Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: The bar for high-risk moves keeps getting higher, thoughts on the MJF and Hangman Page press conference, and the show’s final push for AEW Revolution

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

AEW Dynamite Hits

Kyle Fletcher vs. Mike Bailey for the TNT Championship: A terrific match with a weak finish. It took Bailey some time to settle in after signing with AEW, but it’s great that he’s getting consistent television time and has not been lost in the shuffle. Fletcher continues to thrive as a heel champion. He’s as good as any current wrestler when it comes to making challengers shine and making it seem like they are on the verge of beating him for the title. I could do without the extremely high-risk spots, and I wish his matches had better psychology. I shook my head when wrestlers made Poison Ranas throwaway spots to the point that some wrestlers are spiked on their heads and pop right up. Worse yet, a Poison Rana from the ropes (followed by a kick to the head) was only good for a near fall in this match. Where do we go from here? Wrestlers taking Poison Ranas from the top of a steel cage and then kicking at one for an easy pop? All of that said, this was easily the best match of the night. I didn’t mind the heel cheating to win, but the belt shot was weak.

Tommaso Ciampa, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler vs. Mark Briscoe, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson: This was a nice teaser for FTR vs. The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution, and it concluded with Ciampa scoring another victory over Briscoe. If only the show had ended with this match.

Willow Nightingale vs. CMLL Women’s Champion Persephone for the TBS Title: A soft Hit. Whether intentional or not, this was a good buffer before the main event, as this was the only match on the show where the wrestlers didn’t work a breakneck pace. There were a couple of clunky moments, but it was a mostly enjoyable bout that gave the live crowd a breather from the spot-heavy men’s matches.

David Finlay and Gabe Kidd vs. Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy: A soft Hit for a match that left me with mixed feelings. It started with the camera crew focusing on planted signs questioning where Roderick Strong was, which tipped off his return for no good reason. The Dogs got the win they needed after Allin and Cassidy beat Kidd and Clark Connors last week. Unfortunately, Finlay, Kidd, and Connors lost most of the heat they gained when Strong swerved them and helped Allin and Cassidy clear them from the ring. Strong helping Allin and Cassidy got a good reaction from the live crowd, but Tony Schiavone labeling this “a great Dynamite moment” was too much.

Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Hechicero: A soft Hit for the latest Death Riders vs. Callis Family match. The finish was underwhelming with Castagnoli poking Hechicero’s eye while the referee was distracted. Can anyone explain why wrestlers lose the ability to kick out after having their eyes poked or gouged? Anyway, the post-match angle once again saw Takeshita step in to stop his faction mates from attacking Moxley. So Moxley and Takeshita are babyfaces, while the rest of their respective factions are heels. Meh.

AEW Dynamite Misses

MJF and Hangman Page in a press conference before their AEW World Championship match at Sunday’s AEW Revolution: Woof. This was rough. I can’t imagine the minute-by-minute ratings will be kind, as I suspect they lost a lot of viewers before MJF and Page brawled into the arena. I wish this go-home show had featured more mic work to set up the pay-per-view matches, just not during a press conference held in an echoey room. While I enjoyed this episode, nothing moved me regarding the final hype for AEW Revolution.

Swerve Strickland attacks Brody King: What a coincidence that Swerve just happened to be waiting in the front row when King decided to slap hands with fans in that area. I guess Brody somehow missed the masked guy dressed in all black standing in the front row. Don’t even get me started on the absurdity of wrestlers breaking steel chains or the ongoing weirdness billing King’s squashes as standby matches. Despite all of this, I still look forward to their match at Revolution.

Join me this weekend for AEW Collision and AEW Revolution live reviews.

(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a 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.)