Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Christian Cage vs. Jay White, Mercedes Mone vs. Queen Aminata for the TBS Title, Shelton Benjamin vs. Lio Rush, FTR vs. Big Bill and Bryan Keith

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

AEW Dynamite Hits

Jon Moxley opening video: A strong and yet also fairly concerning promo. Moxley explained that he hates what AEW has become and grumbled about having 150 wrestlers collecting fat paychecks before saying, “You work for me now.” So is that it? Is there no big reveal of a mastermind leading the faction in this new direction? All of Moxley’s cryptic comments led to this? I just hope the faction will be true heels who actually seek heat consistently. I have my concerns because surely I couldn’t have been the only viewer who was nodding along when Moxley complained about what AEW has become.

Adam Cole and MJF: They did what they could to make some sense of the role reversals. Are there holes? Absolutely. It’s unavoidable. So we could bitch about the holes or accept that they needed to pivot creatively because they are better off with MJF playing his natural heel role and because the fans want to cheer Cole coming back from a long injury layoff. They established the new babyface and heel dynamic, and the best thing they can do now is move forward and don’t bother making any additional attempts to explain the unexplainable. I cringed a bit when I heard Cole mention his Undisputed Kingdom allies. Move on. Hopefully his line about needing to do this on his own means they are finally doing just that. The worst thing the creative forces could do is have Cole team with or feud with the other Undisputed Kingdom members. Maybe there will come a time when it will make sense to have them cross paths again, but Cole needs to be his own man.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Lio Rush: The match was more competitive than it needed to be. Fortunately, Benjamin’s offense looked so impressive aside from the one botched spot that he was able to make a strong first impression in his AEW debut match. MVP had a good night. I know I’m not alone in hoping that The Acclaimed take him up on the offer, ditch Billy Gunn, and shake up their tired act.

Callis Family press conference: A solid segment. Callis listing Brian Cage and Lance Archer as a tag tam was interesting, though I would prefer to see the Gates of Agony duo of Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona in this role. Giving Konosuke Takeshita his own entrance after he won the AEW International Title was a nice touch. Kyle Fletcher didn’t say much, but his deliver was solid. It’s encouraging to see a rebooted version of the Callis Family with wrestlers who are firmly cemented as heels as opposed to having a faction filled with wrestlers that fans want to cheer.

Mercedes Mone vs. Queen Aminata for the TBS Title: A soft Hit for a solid match. Aminata has real upside, but this decisive loss seems to suggest that she doesn’t factor into any of the company’s immediate plans. Too bad.

Ricochet: Ricochet delivered one of his better promos, which is one of the keys to him getting over. As impressive as his acrobatic in-ring work is, it’s just not going to stand out significantly in AEW because so many wrestlers work a similar style.

Kazuchika Okada and “The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson vs. Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Rocky Romero: The actual match was well worked and yet it also felt trivial. The post match angle with The Elite members acting like cowards while Jon Moxley and his crew attacked their opponents was an interesting development. But please tell me that the long term payoff is not Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks reuniting to save AEW from Moxley and his crew.

“FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. Big Bill and Bryan Keith: More of an in the middle than a Hit or a Miss. The match was fine, but it also felt fairly random. At the same time, part of the the goal was to raise awareness for the hurricane relief effort, so thumbs up to FTR and the company for that. Is FTR’s friendship with The Outrunners leading to an eventual FTR heel turn? I’d take that over The Collision Special – “all-star” eight-man tag team match main events.

AEW Dynamite Misses

Bryan Danielson retirement fallout: The company failed going into Danielson’s final match as a full-time wrestler when it came to having him sell the stipulation in a way that could have led to more pay-per-view buys. They did an even worse job of selling the significance of his retirement and the big WrestleDream closing beatdown angle by having damn near everyone on Dynamite take a business as usual approach as if nothing even happened.

Christian Cage vs. Jay White: The body of the match was fine, but it was a total mess when Kip Sabian and Hangman Page both appeared to arrive prematurely. Once Page interfered, referee Bryce Remsburg had to act as oblivious as Rick Knox by ignoring the Buckshot Lariat spot that was playing out right behind his back. I dig Page as the unhinged heel, but his over the top facial expressions looked really forced. Is this Sabian thing going anywhere? It seems fair to ask given that he stood in the crowd with a f—ing box over his head for months for no good reason.

Moxley’s crew battles with Dark Order and Top Flight: I’m going with Moxley’s crew because my hope is that they will come up with a fresher name than the tired Blackpool Combat Club. Anyway, Moxley’s crew should have left these guys lying backstage. The final shot should never have been of comedy guy John Silver chasing after their truck. It also made the top babyfaces look terrible for not commenting on Bryan Danielson let alone trying to avenge the latest suffocation angle.