By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
A day late, but still 10 thoughts to go!
– This show was one of the better post-pay-per-view reset Dynamite episodes AEW has ever produced. From the video packages highlighting the action at All In to the quick move forward to promote All Out, AEW nailed a tricky balancing act. This show was a great example of looking back and emphasizing the importance of an event (especially when that event is the biggest show of the year) while still offering forward motion on television.
– Will Ospreay’s show opening promo was really great. Ospreay is not a naturally gifted speaker. His words stumble and trip, but the sincerity he can bring makes up for it. Ospreay was sincere, thankful, and intense when he needed to be. This was Will Ospreay declaring himself the top star in AEW and fully inhabiting that role. AEW waited a little over two years after signing Ospreay to put the Men’s World Championship on him. Now is the time to be fully in the Will Ospreay business and let him become the centerpiece act of All Elite Wrestling.
– From the moment Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley were paired, I believed we would get Moxley vs. Ospreay at All Out. That did not change how impactful the announcement of this match felt. While I did not enjoy the tail end of Ospreay and Moxley’s story and how it impacted the build to All In, they do have a great history, and Moxley is a major first challenger for Ospreay. Ospreay and Moxley had a good match at AEW Dynasty outside of the main event. Now they have to ratchet up the intensity for a main event match.
– Will Ospreay looks to have some fun opponents lined up at the moment. Obviously we have Jon Moxley at All Out, but adding Ricochet and Gabe Kidd as wrestlers aiming for Ospreay should be a blast. Ospreay and Ricochet would be a particularly fun special Dynamite episode main event and continue the trend of great AEW Men’s World Championship matches on TV. Kidd could be fun in that role as well, but AEW might need to emphasize his personality in a better and different way.
– Austin Creed and Kofi made their television debut with AEW in the opening match of this show, and they fit right in. The New Level and Swerve Strickland’s Trios Championship match against The Rascalz was an absolute blast. As often as we see them in AEW, the indie/PWG style party match is not easy to pull off. Wrestlers who have been in WWE for over a decade have likely rarely worked that style. Kofi and Austin Creed proved that they were more than able to uphold the standard of wrestling we expect in AEW.
– Mark Davis does not miss. Darby Allin vs. Mark Davis for the TNT Championship was insanely fun to watch. Darby is back to his normal antics when he is a champion – doing insane things until the wheels fall off – and Davis continues to be one of AEW’s best and most consistent TV performers. What a blast this pre-match attack and actual match turned out to be.
– I don’t understand Callum Newman.
– Mercedes Moné’s first Dynamite as AEW Women’s World Champion went pretty well. There is a trick to Mercedes – you cannot help but acknowledge how great she is and what she has accomplished. Fans want to appreciate and cheer her. She deserves that and more. Mercedes is also a heel and good at projecting an utterly unlikeable personality. You have to leave room for both, particularly in moments like this where fans will want to truly appreciate Mercedes. I liked this segment, and I really liked jumping into the program with Thekla (which at one point looked to be the All In plan).
– Is Thekla a babyface now? I know she is cheered quite a bit, and fans enjoy when she calls them and her opponents “stupid bitches” but is she a full-on babyface? Where does that leave Julia Hart and Skye Blue? Is this a situation where Thekla is a pseudo-babyface for the Mercedes feud, then returns to her evil and spooky ways with her goth friends? I like Thekla and will be interested to see how this feud with Mercedes plays out for her long-term.
– Poor Nick Wayne was too young and too inexperienced to avoid the Chris Jericho vortex. In a year, when Wayne recovers from a pointless and never-ending feud with an over-the-hill, physically washed-up star desperately hanging onto relevance and trying to keep young wrestlers from getting over, maybe he can look back on this and laugh. As it is, Jericho has not helped a single wrestler he has been paired with for years. Nick Wayne should feel like one of AEW’s top rising stars, but instead an old man will hold him down.
Those are the thoughts, and that was the show! Thanks for reading.
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content, subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact Will, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
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