Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Chris Jericho vs. Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Silas Young for the TNT Title, Orange Cassidy vs. Buddy Matthews for the AEW International Title, Riho and Skye Blue vs. Toni Storm and Ruby Soho, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

AEW Dynamite Hits

Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland: Dynamite opened with a very good bout. The outcome felt a little predictable because Allin is being set up for the Four Pillars match, but it still didn’t take much away from the match.

MJF, Darby Allin, and Sting: The opening match led into a terrific verbal exchange. Allin continues to shine when he gets the mic. Not every wrestler could talk about buying his parents a home and helping his father retire without it coming off like he’s patting himself on the back. Allin said it in a way that came off as endearing and natural rather than something he was using to put himself over. Sting came through with one of his better AEW promos while MJF delivered his usual excellent mic work. The company is building to a Four Pillars match and yet I find myself more interested in seeing MJF vs. Allin in a straight up singles match.

Orange Cassidy vs. Buddy Matthews for the AEW International Title: Cassidy’s streak of strong title defenses continues. He’s done everything he can to get the title over and now the company needs to do its part by explaining where it fits compared to the TNT Title. The story of Cassidy’s hand injury made this a more interesting match and it’s something that he can continue to play up in future title defenses.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Silas Young for the TNT Title: We need more of this in AEW. Not every match needs to be a banger. I felt a little bad for Young losing so quickly in his hometown, but he’s a pro and hopefully he’ll get more creative love on the ROH show. Hobbs is, well, a powerhouse, and he should get dominant wins like this one occasionally to help make him stand out. The QTV sidekicks still add nothing to the Hobbs act. There’s certainly a place for all of them in AEW, but they just feel out of place with the TNT Champion.

Chris Jericho vs. Keith Lee: AEW slipped in terms of the presentation of the Dynamite main event by failing to do enough throughout the course of the night to build it up. The actual match was a change of pace from the typical Dynamite closer. It ended up being a decent match and Jericho did a good job of putting over Lee’s size and power. Swerve Strickland costing Lee the match is fairly logical given their history, but I have no idea why they’ve taken so much time to get back to their storyline feud. The post match angle with Adam Cole returning the favor by looking over his shoulder at Jericho was nicely done.

Toni Storm and Ruby Soho vs. Riho and Skye Blue: Another win for The Outcasts and another week where the babyfaces look like fools for showing up shorthanded. Despite this ongoing issue, the actual match was well worked and the babyfaces looked good in defeat. The post match angle was odd in that the AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter ran out and was quickly outnumbered by The Outcasts, but then Britt Baker came out and ran off the heel trio on her own. Is it just a case of building up Baker heading into her homecoming next week in Pittsburgh?

AEW Dynamite Misses

Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa: As much as we’ve seen them on AEW television, the company has never given viewers a good reason to care about Cutler and Nakazawa. I’m sure this meant something to Being The Elite fans, but I just felt numb watching the heels destroy The Elite’s wacky underlings. It also felt strange to see Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks run out after all the damage had been done to their buddies. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the eventual BCC vs. Elite match and the interesting mix of styles.

Wardlow trashes Powerhouse Hobbs’ car: A ridiculously rushed angle that saw the introduction of Hobbs’s car just a couple minutes before Wardlow destroyed it. Worse yet, there just happened to be a forklift parked next to the car that had keys in it. And then there was the silly spot where Wardlow powerbombed Aaron Solo through some tables that just happened to be set up right next to the stage.

Jay White week two: A throwaway video package. Weak. I don’t care if it’s gold, silver, or platinum. Bullet Club feels like yesterday’s news and the last thing AEW needs is another faction.