By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
ProWrestling.net Members are listening to the NXT Takeover XXX audio review co-hosted by John Moore and Jason Powell. The members will also hear audio reviews of AEW Dynamite and WWE SummerSlam today. Join us on our ad-free website and unlock all of our audio content via PWMembership.net.
AEW Dynamite Hits
Cody vs. Brodie Lee for the TNT Championship: The title change wasn’t shocking, but Lee dominating the match and going over as strong as he did was. It’s rare to see a top wrestler in any company destroyed by an opponent the way that Cody was in this match. I love it. Seemingly dominant champions lose in real sports and it should happen in pro wrestling from time to time. I’m still not sold on Dark Order, but Lee’s win and the big beatdown at the end of the show definitely gave the group a needed boost.
FTR vs. Private Party: I have been looking forward to seeing this match since FTR arrived in AEW. Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy are very talented, but they can learn a lot from working with Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. If you’re looking for the big spot match from Private Party, this wasn’t it. FTR cut the ring in half and isolated Quen for a good portion of the match, which helped limit Private Party’s flash spots to make them mean more. Quen and Kassidy have tremendous athleticism and all the tools to become a great tag team. The more they work with FTR, they closer they will get to reaching that level. On a side note, I love the idea of Tully Blanchard serving a the manager for FTR. Blanchard has shined whenever he’s opened his mouth in AEW so far and hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more from him.
Jon Moxley and MJF promos: The usual strong promo from the AEW Champion. Moxley put over MJF and even signed off on the possibility that MJF will be the man to lead the company for 25 years before saying that it won’t start at All Out. The MJF followup worked for me in terms of the delivery (and with Nina comically flashing her forced smile in the background). I’m still not sold on Moxley destroying MJF last week and MJF wearing a neck brace this week being great ways to sell their pay-per-view match even if they do add the stipulation that the Paradigm Shift finisher is banned. Yet while the build still feels flawed, I still enjoyed these segments.
Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy: Jericho did a nice job of sounding sincere while congratulating Cassidy on the win, challenging him to a rematch, and then flipping the switch back into heel mode once he got what he wanted. The Mimosa Mayhem match sounds sports entertainment silly. But Jericho has more than earned my trust when it comes to his feel for this sort of thing.
Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson vs. Alex Reynolds, John Silver, and Alan “Five Angels: There was zero sense of mystery regarding the outcome of this match and that’s okay. Omega and the Young Bucks bring enough star power with AEW viewers that it’s fine for them to have a showcase match. Plus, it turned out to be a quality match. Omega continuing to show a more heelish and aggressive side continues to be compelling.
Darby Allin vs. Will Hobbs: A good showcase win for Allin. The post match angle with Ricky Starks dressed like Allin was well done. Starks made it work, particularly when he delivered the promo while kneeling over Allin following Brian Cage’s attack. Starks has delivered variations of his slick talker promos, but this was the first time that I’ve seen him show off this level of intensity on either Dynamite or NWA Powerrr.
Thunder Rosa challenges Hikaru Shida: Speaking of the NWA, it was a nice surprise to see the promotion’s women’s champion appear on Dynamite. AEW has a shortage of meaningful challengers for its women’s champion, and the NWA hasn’t run any shows during the pandemic. Rosa fills a void for AEW and gets a chance to work. It’s good to see the companies working together in what seems like a win/win situation.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy vs. Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, The Butcher, and The Blade: There were some sloppy moments such as Butcher failing to catch Jungle Boy during a suicide dive, which was followed by Luchasaurus throwing a kick at The Blade that clearly missed. We’ve definitely seen better from each of these teams. The match served a purpose in terms of setting up the bickering between the heel teams. This led to the best part of the segment with smooth talking Eddie Kingston bringing the heel teams together.
Diamante and Ivelisse vs. Allie and Brandi in the AEW Deadly Draw women’s tag team tournament final: The tournament will not be remembered for stellar in-ring performances, but they did save the best match for last. Still, the overall tournament rates as a Miss. The presentation with Madusa, Shaul Guerrero, and Veda Scott’s involvement was nicely done. Ultimately, though, it didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose beyond establishing Diamante and Ivelisse as a tag team in a company that clearly isn’t ready to launch a women’s tag team division.
If the latest pathetic spotfest 6 man starring Jazz Hands, Road Warrior, and Balding was a children’s book, it would have been called, “A series of overly coordinated events.”
Just one stupid, obviously cooperative spot after another with literally no selling unless it was to rest until it time to do your next move. Several times the camera caught someone looking up to make sure they didn’t miss their turn to do a meaningless, contrived spot that bears no resemblance to someone trying to win a fight. Just low budget indy bullshit aimed at Meltzer marks and other basement dwelling losers.
It’s a shame as there were a couple of really good segments on the show, but still way too much indie garbage for a supposedly professional company.
So if all of this is so terrible, please explain why AEW has beaten NXT in the ratings so often? I don’t play sides. I enjoy both shows. But do the numbers suggest that these issues you have with the in-ring style say more about your own tastes than the tastes of the masses? Not trying to be a dick. Just genuinely curious to know how you rationalize this.
While certain move sequences that are too convoluted do cause me to roll my eyes these specific moments are not pervasive enough within the AEW in-ring action where I take a major issue with it. The cinema/match approach that WWE has implemented is much more of a turnoff.
I just like the the more live, less produced feel of what AEW presents, as well as the promos that recall the colorful eighties era. That and the fact that mid-card and entry-level wrestlers are more competitive in their matches and can still look good and gain fanfare in defeat.
I would much rather have convoluted moves in a match than absurdly obvious scripted promos like the WORST pro wrestling/ slash/ sports non-entertainment program. I totally agree with you.
Clearly numbers mean everything, I mean the Transformer movies have grossed almost 5 billion dollars so obviously they must be the greatest movies of all time right Jason?
Or who can forget the best tv show of all time, American Idol. Now most people will tell you it’s shit but Jason knows better since it always did monster ratings meaning it must be amazing.
Ratings = Quality.
Okay, but I didn’t sit around bitching every week in a comment section about what songs might make American Idol better while stating that people who are younger than me are stupid for liking the songs on the show. Call me crazy, I just didn’t watch it. I found something that I actually I liked. And given how many pro wrestling companies are out there, that’s should be an option these days.
Does everyone else realize that this pathetic loser is truly a fan of AEW, no matter what he writes on here. This moron obviously watches every minute of a show he claims to hate. Jason, is there a way to block this guy?
Jazz Hands, Road Warrior, Balding…you once claimed you never listened to Cornette’s podcast or youtube shit, that you didn’t follow him or keep up with him, yet time and again you parrot his insults and nicknames for wrestlers word for word. You really gonna claim that you just coincidentally come up with the EXACT same nicknames for wrestlers he does time and again and that you’re not just another Cornette mark, repeating every thing he says, without a single attempt at an original thought? If you wanna play a character, get a Warcraft subscription or find some D&D friends or something, it’s bound to make you less miserable. And if you absolutely have to roleplay on a wrestling site why not at least come up with your own character bro? At least show some fucking creativity, rather than just carbon copying a bitter old has-been like Jimmy.