presented The Ocho with a phenomenal painting from the fantastic Mel Coleman. Instagram her. You have seen her work before, even if you don't know it.

• Perry sported a shirt reading "I beat Hook." A nice, old-school heel touch.
• It is always nice to see Lynn on television. Maybe the most underrated wrestler of his era and a guy who had a direct influence on the style we see in today's pro wrestling. He probably does not get nearly enough credit for that.

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

This was not exactly the match expected when PAC vs. Gravity was announced for the show.

Instead of a high-flying display of athleticism, it more closely resembled an extended squash that saw PAC score a convincing win in relatively short order.

This was meant to put The Bastard over strong as he prepares to go to war with Blackpool Combat Club, and it worked in that regard.

PAC showed flashes of personality, was intense and physical, and he reminded the fans of why he has been a perennial contender since day one.

Result

PAC defeated Gravity

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• "Gravity is the younger brother of Bandido," Excalibur explained. Cool, I guess.
• PAC reintroduced himself to Gravity, a funny little nod to the "The Man That Gravity Forgot" nickname The Bastard was saddled with during his WWE run.
• Backstage, MJF cut an impassioned promo on AEW world tag team champions FTR ahead of his and Adam Cole's match against them on Collision. He also vowed to give Cole a rematch for the AEW World Championship down the line. Roderick Strong interrupted and Cole talked him down, to his friend's chagrin. 
  

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

AR Fox did not take kindly to Darby Allin's frustration over his actions from earlier in the night and took it out on his most famous student, costing him a victory against Swerve Strickland in a hotly anticipated grudge match.

The bout itself was good, but probably the lesser of those we have seen between the two to date. More important than the in-ring content was Fox's heel turn, which shined a light on the Mogul Embassy for what felt like the first time since Strickland merged with Prince Nana's faction.

Whether this actually benefits Fox in the long run remains to be seen, but he was given considerable spotlight on this week's show and will likely have an opportunity to build on his sudden momentum.

Result

Strickland defeated Allin

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Nick Wayne accompanied Allin to the ring, just weeks after making his Dynamite debut and enduring a vicious beatdown by Strickland. 
• Allin's aggression early on was great. He has a history with Strickland and was still fuming from Fox's actions earlier in the show. It fits that he would be angry and fired up to start this one. 
• Strickland caught a flying Allin with a big jumping knee, laying him out on the arena floor. 
• The heel delivered a Death Valley Driver off the turnbuckle and onto the apron. Moments later, Fox attacked Allin, shoving him into the ring post and setting up Strickland's win. The newfound heel joined Strickland and Prince Nana in the Mogul Embassy.

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Britt Baker defeated Taya Valkyrie in a hard-hitting match that continued to rebuild the former as a contender for the AEW World Women's Championship while also managing to highlight her opponent.

Valkyrie has earned better than being the floating heel for random competitors with more television time than her to work with. Matches like this, where she was the better of the two wrestlers involved, are proof of it.

Baker was quite good herself, adapting after the early Road to Valhalla slip-up and selling all of her opponent's offense before making the comeback for the win.

If there are no plans for these two in the long term, revisiting this match seems a good idea based on the quality of what we got here.

Result

Baker defeated Valkyrie via submission

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Tony Schiavone revealed that this was a first-time matchup, something that probably could have been stressed a bit more to elevate its significance.
• Valkyrie responded to a disjointed spot by hammering away at Baker with hard rights and elbow strikes that looked quite intense.
• This was a surprisingly physical match, thanks in large part to Valkyrie's strikes. Those forearms and elbows were great.
• Baker countered the Road to Valhalla and applied the Lockjaw for the submission victory.

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Blackpool Combat Club's Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli sought to recover from last week's loss with a win in a big three-team main event that also featured Best Friends' Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta and Lucha Bros' Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix.

They failed to do so, thanks to late interference from Orange Cassidy, suggesting Freshly Squeezed is about to become embroiled in a feud with the hard-hitting, unforgiving trio.

That is an interesting creative decision.

Cassidy has been fine existing as the international champion and working against his weekly opponents, but the idea that he can battle with someone like Moxley or Castagnoli, who were battered and bruised in Blood & Guts a week ago is a bit of a stretch.

Tonally, they do not go together.

Then again, not many do with Cassidy. If anyone can make it work, it's him. Whether Moxley will play ball and go along with what makes the character so effective is the question.

The match was solid, full of action and saw the Lucha Bros earn a big main event win, so there's that.

Result

Lucha Bros defeated Blackpool Combat Club and Best Friends

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Oh look, Moxley is brawling on the floor. Again.
• Beretta might be the cleanest, crispest worker in all of wrestling. Everything he does is on point. He's been long underrated. 
• The BCC aggressively pummeled the competition, looking to send a message to the AEW locker room that they are not to be trifled with. 
• Cassidy interrupted the proceedings, drawing the attention of Moxley, who attacked and choked him on the floor. 
• Penta took advantage of a frustrated Beretta and scored the win for his team.
• Per Tony Khan (via Excalibur) Moxley, Beretta and Penta will battle in an AEW originals three-way next week.  

Wednesday's Dynamite introduced new rivalries (Cassidy vs. Moxley), highlighted underutilized talent (Fox) and continued to lay the groundwork for the road to All In and All Out later this summer.

The in-ring work was good to very good, and the main event was the best match of the show, as one would expect.

Add to that the moral dilemma in which Chris Jericho finds himself with Don Callis, and you have a show that might not have been the most electrifying or buzzworthy, but it contained enough intriguing creative developments to keep fans engaged.

With a big Dynamite 200 episode on the horizon next week, expect AEW to start providing a closer look at what fans can expect from the upcoming PPV cards.

Overall Grade: B