Week six of AEW Dynamite promised to be a stacked episode. They were coming off of their best television outing yet, blending matches and promos masterfully last week. The “go home” episode aired just three days before their next big PPV Full Gear. This show came to us from “Ric Flair country”, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Let’s get to the action.
Pac vs. Trent
This show kicked off with a hot match as “The Bastard” took on one half of the Best Friends. Trent has always been an underrated athlete, and this match showcased why WWE once thought of Trent as a singles wrestler. He could have a breakout solo run down the road, and he hung with Pac nicely here. Pac used his physicality to gain the advantage on the outside, but they gave Trent quite a bit of offense. Pac hit the Black Arrow for what should’ve been three, but the referee mistakenly pulled up on the count. So Pac used his Regal Stretch for the pass-out win instead.
Next up we got what was probably the best segment of the show. Cody came out and was interviewed by Tony Schiavone. This was an intense, passionate promo that contained a lot of realism. Cody talked about past wrestlers who also booked their own territories, and the stigma that he doesn’t deserve this World Title shot. He said if he loses to Jericho at Full Gear, he’ll never challenge for the AEW World Title again. He said that the Elite will eat the Inner Circle alive. These masterful promos are the perfect way to sell tickets to big-time matches.
Dark Order vs. Private Party
These two teams faced off in a “bronze medal” match, meaning the winners would be considered third place in the tournament, and would join the match at Full Gear for the Tag Team Titles. This feels extremely rushed to me. I totally understand having a rematch between the Lucha Bros and SCU, but either of these teams could challenge the winners a month or two from now instead of burning through contenders so quickly. The match was more of the usual fare in AEW’s tag division: a high-octane, fun, spotfest. Dark Order continues to add to their offensive arsenal, and Private Party is so unbelievably smooth in the ring. These teams matched up well, and Private Party got the win with their “Gin And Juice” combo. SCU now defends the Tag Titles in a triple threat this Saturday against The Lucha Bros and Private Party.
They cut to a vignette where they hyped up the legend of Chris Jericho. This was a well-done, mostly comedic bit. Sammy Guevara shined in sarcastic timing, Jake Hager was shown multiple times to say nothing, and an older lady (labeled as “one of Jericho’s sisters friends” or something equally silly) talked about knowing Jericho in school. This was absurd and fit the character in all the best ways.
Emi Sakura/Jamie Hayter vs. Shanna/Riho
It’s really nice to see AEW giving more time to undercard acts Hayter and Shanna, who each impressed in their solo efforts in the last two weeks. Hayter is showing a lot of heel presence to the crowd, and Shanna has quite a deep athletic offensive attack. The commentators announced that Riho will be defending the Women’s Title against Sakura at Full Gear. There’s no real feud or build for that match, other than the fact that Sakura helped train and mentor Riho. This tag match was a solid physical encounter, with Sakura pinning the champion with a roll up.
We cut to a Brandi promo as she sits devilishly in a lavish chair with a glass of wine. Brandi is legitimately one of the best talkers in AEW. She has a huge vocabulary and chains her metaphors together with conviction. She’s so natural in the entitled schemer role. She says she’s been overlooked, and with her brains and Kong’s body, they are unstoppable. Great stuff.
Shawn Spears vs. Brandon Cutler
This was a really nice clash of styles, showcasing Cutler’s athleticism versus Spears’ aggression. Cutler hit a few inside-out moves, and Spears regained control once the fight went to the floor. This was a vehicle to get the underrated Spears a much needed win, and it did its job. Spears wins with the Death Valley Driver, even though the referee pulled up on the count before three (again). Spears went for a second DVD on a chair, but Joey Janela ran out to stop the attack. Spears attacked Janela this week on AEW Dark, and these two should be a solid fit for a feud.
They ran a smooth Moxley/Omega package hyping their match at Full Gear. They inter-spliced the old footage of the two fighting with new soundbites. AEW has done a great job building their top feuds for the PPV, maybe none more so than this match.
Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara
This main event pitted the Elite against the Inner Circle. It was nice to have a big match feel here without letting your top feuds have a match against each other. This started with chain wrestling and built naturally into a free-for-all. Guevara is so naturally dislikeable in persona, while being so athletically gifted all at once. Omega was especially fluid in this match. Pac runs out to hit Page, so Jericho can pin Page with the Judas Effect.
After the match, all hell breaks loose. Cody comes down to fight Jericho. Moxley comes through the crowd to confront Omega. Proud and Powerful interrupt their showdown, then the Young Bucks run out to attack Santana and Ortiz. Nick Jackson eventually does a flip of of one of the pillars on the stage, and we go off the air as everyone is brawling. This made sense here and did a nice job capturing the big feuds, but it didn’t have nearly as much luster since they’ve done this finish three times in the first six weeks.
Overall, this was another great show. For two weeks straight now, they’ve combined a nice use of matches, promos, and vignettes. They still need to put more work into setting up TV matches, and also not burning through things too quickly, but they seem to be hitting a peak as storytellers. Full Gear should be an awesome show.
