By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
Thoughts? I have 10 of those!
– MJF’s mid-show promo and celebration of becoming a three-time AEW Men’s World Champion was fun! It seems like we will continue (though not at the same pace) with the trend of AEW Championship matches on TV every few weeks. These have helped guide the show and give purpose to Dynamite episodes this year. MJF vs. Rush will be fun, though predictable. MJF vs. Mark Briscoe will be similarly delightful. These aren’t pay-per-view main events, but they elevate the wrestlers around MJF and make week-to-week TV more fun to watch.
– We saw a second post-pay-per-view Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay segment. Given Kenny’s lack of participation in the Owen Hart Tournament, these segments, and the AEW Redemption pay-per-view happening in Montreal, it seems like Omega vs. Ospreay will be the All In London main event in August. I loved basically everything about this backstage encounter. Ospreay and Omega, playing on their shared history, worked to build whatever they’re building in a unique and realistic way. I hope it won’t be another four weeks before we see these wrestlers talk again.
– Jon Moxley adds another really interesting wrinkle to the Ospreay and Omega story. Obviously, there is history with both men and Mox. There is potential for Moxley to turn on either of these men in his almost babyface role. Will Moxley continue to be involved? Will he continue to put up with Ospreay being an almost Death Rider? The questions about this are fun to ask.
– Kevin Knight continues to be uneven on the mic, but he was better tonight as a heel than he has been as a babyface. The growing pains are evident, but so is the confidence the promotion seems to have in Knight. The continued Kevin Knight segments on this show both painted him as a star and told us about the importance of his turn on Darby Allin at Double or Nothing. I was surprised to find out we were getting Knight vs. Speedball Bailey next week, as I assumed we’d wait until Forbidden Door for that one.
– Speaking of Forbidden Door, I wonder how forbidden that door will actually be. There are a lot of AEW stories in progress right now, and the Owen Hart finals will likely be the main event. What will the NJPW, CMLL, and Stardom participation in this year’s show look like? How many inter-promotional matches will we actually see? What does an inter-promotional match mean in the current era of wrestlers signed by two or three of these companies at once?
– Brody King and Mark Davis closed out the men’s quarterfinals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. These matches were good, but these men are the obvious future semifinal losers. There is no compelling final in this tournament outside of Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay. I do appreciate the storytelling of Ospreay facing the man he had the medical stoppage against in Mark Davis, and Swerve facing a wrestler he has been feuding with in Brody King. Those matches mean a little more with actual feuds behind them.
– Chris Jericho vs. Ricochet was fine. I have yet to be truly impressed by Chris Jericho in the ring. His return to using “Judas” as his entrance music and his reliance on his large library of catchphrases make this feel more like a nostalgia run for Jericho than something new. Nostalgia Jericho without as much gas in the tank in the ring does not appeal to me. Now we are going to see Jericho feud with Tommaso Ciampa, and I wonder if he will repeat the same formula from the Ricochet feud (dropping the first match and winning the feud itself).
– A lot has been said after this episode of Dynamite about the AEW Women’s Division. While the Shida vs. Statlander match was great, it was on Collision, so I cannot think about it until Saturday. It’s clear that AEW is not on their first or even their second plan for the Women’s division. It is also clear that AEW is not working that out in an ideal way. Things are not going well, and Thekla is not being highlighted as champion. Hopefully, this gets back on track in the coming weeks.
– The Superstation Showdown was definitely a match that happened. This Lio Rush character continues to be a little too weird for me to enjoy fully. Orange Cassidy’s new shirt made me both smile and laugh. Brian Cage was there! Rush winning set up his future AEW Men’s World Championship match. This felt like filler on a Dynamite episode that was already very long.
– Adam Copeland and Christian Cage hit a really great balance of joy, excitement, and comedy (Cage’s still-annoyed heel character works so well here). The setup for Copeland handing out disposable cameras took a little long, but it made me laugh. It’s worth noting that those cameras cost around $19.99 each. What a souvenir to get handed to you by Copeland!
AEW had a nice post-pay-per-view show!
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
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