By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet for the AEW International Title: A strong main event. I’m not sure why they didn’t put someone else in the cage match and save this for Forbidden Door, but perhaps it will make more sense after the cage match plays out.
Closing segment with Mark Briscoe and MJF’s teams: The 12-man cage match doesn’t do much for this viewer on paper. There’s a lot of talent in the match, so I suspect they’ll come through with a good match. A big problem is that it’s hard to care about the stipulation that Briscoe will earn a title shot if he wins. Darby Allin handed out title shots like candy on Halloween. MJF gave Rush a title shot and has already said he’ll give one to Kevin Knight. In other words, AEW World Championship matches are not hard to come by these days. Putting all of that aside, the rapid-fire spots sequence involving the two teams to close the show was well executed and closed the show on a high note.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jack Perry: Good work from both wrestlers. You know what you’re going to get from Sabre if you’re familiar with is great work. I was less certain of how Perry would do, but he did a good job with the mat work.
Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo: A good television match with Ospreay winning a fairly competitive match clean. Excalibur helped the match by pointing out that Ospreay had won five of their eight matches, which established Phantasmo as a threat for those who haven’t followed his career. I enjoyed the brief bit afterward with Swerve Strickland making his entrance, only to have Ospreay casually hop the guardrail and blow him a kiss goodbye.
Queen Aminata vs. Red Velvet in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match: A soft Hit for a physical match with some rough moments, but more good than bad. I’m not sure why these two spend so much time in Ring of Honor at a time when the women’s division could use some help. I hope they and Athena stick around after Forbidden Door and Survival of the Fittest, but history suggests that they’ll disappear into ROH purgatory again.
“The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. Bad Dude Tito and Mikey Nicholls: A showcase match for the Bucks that didn’t overstay its welcome. The post-match angle with Kenny Omega getting the better of Zack Sabre Jr. physically felt like the wrong move to sell the match to those who aren’t familiar with Sabre, but they each landed a nice zinger at the other’s expense.
Don Callis unveils the DCMJF t-shirt: I’m not sure what this says about me, but I always get a kick out of Don’s homoerotic paintings, and the t-shirt was no exception. I love that when he showed it to the members of MJF’s team, MJF was all smiles, while the others cringed.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Swerve Strickland vs. Daniel Garcia: A needlessly long match between Swerve and arguably the lowest man in the Death Riders faction. On the bright side, the post-match angle added a little more juice to the Swerve vs. Ospreay match at Forbidden Door.
Harley Cameron vs. Marina Shafir in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match: It’s fine to give Cameron a win while she was dressed in Supergirl gear to help promote the movie, but why have her beat Shafir? It doesn’t mean as much as it should when Shafir loses because she’s taken too many losses.
Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Mistico, Bandido, and Brody King in a trios match: The Miss is all about the weekly question of whether the Death Riders are heels or babyfaces. It turns out they were heels this week, as Shafir distracted the referee while Castagnoli hit King with the title belt before Moxley pinned King. And why doesn’t Will Ospreay seem to mind when the Death Riders take this approach with his babyface friends?
(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.)
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