Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Will Ospreay vs. Daniel Garcia for the AEW International Championship, Mercedes Mone and Britt Baker, Owen Hart Cup tournament matches

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

AEW Dynamite Hits

Will Ospreay vs. Daniel Garcia for the AEW International Championship: A good main event with a better post match angle. The babyface run is over. MJF is back in his natural heel role. Here’s hoping that he is hellbent on being an all out heel and wants to turn every fan against him rather than leaning into any cheers. It took Ospreay way more time than it should have to return to the ring to help Garcia, but I’m curious to see where he fits into all of this. This seems like a big opportunity for Garcia to work with the top heel in the company. But there’s also a chance that he’s merely a setup man that MJF beats while en route to the bigger match with Ospreay. Either way, it was good to see Ospreay move on from the Don Callis Family and great to see MJF back in heat seeker mode.

Mercedes Mone and Britt Baker: Baker didn’t lose the gift of gab during her ten month absence. She had the crowd in the palm of her hand and came off really well while discussing the serious health issues that sidelined her. Much like MJF, Mone is now cast perfectly as an arrogant heel. My only concern is that there’s still a lot of time to fill before All In. Here’s hoping they can tell a story that builds momentum rather than running out of gas before they get to the pay-per-view.

Bryan Danielson vs. Pac in an Owen Hart Cup tournament semifinal match: The show opened with the best match of the night. Danielson going over was the expected outcome and yet they worked a competitive match so it didn’t feel totally outside the realm of possibility that Pac could win. I’m still shaking my head at the top rope brainbuster being used for a throwaway two count. Sure, Danielson sold his neck (he always does these days), but it left me feeling like no move is sacred when the spot didn’t even make the live crowd react as if that spot may have been the finish. I wonder what MJF thought of that spot given that he has been using a standard brainbuster as a finisher. Again, though, this was an enjoyable match that set up what I assume will be a less predictable final involving Danielson and Hangman Page. I can see Danielson winning and closing out his run as a full-time wrestler with a Wembley Stadium main event, but a strong case can be made for Page winning the tournament given his bloody history with Swerve Strickland. Either way, it looks like we’re in for a hot AEW World Championship match at All In.

Hangman Page vs. Jeff Jarrett in an Owen Hart Cup tournament quarterfinal match: They told a pretty good story with the emotional Jarrett entering the tournament named after his late tag team partner. I still think it would have been more effective had Jarrett beat someone in the first round and then lost to Page in the semifinals. Nevertheless, I hope we get more of this Jarrett and he doesn’t go right back to screwing around with his team of goofballs. Page returning as a heel on the same night as the MJF heel turn gives the men’s division a pair of main event level heels that is desperately needed. It was also good to see Page tell off the Young Bucks, as his angry heel act would be watered down by aligning with the cutesy heel duo.

Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander in an Owen Hart Cup tournament semifinal match: A soft Hit. This was good until the weak finish that left me wondering why they bothered to have these two meet in the tournament when they could have saved their first match for a better time. Willow advancing to the finals of the tournament she won last year is a nice feather in the cap moment. She is the most likable babyface in the division and it’s good to see the company giving her a consistent push on television. I wonder if Statlander will get a measure of revenge by costing Willow the tournament final to keep their feud going.

AEW Dynamite Misses

Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hook vs. Toa Liona, Bishop Kaun, and Brian Cage: The actual match was fine, but there was zero mystery regarding the outcome. The Cage of Agony trio have lost so many matches that the fans have stopped reacting to their entrance. It’s time to send Cage off on his own, and perhaps Toa and Kaun should spend a few months working ROH matches before bringing them back to get a real push as a tag team. Chris Jericho sitting in on commentary was painful. And while I liked the post match beatdown angle in the moment, it is puzzling that they did this on the same night that MJF laid out Garcia with a post match beatdown. Why is Joe’s character content with having trios matches while showing no interest in regaining the AEW World Championship?