By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Roderick Strong vs. ROH Champion Bandido in a four-way for the first entry spot in the men’s Casino Gauntlet at All In Texas: A hot match with a crowd-pleasing win for Briscoe. The match was preceded by Briscoe interrupting MJF, so it was a pleasant surprise that none of the Hurt Syndicate members interfered to cost him the match. On a side note, I enjoyed the tension that was shown between Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Here’s hoping that the long term plan is for Okada to pass the torch to the sensational Takeshita.
Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey vs. Ricochet and AR Fox: The way Ricochet manipulated Fox into teaming with him was fun, and of course he left Fox hanging during the actual match. Is there a better douchey heel character in the business than Ricochet? The match was solid. The babyfaces came off well during their promo segment before they were mauled by Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin. Although the angle put heat on the heels, one can only hope that they do something between now and All In Texas to make Knight and Bailey look like threats to win the AEW Tag Team Titles. Sure, it would feel like a big upset if the go over at All In Texas without getting the better of the champions beforehand, but the company really needs to give the fans a reason to invest in Knight and Bailey going into the pay-per-view.
Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs. Blake Christian and Lee Johnson: A solid showcase win for the Strickland and Ospreay tag team, along with some gamesmanship from the Young Bucks to set up the tag team match at All In Texas. The losing duo got too much offense for my taste, which was a common theme throughout the show, but at least they had the story explanation that Swerve and Ospreay weren’t warmed up for the match.
Mercedes Mone attacks Toni Storm: An attention-grabbing good start to the show.
Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale vs. ROH Women’s Champion Athena vs. Thunder Rosa in a four-way for the first entry spot in the women’s Casino Gauntlet at All In Texas: A minor Hit. It’s a good call to have qualifiers for the Casino Gauntlet matches because it adds stakes to some television matches. That said, Statlander’s run has been a mess with too many turns, and it’s hard to be excited about her winning this match or Jon Moxley recruiting her for a faction that needs to be put to rest.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Kota Ibushi vs. Trent Beretta: The reintroduction of Ibushi to AEW had too much offense from his opponent. Beretta is a talented wrestler, but no one views him as a threat to beat the stars. So while Ibushi went over clean, the way he got there failed to pack a punch. On the bright side, Ibushi looked a lot better than the last time I saw him work, and I am looking forward to seeing next week’s match with Kazuchika Okada. This is another time when AEW would be wise to put together a video package to recap the history between the two.
Hangman Page vs. The Beast Mortos: A minor Miss for this odd choice as the show’s main event. Mortos is a good wrestler, but he just hasn’t won consistently enough to feel like he belongs in a main event singles match. And while a case can be made for Page’s star power being enough to justify this match being the main event, it was too competitive for my taste. Page is challenging for the AEW World Championship at the biggest pay-per-view of the year, and it shouldn’t take him ten minutes to beat a guy who loses most of his AEW television matches. I get the desire to close the show with the post-match angle, but it actually felt like Mark Briscoe winning the four-way would have made for a better ending.
Mone was a huge waste of money. Period.
Weird how as soon as it comes out that Mone and Mortos are dating he is in back to back main events. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence
Soon the Beast Mortos will be world champ thanks to his main squeeze!
Didnt watch, but I saw the Blake Christian walking the ropes spot. Do Ospreay/TK have functioning brains? Imagine Santino doing that with Stone Cold. That shit is a microcosm of not building stars, etc. It’s like they just say “High five, sick match!”and never think at all.
“Is there a better douchey heel character in the business than Ricochet?”
It’s not a character. He’s an insufferable douchebag that seems to have weapons grade CTE.