AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Aug. 14

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of AEW Dynamite on August 14.

With All In coming up next weekend, All Elite Wrestling is in full planning mode for the pay-per-view. Most of the big matches have been booked, so the goal is to keep people invested.

Here’s a look at what was advertised for Wednesday’s show:

Let’s take a look at what went down on this week’s Dynamite.

Dynamite opened with Mercedes Moné making her way to the ring with Kamille by her side to take on Hikaru Shida in a TBS Championship bout.

They locked up and came to a stalemate. Moné scored the first real takedown, but the former women’s world champion was back up immediately.

These two seemed to be evenly matched in most ways. They traded offense in a way that made it feel like neither had any clear advantage physically, which meant Kamille’s presence would be the difference-maker.

The crowd got hot and chanted for both competitors inside Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

Moné ultimately scored the win to retain, but Britt Baker’s entrance music cut her celebration short. Kamille attacked someone she thought was DMD, allowing the real Baker to take out Moné in the ring.

The match between The CEO and The Samurai was a great display of technical ability and skill. Let’s hope this isn’t the only time they cross paths.

Result: Moné defeated Shida

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Adam Page and Jay Lethal’s match got started after Hangman attacked Jeff Jarrett backstage and began brawling with Lethal until they made it to the ring.

The former ROH champion nailed Page with several suicide dives in a row to turn the tide in his favor, but a Deadeye on the apron immediately put Hangman back in control.

From that point on, Page was firmly in the driver’s seat.

AEW has been building Hangman into a vicious, angry villain, and he has done a great job transitioning from a beloved babyface to a violent heel.

A Buckshot Lariat finished Lethal off to end a solid match.

Result: Page defeated Lethal

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

After several minutes of video packages and recaps, Darby Allin was making his way to the ring when he was attacked by Jack Perry. They battled backstage and used all kinds of things to inflict damage on each other.

Several members of security had to intervene to prevent Perry from doing too much.

We also saw a backstage interview with Mina Shirakawa before we got a Triple Threat involving Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly, with the winner earning the No. 1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In London on August 25.

These are three men who are capable of working at breakneck speeds while still being technically proficient, so this was good from bell to bell.

The Kingdom was driven off by Tomohiro Ishii and Mark Briscoe shortly before a commercial break, so their interference barely had an impact on anything.

This match had the crowd on its feet, gave all three men a chance to shine and included some stellar displays of physical ability. O’Reilly and Cassidy also did a tremendous job being allies who both still wanted to win.

In the end, it was OC who scored the win with a crucifix pin on KOR.

Result: Cassidy defeated Strong and O’Reilly

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

We got a backstage segment with Okada and Castagnoli followed by an interview with The Patriarchy before Tony Schiavone interviewed Hook in the ring.

The youngster called out Chris Jericho for an FTW title match despite being unable to see out of his left eye. The veteran offered him a shot at All In and Hook accepted.

The tag title bout began after a break when Max Caster and Anthony Bowens attacked the Bucks during their entrance.

Matthew and Nicholas Jackson gained the upper hand with simultaneous dropkicks as they reached the ring. Daddy Ass eventually showed up to lend some support from ringside, but he was ejected from ringside after a few minutes.

This match was given a lot of time, so they were able to make sure all four men had plenty of ring time and moments to stand out. This felt like the kind of tag team match upon which AEW built its reputation five years ago.

Once the ref was taken out, Nick hit Caster with a low blow. He was going to use a title as a weapon but was thwarted by Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler.

Harwood ended up attacking Nick to cause a disqualification, which led to a confrontation with The Acclaimed.

FTR and The Acclaimed’s standoff led to Christopher Daniels booking them for a match on Collision for a title shot at All In.

Result: The Young Bucks won by DQ

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

This week’s main event saw Wheeler Yuta battle Swerve Strickland, with Bryan Danielson watching from ringside.

The AEW world champion took control quickly and taunted The American Dragon as he beat on his Blackpool Combat Club protégé. Yuta kept trying to fight back, but it seemed Swerve had an answer for everything.

Yuta is one of AEW’s brightest young talents and Strickland is one of the industry’s best right now, so it will come as no surprise to hear they worked together well and established chemistry almost immediately.

They went into overtime and Strickland hit three House Calls in a row before stomping on Yuta’s face. The ref ended up disqualifying Swerve when he wouldn’t relent, and it took Danielson coming in to chase him away.

Strickland ran back down and hit The American Dragon with a House Call to end the show and he stood tall over his All In opponent.

Result: Yuta won by DQ

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

This week’s Dynamite was a very strong episode in just about every way.

The matches were all great, the non-wrestling segments helped advance various feuds, and the video packages showed an increased effort to improve AEW’s production.

As far as the best match is concerned, we’re picking the OC vs. KOR vs. Strong bout, but any contest on this show has an argument for being the best.

Page and Lethal was a violent encounter, The Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed was a fun tag match, Shida and Moné put on a great show, and Yuta looked like a valiant fighter against a vicious Swerve.

The videos for May and Danielson were terrific in completely different ways. The former’s was moody and intriguing, while the latter’s clip used a classic Green Day song to evoke emotions.

This was probably the best episode of Dynamite in the build to All In. You should take the time to watch all of it.

Grade: A-