Episode 57 of AEW Dynamite was the “go home” show before this Saturday’s Full Gear PPV. With the crowd louder than they’ve been in quite a while and Chris Jericho on commentary, let’s jump right into it.
MJF/Wardlow vs. Ortiz/Sammy Guevara
Before the match, we saw a backstage showdown between the Inner Circle and MJF/Wardlow. Jericho said that MJF can’t be in his group because MJF is soft and lacked killer instinct. The promo was very solid, and the match was also quite good. It seemed the Inner Circle was working more babyface style here. Wardlow looks crisp and dominant in his power offense and brawling. This match is the Guevara show, as Sammy gets the hot-tag and flies around with an agile display of dives. MJF gets the tapout win over Ortiz with the Salt of the Earth. MJF spears Jericho on the set after the match, and Jericho smiles. Jericho seems to be wanting to get more fire from MJF, and I liked the serious tone of this feud way more than the past several weeks of cheesy theatrics.
Tony Schiavone did an on-location interview with Kenny Omega, and Omega says his history with tournaments makes him the favorite against Adam Page. Omega lacks any real direction or conviction in his promos, but he made some valid points here for why he could win on Saturday.
Trent vs. Miro
Miro got the mic before the match, and was about to mention Trent’s mom when Trent attacked. The match was more of a showcase for Miro than anything, and when AEW is serious about him, he’s an absolute star. His combination of moves and intensity shows how much he deserves to be booked as a serious bruiser. The match went too long, and forced Miro to sell a bit too much for a comedy tag team wrestler. During picture-in-picture, Orange Cassidy did comedy stuff with Penelope, and then Dark Order came out and attacked. Overbooked and poorly paced stuff here, but Miro wins with the Game Over submission.
Jim Ross does an on-location promo with Adam Page, and continues to admonish Page for drinking. Page does a convincing job of seeming drunk and lost, while also conveying that he’s nervous about the match. He says he hasn’t been this close to the World Title since he first started in AEW. It felt like a range of emotions, but also came off like a PSA for moderation in drinking. Strange tone to this, but again, the Page and Omega history really helps this upcoming match.
We get a Young Bucks/FTR package, and this happened a few times on this show. These packages are a major strength of AEW, as they show continuity and give predictions about the match from important figures. They did a great job here of making this (at least) feel like the two best teams in the world would be facing off at Full Gear.
Taz comes out for a promo with Cage and Starks, and he makes it feel like a shoot promo. He says he can’t get any of Tony Kahn’s time in the back, as Kahn is only dealing with people who are on this Saturday’s PPV. He says the ranking system must be crap because Cage is #1 and has no match Saturday. Starks also says he’s made the most of every opportunity. Taz calls out Darby and Cody, and says we will see his team make an impact at Full Gear. They’ll likely be involved at the finish of the TNT Title match. Great promo.
Private Party vs. Young Bucks
This was a tune-up win for the Bucks before their match on the PPV. They told the story of Matt Jackson having a very hurt knee, which he sold well in between his barrage of moves. This was a spotfest, and it went too long, but it had some nice athletic flips. Kassidy looked really good tonight, but the Bucks win with the BTE Trigger. FTR attacks them after the match, but Page and Omega come out to help their old friends from getting further hurt. Nice tie-ins with the aftermath stuff, and the injury might give the Bucks an excuse to lose at the PPV.
Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley were out for a face-to-face, but they weren’t allowed to get violent, or the match would be off. Kingson starts off by saying he had to become what he hated to get to the next level, and now he has to be the champion. Moxley says Kingston wasn’t loyal to him, and that he promised Kingston’s mom he’d always look after him. These two were nose to nose, until Kingston turned around to avoid getting physical. It was intense, real, emotional, and gripping. They called back to their real life friendship in the indies, and built this match up on a pedestal of depth and emotion. This was one of the best segments in AEW history, and it accomplished making me pumped for this match at Full Gear. Stuff like this is why I love wrestling.
We got a Pac video for the first time in months, and it seems he’s going insane from missed opportunities and isolation. This was creepy, quick, and well shot. I wanted more, but it’s great to see Pac back on our screens.
Natural Nightmares are backstage, but Allie comes up and tells QT Marshall that his credit cards are maxed out. Butcher and Blade attack them intensely with weapons. These two teams are facing off next week, and this was a nice piece of heat for it, even though AEW has done a terrible job explaining this feud.
Nyla Rose vs. Red Velvet
Velvet has been teaming with Brandi on Dark lately, so it seems we’ll be seeing more of her. This was a quick squash for Rose, who hasn’t really wrestled on this show in a long time. Rose hits the Beast Bomb, but pulls Velvet up to hit Shida’s running knee for the win. Afterword, Vickie Guerrero gets the mic and tells Shida (who’s at ringside) that she’ll lose at Full Gear. Shida grabs Vickie, and Nyla brawls with Shida. This was basic but it got the point across.
We got another package on the history of Page and Omega. Again, this told a great story of their former friendship and made the match feel more important.
We got another black and white Darby Allin package, of him breaking into a car and running himself over with a Cody mask on. These were unique at first, now they’re repetitive and tiresome, and aren’t really adding anything to Darby’s feuds. It’s time to let Darby speak.
Ten/Colt Cabana/Jon Silver vs. Gunn Club/Cody
What a random and weird main event to end a busy show. We haven’t seen most of these guys on Dynamite ever (Gunn Club, Ten), and the ones we have seen, always lose (Colt, Silver). The announcers said that Cody has now let Lee Johnson and the Gunn Club into the Nightmare Family. What a lazy and nonsensical piece of booking there. The match itself is fine, as Austin Gunn wins with his father’s old hip toss into a suplex. Cody cuts a promo on Darby, who’s watching in the rafters (like Sting used to do). Cody says Darby lies about TNT not wanting him to be the face of the brand. But Cody says he’s the face of the brand. Cody’s promo has passion and fire, as per usual. This was still a very odd choice to end the show with this instead of the opening match or the Moxley/Kingston promo.
Overall, this delivered very well for its mission statement. It focused heavily on the matches for Full Gear in a serious way, and used a nice mix of matches/promos/packages to hype them up. This show packed in a lot of segments with meaning behind them, and the tone was far more serious than it’s been over the past month. I’d like more of this type of AEW over what we’ve been seeing lately. I’ll be back Sunday morning with a Full Gear review. Enjoy the show, everyone!
