Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: FTR vs. Brodido in the tournament final for a shot at the AEW Tag Titles at Forbidden Door, Hiroshi Tanahashi and JetSpeed vs. The Death Riders, Christian Cage and Adam Copeland

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

AEW Dynamite Hits

“FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. “Brodido” Brody King and Bandido in the tournament final for a shot at the AEW Tag Team Titles at Forbidden Door: A strong match to cap off what turned out to be a good tag team tournament. It started awkwardly with the first match taking place before the full brackets were announced, but it turned out to be one of the company’s better tournaments. The final match concluding in a time limit draw surely disappointed some viewers, and it’s certainly not an ideal way to end a tournament, but the three-way for the tag team titles at Forbidden Door looks good on paper. It also creates a scenario where the Hurt Syndicate could drop the titles without factoring into the finish.

Christian Cage, Adam Copeland, and the return of Killswitch: Cage and Copeland helped make some sense of their rushed reunion by making it clear that all is not forgiven. Rather, they have a reunion out of necessity, as Copeland will help Christian with his former Patriarchy members, while Christian will help Copeland with FTR. I love that Christian said he doesn’t need to change. He’s right in that the fans have been waiting for any excuse to cheer his sleezeball character. Nick Wayne showed real improvement in the promo that he cut at home from home. It led to the long-awaited return of Killswitch (f/k/a Luchasaurus), who is a perfect replacement given his history with Christian. It’s great to see Killswitch again, as he had a long road back from illness.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kevin Knight, and Mike Bailey vs. Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli: A fine opener with Tanahashi picking up a win in what will likely be his final match in Glasgow. I dig the War Dogs, but it was a bit much to have so many new faces, or rarely seen in AEW faces, pop up in a crowded segment. Did anyone other than the heels not assume that Darby Allin was in the body bag? Did the large number of people involved in this segment foreshadow a bunch of outside interference in Sunday’s steel cage match? Here’s hoping that AEW will go against the grain by making this a rare case of the cage actually serving the purpose of no one getting in and no one getting out (I’m not holding my breath).

AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm and Alex Windsor vs. ROH Champion Athena and TBS Champion Mercedes Mone: A soft Hit for a match that had plenty of good moments prior to a late lull that preceded the finish. Storm acting woozy made her look vulnerable heading into the pay-per-view.

AEW Dynamite Misses

Hangman Page, MJF, and Mark Briscoe: It started with the eye-rolling moment of Briscoe stating that he intended to kill MJF. No one believes that a wrestler would follow through on such an over-the-top claim, but in the storyline world, shouldn’t the company attempt to intervene? It got worse with MJF forcing Page to agree to his stipulations by threatening to set Briscoe on fire. Again, no one believes he would follow through on it, and why wouldn’t the company step in and throw out the stipulations that Page agreed to under duress? This was pure nonsense and a disappointing finish to what had been a pretty good build to the AEW World Championship match at Forbidden Door.

Will Ospreay promo: The delivery was fine, and he clearly had a connection with the live crowd. The Miss is due Ospreay saying he will work the Forbidden Door show before undergoing neck surgery. Really? I get that Ospreay wants to wrestle in his home area, but it’s not like London is going anywhere. One can only hope that he has received good medical advice and is doing what the doctors advise.