By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
Sting’s final appearance as a wrestler: It was wild to see Sting rappel from the rafters again after all these years (was a courtesy call made to Martha Hart?). It was a fun throwback moment and the live crowd ate it up. The Ric Flair swerve lasted all of one week and felt fairly pointless, though perhaps there’s more to it. It was also a little odd that Sting waited until the Young Bucks beat up Flair and Darby Allin before he decided to show up. All of that said, they created a moment. The main thing fans will remember from this show is the image of Sting rappelling from the rafters just like he did during his glory years on WCW Nitro.
Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and Hangman Page segment: A good final push for the three-way match for the AEW World Championship at AEW Revolution. The Page swerve was likely effective for viewers who didn’t know that his injury was a work, and the key from the segment was that he lied to the fans after claiming he would always be honest with them. Conversely, Swerve actually showed some respect for Page’s accomplishments in a clear babyface move. Joe continues to shine as the nonsense confident champion, and I’ll be surprised if he drops the belt on Sunday, especially given the way that Page has vowed that Swerve will never be world champion. I believe Swerve will prove Page’s character wrong eventually, just not at Revolution.
Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler: A good and logically booked six-man tag team match with the heels going over heading into the pay-per-view. I like that Danielson pinned Kingston as opposed to having him beat Harwood or Wheeler. The match effectively previewed two pay-per-view matches.
Will Ospreay arrives: I don’t think anyone considers Huntsville, Alabama to be a hotbed for fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling, so it was really encouraging when the live crowd reacted as strongly as they did for Ospreay. Granted, he’s been on AEW television before, but the crowd gave him a big star reaction and rightfully so. The angle with the Callis Family reaffirmed my hope/belief that Ospreay will be out of the group coming out of his match with Konosuke Takeshita. Ospreay has face of AEW potential, so there’s no reason to keep him with the heels.
Orange Cassidy vs. Nick Wayne for the AEW International Championship: A good match. In fact, I think the company could have gotten more out of this pairing had they set the table for the match as opposed to just announcing it a few hours before the show. As much as I could have done without all of the run-ins, they may have been setting the table for Matt Taven and Mike Bennett vs. Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta for the pre-show.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Chris Jericho vs. Atlantis Jr.: The company did a nice job of actually telling a story by giving Jericho promo time and by showing the classic footage of Jericho working with Atlantis Sr. in CMLL thirty years earlier. But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that this match didn’t need to be held on the Dynamite go-home show for Revolution since it didn’t play into anything for the pay-per-view. I also got the sense that Jericho using his old Lionheart name means more to him than it does the fans at this point. It was a fun throwback initially, but it no longer feels special.
Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue: This was a Hit worthy match until the bad finish. Why is referee Rick Knox repeatedly made to look like a blithering idiot? This time he turned his back to the action to bicker with Willow Nightingale and Stokley Hathaway, allowing Julia Hart to hit Statlander with the TBS Title belt. Every company does this sort of thing, but it feels like Knox is put in these positions every week. I still have no idea why Statlander and Nightingale tolerate Hathaway’s character or where this is going. And much like the previous match, I’m not sure why this match was booked for this particular episode when it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the main pay-per-view card.
The Bang Bang Scissor Gang: This is the best they can come up with for Jay White? Really? Meanwhile, The Acclaimed were a red hot home grown act at one point. Live crowds will still have fun with the scissoring bit, but it’s a shame how much Max Caster and Anthony Bowens have cooled off due to being booked so poorly.
I think that the Acclaimed have cooled off because people realize that they suck.
Wow, you came to an AEW column to say something negative about AEW. Shocking!
I am curious, how do the American readers here get on with Ospreay’s accent? I enjoyed his promo and as a Brit I caught all of it, but I could imagine it being tricky at times for non-Brits as he doesn’t exactly enunciate like Lord Alfred Hayes.
No problem for myself or anyone else I know.
I could see it going either way – either a turnoff or part of his charm.
1. >> It was also a little odd that Sting waited until the Young Bucks beat up Flair and Darby Allin before he decided to show up.<<
Dude, for f's sake, stop the effort to find something negative to say about AEW. This "long wait before the save" thing happens all the time, and its WRESTLING, for f's sake. Don't take it as though it's real life.
2. All ref's look stupid over and over by suddenly turning around at the worst time. Equal to that is the wrestlers that lay on the mat and just wait while their opponent goes to the top rope, plays to the crowd, plays to the crowd more, and then finally leaves the top rope and somehow the guy on the mat is still laying there.
3. The Jericho match was fun for those of us that like wrestling the "old days" way (you know, when it was a wrestling match that told a story, not a gymnastics event), but I agree, this wasn't the show to put the match on as part of the card.
Thanks for sharing, Angry Mike.