AEW Dynamite came to us from a very historic wrestling city this week, Atlanta, Georgia. With one of the most stacked cards yet on TNT and their next pay-per-view just 10 days away, let’s dive right in and see what AEW brought us.
Tag Team Contendership Battle Royal
As per usual with AEW, they kicked off Dynamite with a fast paced, tag team fracus. Everyone started outside the ring, and entered simultaneously to kick off the action. Both team members had to be eliminated for the team to be out, and the winner would go on to face the Tag Team Champions at Revolution. This was pretty good action throughout, and it told a few stories. The Dark Order infomercial guy was out in the crowd, telling SCU that Daniels wasn’t there for them. This allowed Silver and Reynolds to take them out and progress their feud. It seemed like Raven was sitting in the crowd as Scorpio Sky went to attack Dark Order. This may just be an Easter egg to wink at fans, but Raven is one of the greatest minds in wrestling history and I’d LOVE to see him as an executive/speaker in the group. One of the Bucks outlasted Santana and Ortiz to win the match. My only gripe here is that Bucks vs. Omega and Page has been telegraphed for weeks, making tonight’s tag team results too obvious. But the content was good here.
Kris Statlander vs. Shanna
This was a “climb the rankings” type of showcase for two of AEW’s best women’s division wrestlers. Britt Baker was on commentary, which was good in theory. But her microphone was lower than the others and she wasn’t always speaking directly into it, so she was extremely hard to hear most of the time. Her bits with Tony Schiavone are tremendous, but this was wasted due to bad audio. Jim Ross was out of his mind in this match, talking about cake and dismissing Statlander’s character. The match itself was pretty solid, and the physicality was nice. I didn’t care for the “boop-off” spot, where each lady tried to touch the others’ nose. Statlander wins with the Big Bang Theory. I’d like to see more of these two.
Nyla Rose was out for a promo with Tony Schiavone. Rose showed a lot of intensity and volume in her promo, something that’s missing in modern wrestling. She came off like an intimidating 80’s heel here who was out for blood. Statlander and Big Swole came out, to tease some potential matches between some of AEW’s powerhouse ladies. I don’t know if they’ll go to Statlander as the challenger for Revolution, or if they’re bound by the rematch clause stipulation for Riho.
Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb
Tazz was out for commentary, and although it was done without fanfare, he was the perfect fit to call this match. It’s so great being able to see Jeff Cobb on a national stage. Cobb is currently working in NJPW, ROH, and Defy Wrestling, along with others. These two worked a very physical, well built match. Moxley went for the quickness approach and was mowed down by Cobb’s hard strikes and suplex array. So then Moxley used the tried-but-true method of taking out the legs of the bigger opponent, which made him bust out counters and submissions we hadn’t seen before. Moxley countered a second rope superplex into a roll up for the win. This was excellent and I hope AEW can lock Cobb into a full time deal. Jericho and the Inner Circle ran in to jump Moxley. Dustin Rhodes ran out to make the save and started brawling with Jake Hager. Darby Allin made his big return to a nice pop, and hit the ring to attack Sammy Guevara. The faces ran off Jericho’s crew as we get set for three big singles matches at Revolution. This whole segment showed depth in the roster and showcased multiple feuds at once.
Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. The Lucha Bros
I don’t want to be a downer here, but I don’t see why this match was made. Omega/Page are clearly on a collision course with The Young Bucks, they just defended their belts last week, and Lucha Bros haven’t gotten any big wins in quite a while. In spite of the lack of build, the Atlanta crowd was red hot for this match. This may have been the best Dynamite crowd yet, and this match was its peak. This wasn’t my personal style, as spots and near-falls took the place of story and psychology. Page and Omega won with the Buckshot Lariat/V-Trigger combination. The Bucks came down after and Page fought with them over who would help a prone Omega to his feet. Page continues to distance himself as he leaves through the crowd. It’ll be interesting to see how long they can continue to prolong the dysfunction between Page and the Elite without switching the titles.
We see a package announcing that AEW has struck a deal with Wicked Cool Toys, and they announced the launch of the first ever AEW wrestling figure line. Seemingly included are Cody, Kenny, the Bucks, Jericho, and Brandi. It’s very nice to see the continued expansion of AEW merchandise and potential revenue streams.
Cody vs. Wardlow- Cage Match
Almost everything Cody does feels like a spectacle involving a superstar. This first ever AEW cage match was a very good one. Wardlow is the total package, an athletic powerhouse from the International Wrestling Cartel in Pittsburgh. This was another physical, old school style match (a theme for the night). Wardlow used the cage in creatively punishing ways, and Cody worked for every blow to slowly take the big man down. They did a great job protecting Wardlow while gaining sympathy on Cody (who was bleeding buckets, ala Ric Flair). They did a nice callback spot to Arn Anderson slamming the cage door on Dusty Rhodes, teasing to slam it on his son, while ending up flooring MJF with it. Cody gets the valiant win with a moonsault off the top of the cage.
A lot of people (myself included) thought last week’s show was one of the best Dynamite episodes yet. This one was right up there next to it. They only had five matches tonight, and each of them was given time and focus. The work was physical (there’s that word again) and the two main feuds are being built to a fever pitch. This show had no wasted motion and protected most of its roster. I hope next week’s “go home” show is as strong as the last two.
