Episode 58 of AEW Dynamite was back at us from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, and it was coming off of their successful PPV, Full Gear. On the back of a major event and a multi video game announcement, they also had a new intro video for the show. Let’s jump right into the Full Gear fallout show.
We opened with a Taz promo, saying that his stable will beat Darby for the TNT Title at some point. This promo was a little more meandering than Taz’s normal work, as he spent a lot of time praising and comparing Matt Sydal and Darby Allin. It almost felt like AEW was trying to explain who Sydal was, since they’ve only featured him on one or two Dynamite episodes.
Brian Cage vs. Matt Sydal
This was a natural clash of styles, and it truly played to both men’s strengths. Cage was able to toss around the smaller man, and Sydal was able to sell and use his quickness and strikes to evade the stronger opponent. Sydal’s strategy felt a bit strange here, and he went to a ton of kicks to Cage’s beefy upper body instead of focusing solely on grounding the bigger man. Even still, it was a solid opener, and Sydal should be signed to a contract. Cage won with a beautiful dive counter into a Drill-claw. After the match, Ricky Starks said that Team Taz will have an even bigger impact on the show.
Cody came out for a promo next, and he mentioned that he wanted to go after a rematch with MJF. Suddenly a woman came out to confront him. Her name is Jade Cargill, and I honestly don’t know anything about her. She took a long winded way of saying that she’s never been given an opportunity, and made some insinuations about Cody. It came across oddly sexual, but Jade has some good size and charisma. Brandi came out on stage and got fiercely in Jade’s face, and defended her husband. The segment felt entirely out of place and unexplained, until Jade mentioned she has a giant named Shaq. They’re referring to longtime wrestling fan/former NBA star/current TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal. It’ll be interesting to see how this all ties together. Cage and Starks came out to attack Cody, Darby made the save, and Will Hobbs came out (very late) at the end. Overbooked for sure, but there are some solid threads here.
Jon Moxley cuts a promo about how he refuses to quit, citing what the AEW Title means to him, and to wrestling. He says he beat Omega in a war before, and if anyone can do it again, it’s him. Moxley always gets to his points, and he has an affinity for making the most out of the soundbytes he’s given.
Butcher/Blade vs. Natural Nightmares
This was AEW’s first ever Bunkhouse match, which is an old Dusty Rhodes NWA creation. It’s essentially another No DQ match, with a few haystacks and southern staples thrown in. This was better than expected for an undercard tag team feud. They used Bunny well as she attacked QT Marshall with viciousness, and both QT and Blade bled buckets. This was a fun brawl that took this feud to a nice crescendo. QT Marshall got the pin on Blade, and caused Blade to knock Bunny through a table. With the revenge firmly complete, I’d assume that this is the end of the feud. I’d like to see Dustin back in a higher profile situation.
We got the MJF/Wardlow induction into the Inner Circle next. Jericho brings out his group, but Ortiz is really stern and Sammy Guevara is absent. MJF comes out and says that he’s worked hard for this, and he and Jericho agree that MJF will help take the group to new heights. Ortiz says that MJF doesn’t belong here, and I really love how serious Ortiz has been in this angle. He’s showing a deeper side of his character that’s been one of the more underrated aspects of these segments. MJF says he bought the group tickets to Vegas, and they’re going to party next week. Basic, but really solid stuff here.
The Young Bucks are backstage with Alex Marvez, and they say there will be a rematch with FTR at some point. They say they’re going to face some new blood next week, as they take on a young team with potential, Top Flight. Top Flight won their debut on AEW Dark last night, and they are an athletic pair of brothers who also seem to do a lot of complex high-flying. It’s always good to see fresh faces getting some spotlight.
Scorpio Sky vs. Shawn Spears
This undercard feud of two underrated talents would’ve been better served as a match on Full Gear, but I’m glad it got some time to develop on this show. These two guys have all the tools, and they delivered a solid and smooth match here. Spears has a natural heel charisma and Sky has one of the hotter babyface comebacks on the roster. Tully Blanchard distracted Sky, and Spears clocked him with the loaded glove to get the win. I’m glad this feud will continue.
Kenny Omega walked out on his promo with Dasha Gonzalez, but he was caught up to by Alex Marvez. He’s on the phone with someone, and then says his previous match with Moxley doesn’t count because it was unsanctioned. He says he’s back to being the Cleaner again and he’s ready for the responsibility of being world champ. The verbiage was okay here, but the interview setup itself was very strange.
Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet
We haven’t seen Tay Conti on Dynamite since after the day she was signed, and that’s a huge injustice to her. Conti comes out with her friend Anna Jay, and Velvet comes out with a flustered Brandi. The story of this match is the ponderence of whether or not Conti will join the evil Dark Order faction. These two had a heck of a match here, as Velvet shined with athletic counter-wrestling early, and Conti looked great with judo throws later. They got tired toward the end, but this was still very good work out of both ladies. Anna tossed in a chair to Conti, but she kicked it back out. Conti still won with a Gory Special into a knee, and Anna wasn’t too pleased. Dark Order watched from afar. This angle has potential.
MJF and the Inner Circle are backstage, and Sammy Guevara finally shows up. Sammy says MJF e-mailed him and told him to be at the beach. MJF swears he sent Sammy a second email that Sammy never got. MJF is clearly trying to cause issues between Guevara and the group.
Eddie Kingston cuts a quick promo about how he has to live with himself for quitting against Moxley at Full Gear. He says he’ll keep fighting on, and then joins commentary.
Rey Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr.
This main event has no reason or build to it at all, Kingston just says his guys “like to fight”. I wish AEW would’ve created more dissension between this team to give this match a reason. The two simply did a bunch of choreographed gymnastics, but the story here was on commentary. Tony Schiavone did a great job in pointing out the problems that these two have had since Kingston started running this group. Kingston clearly favored Pentagon on commentary and was against Fenix. Pentagon won after a few Package Piledrivers, and Kingston said Pentagon didn’t need Fenix anymore. He even kicked Fenix out of the ring. Pac’s music hit and he came out and said “The Bastard is back”. He looked jacked and intense, and it’s so nice to have him back on the show after the long pandemic travel ban. The two got into a pull apart brawl to end the show, and Kingston vs. Pac could be a money feud.
Overall, it’s the third week in a row where the positives far outweighed the negatives. The Omega/Bucks promo stuff was a bit weird, and the debut of Jade Cargill was completely out of left field. But on the positive side, Pac’s return and oncoming work with Kingston is a home run. The MJF/Inner Circle stuff has infinite possibilities, and it was one of the better nights of in-ring work that AEW has featured. Team Taz is in a great place, Conti has good character work ahead, and Sky/Spears can continue. AEW did a nice job of building on their Full Gear success here.
