By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
“Team AEW” Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, Mark Briscoe, Anthony Bowens, and Max Caster vs. “The Elite” Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry, and Hangman Page in a Blood & Guts match: I wish just one pro wrestling company to deliver an old school WarGames match without weapons and no one escaping the cage. Ten men fighting inside two rings with a cage over the top is more than enough. Why is that too much to ask? AEW isn’t the only culprit so I’m not going to hold that against what was mostly a very good brawl. Swerve and Hangman displayed a great level of intensity whenever they fought one another. Everyone else worked hard (well, I’m not really sure what Okada did) and there were plenty of big moments. The finish was a bit of a groaner. Yes, Allin once set Perry’s pants on fire, but it took me out of the moment when he threatened to set a handcuffed Perry on fire because it was so obvious that it could not happen. It was also supposed to be about the babyfaces standing up for AEW, so it felt oddly selfish of Allin to demand a TNT Title shot at the end of the match. All of that said, there was more good than bad and this was an enjoyable modern day WarGames style match.
MJF and Will Ospreay: The belt company that AEW uses should build a 50-foot statue of Tony Khan outside their place of business. MJF tossing the AEW International Title in the trash after introducing the new AEW American Championship title belt is a cute gag that should play well in London and this weekend in Mexico. Even so, it feels totally unnecessary and it’s hard to image it being worth the cost, but sons of billionaires will be sons of billionaires. Putting that aside, I did enjoy the follow-up to last week’s excellent match.
Chris Jericho vs. Minoru Suzuki for the FTW Title: With a chop chop here and a chop chop there. Here a chop, there a chop, everywhere a chop chop. The chop-fest was fine for what it was. It doesn’t change the fact that the Learning Tree gimmick is painful to watch. More than anything, I’m just happy they didn’t use the stipulation that Big Bill and Bryan Keith were banned from ringside to add another poor soul to this lousy act.
Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida: It wasn’t always pretty, but both wrestlers worked hard and this felt like a good win for Baker. It was also encouraging to see AEW show clips of their past matches, as the company isn’t always good about showcasing its history. The post match angle with Kamille debuting as Mercedes Mone’s muscle made for an interesting development. Kamille played the same role for Nick Aldis in the NWA at one time, and it’s a good way to introduce her as a full-time act in AEW.
Mariah May vs. Kaitland Alexis: A solid showcase win for May, who continued to show off a more ruthless side of her persona. The post match angle with Toni Storm was well done and left me wanting more as opposed to giving away too much.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Pac vs. Boulder: A soft Miss for a brief squash win for Pac. Why does Pac have to wait until after All In to get his shot at the AEW International Championship? Why do wrestlers keep performing “brainbusters” that look exactly like suplexes? I totally understand the need to protect the other wrestler, but why not perform another move that looks better?
Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, and Stokely Hathaway: The dastardly heels attacked the babyface and then asked for an eliminator match? Statlander didn’t want a title match, she wanted a stupid eliminator match so that if she beats Willow she will then get a title shot. What?!? Don’t even get me started on AEW featuring yet another title belt on television.
Agree with all your points Jason. I liked the Baker/Shida match and im ready for a Shida heel run. I thought Britt, after a year out, and coming back from serious injuries and a freakin stroke did really well. I actually think its a tag match at All In with Jamie Hayter returning and Britt winds up with the shot at All Out if her team wins at wembley, so big return and potential stakes match leading to All Out. I actually think mercedes group gets bigger, the renegade girls added maybe … and then potentially the Garcia’s, but thats down the line.
All In looking great, and im wanting this Swerve/Hangman match somewhere.
I wonder if we’re getting Swerve vs. Hangman at All Out. I assume it’s coming sooner rather than later.
You said that you didn’t like the Darby-Perry fire thing because you “knew it wasn’t gonna happen”? Where were you a while back when Darby set him on fire with a F’n FLAMETHROWER? The first thing that I thought when he came out with the gas was “they did the flamethrower thing, how are they going to pull this off?
Simple. Darby was dressed for the fire spot during the Anarchy in the Arena match. There was zero chance they were going to set him on fire when he was just wearing trunks while handcuffed to the cage.
Why have a blood and guts match with nothing on the line? No one gives up power. Darby getting a title shot was a thrown in afterthought. No one got fired and no one turned
THIS is what’s wrong with AEW. Ok they had a match. But there is no repercussion for winning or losing. .
There have been plenty of WarGames matches with no stakes beyond winning and losing. The problem is that the build was terrible. If it had been a well established feud involving ten wrestlers, then winning and losing would have been enough. In this case, the build sucked and they didn’t have any stakes, so the match just wasn’t what it should have been regardless of quality.
Also true. Great point (as always)
Well said on all points, Powell-a-mino. It was a weak build, Aew is epically saturated on hardcore/violence, etc, but somehow B&G is something I still look forward to every year. I think it shows the War Games set up still sells bc I’m beyond tired of Anarchy in the Arena and the like.