By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Will Ospreay promo: I was hoping for something truly special from Ospreay on the final Dynamite before he challenges for the AEW World Championship at Wembley Stadium, but this was merely a soft Hit. It would have helped if Kenny Omega had been there for a final angle. Rather, Ospreay cut a promo that was fine in the moment, but I can’t imagine that it resonated to the point that it would sell uncertain viewers on ordering the pay-per-view. What was the point of last week’s Omega attack if Ospreay didn’t sell it? For that matter, what happened to the issues between Ospreay and the Death Riders? I’m sure they will fire this up again after All In, but it’s just odd that something that was such a big part of the story coming out of the AEW Revolution pay-per-view isn’t even being talked about a month later. The show-closing video package at the end of Dynamite was pretty good, but we’ve seen better from the AEW production team.
Adam Copeland and “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. Brian Cage, Jake Doyle, and Rocky Romero: A soft Hit for some good action in a predictable match, but this was more about the post-match angle. Christian Cage came armed with his usual barrage of verbal jabs, but the Bucks had a nice comeback, particularly when Matt one-upped him by asking Christian if anyone has ever named a company after him. The teams increased the intensity heading into their AEW Tag Team Championship match to some extent, but I would have preferred to see a fired-up Copeland rather than him acting like he felt bad for spearing one of the Bucks.
Persephone, Megan Bayne, and Lena Kross vs. Maya World, Alex Windsor, and Jamie Hayter: A soft Hit for the match and Persephone stealing a win over World, which will presumably lead to a TBS Championship match. The overall build for Bayne and Kross vs. The Brawling Birds at All In left something to be desired. Sure, they brawled a lot, but they never managed to make things feel personal.
Nigel McGuinness vs. Kyle O’Reilly in a Continental Challenge Cup tournament semifinal match: Yep, another soft Hit for some good wrestling. I appreciate the effort to tell the story of McGuinness overcoming an ankle injury to make it to the finals. But I think it would have played better had a heel targeted the injury rather than a fellow babyface. I suppose that will be the dynamic on Sunday when he faces Moxley, but the fans never seem to get caught up in the emotion of the injury storyline during his wins over Hechicero and O’Reilly. Hopefully, Moxley will play a true villain and Nigel’s hometown fans will be fully invested in the story on Sunday.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Swerve Strickland vs. Jack Perry: This would be a soft Hit most weeks, and probably would have been anyway had it been slotted elsewhere on last night’s show. It just felt out of place in the final non-video package segment on the go-home show for the company’s biggest event of the year. Even putting that aside, I’m not crazy about the ongoing effort to make Perry a badass. I’m all for Perry being a guy who shows a lot of heart and doesn’t back down even if he’s going to get his ass kicked, but it seems like they want to take it a step further by having him actually hang with the biggest and the baddest the company has to offer. Did we really need Swerve fist-bumping Perry afterward? It’s not like they had an all-out war that changed the way people see Perry. What happened to the ruthless heel Swerve we saw earlier this year? That guy would have beaten Perry to a bloody pulp and laughed about it afterward.
Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli in a Continental Challenge Cup tournament semifinal match: A minor Miss. This one just didn’t live up to my admittedly high expectations. I’d love to think that this will lead to a big shift in the Death Riders. The problem is that I remember being really excited about the storyline possibilities when Castagnoli beat Moxley in a Continental Classic match last December, and that didn’t lead to anything. This time around, they didn’t even show the dynamic between the two after Moxley got his win back, as the show oddly cut to a commercial break before they interacted.
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(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the 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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