The march to Full Gear on November 13 continued Wednesday on TNT as AEW presented an episode of Dynamite that featured the latest in both the World Title Eliminator and TBS Championship tournaments, as well as a blockbuster match-up featuring CM Punk.

Which competitors earned momentum as they look toward the next AEW pay-per-view extravaganza and who inched closer to a title reign by way of their tournament wins?

Find out with this recap of this week's broadcast.

Announced for the Show

• CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish
• 8-Man Tag Team Match: The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Colt Cabana) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks)
• TNT Championship Match: Sammy Guevara vs. Ethan Page
• TBS Championship Tournament Match: Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb
• World Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Jon Moxley vs. Pres10 Vance

CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish

Two competitors celebrating birthdays kicked off this week's show as CM Punk battled Bobby Fish in a match set up last Saturday night on Dynamite by the latter's bullying of Anthony Greene.

Back and forth sparring early gave way to multiple bodyslams from Punk before Fish halted his momentum momentarily. Punk weathered a strike to his left knee and wiped The Infamous out at ringside with a tope suicida. Fish answered back, wiping the aforementioned left knee out from underneath his opponent. 

Fish dominated the action for several moments, teeing off on the injured joint of Punk. The gutsy, resilient Punk fought his way back into the match by way of punishing forearms to the face. Fish caught him with a kick to the knee, buckling him to the mat.

Moments later, Fish scored a near-fall and appeared to have momentum on his side but Punk delivered desperation Go To Sleep and scored the pinfall victory.

Result

Punk defeated Fish

Grade

B+

Analysis

On the very same day that Ring of Honor announced a hiatus and released all of its talent from their contracts, Punk and Fish brought forth the spirit of that company in a hard-hitting, physical, athletic-based match that had the fans hanging with every spot.

Fish looked like a focused killer, a tenacious wrestler hellbent on attacking and hobbling his opponent in search of a signature AEW win. Punk was what he has been his entire career: the gutsy wrestler without an ounce of quit in him, willing to endure anything to emerge victoriously.

He did and while it appeared as though the finish may not have gone quite as expected, it displayed just how close Fish was to kicking out of Punk’s devastating finish.

A strong match, great and effective performances from each competitor and the right outcome made this one a perfect start to the show.

MJF in Action and Sting and Darby Allin Retort

MJF made his way to the ring for a match with Boston local Bryce Donovan. The scarf-wearing loudmouth made short work of his opponent and executed a humiliating pinfall.

After the match, he cut another scathing promo on the fans before faking an arrival from Sting. After some more trash-talking on Allin, lights dimmed and a video package aired of the face-painted antihero attacking a costumed MJF ripoff. When the lights came back on, Sting and Allin attacked the heels, culminating with Allin issuing a challenge for a match with MJF at Full Gear.

Result

MJF defeated Donovan

Grade

A

Analysis

This has been one of the more interesting and entertaining programs on Dynamite in recent weeks, with MJF relishing in the opportunity to tear apart the host city and escalate his vendetta against Allin. 

Darby attacking through the crowd before joining Sting for the beatdown of Wardlow and Shawn Spears was great fun and only further enhanced the interest in a program between the top two breakout stars in AEW’s two-year history.

TNT Championship Match: Sammy Guevara vs. "All Ego" Ethan Page

The rivalry between Inner Circle and American Top Team/The Men of the Year continued Wednesday with Sammy Guevara defending his TNT Championship against “All Ego” Ethan Page. If Guevara lost, he would have to leave the Inner Circle, because that stipulation hasn’t been overdone already.

The Spanish God exploded over the ropes to start, wiping Page out at ringside before tossing him over the timekeeper’s position. He dominated the opening minutes of the match before Page delivered a sidewalk slam on the top rope to turn the tide in his favor. 

Guevara absorbed tremendous punishment throughout the commercial but fought back and delivered a Shooting Star Press from the top rope onto his opponent on the floor. The impact of the move further damaged the ribs of the champion, but Guevara continued to battle. 

Page answered with the Iconoclasm but Guevara kicked out. Later, Guevara missed a standing shooting star press but managed to double leg the challenger and execute a jackknife pin for the win.

After the match, an irate All Ego attacked Guevara and Scorpio Sky rushed the ring to join in the fight. The Inner Circle made the save for their brethren and the babyfaces stood tall. Jericho grabbed a microphone and revealed at Full Gear, there will be a 10-man Minneapolis Street Fight pitting Inner Circle against American Top Team and The Men of the Year.

Result

Guevara defeated Page

Grade

B

Analysis

Guevara is a star and it is on full display every time he takes to the ring. He showed appropriate intensity when necessary, fought from underneath and ultimately out-wrestled Page to earn the win. He is going to leave a lasting impression on that TNT title when all is said and done and that bodes well for the AEW product moving forward.

Page is equally as great. He’s animated, a strong in-ring performer and somehow, and even better promo. He should have a bright future, regardless of whether it comes in singles or tag team action.

The idea of Inner Circle battling ATT and Men of the Year is intriguing, but it will be dependent upon which members of Dan Lambert’s group participate as to whether or not it will ultimately be successful from a quality standpoint.

TBS Championship Tournament: Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

The TBS Championship tournament continued Wednesday with a grudge match of sorts as Hikaru Shida sought to avenge a defeat at the hands of Serena Deeb a few weeks back, and earn victory No. 50 in the process.

Shida sent Deeb crashing into the steel post prior to the commercial break and spent several minutes controlling the match as she frantically sought her milestone victory. Deeb seized an opening, though, and targeted the knee of her opponent. She applied a Figure Four around the ringpost, then added a single-legged Boston Crab.

Deeb teased using the 50th win trophy, then nearly coerced Shida into doing it in front of the official. Shida resisted, rolled her up and scored the win.

After the match, an infuriated Deeb attacked Shida and applied another half crab until referees and coach Jerry Lynn broke up the assault.

Result

Shida defeated Deeb

Grade

B+

Analysis

Serena Deeb is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world. She is a mat technician that Bret Hart would be proud of. She is excellently executes everything, targets her opponent’s weaknesses and exploits them. Since debuting in AEW, she has demonstrated the ability to have a great match with anyone and did so here against Shida.

She nearly utilized Shida’s determination against her but the babyface thwarted her attempts and picked up the win. The beatdown following the contest suggests the feud will continue beyond the TBS title tournament. Given the strength of the matches between them to this point, that is hardly a bad thing.

World Title Eliminator Tournament: Jon Moxley vs. Pres10 Vance

Jon Moxley battled Pres10 Vance in a World Title Eliminator Tournament match.

Moxley stomped to the ring, kicked the ass of his masked and overmatched opponent, and pinned the bloodied young star following the Paradigm Shift.

The former world champion stomped right back out of the arena as the trainers checked on Vance.

Result

Moxley defeated Vance

Grade

A

Analysis

Moxley is definitely turning heel, as evidenced by his ruthless beatdowns of young babyfaces Vance and Wheeler Yuta in recent weeks. He has been unforgiving and unengaging. He cares about no one, punishes everyone and shows no remorse. 

It is the role Moxley was born to play, a non-nonsense ass-kicker with one goal in mind: winning.

It will be interesting to see if he steamrolls the beloved Orange Cassidy next week. If so, do not be surprised if he rolls into Full Gear and upsets Bryan Danielson to earn himself a shot at the same AEW world title stolen from him by Kenny Omega and Don Callis a year ago.

Malakai Black, Andre El Idolo Attack Cody; Pac Makes the Save

Cody Rhodes hit the ring to a chorus of boos and proceeded to cut a promo that referenced his brother, wife, daughter and father before revealing that he will not turn because he loves the fans too much.

Andrade El Idolo interrupted, followed by Malakai Black. A beatdown of Rhodes and Arn Anderson ensued until Pac made the save, clearing the ring of the heels and flipping them the bird to close the segment.

Grade

C+

Analysis

Cody hearing the fans but not giving them what they want is a very WWE thing to do.

This appeared to have set up a high-profile tag team match for Full Gear, which would see Rhodes and Pac battle El Idolo and Black. Given the talent involved and the chemistry we already know exists between them, that is hardly a bad thing.

That is, as long as it ends with Black and El Idolo picking up the win.

The Dark Order vs. The Elite

The Dark Order’s Stu Grayson, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana and John Silver battled The Elite’s Adam Cole, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks in a chaotic, action-packed 8-Man Tag Team Main Event.

The heels dominated through the commercial break but a hot tag sparked a babyface comeback. The action broke down until Matt Jackson accidentally leveled referee Rick Knox. The heels delivered three low blows and powerbombed Cabana on their proton pack backpacks.

Suddenly, a costumed star hit the ring but it was revealed to be Brandon Cutler, leaving Hangman Page to reveal that it was he under the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume. He delivered the Deadeye to Omega while Silver executed the Spin Doctor on Matt Jackson for the pinfall victory.

The Dark Order and Page stood tall, the latter having gotten one over on the AEW world champion ahead of Full Gear.

Result

Dark Order defeated The Elite

Grade

A

Analysis

AEW excels with these multi-man tag team matches and this was no different. Sillier than normal, sure, but it was action-packed and never felt boring. It showcased the talent, their personalities, and had the fantastic reveal late that only added heat to Omega vs. Page at Full Gear.

Throw in a little Halloween fun and you had a great end to a really strong episode that continued to plant the seeds for the Full Gear pay-per-view and give fans a taste of what is to come from AEW for the remainder of the year.

Page was great here, showing the right emotion, first when he attacked his former Elite friends, then when embracing Dark Order. He has been as good as anyone in AEW in portraying his character and his coronation on November 13 is well deserved.