By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta in a non-title match: The match felt needlessly competitive at times, but Swerve ultimately came away with a dominant ref stoppage win. It feels like they are trying to give Swerve a heelish edge going into his title defense with Bryan Danielson. It will be interesting to see if that works, as the fans mostly supported Swerve in this match, though there’s obviously a big difference in popularity between Yuta and Danielson.
Mercedes Mone vs. Hikaru Shida for the TBS Title: Mone and Shida worked well together and hopefully they run this back at a time when the outcome is not so obvious. There was an awkward spot with Kamille interfering right in front of the referee and not being ejected from ringside. The post match angle was also strange in that it wasn’t made clear whether Kamille supposedly beat up a fan or if Baker had a wrestler dressed up in the Sting mask. The company could use the attack to suspend Kamille long enough to keep her away from ringside at All In, but I doubt that’s the plan given that Kamille made her full-time AEW debut after the Mone and Baker storyline started.
Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal: Lethal got a little offense in, but Page took the majority of the offense and this match spotlighted him properly.
Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong in a three-way for the No. 1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In: The best match of the night. The stipulation didn’t do a lot for me, but at least it gave the match a sense of purpose.
Claudio Castagnoli and Kazuchika Okada: This was one of the most effective promos of Castagnoli’s career. He’s never been the most dynamic promo, but in this case he did a great job of calling out The Rainmaker as opposed to the weak AEW version of Okada. It will be interesting to see how many matches they announce for next week’s Dynamite. If it’s not many, it could be a sign that the AEW Continental Title match will be getting a lot of time.
Video packages: Did the sickos turn off their televisions in droves because they weren’t super served with matches, matches, and more matches? Of course not. No one has suggested that AEW needed to have the same number of video packages as WWE, but it’s common sense to spotlight talent, set the table for future matches, and to recap past matches and angles for fans who don’t spend every second of their lives thinking about professional wrestling. It’s ridiculous that many in the hardcore AEW fanbase have been so defensive about the company’s lack of video packages. Hopefully the productive videos the company aired this week will make the hardcore fans see the light and understand that AEW needs to attract more casual fans in order to grow.
AEW Dynamite Misses
“The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson vs. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens for the AEW Tag Team Titles: It was surprising that this didn’t air in the main event slot, but it was easy to see why once the weak FTR interference finish played out. The body of the match was a bit underwhelming for a Young Bucks bout. We never heard from either team beforehand, so there was no explanation for why The Acclaimed opted to take their title match now as opposed to waiting until All In. More than anything, I just hope the FTR vs. Acclaimed match on Collision doesn’t end in a weak finish that creates the need for a three-way because it would be too similar to what happened during Saturday’s No. 1 contenders match for the AEW Trios Titles.
Pac promo: Pac has spent most of his recent promo time talking about Wembley Stadium. And while he complained about Will Ospreay cutting in line, he then seemed way too content with his title match taking place at All Out.
Chris Jericho and Hook: Jericho’s act is still a turnoff for this viewer and the FTW Title belongs on Taz’s mantel. It wasn’t a good sign when Hook said he couldn’t see out of one eye and some in the live crowd responded with laughter. The only fun part about the dreadful Learning Tree act has been Bryan Keith’s angry one-liners.
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