By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
MJF vs. Mark Briscoe for the AEW World Championship: A strong television title match. There wasn’t much mystery about the outcome because it seemed unlikely that Briscoe would fit into the world championship plan for All In. Even so, the wrestlers worked hard to create plenty of drama with near falls, including when MJF kicked out of Briscoe’s Jay Driller finisher. There’s too much overprotection of losing wrestlers these days, so it was refreshing to see the heel champion go over clean.
MJF vs. Kenny Omega build for next week’s AEW World Championship match: They told an interesting story throughout the night to set up this surprising development. MJF is one of the best talkers in the business. Omega is an inconsistent talker, but he had a very good night. The widespread assumption was that Omega would challenge for the title at the Redemption pay-per-view. Perhaps he still will, but it would actually make a lot of sense to do the title change next week if things are moving in that direction. It’s already late in the game for a world title change with less than two months before the company’s biggest event of the year. So if they intend to move the title to Omega, then the sooner the better. If there is a decisive winner, they could go with a rematch at Redemption, or perhaps Andrade El Idolo would face the winner.
Hikaru Shida vs. Kris Statlander vs. Persephone vs. Queen Aminata vs. Maika vs. Harley Cameron in a Survival of the Fittest match for the vacant TBS Championship: Shida won the title, but Persephone was the star of the match. The San Diego crowd got behind her heelish antics, including when she hit Statlander with the title belt, which handed Shida the win. Shida seemed like the favorite going in. I don’t know if Persephone or Maika were realistic options with their commitments to other promotions. I get a kick out of Harley, but she has no momentum at the moment. Statlander winning another title would have had a ‘been there and done that’ feel. Aminata would have been an interesting choice, but Shida’s win was no surprise, simply because she’s been more prominently featured on television lately.
Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay vs. “The Swirl” Blake Christian and Lee Johnson: A soft Hit. Christian and Johnson are talented, but I’ve won as many matches on AEW television as they have. So should it really have taken nearly ten minutes for Moxley and Ospreay to beat them? Nevertheless, Moxley and Ospreay brought the star power, and their dynamic is interesting.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Kevin Knight vs. Lio Rush for the TNT Title: A minor Miss. I’m all for coming up with ways to hold title matches rather than eliminator matches, but the last time King won a singles match on AEW television was on AEW Rampage, which was cancelled at the end of 2024. Putting that aside, the match would have benefited from a build beyond their interaction at Forbidden Door. AEW could have had some fun with Lio tormenting Knight and/or Don Callis for a couple of weeks rather than just announcing this match out of the blue. On the bright side, while Lio’s Gollum-like character isn’t for me, this was one of the better reactions the character has received from an AEW crowd so far.
Mercedes Moné promo: She cut a brief taped promo, but it was enough to leave me wondering if her character will ever evolve. For that matter, is she ever going to address why she was gone for several months or that she lost all of those championships she won while collecting belts?
(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.)
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