By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Title: A terrific feel good main event finish with Allin capturing the TNT Championship in his hometown. Seattle was one of AEW’s best live crowds to date. The fans were hot for damn near everything in AEW’s first appearance in the city, and it was cool to see them rewarded with a hometown hero winning a championship to close the show. I love that it was a straight forward match to the point that Sting didn’t even appear in Allin’s corner. With Tony Khan previously indicating that they needed to get through Wrestle Kingdom before announcing details about ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling working together on the HonorClub streaming service, I wonder if Joe dropped the title because he will end up being featured as an ROH regular given that he still holds the ROH TV Title.
Ricky Starks vs. Chris Jericho: A momentum building victory for Starks, who has emerged in recent weeks as one of the promotion’s top babyfaces. Jericho has lost three matches in a row and they are obviously telling a story. I wonder if it will lead to the end of the Jericho Appreciation Society and perhaps another babyface run for Jericho. I liked the added touch of having Action Andretti wear makeup to sell the fireball. The company hasn’t been good about making fireballs feel as dangerous as they should, so this was a step in the right direction.
Bryan Danielson and MJF: Danielson making quick work of Tony Nese was predictable and a bit underwhelming for his first AEW match in his home state, but they followed it up with a good verbal segment. Danielson cracking jokes about MJF’s mother was good fun, and they did a good job of setting the stage the Iron Man match at AEW Revolution. MJF seems out to prove that he’s more than just a great talker, and working with Danielson typically guarantees a high quality match. Iron Man matches are tricky, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
“The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal for the AEW Tag Team Titles: A fun television match with a solid false finish. I’m not big on referees calling what they don’t see, but at least the actual referee was convinced by a second referee to restart the match. I would have no desire to see these teams work a pay-per-view program, but I like the way they’ve kept this going on television for weeks and will get another match out of it on Friday.
Swerve Strickland vs. AR Fox: A solid match as Strickland continues to be spotlighted. I still wish we knew something about the Fox character in AEW, but Strickland is off to a strong start as a singles heel.
AEW Dynamite Misses
New Look hype: The new stage looks great and I like the new backstage set. Even so, it felt overhyped in that these changes just didn’t live up to the billing of this is somehow being a new era for AEW. By the way, don’t let the Hit/Miss count mislead you. There were a few mostly minor things that didn’t click, but this was a good episode with a phenomenal live crowd.
Hangman Page and Jon Moxley: The tension between the two was strong and it was good to hear Page did his best to explain that he’s not upset with Moxley for knocking him out with a legal move during a pro wrestling match. The Miss is for the seemingly needless confusion that the company has created regarding Page still needing to receive medical clearance in order to get the match with Moxley, only to just outright advertise Page vs. Moxley for next week later in the evening. It felt like Page could have just announced last night that he’s medically cleared so the match will take place next week to avoid any confusion.
Jade Cargill and Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue and Kiera Hogan: The booking of Cargill and the Baddies continues to be a hot mess. Cargill kicked Hogan out of the group without explanation, which somehow turned Hogan into a babyface. And now Cargill and Velvet are having issues for reasons that are unclear. It’s hard to tell whether fans are supposed to side with Cargill or Velvet, and I have no idea how any of this explains Skye Blue getting a title shot against Cargill on the Battle of the Belts V show.
Saraya chooses Toni Storm: Perhaps this will make more sense next week, but it seemed odd that Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker endorsed Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida out of nowhere, and then Saraya awkwardly insulted Shida by choosing Storm to be her partner later in the show. None of this left me anxious to see the match as much as it left me confused about how to feel about the Saraya character.
“A terrific feel good main event finish”
The absolute shits and a completely fucking indefensible booking decision.
>By the way, don’t let the Hit/Miss count mislead you. There were a few mostly minor things that didn’t click, but this was a good episode with a phenomenal live crowd.<
Um….well then you shouldn't have ones that aren't misses in the miss section…
Angry Mike, the expert on how I should write Hit Lists. Never change.