By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
MJF and Mark Briscoe: It was an interesting night for MJF. It was confirmed that the title shot contracts that he and Athena hold can be cashed in like Money in the Bank contracts. He also had a falling out with The Hurt Syndicate, and cut another scathing promo on Briscoe. Was this the beginning of the end for MJF with the Hurt Syndicate, or are they merely trying to bring back the popular “thumbs up/thumbs down” segments? Either way, the MJF and Briscoe feud is going strong. The build for the Casino Gauntlet match was built around MJF and Briscoe being the first two entrants, but we still haven’t seen an actual singles match between them.
AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Wheeler Yuta in a non-title match: A dominant win for Page in the first singles match of his second world championship reign. I like the idea of Page getting a measure of revenge for what the Death Riders did to Colt Cabana on Collision, but I’m eager for the company to move on from Page feuding with the Death Riders. Hopefully, next week’s title match will wrap things up so that Page can move on.
“FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. “JetSpeed” Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey: A nice match to kick off the tournament for a shot at the AEW Tag Team Titles. FTR cheating to win reminds me of the way that old school teams such as the Midnight Express or Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson did back in the day. As such, more often than not, those finishes come off as clever rather than cheap.
Will Ospreay promo: It was hard not to fear the worst when Ospreay spoke about his neck injury. Rather than announce surgery and a long recovery time, Ospreay said he hopes to return to the ring a month from now at Forbidden Door. It’s a Hit for the good news, but Ospreay stating that he didn’t tell the medical team about his symptoms sooner is alarming.
Mark Briscoe vs. Claudio Castagnoli: A soft Hit. It’s good to see Briscoe featured prominently. But Claudio’s act is cold, and he feels out of place in the main event slot. Briscoe going over was the right call, but it doesn’t mean a lot to beat Castaolid right now. I have enjoyed the work of Claudio and Jon Moxley over the years, but they both could use some time away from AEW television.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Empty brackets for the AEW Tag Team Title eliminator tournament: The idea of showing brackets for an eight-team tournament that only listed two teams was an eye-roller. Part of the fun of a tournament is looking forward to the opening round matches and speculating about the potential matchups in future rounds. So, while AEW isn’t the only company to take this approach, it’s always disappointing, regardless of the company, when tournaments start without showing the brackets.
Swerve Strickland vs. Hechicero: A minor Miss for a needlessly long match with a weak DQ finish. The post-match angle with Kazuchika Okada was nothing special. Swerve vs. Okada is appealing on paper, but the build is off to a rocky start.
Toni Storm vs. Billie Starkz in an eliminator match: A minor Miss for a match that felt overly competitive. The Starkz character has not been properly established on AEW television, and it felt odd to have her be so competitive with the AEW Women’s Champion.
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