By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
AEW Tag Team Champions “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. Mark Davis and Jake Doyle in an eliminator match: This was a great way to open the show. I thought there was a chance they’d put over Davis and Doyle to set up a tag team title match, but I never would have guessed that Davis and Doyle would have all of the offense and squash the Bucks clean in three minutes. This gave a big boost to Davis and Doyle, while also making the tag team title match more interesting than it would have been had they stolen a win. I wish we saw this type of thing happen under the right circumstances more often in pro wrestling. The Bucks will probably get their win back, but good for them for taking such a lopsided loss to elevate another team.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Mike Bailey: A good win for Dragunov in a competitive match with Bailey. I probably would have avoided putting this match in the main event spot to avoid making it seem like a former secondary champion in WWE is a bigger deal than everyone else on the show, but saving this for last was probably more about television ratings than anything. Bailey was a good first opponent because he is over with the fans and was a lock to have a good match with Dragunov. Furthermore, the company didn’t have to give away a main event player facing Dragunov on night one. I wouldn’t ask Dragunov to bury his former employer, but AEW should drive home the message that he chose to leave WWE when his contract expired rather than this being a case of AEW picking up a WWE cut casualty.
Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight vs. AEW World Champion Will Ospreay and Adam Copeland: What is up with Ospreay teaming with babyfaces who are going to challenge him for the AEW World Championship? He’s teamed with Andrade El Idolo a few times since Andrade won the contract that gives him a title shot with seven days’ notice. Ospreay and Copeland were not in the same orbit until Ospreay pinned Copeland to win the Clockwork Carnage match, which Copeland followed by telling Ospreay that he’s coming for his title. Anyway, the match was entertaining and seemed to move Ospreay and Copeland away from one another and into matches with Fletcher and the interfering Kazuchika Okada, respectively. The post-match angle felt contrived, as it conveniently set up the Blood & Guts match, but that’s become the norm for most WarGames-style matches since they became calendar events. As much as I loved the Davis and Doyle squash win over the Bucks, I really could have done without the Bucks coming out to help run off the Callis Family heels just one match later.
Nick Wayne and Chris Jericho: A soft Hit for a decent segment. Wayne is in a better place than he was when his feud with Jericho started, and it was good to hear Jericho put him over verbally without calling for a rematch. The follow-up program is crucial for Wayne. It should be all about adding to the momentum he gained from beating Jericho (insert pyro here) in two of their three matches.
AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong in an eliminator match: A soft Hit for a good match with a predictable outcome. The match set up the post-match angle with David Finlay and Clark Connors attacking Strong, then turning on Moxley once he intervened, and also turning on Gabe Kidd when he tried to help Moxley. But AEW wasn’t done with the turns yet, as the entire Bang Bang Gang faction turned heel and joined forces with Finlay and Connors. Are they one big faction? I’m out if they merge names and go by the Dog Bang Gang. Regrettable jokes aside, there was way too much going on in this segment. Initially, I thought they were setting up another Blood & Guts match, but now I suspect they are setting up an Anarchy in the Arena match for Full Gear.
Mercedes Mone and Marina Shafir: A soft Hit. While the live crowd was clearly excited about the teased match between the two, I couldn’t help but think that it should feel even bigger. Shafir went through a strange stretch earlier this year when she lost singles matches to Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, Alex Windsor, and Harley Cameron. Granted, some time has passed since the last of those losses in late June, but AEW never bothered to rebuild Shafir’s in-ring credibility with a big winning streak. In fact, she hasn’t even had a singles match on AEW television since losing that loss to Cameron. It’s a credit to Shafir being so good in her role with the Death Riders that fans buy her as a threat to Mone.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Queen Aminata vs. Maya World for a shot at the TBS Championship: My interest faded when Persephone or Britt Baker said Persephone had already beaten both women and asked if they could just go home. It was a reminder that the talent pool in the TBS Championship mix is small. Worse yet, none have enough momentum to make fans clamor to see them challenge for the women’s secondary title. Aminata strikes me as having more upside than the other wrestlers in the TBS Title picture, so I was happy to see her win this match, but she needs more wins and more character development on AEW television.
The Opps and Jack Perry: Perry interrupted Samoa Joe’s promo to challenge him to a rematch because Joe didn’t shake his hand after beating him. Perry’s fearless tough guy act is such a turnoff that I was begging for Joe and his sidekicks to beat the shit out of him.
Orange Cassidy and Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia: A minor Miss for a match that seemed to happen so they could establish a quick relationship between Cassidy and White before White turned on Cassidy later in the show. By the way, if the Death Riders are so committed to greatness, shouldn’t Jon Moxley put more pressure on Yuta and Garcia to win some meaningful matches?
(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 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.)
