By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Kenny Omega vs. Brody King vs. Mascara Dorado vs. Claudio Castagnoli in a four-way for the AEW International Championship: The only question regarding the outcome was which wrestler Omega would pin. Even so, the crowd gave Omega the big star reaction, and there was good action from bell to bell. That said, just as I looked forward to getting past WrestleMania for the same reason, I look forward to getting through AEW All In Texas so that AEW’s title matches won’t feel so predictable. That said, at least the title was at stake in this match as opposed to having another eliminator match (more on that in a moment).
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe in a non-title match: I would have lost a fortune had there been a double juice prop bet. This was a good brawl and a solid win for Moxley. This is an example of a match that could have been a little more exciting had the title been on the line. I get the idea of wrestlers earning title matches, but it’s okay to occasionally run an angle where the champion agrees to put the title on the line. The outcome would have remained predictable to most, but fans often get caught up in the moment and buy into near falls during predictable title matches.
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa vs. Julia Hart and Skye Blue: A crowd-pleasing win for the Storm and Shirakawa. Mercedes Mone being at ringside didn’t lead to much. Well, unless you count Storm chowing down on Mone’s steak and drinking her wine.
Komander, Kevin Knight, and Mike Bailey vs. “La Faccion Ingobernable” Rush, Dralistico, and The Beast Mortos: The match was solid and had the live crowd rocking. Thumbs up to the new Mortos mask, which his a big upgrade. The right team went over given that they will face The Hurt Syndicate next week.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Max Caster: Caster’s gimmick is undercard fun, although it still feels a little sad if you consider just how over The Acclaimed tag team was at one time. At any rate, Caster’s current schtick gets a pretty good crowd reaction. In fact, it will be interesting to see how long he can keep the fans from rooting against him, as this seems like the type of gimmick that will eventually lead to the fans cheering him as the fun underdog.
AEW Dynamite Misses
The Hurt Syndicate segment: It was intriguing when MVP questioned why the top tag teams haven’t stepped up, as it seemed like a slam dunk that we’d actually see one come out to set up a future tag team title match. Rather, three wrestlers came out, and it led to an eventual announcement of a trios match. The otherwise hot live crowd’s silence after that announcement spoke volumes. And maybe we’ll eventually get Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey challenging for the tag team titles, but we’re still left wondering if the premier tag teams are cowards.
Four hours of AEW programming: As if three hours of Smackdown isn’t bad enough, AEW gave us four hours of Fyter Fester last night and will produce another four-hour Summer Blockbuster show next week. Check out my live review of the Collision portion of the show if you’re looking for my thoughts on the second half of the show. Long story short, it was better than a standard Collision, but four hours is overkill. And why in the world did they hold Thekla’s in-ring debut so late in the four-hour block?
Be the first to comment