Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Jon Moxley and Darby Allin, Tag Team Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW Tag Titles at Grand Slam, Jack Perry vs. Lio Rush for the TNT Title

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

AEW Dynamite Hits

Jon Moxley and Darby Allin: A compelling segment with Moxley saying Allin is not ready to be world champion and stating that Allin has no idea what’s going on. As viewers, we also have no clue as to what’s happening, so Moxley’s references to there being something bigger at play is a strong hook that should keep viewers coming back for more. It was also nice to see Moxley appear a few times during the show as opposed to the more common one and done. It can only help keep viewers engaged if viewers feel like they need to stick around because they may see the stars of the show more than once. It’s well documented that Moxley’s promo skills are top notch, but Allin has quietly evolved into being one of the more consistent talkers on the show.

Tag Team Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW Tag Titles at Grand Slam: Please don’t let there be a Trios Casino Gauntlet. It’s cool that Tony Khan came up with a new concept match, but it’s starting to feel like he is running it into the ground. The singles version of the match typically has a lot of wrestlers fighting or selling at ringside. This really stood out during the tag team version of the match as the match got deeper and there were so many wrestlers at ringside. The fans were hot for The Outrunners and would have popped huge had they won the match. It’s a shame that they were given their first win in a predictable squash match on Collision with no build when that could have been saved for a key moment, but the team is clicking with the fans and it’s hard to tell how long that will last, so hopefully AEW tries to get something out of it. Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher going over felt like the obvious move given that the company dedicated some television time to set up their partnership. Their win sets up what should be a crazy spot fest style tag match with the Young Bucks for Grand Slam.

Hangman Page promo: Page continues to shine as a heel with another good unhinged promo. AEW did a much better of balancing out the mix of wrestling and talking on this episode. AEW will always be a wrestling heavy product, but they need strong talking segments to establish the characters and to make the matches feel more meaningful. Hopefully this is the start of a trend that carries over to Collision, which frequently consists of needlessly long and predictable matches that come off like filler.

Ricochet vs. Sammy Guevara: A good match that should have meant a lot more. There were times during Guevara’s run where this match would have felt so much bigger. Guevara has had some big highs during his AEW run, but he’s also had a lot of self-inflicted lows. Guevara spends most of his time on Ring of Honor television these days, so it just didn’t pack as much of a punch as it could have when Ricochet beat him.

Christian Cage promo: A nice reminder of the Money in the Bank style Casino Gauntlet contract still being in play. The fans continue to rally behind Killswitch and it’s going to be a really big deal whenever the time comes for him to finally turn on Christian.

Jack Perry vs. Lio Rush for the TNT Championship: A soft Hit for Perry getting a bounce back win after putting over Bryan Danielson at All Out. Is there a point to Perry driving around in a short bus? I can’t believe they are bringing that thing to all of the towns.

AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May vs. Queen Aminata in an eliminator match: A soft Hit for a decent showcase win for May. I wish AEW would at least try to make these eliminator matches feel like they matter. The last time Aminata had a Dynamite match was when she lost to May on January 3. For more casual viewers who only watch the flagship Dynamite show, they know nothing about Aminata. Why not use this as an opportunity to give her a promo or a video package to help introduce viewers to the character while also giving fans a reason to hope she wins beyond the basics of her being a babyface going against a heel champion?

AEW Dynamite Misses

Nigel McGuinness gets a match with Bryan Danielson: Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that we’re getting a McGuinness vs. Danielson match after all these years. Unfortunately, the angle that set up the match left a lot to be desired. McGuinness hasn’t had much of a presence on Dynamite and the company oddly failed to make a big fuss on the A-show about his return to the ring at All Out. Given McGuinness’s status as a color commentator, it felt like there was a chance to really surprise people with some type of angle between him and Danielson, so it felt a little flat when McGuinness simply issued the challenge out of nowhere. And then there’s the strange story that Darby Allin isn’t getting his advertised title shot at Grand Slam because Jon Moxley said Danielson is indisposed, yet it was announced just a short time later that Danielson will face McGuinness in a non-title match on the same show.

Chris Jericho’s car: The trios match between The Learning Tree and Iron Savages and Jacked Jameson was fine in that it was a quick match that didn’t overstay its welcome. But the big angle that saw the babyfaces use a Bobcat to dump coins inside Jericho’s convertible was a clunker. Pro wrestling fans have seen cars filled with cement, smashed, and even explode. Jericho’s vehicle possibly needing a new paint job just didn’t measure up.