By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
“The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson vs. “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy for the AEW Tag Team Titles: The stipulation that Private Party would be forced to split up if they lost this match really raised the stakes because the outcome would be newsworthy either way. The wrestlers produced an excellent match and had the crowd fully invested. I could have done without the post match showing of respect from the Bucks, especially since they were back to being oddball chickenshit heels a short time later. But the actual match and the title change came off really well and this was the highlight of the night.
Orange Cassidy promo: Cassidy has been a man of few words over the years, but this segment was further proof that he is more than capable of producing quality promos when necessary. Cassidy found the right tone and was believable in his response to Jon Moxley’s crew taking out Chuck Taylor last week. The fact that Cassidy beat Moxley at last year’s Full Gear is something they can really hammer home during the build to their AEW World Championship match.
Swerve Strickland vs. Shelton Benjamin with Bobby Lashley’s debut: A good main event with the right guy going over. Benjamin is quickly showing how effective he can be when he’s allowed to work as a suplex machine, but it’s going to take time to make fans forget about all those years he spent working as a guy who lost far more meaningful matches than he won in WWE. Swerve is one of the top stars in the company and had to go over in any clean finish scenario. The post match angle with Lashley’s arrival and his beatdown on Swerve closed the show in memorable fashion.
Adam Cole vs. Buddy Matthews: I really like it when babyfaces return from a long injury layoff and actually sell whatever was ailing them. Cole did an effective job of selling his ankle, and I like the way he fired up and blew off the trainer when Matthews called him out. The post match scene with Malakai Black replacing Matthews in the handshake received a good reaction from the crowd. Even so, it feels like there should be more of a build to next week’s Cole vs. Black match.
Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis: A solid segment with Davis taking issue with his longtime tag team partner’s recent antics. It’s tough to see Davis getting over as a babyface singles wrestler, so my best guess is that he ultimately sides with Fletcher and joins the Callis Family.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Jon Moxley and his crew: A minor Miss. It’s time for Moxley to hit harder with his promos. All of the generic talk about wrestlers being fat and happy with their paychecks just isn’t enough. It feels really half-assed for a straight shooter like Moxley to be so vague. There were also some clunky moments during the faction’s appearances that they were not to blame for. What was the point of Darby Allin repelling from the rafters? Save that for when it truly matters. And why did the Bucks go from showing respect to Private Party to having Brandon Cutler shred documents before they rushed out of the building like cowards? Let me guess, there’s no storyline reason for the document shredding, someone just thought it would be a cute gag? And the big bad faction took out an injured producer last week and followed up by slamming a hammer on a lackey’s hand this week. No one cares about the Cutler character enough to feel sympathy for him. It’s time for this faction to make a splash by taking out another wrestler the fans actually care about. Beating up the Dark Order and other low level characters just isn’t cutting it.
Kris Statlander vs. Kamille: The match was solid, but they rushed to Kamille taking her first AEW loss and got nothing out of it. It didn’t feel like a moment when Statlander went over because the creative forces never put the work in to make Kamille feel unbeatable. Weak.
Chris Jericho promo: Dave Meltzer. Star ratings. Grandiose claims about taking ROH to new heights. Is he seeking heat from AEW viewers or just the Jim Cornette’s podcast listeners?
“Is he seeking heat from AEW viewers or just the Jim Cornette’s podcast listeners?”
The Cornette podcasts have a lot more listeners than AEW has viewers, so that’s probably a smart move on his part.