By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
MJF vs. Dustin Rhodes: My favorite match of the night. Dustin strayed from his usual formula of bleeding heavily after being run into the ring post and produced a good back and forth match with MJF. Of all the older veterans that AEW has been showcasing lately, Dustin is the one who gets the best reactions and delivers the most consistently both in the ring and on the mic. This was also my favorite MJF match since he faced Will Ospreay at Wembley Stadium. I’m not sure what happened to MJF’s feud with Jeff Jarrett, but I am really looking forward to seeing him feud with Hangman Page. Their post match brawl was strong and this feels like the right program to get MJF back on track.
Harley Cameron: The music video with the Mercedes Mone puppet was fun and featured another impressive performance from Cameron. I like the way she cut the silliness of the video and delivered a serious promo heading into her TBS Title shot at Grand Slam. If they’re not putting over Cameron, they better have a plan to protect her because she is one the company’s fastest rising stars.
Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin vs. Gunn Club for the AEW Tag Titles: An enjoyable tag team match. There were dueling cheers for both teams, which made for a fun atmosphere. Lance Archer and Brian Cage walking out post match means they are likely next in line for a title shot. I’m curious to see what’s next for Gunn Club. They were given a title shot in their first match since September. Now what?
Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly for the AEW Trios Titles: A good match? Definitely. Enough to make me care about the AEW Trios Titles? Nope. There seems to be a renewed emphasis on trios teams, so we’ll see what happens, but I’d still prefer to see the trios titles scrapped so the company would focus more on the standard tag team division. Teasing a Death Riders vs. Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, and Angelo Parker match felt flat. What was the point of putting the TNT Title on Garcia?
Hangman Page vs. Max Caster: Page taking up Caster on his open challenge made for a fun spotlight match. The crowd was hot for Page and the match didn’t go needlessly long. It is a little sad to think of how over The Acclaimed were at one time and to now see Caster playing a pushover pest heel. Here’s hoping that the gimmick evolves and he is able to move up the card as a singles act.
Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Aaron Solo, Jon Cruz, and Rosario Grillo: A quick squash win. It’s disappointing that Joe’s character hasn’t shown any interest in trying to regain the AEW World Championship, but he has good chemistry with Hook. I’m not really sure why Shibata has been added to their act and “The Ops” name does as little for me as The Conglomeration.
Megan Bayne vs. Maya World: A third spotlight match on the same show. While this approach may not fly with fans who want long spot-fests, the squash matches build up wrestlers and provide a change of pace that makes those spot-fests stand out.
Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford: More of an in the middle than a Hit or a Miss. This was the only match of the night that felt like it went a bit little longer than necessary. On the bright side, Statlander vs. Bayne has the potential to be a fun showdown match.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Jon Moxley and Adam Copeland: I normally think of Moxley as an AEW guy despite his long run with WWE. But there’s something about the idea of seeing him defend the AEW World Championship against Copeland that feels out of place as an AEW pay-per-view main event. As much as I’ve enjoyed watching Copeland over the years, I just can’t get excited about him challenging for the world title at this point when the company has several young stars they should be building around.
Chris Jericho and Bandido: The campy showdown segment was a groaner and sent a strange message about ROH to any unfamiliar viewers.
The Gunns come back after a long layoff and lose their first match, and that’s a hit?
The match was enjoyable. I have a bigger issue with the Gunns getting a title shot in their first match back than I do with them losing their first match back. I like Gunn Club, but they are a work in progress, especially on the mic. They were out-cooled by the heel champions last week. But that’s it? A mostly positive Dynamite Hit List and you’re not having a meltdown? Are you feeling okay?
These last 2 eps have been better, but there’s still major holes. Why did Jay White care so much about getting Cope a title shot? Oh, that altruistic Switchblade guy..
They teased the next challengers in Garcia, Menard, Parker for trios and then Archer and Cage for tag titles. These arent guys you make a point to bring out and set up, likely, ppv matches. No one cares about any of those 5 guys. In fact, Garcia seems as famous as The Rock compared to the other 4.