One thing that separates All Elite Wrestling from its competition — including industry leader WWE — is the fact that the company generally only runs four pay-per-views per year. This means that AEW ends up putting a lot of quality matches on television rather than waiting until PPVs to deliver the goods.

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“The goods,” in this case, doesn’t just include title matches and epic encounters, but also some pretty big gimmick matches that would probably end up on PPV if AEW were running a monthly schedule. Let’s take a look at 10 of these gimmick matches that the promotion “gave away for free.”

10 Dog Collar Match: Mr. Brodie Lee vs. Cody Rhodes (AEW Dynamite, 10/7/2020)

On the August 2020 “Saturday Night Dynamite” episode of AEW Dynamite, Dark Order leader Mr. Brodie Lee scored a surprise win over TNT Champion Cody Rhodes, beating the champ in a mere three minutes and capturing the title in the process. This wasn’t the end of their feud however, as they’d meet in a more substantial rematch nearly two months later, with the added gimmick of the violent Dog Collar match. In the end, Cody would make up for their first encounter by not only delivering an epic, but winning back the belt.

9 Parking Lot Fight: Best Friends vs. Inner Circle (AEW Dynamite, 9/16/2020)

In pro wrestling, it’s fairly normal for an incident in a rivalry to escalate matters to violent gimmick match. That said, but it’s tough to imagine a more (intentionally) silly trespass than Santana and Ortiz of the Inner Circle trashing the minivan that Trent Beretta’s mother Sue used to drive him and the rest of the Best Friends to the arena. This necessitated a Parking Lot Fight between the two teams — Santana and Ortiz and Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor — and the bout exceeded expectations, earning praise from fans and critics alike.

8 Casino Battle Royale (AEW Dynamite, 6/8/2022)

Due to World Champion CM Punk sustaining an injury, AEW was forced to quickly put together a mini-tournament to determine an Interim World Champion to be determined at the NJPW-crossover show Forbidden Door. Part of that process included holding a Casino Battle Royale, conspicuously missing from the Double or Nothing 2022 card, but held for the first time — at least in the non tag team version — on Dynamite.

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This iteration of the 2022 men’s Casino Battle Royale was expectedly a fun affair with some exciting moments and twists, including the winner, Kyle O’Reilly, who’d thus bar in AEW been presented as a tag team specialist and henchman to Adam Cole.

7 30-Minute Iron Man Match: Kenny Omega vs. PAC (AEW Dynamite, 2/26/2020)

Kenny Omega and PAC ended 2019 with a 1-1 record against one another, including a banger of a match at All Out in August. Rather than wait for the next pay-per-view, however, their tie-breaker match would not only open up a late-February 2020 edition of Dynamite, but would escalate matters by being a 30-minute Iron Man match. The competitors would once again tie up 1-1 after the half hour elapsed, but a Hart/Michaels-esque overtime decision would lead to Kenny Omega getting the win.

6 Mixed Tag Team Match: Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet vs. Jade Cargill & Shaq (AEW Dynamite - The Crossroads, 3/3/2021)

Mixed tag team matches are fairly commonplace on weekly TV wrestling, but this one on a spring 2021 episode of Dynamite offered a matchup worthy of not only pay-per-view, but mainstream headlines. Taking on Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet (replacing a pregnant Brandi Rhodes) was the recently debuted Jade Cargill and a legitimate celebrity in NBA legend and pop culture stable Shaquille O’Neal. While nothing groundbreaking, the bout proved to be surprisingly fun — and table-breaking, thanks to Rhodes putting Shaq through one.

5 Bunkhouse Match: The Natural Nightmares vs. The Butcher & The Blade (AEW Dynamite, 11/11/2020)

While Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall taking on The Butcher and The Blade is the kind of matchup that screams “midcard,” the circumstances of their encounter did not. Rather than a traditional tag match, the two teams engaged in a Bunkhouse Match, the old Dusty Rhodes No DQ specialty. While only lasting 13 minutes, the bout proved to be violent in a very pleasingly old school kind of way, complete with the wrestlers wearing white so fans could really see the blood.

4 Lights Out Match: Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW Dynamite - St. Patrick Day’s Slam, 3/11/2021)

For 2019’s Full Gear, Kenny Omega took on Jon Moxley in a Lights Out Match, an “unsanctioned” No DQ affair that, in kayfabe, happened after the main event, implying that AEW wouldn’t be held responsible if somebody died in the process. AEW’s held a few Lights Out matches since, usually on pay-per-view, but opted to hold the first one featuring women on Dynamite’s special “St. Patrick’s Day Slam” episode.

RELATED: Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa & 9 Other Brutal Women's Matches

While the outcome isn’t “officially” reflected in anyone’s win-loss records, it was a tremendously bloody match that scored a huge (albeit non-title) win for Thunder Rosa over AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker.

3 South Beach Strap Match: Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall (AEW Dynamite - Road Rager, 7/7/2021)

No stranger to betrayal, in spring of 2021 Cody Rhodes once again had a trusted friend turn on him. This time it was QT Marshall, who broke off from the Nightmare Family, taking some of his trainees with him to form The Factory. When MJF betrayed Cody, their big blowoff match happened at Revolution, but this one happened on a summer 2021 episode of Dynamite, and was contested as a “South Beach Strap Match,” which Cody Rhodes ultimately won.

2 Arcade Anarchy: Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian & Miro (AEW Dynamite, 3/25/2021)

In the years since the promotion started up, AEW has presented a few freewheeling “street fight” style matches where mayhem was the name of the game and a pro wrestling ring was more of a suggestion, including PPV standouts like Stadium Stampede and Anarchy in the Arena. Best Friends’ feud with Miro and Kip Sabian involved Chuck Taylor becoming the bad guys’ butler, and required a suitably big match like the aforementioned. Their version was called Arcade Anarchy, and involved prop arcade consoles, a prize wall and both Kris Statlander and Trent Beretta return from injury via, respectively, a claw machine and Trent’s mom’s van.

1 Blood & Guts (AEW Dynamite - Blood & Guts, 5/5/2021)

Every good promotion needs a War Games. AEW heralded its own, called Blood & Guts, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed plans for a big Elite vs. Inner Circle encounter. Instead, Blood & Guts happened a year later, with the newly babyface Inner Circle taking on MJF’s Horsemen-esque Pinnacle faction. It was a huge match — certainly pay-per-view caliber, but it happened on an episode of Dynamite, ending with The Pinnacle getting a surprising win over the good guys.