Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Kenny Omega’s best promo work provides a strong final push for AEW Dynasty, a less-than-ideal introduction of the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion

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

AEW Dynamite Hits

The final push for MJF vs. Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship at Dynasty: This was one of AEW’s most effective final pushes for a pay-per-view main event. Some match junkies have pushed back on any suggestion that AEW needed to include more promos and video packages. AEW has slowly improved in that area over the years, and I’ll bet those fans are still watching AEW programming every week. Meanwhile, it’s made the shows easier to follow for other viewers, while the strong promos have built up key matches to feel as big as they should. We saw that on this show, with the good video packages on MJF and Omega, followed by the memorable final verbal exchange. It started with AEW changing course via the Doc Sampson interview, where he cited mind games as the explanation for MJF’s claiming that Omega’s intestines could explode at any moment. This was a welcome change. Not only was it absurd that Omega would be allowed to wrestle in that condition, but it also seemed like AEW was creating an out for him losing at Dynasty. Omega was great during the final segment. He dressed the part, played it straight rather than show off his quirky sense of humor, and came off like a major threat to beat MJF for the AEW World Championship at Dynasty. This was a money segment that featured Omega’s best mic work in AEW.

Chris Jericho and Ricochet: The live crowd gave Jericho a mild reaction by Canadian crowd standards. He came off like a politician by saying all the right things about wanting to help the company, and when he said he got in better shape for the fans. It worked, as he seemed to win over most of the fans by the end of the segment, and busting out The List after all these years was a big help. Ricochet is the perfect choice for Jericho’s first opponent following his long layoff. In addition to being able to carry the match if Jericho struggles following a long layoff (or because he’s 55 freaking years-old), Ricochet seems like the wrestler the AEW fans are least likely to cheer over Jericho.

FTR attack Adam Copeland and Christian Cage: FTR got their heat back after Copeland and Cage got the better of the AEW Tag Team Champions during their recent exchanges. Including Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta in the attack will probably set them up as speed bumps for Copeland and Christian during a future television match. Christian’s line about banging Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler’s mothers was at the top of the list for most entertaining lines of the night, along with Thekla threatening to take Lexi Nair to a strip club, where she would bring her on stage and break all of her fingers.

Andrade El Idolo, Konosuke Takeshita, and Mark Davis vs. Darby Allin, Bandido, and Jack Perry: Good action from start to finish. They did a good job of spotlighting Andrade and Darby heading into their Dynasty match. Darby’s promo later in the show was even more effective at making their match feel important, while also reaffirming his desire to win the AEW World Championship. Andrade pinning Perry will likely lead to a future AEW National Championship match.

“United Empire” Will Ospreay, Callum Newman, Henare, and Francesco Akira vs. “The Death Riders” Jon Moxley, Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Daniel Garcia: A soft Hit for a segment that left me with mixed feelings. They had a wild and entertaining brawl, but it felt odd to introduce Newman, Henare, and Akira in this manner. It’s fine for fans who follow them in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but it’s hard to believe this did nearly as much for fans who weren’t familiar with them. While it was cool to have Newman on the show in his first match since winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, ideally, his introduction to AEW would have spotlighted him alone and come with more fanfare.

AEW Dynamite Misses

Willow Nightingale vs. Queen Aminata for the TBS Title: A minor miss for a decent match that didn’t need to happen. AEW had to pluck Jamie Hayter from her tag team due to the shortage of credible challengers for the AEW Women’s Championship. It wouldn’t have taken much to rebuild Hikaru Shida for that role. Aminata would have required more time, but she could get there. Rather, the company fed them both to Willow in their returns to AEW television after long absences. Why?

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Mascara Dorada for the first entry spot in the Casino Gauntlet match: Another minor Miss. The match was solid, but they were thrown out there with no build and, unless I missed it, without any explanation for why they were given a chance to win the first entry position. Even if I missed an explanation, it doesn’t feel like much of a prize to win the first entry when all of the Casino Gauntlet matches run long. On the bright side, being able to push Ciampa and Rush (if he beats Anthony Bowens on Collision) would give the fans a little something to look forward to at the beginning of the Casino Gauntlet. Really, though, this match could have been saved for Collision to trim time from the needlessly long 26-minute overrun. I guess that’s AEW’s way of preparing us for another Tony Khan marathon pay-per-view on Sunday.

(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)