The February 1st, 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite ended with one of the most brutal No Holds Barred matches in years as Darby Allin defended his TNT Championship against Samoa Joe.
Allin had a major challenge ahead of him. Since Samoa Joe outweighed him by over 100 pounds, there was no way Allin could do much damage without relying on gimmicks and weapons.
Undeterred, Allin entered the arena with a special weapon: a hoodie covered in thumbtacks. The moment he entered the ring, Allin rushed Joe with a body check while still wearing that hoodie. He didn’t let up with his assault and within a few minutes, joe was already busted open.
But Joe didn’t let Allin maintain enough momentum to maintain control of the match. Allin rushed Joe into a corner but Joe dropped him with a big STO. Joe almost choked him out while covering his face with that same thumbtack-covered hoodie.
And just when Allin thought he’d land a big dive, Joe sidestepped and Allin crashed into a table set up against the barricade.
In the end, Allin had to do something that has never been done before, at least not in AEW. After throwing powder in Joe’s eyes and driving his thumbs into Joe’s eyes as well, Allin pulled out a blade.
With it, he cut several ropes that held the ring together and pulled off the layer of padding between the canvas and the wood frame beneath. Once this was done, Allin put the hoodie back on and hit his Coffin Drop finisher, but it wasn’t enough.
Joe managed to power out of Allin’s biggest moves and then hit an avalanche Muscle Buster onto the exposed wood to pin Allin and win his title.
Samoa Joe now a two-time AEW TNT Champion and dual champion
Unfortunately for Samoa Joe, his victory celebration was cut short as Wardlow made his big return after not being seen in AEW for months. He made a beeline for Samoa Joe and got a few punches in before Joe escaped and walked up the ramp with his two title belts.
The show went off the air as Wardlow beat up some security guards/agents and then dove onto them from the ring to send the crowd home happy.