By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Casino Gauntlet for a shot at the AEW Women’s Championship at Grand Slam Australia: The first women’s Casino Gauntlet was really fun. They made the good call to load up the match with the stars of the women’s division and had a fun surprise entrant in Megan Bayne. I was surprised by the flat reaction to Bayne. AEW fans have a reputation for being super fans who watch everything, but apparently the fans in attendance at this show are not watching GCW where Bayne is a regular. Mariah May also added to the match on commentary by expressing concern over Bayne entering the match and then by actually cheering when Toni Storm won. Storm earning the AEW Women’s Title shot at Grand Slam Australia likely means they are about to amp up the Storm storyline, which should be fun. No, Tony Khan, you don’t need to follow up the men’s and women’s Casino Gauntlet matches with tag team and trios versions of the match. Most of the Casino Gauntlet matches have been enjoyable. Don’t ruin it by running the match into the ground.
Jon Moxley vs. Powerhouse Hobbs for the AEW World Championship: AEW once again dropped the ball with the presentation of the match. We never heard from the champion or the challenger, and they didn’t hype the match consistently throughout the night. The bulk of the match was solid, but the closing moments were a mix of good and bad. It was a groaner when Marina Shafir hit Hobbs with the briefcase, but then Hobbs kicked out of the pin attempt that followed. And then it looked like it was over when Moxley followed up with a Death Rider, only Hobbs kicked out again. Finally, Hobbs didn’t tap out to the Bulldog Choke, he passed out. There was no reason to suspect a title change, but Hobbs was competitive with the champion and was protected despite taking the loss. The negative in all of this is that Moxley’s title defenses now have the type of cliche interference spots that I thought the challenger brand would avoid as much as possible during championship matches to stand out as being different.
Kenny Omega vs. Brian Cage: Would this have been my first choice for Omega’s AEW return match? No, nor did the match need to go as long as it did. But they hit the right notes in terms of Cage targeting Omega’s abdomen and then Omega making the big comeback. The post match angle with Will Ospreay helping Omega kept their storyline going. The Don Callis Family outnumbering the babyfaces and standing tall was an unexpected development. Here’s hoping that we’ll get Omega and Ospreay vs. Konsouke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher at some point.
“The Hurt Syndicate” Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP vs. Mark Briscoe and “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy: A well worked match with the expected outcome of the Hurt Syndicate going over, presumably to set up Lashley and Benjamin with an AEW Tag Team Title shot. The Hurt Syndicate are beating up everyone and coming off more cool than the babyfaces, so it will be interesting to see if they end this trend by putting over Private Party during the title match or if they will simply take the tag team titles.
Hook vs. Christian Cage: A decent match with a heat generating DQ finish that saw Cage’s crew save him from being pinned. The finish also set up the post match attack that led to Samoa Joe returning to make the save. I just hope Joe doesn’t waste too much time in this trios feud. I’m fine with Joe and Hook as a tag team, but it would be nice to see Joe express some interest in regaining the AEW World Championship.
AEW Dynamite Misses
MJF and Jeff Jarrett: MJF landed a couple of good zingers during his latest insult comedy promo. I got a kick out of Jeff laughing them off, but then I cringed when Jarrett fired back with his own over the top insults. What was the point in Jarrett verbally attack MJF’s parents and his girlfriend when most viewers know little or nothing about them? Is this leading to Alicia Atout becoming an on-air character? For whatever it’s worth, Atout did a nice job when she and Richard Holliday were paired as a heel couple in MLW. I want to like this oddball MJF and Jarrett feud, but it’s just not clicking with me.
Ricochet promo: I think he was expecting New Day level heat and instead drew solid, yet unspectacular heat from the live crowd. That was actually fine. What gets me is that Ricochet stabbed Swerve Strickland’s head with a pair of scissors last week and not only was there no talk of a suspension, he actually had the production truck show a still shot of it from last week. At this point, Swerve might as well get his revenge by shooting Ricochet because apparently everything goes unpunished in AEW storylines.
The Learning Tree: Aside from Bryan Keith yelling things, this act still feels ice cold. Can we get to the part where Big Bill leaves the group, changes his generic name, and gets a singles push?
I honestly thought Megan Rayne was Anna Jay when she first came out.
MJF is so one-dimensional on the mic, Wrestling promos should be more than one-liners and zingers. And before you get all bent out of shape I had the same complaint about the Punk-Rollins set up (although the match itself was outstanding).