AEW Dynamite on TNT is officially four months old, as episode 16 came to us from the Jericho Cruise. Straight from a ship in the Bahamas, we got to see an outdoor set for the first time since weekly TV began. It had the look of the old WCW Spring Break shows at Club La Vela, and it was extremely windy. The crowd seemed to fill the limited space, but the open-air setting made the sound travel, and at times seem faint. With our announcers in Hawaiin shirts and JR without a hat, let’s get to the action.
SCU vs. Adam Page/Kenny Omega- Tag Team Titles
The guardrails are very close to the ring in this setup, so for the first time on an AEW show, we didn’t get a dozen dives to the outside. The arena encumbered the style, in a very good way. Less is more in wrestling matches, and this match benefited from it. Omega in particular was very good here. I get on him a lot about his facials and his theatrical staged style, but his work tonight was very crisp and he added a lot to his offensive arsenal. Page accidentally hit Omega with a Buckshot Lariat, but it didn’t cost them the win. He hit a pair of them on SCU, and got the pin to win the Tag Team Titles, as we get our first AEW title change. They continued the story of the discontentment of Page in a good match here, but more on Page later. Them having the titles adds another wrinkle and extends the element of time for Page to fall further from grace.
Priscilla Kelly vs. Britt Baker
This is Kelly’s AEW singles debut, even though she was in the battle royal when the company was first starting out. Priscilla Kelly is the wife of Darby Allin, and has made herself known from WWE’s Mae Young Classic, and Evolve promotion. She also used a feminine hygiene product as a weapon once at a Bar Wrestling show, but that’s a story for another time. This match felt a bit like it moved in clay. It wasn’t bad per se, it was just a bit slow and choppy. Kelly is much like Baker, in that she has excellent presence and a marketable look, but the ring-work just isn’t always as consistent or polished as you’d like. Baker kicks off the ropes and makes Kelly tap with the Lockjaw.
After the match, Tony Schiavone comes down and says Baker used questionable tactics to win, and this allowed the dentist to go full-on into her heel turn. She actually cut probably her best promo to date, as she says she’s glad Tony is in AEW, because before this, he was a just a “sh*tty barista at Starbucks”. Her cocky side really came through, but they oddly cut right to a commercial in the middle of her speech. Very strange, they must have timed the segment wrong backstage.
Jurassic Express vs. Chris Jericho/Santana/Ortiz
I like the little thread of a mini-feud between Inner Circle and Jurassic Express. Jericho also has a small thing going with Darby Allin, who he’ll be opposing in another 6 man tag next week. This was a decent match that took a while to get going. Jungle Boy spent most of this match taking a beating, which he does very well. Santana has a lot of personality and continues to find ways to be funny and over-the-top without taking away from his ring work. The Express had some really nice 3 man teamwork, even in the way they used Marko in this one. Jake Hager interferes with Luchasaurus, and then Luchasaurus goes out after Hager. Jericho pins Marko with the Judas Effect. The crowd sings Jericho’s song before and after the match, and it really makes him feel like an even bigger star. I hope we get Hager vs. Luchasaurus at Revolution.
They show a quick recap of the MJF/Cody feud with all of MJF’s stipulations.
MJF vs. Joey Janela
Janela is coming off a singles win against Fenix that’s up on YouTube right now. They did a lot of chain wrestling early and the counters are pretty smooth. This kinda felt like a throw-away match that Janela never had a chance to win, and it was more of a backdrop for the MJF/Cody program. Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford come out to make-out on stage and distract “The Bad Boy”, and MJF wins with the Double Cross.
After the match, MJF says he’s the “last chapter” in Cody’s story. Cody comes out and MJF doesn’t back down, since one of the stipulations says if Cody touches MJF before Revolution, their match is off. With MJF having the leverage, he is free to drop the mic and kick it away from Cody. He leaves the ring and Cody admits he can’t hit MJF, but the Young Bucks can. They double superkick MJF and decide to toss him in the pool. The second I heard there was a pool on his set, I wondered who would go into it. Good segment here.
Omega and Page have a backstage segment with Tony Schiavone, and they did some nice character work here. Page is drinking again, and both Tony and Omega seem quick and uncomfortable when he has the mic. The more they ignore Page, the more he gets flustered and despondent. The Bucks show up, and Page says he’s shocked that he and Omega won the tag belts before they did. Dissension continues to brew in the Elite.
Jon Moxley vs. Pac
This main event is a number one contendership match, where the winner gets a shot at Chris Jericho for the World Title at Revolution. Jericho is at ringside for commentary, and he always adds a lot of heel color to the broadcast. This is a re-match from the episode in Pittsburgh, and their chemistry here is just as good as it was there. They combined brawling, high impact moves, and the psychology of working with Moxley’s injured eye. This was easily the match of the night. The crowd kept swearing, causing TNT to mute the audio every few seconds. Moxley overcame all of Pac’s masterful eye-work and won the match with the Paradigm Shift. Moxley vs. Jericho at Revolution should be great.
Overall, this episode was solid, if not slightly run-of-the-mill. They had a big contendership match and a tag title switch, but the rest of the matches felt obvious and inconsequential. They were limited by their space in both the ring-work and the backstage aspects, but the ship added a fresh and unique feel to the show too. While this may not be one of the best episodes yet, it did create some moments as it progressed toward their next pay-per-view.
