By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
After the exhaustion and joy of AEW Revolution (between the show itself and the press conference after, I got home long after midnight), I am back with AEW Dynamite thoughts!
– Another Dynamite with a different signature promo approach – this time with Swerve Strickland digging into the worst of 2020 Edge in WWE collection. This promo was an attempt to keep Swerve heel-ish in delivery by removing any charm or joy from his promo. At the same time, it was about Swerve wanting to be an EVP – a suddenly new desire for Swerve, who could have been an EVP after All In in July. While I am excited to see Kenny Omega vs. Swerve Strickland next week, I hate that it involves a random authority figure gimmick. The overdramatic way Swerve said “Executive… Vice… President…” to end this promo was the icing on a terrible cake.
– If this is truly the merciful end of the Gabe Kidd vs. Darby Allin feud, it will go down as one of the worst in AEW’s history. Darby returned white hot in July fresh off of conquering a mountain and has suffered with this awful stunt show ever since. How many cars have to be sacrificed to this terribly booked backwards wrestling story with no definitive beginning, middle, or end? Why does this program keep extending? Why would anyone sign Gabe Kidd after bad performance after bad performance after bad performance? Put me in the coffin if I ever have to watch these two in a segment together again.
– Will Ospreay retuned to the ring on this show in a muted, but fine match against Blake Christian. Ospreay spent a lot of this match on defense and selling his neck – something he will be doing in every match for the next few years. I don’t mind Ospreay not going all out for a random match opening Dynamite. I liked the slower pace and choice of select big moves. Ospreay does not need to have a crazy match on Dynamite every week.
– Pac vs. Will Ospreay will surely be wild though. I am excited to see that one soon.
– “Speedball” Mike Bailey continues to be a highlight of Dynamite and Collision every week. This time they were against Mark Davis in a delightful match that was the highlight of this episode of Dynamite for me. I have yet to see a match where Speedball does not have chemistry with anyone they’re fighting. On a similar note, Mark Davis has really impressed me since Jake Doyle’s injury.
– “A barbed wire bat is not a hold to be barred.” – Bryan Danielson
– Color me surprised that Mina Shirakawa defeated Marina Shafir in their no holds barred match. Mina usually comes in and loses to an opponent that will eventually beat Storm. In this match, she was a substitute (which would imply that she should win), but she was against a wrestler who has a lot more going on that she does. What does Shafir do now? Will is be Rousey who attacked Storm or will it be the wrestler that will distract Storm until she faces Rousey (I still believe this will be at All In).
– The Don Callis Family working for MJF and being unhappy about doing so is a really fun story twist. First Kyle Fletcher questioned it and now Andrade El Idolo. This leading to more wrestlers breaking away from Callis or even having a small amount of conflict with him will be really enjoyable.
– The Young Bucks and a friend vs. Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and RPG Vice) – Is this a random New Japan World show from 2016? This match does seem more like a house show main event than a Dynamite main event. While it was not bad, the show has been on such a good run of late that this main event (and truly the entire episode) fell flat. (Trent Beretta’s pants looked very cool though.)
– The post-main event promo with The Young Bucks, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, and FTR was enjoyable. Will AEW move forward with just Copeland and Cage vs. FTR at Dynasty or will they find a way move The Young Bucks into that match as well? I would almost rather wait to get the triple threat tag or the inevitable Ladder Match between these three teams until a bigger show down the road (maybe in Wembley Stadium). I will also enjoy the straight up two-on-two tag matches between Copeland and Cage and both FTR and The Young Bucks quite a bit.
Well, it was an episode of Dynamite – maybe one of the worst ones this year – but we got through it together! Until next week, pals!
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
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