This post starts as many of mine have in the past, with a question about stats. In the past year or so, I've noticed a trend with AEW Dynamite. And specifically, with the opening match of the show. The main event is the money-maker. It's what everyone came to see. But, I got intrigued by the start of the show. It's the hook. The thing that draws the crowd in. A tone-setter.
Now, I know that some other wrestling companies are known for their show-opening promo-trains. "Welcome to...the other show. Let's get started". But AEW is often known for getting right down to the business of wrestling. So, that first match better grab you by your pants and say 'come on folks, we're going for a ride'. I did all of my research via Cagematch.net. And to be fair, Cage Match doesn't detail promo segments, so this was always going to need to be about the first match, not the beginning of the show. There have been 241 episodes of Dynamite as of this writing. And I didn't have this idea until 240, so I'm not going to go back and try to watch the beginning of every show. Plus, match data is better anyway.
So, what did I find in my research? I found the frequency each wrestler has appeared in the opening match of Dynamite, and their record. There are also some interesting tidbits that I'll try to share throughout. Lots of people featured less then 5 times, but there are a fair few who have made a habit of appearing in the opening slot.
Here are some parameters before we get started. First, I only included people who had actually competed in the opening match. All stablemates, managers, valets, and interference wrestlers were removed from the set-up. For each wrestler, I found their total number of appearances, wins, losses, or time limit draws. These matches include singles, tag team, and multi-person matches like battle royales. If a person was not the winner of a battle royale, I considered everyone else the loser. So that really racked up losses for some people. I'll detail the top 10 wrestlers and then a few extra oddities of note. The full data table and each chronological match listing will be available somewhere for reference. The full data table and each chronological match listing will be available somewhere for reference.
10. Trent Beretta- 18 matches: 3 wins, 15 losses
As we move up this list, the records will start to yield what you would assume would be the top of the top in AEW. Hence why they keep getting featured in these opening matches. However, there are two sides to every match. And someone has to lose. Trent is part of a stable that is know for its lovable losers. Guys that heels just want to ruin so you can feel sad and want them to get their wins back later in a different show's main event. From the very beginning, that was Best Friends, losing on episode 3. But you wonder, shouldn't Trent's tag team partner be up here too? Well, Chuck wasn't always Trent's partner. And later in the run, Trent struck out on his own to be a devious singles guy. But, face or heel, as of this writing, Trent has the dubious distinction of owning the most losses by anyone in a opening match slot on Dynamite.
9. Dax Harwood- 19 matches: 9 wins, 9 losses, 1 time limit draw
I know what you're thinking. Brian, it's another tag team guy. Why aren't you listing Cash Wheeler with Dax? Well, Uncle Dax took on a few solo missions, battling the likes of CM Punk, Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Cash himself. The FTR internal battle was Cash's only singles appearance to start a show. Guess we know which half of the Top Guys Tony Khan feels more strongly about...
8. Rey Fenix- 19 matches: 10 wins, 9 losses
Another member of a tag team, and also a trio, but also Fenix was, for a time, the All Atlantic/International Champion. As a result, he had a few more matches to his start-of-the show card compared to Penta or PAC. Rey is also considered a reliable hand to go against some of the other guys on this list who perform at a high degree of difficulty.
7. Bryan Danielson- 19 matches: 16 wins, 2 losses, 1 time limit draw
The intriguing thing about Bryan Danielson is that while he has as many matches to start a show as Fenix and Dax, he's had far less time to do it in. Fenix is an AEW lifer and his first show opener was episode 4. FTR debuted on Dax's first show opener on episode 36. Meanwhile, Danielson first arrived in AEW at All Out 2021 and had his first match as a show starter where he wrestled Kenny Omega to a 30 minute draw on episode 103. That's a lot of opening matches in 2 less years. And speaking of his first opponent...
6. Kenny Omega- 20 matches: 15 wins, 4 losses, 1 time limit draw
Kenny by-God Omega. What a bout machine this guy is. And to think, he had a few stretches where he was the main event. And some even longer stretches for the first time in his career where he didn't wrestle at all due to injury. So, to still garner 20 openers is an accomplishment. He did 7 within the first 26 episodes, but then spaced out his appearances after that. A good EVP knows when to start booking up-and-coming talent instead of themselves.
5. Matthew Jackson- 25 matches: 16 wins, 9 losses
Speaking of EVPs, here's Matthew Jackson (yes, I will be using their God-given names, thank you). And much like the previously mentioned entrants, you're probably wondering, where is Matthew's tag team partner? But unlike everyone else on this list, we'll get to that. Matthew has competed in 25 Dynamite starters. His first, a tag team loss all the way back on episode 2. Most recently, he did the opening honors on episode 201. It's been more sparse lately, but in the early stages, there was Young Bucks match to start the show about every 5-10 episodes. But there was one time Matthew worked solo against Rey Fenix. He lost. And his tag team partner for all those other matches, you ask?
4. Nicholas Jackson- 26 matches: 16 wins, 10 losses
Everything mentioned about Matthew, also can be applied to Nicholas. Episode 2 to 201. All 16 wins were together. 8 losses together. But what about that extra loss Nicholas has? Another singles match. And you'll never guess. Nope, not sibling rivalry. It's Rey Fenix. Both times. So, in singles action, the Young Bucks are collectively 0-3 against Fenix. I wonder how they feel about that. Now we move to the top 3. Heavy-hitter time. And frankly, two of the three reasons I got interested in researching this in the first place.
3. Jon Moxley- 29 matches: 27 wins, 1 loss, 1 time limit draw
I'll be honest. This intrigue really started with All Atlantic/International title as well as the Continental Classic. I began to notice "Wild Thing" play a lot to start a show and see Mox swagger through the crowd. And don't get me wrong. I love it. Big Moxley guy. But I thought to myself, 'Mox sure does start the show a lot. It helps pop the crowd'. If I had put bets on who was going to be number one before actually doing the research, I'd have lost a lot of money pushing it onto the Jon Moxley square. Also, Mox just doesn't lose. He's got a win in 27 of his 29 matches. His one time limit draw just happened a few weeks ago with Claudio as a tag team against FTR. And his only loss was to Hangman Adam Page. Neither blemishes are anything to be embarrassed about. Mox's 27 wins are currently the most in a show opener. Long may he reign. Now, we're going to skip number two because...
1a&b. Orange Cassidy and 'Hangman' Adam Page- 32 matches: 23 wins, 9 losses
These two crazy kids have, as of now, the exact same number of show starters and wins and losses. They only faced each other once, and that was a Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royale. There was a lot of Cowboy Shit in the early days, as the Hanger wracked up 21 of his showings within the first 100 episodes. Cassidy, meanwhile, only actively participated in 3 matches in the first 100 shows. Orange does most of his damage between episodes 164 and 222, featuring in 20 starting matches, mostly owing to his 'anyone, anywhere' mentality while holding the All Atlantic/International Title. We heard "Jane" to start a show 5 straight weeks from episodes 176-181. The Hangman hasn't started a show since episode 227 or worked a match at all since Revolution in March. Meanwhile, the piece of fruit locked up with former Best Friend Trent just two weeks ago. Will the orange one pull ahead soon? If Tony Khan stays on brand, yes.
Intriguing Odds and Ends
Cody (he hadn't gotten Rhodes back from WWE yet) defeated Sammy Guevara on the first match on the first ever episode on Dynamite. The last time Cody worked the first match on a Dynamite, was his last match in the company. And of course because Cody loves the lore, he dropped the TNT Championship to...that's right, Sammy Guevara, on his way out the door.
Adam Cole is the only person to have double digit appearances and has never lost. His current record is 9 and 0 plus one time limit draw.
These people appeared less than 10 times but were undefeated in openers:
8- CM Punk
3- Malakai Black, Kyle O'Reilly, Samoa Joe
2- Britt Baker, Sting
1- Mr. Brodie Lee, Nine, Jade Cargill, Shaq, Doc Gallows, Billy Gunn, Jamie Hayter, Kazuchika Okada, Julia Hart
Jade Cargill and Red Velvet were the first women to be included in an opening match on Dynamite. It was an inter-gender tag match that happened on episode 74. The match saw Jade and Shaquille O'Neal defeat Red Velvet and Cody.
The first and only show-starting match featuring all women was a tag match on episode 185. That match featured Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter defeating Ruby Soho and Toni Storm.
The only other opening matches to feature women are inter-gender tags as Britt Baker and Adam Cole defeated Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander on episode 120. Congratulations to Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., you hold the record for most appearances as well as most wins, for a woman: 2. And Brody King and Julia Hart defeating Adam Copeland and Willow Nightingale recently on episode 237.
36 people have only ever competed once on the opening match of Dynamite. Only 9 of those got a win.
A total of 138 different people have appeared in matches over the 241 episodes. 57 of them have never had a win. That's 41% of combatants with zeroes in the win column. The Butcher, The Blade, Angelico, Matt Sydal, and most surprisingly, Daniel Garcia have all made 6 appearances without a win.
Some combination of members of the Elite (including Cody) featured in 51 of the first 100 episodes.
Wrapping up, what does it all mean? Obviously, booking patterns can change, but to this point, Tony Khan has some guys that he trusts a lot. Some of them happen to be EVPs. And some guys that he really feels like he needs to protect. And a lot of people are willing to do a job if it means exposure at the beginning of a show. But most importantly, he knows that if you want to start a show off on the right foot and get the crowd jumping, the best move is to play "Jane", "Ghost Town Triumph", or "Wild Thing".
