By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship: The best match of the night. I’m not really sure what the purpose of the AEW International Championship series was in hindsight, but I’m happy they didn’t do anything foolish by going with something other than Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega.
Swerve Strickland and Ricochet: Swerve showed good intensity during his promo. Ricochet had consistently strong heat throughout his promo, as his nerdy heel persona continues to shine. Prince Nana giving Swerve an ultimatum about getting his robe back was a bit much, but at least it helped make up for Nana’s ineffective promo the previous week when he failed to really get across what the robe means to him.
Adam Copeland, Willow Nightingale, and Jay White take out The Death Riders: It’s a simple story with Copeland making good on his promise to take out Jon Moxley’s allies so that he can get a one-on-one match with Moxley at Revolution. I’m still down on Moxley vs. Copeland headlining Revolution, but I like the idea of the Moxley character having to stand on his own. I just hope this isn’t leading to Jay White turning on Copeland.
Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong vs. Daniel Garcia, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler: The renewed emphasis on trios matches continues. I wish the traditional tag team division was getting this attention instead. Anyway, the match concluded with the expected outcome of Cole beating Garcia to earn a TNT Title shot. Here’s hoping that the title match is all about the two wrestlers involved and they leave their sidekicks in the back.
Hangman Page vs. Aaron Solo: A quick squash win for Page to open the night. The post match angle with MJF wasn’t decent, but MJF’s bloody towel looked hokey given that his hands appeared surgeon clean.
Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Keith in a bounty match: A soft Hit for a match that left me with mixed feelings. It was a Hit from a match quality standpoint, but why is one of the top wrestlers in the company having such a competitive match with the third man in a bad heel comedy faction? It would be different if I thought the company was working to elevate Keith, but it came off like this was just the latest needlessly competitive AEW television match. One a side note, I don’t mind Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet being made a No. 1 contender match, but it does beg the question of just how long Ospreay will be kept out of the AEW World Title picture.
Harley Cameron vs. Deonna Purrazzo: More of an in the middle than a Hit or a Miss. It’s a good move to have Cameron work with a couple of talented veterans in Purrazzo and Valkyrie, but it’s a crime to have Cameron wrestle without giving her mic time.
AEW Dynamite Misses
“The Outrunners” Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum vs. Lance Archer and Brian Cage: Archer had Floyd up for a Blackout, but he released him the moment he heard entrance music like an absolute idiot (AEW doubled down on this later in the show when Claudio Castagnoli also froze once an entrance theme started to play). As if that didn’t make Archer look bad enough, Floyd actually rolled him up and pinned him. I get a kick out of The Outrunners as a cute undercard act, but why is it always one step forward and two steps back for Archer and Cage?
Billie Starkz and Mercedes Mone segment: While it was good to see Starkz appear on AEW television, this was an odd introduction. The worst part was listening to Starkz refer to herself as a Ring of Honor Superstar. That said, I’m much more interested in Starkz chasing Mone than I am in seeing Mone defend the TBS Title against Momo Watanabe.
It’s funny how Ricky Starks just left now Billie Starkz shows up.