AEW Dynamite this week was an overstuffed mess of a show, unfortunate given it also housed some outstanding promo work. MJF and Adam Cole had a typically remarkable segment while Don Callis, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega also had fantastic promos. The show at its best resembled Attitude Era car crash booking, and at worst felt like a desperate attempt to string together the final matches for All In by frantically booking attack after attack to fill out the card. At one stage I had to stop the show manually and take a breather because I got overwhelmed from the amount happening and couldn’t concentrate, and it felt more to me like unfocused booking than a deliberate choice. While I appreciate all the announcements and matches booked, I needed more reasons why with such little time before the show, and while some matches were brilliantly hyped, others were random, unexplained or underdeveloped, which limits my rating in that regard to 0.5. The wrestling also really took a back seat, and while the opening two matches delivered very nicely, keeping the show very narrowly at a 0.5 in that area the shows second half fell apart fast. The only positive I can muster for the dismal Deathmatch is the money I pray it has made for charity, while the women's division booking continues to severely underwhelm. The Acclaimed and House Of Black angle should have been saved for Collision for greater impact, and the main event while good fun was a car crash affair that continued to confirm the overwhelming sensory experience. This show had some very high highs and some very low lows, but at the centre I struggled to watch the show because it just moved at a pace in which far too much was crammed into a single episode, kinda undermining the show at its core.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen, Jeff Jarrett takes on Jeff Hardy in a ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ sponsored Texas Death Match. Britt Baker also battles the Bunny with an All In spot on the line. Chris Jericho is also set to give his answer to the Don Callis family, and Kenny Omega gives us an update on his plans for Wembley. Elsewhere on the card, former stablemates Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta fight over the International Championship. The Gates Of Agony take on Darby Allin and Nick Wayne, and The Gunns battle The Young Bucks. Lets get at it…
GREAT Orange Cassidy vs Wheeler Yuta
This is mostly wrestled at a very methodical and deliberate pace before rising through the gears into its ending. The BCC coming out slows the momentum slightly but we pick up again for a fun ending. Another extremely solid entry to OC’s reign, but ultimately more about the story than the match itself with the post match brawl between the three teams, including the return of Eddie Kingston to announce a Stadium Stampede. This whole segment was very good fun, if a touch messy in the brawl. A stadium stampede I think is an interesting choice, as the original is one of my all time favourite matches. I just hope it translates to a live crowd.
Result: Orange Cassidy by Pinfall via Roll Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
We get an excellent sit down interview with Omega and JR. JR works perfectly with Omega and Omega speaks candidly and fantastically about Takeshita. The interview is then ambushed by Don Callis, Jay White, Juice Robinson and Takeshita. Hangman then cuts a response promo in front of the backstage area, only they’ve stuck an ambulance in and called it a hospital which is hilarious. Still though, we get an All In match made of Kenny, Hangman and Ibushi against Jay, Juice and Takeshita. A bit lazy, yes, but should be incredibly awesome.
AMAZING Jericho Gives His Answer
Jericho says yes! Shocking Callis, and me, given it doesnt fully make sense. Then it does make sense because in a great twist it’s revealed that Callis had prepared a painting of Jericho beheaded as he expected Jericho to say no. They have a great back and forth where some home truths are spoken and Jericho turns face on Callis only to be attacked by Takeshita and Will Ospreay for some reason. It’s not what I’d have done for All In with Will I’ll be honest, but this segment was amazing. It could’ve been an all timer if it slowed down and breathed for a second, because it feels so far like the whole show this week has happened at 2x the speed
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 4 Stars
Jack Perry says he will retire the FTW Title next week. Interesting little wrinkle to set something up there.
GREAT Darby Allin and Nick Wayne vs The Gates Of Agony
These are some of my favourite types of AEW match. Fast, furious, frenetic and in-keeping with the pace of the episode. It felt like a sprint but it was a terrific sprint, and though it didn’t have the final act their match with Cassidy had, it was still a really fun time. I also really think The Gates Of Agony are supremely underrated and they make every move feel really exciting, especially in their work-over spots. A really really good match.
Result: Darby Allin by Pinfall via Coffin Drop
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
Post match Sting has kidnapped Prince Nana. Sting gets to show his personality here and it was pretty damn funny.
Another funny MJF and Adam Cole segment as they watch Crocodile Dundee and try and work out a Kangaroo kick. They then get shouted at by Tony Khab. Ever so slightly racist with all the Aussie stereotypes but it was undeniably entertaining.
MUST WATCH MJF and Adam Cole
This is an outstanding segment. The first half is very standard stuff we’ve heard these guys say a lot, but this gets excellent when both men get to cut fabulous soliloquies on what this match and the title means to them. MJF in particular has a fantastic speech really making the event seem at the level of the build they’ve given it. It misses on a 5 star purely because the beginning of the promo was very similar to stuff we’ve seen before and I think it was merely a standardly good promo until the soliloquies started and it picked up a gear. The end with the Cole superkick spot also didn’t really make a ton of sense and was a bit awkward but it just about came through. Finally, we didn’t gain a ton of new information about these guys beyond what MJF said about Adam Cole and his dream opponent which we have heard before, we just had it beautifully reaffirmed. Still those segments were outstanding and MJF is a generational talent.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.75 Stars
Excellent promo from Jericho making the match all All In against Ospreay official. Jericho has been fabulous om this show across the board
AWFUL Jeff Jarrett vs Jeff Hardy- Texas Chainsaw Death Match
I hope they made so much money for charity with this match because for the most part it was quite painful to sit through as a viewer. The first half was dull, uninteresting and borderline unwatchable given how poor the lighting and camerawork was . The second half was watching the faces brutalise Jeff Jarrett for ages before, and I swear I am not making this up, a shambled together version of Leatherface comes out with a chainsaw to scare off Karen Jarrett, and then Jeff Jarrett just wins. There could be bits of camp fun if you want to look at it that way, and I promise I have a sense of humour, but this was corporate shilling at some of its most irritating. If you had to do it, have it be like the final deletion and go fully cinematic, not this half and half hybrid of boring wrestling and middling product placement. I rate the match very poorly, but to be fair to it it is a charity show and I’m sure it will make them good money for a good cause. I like both guys, I just really didn’t like this match. It still isn’t as bad as the 2022 Netflix adaptation though, I’ll give them that.
Result: Jeff Jarrett by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Match Rating- 1.5 Stars
AVERAGE The Bunny vs Britt Baker
The problem with this match is simple, nobody buys The Bunny will beat Britt Baker. It’s nice to see Bunny back but with no build I, as well as the rest of the crowd, was just waiting for Britt to win and they never sold me otherwise. The match was also quite dull and one sided, and given this was the only women’s representation on the show it was poor. This could and should have been built better, especially for The Bunny’s return to tv. Still the 4 way sounds like a very fun match for the PPV.
Result: Britt Baker by Pinfall via Stomp
David Sheldon WR Star Rating 2.5 Stars
The Acclaimed come out for a tag match but are rushed by the House Of Black. This should’ve been saved for Collision. It also makes last week’s Collision match confusing as it appears HOB changed gears to CMFTR only to come right back to The Acclaimed. It’s good storytelling to probably lead to the return of Billy Gunn. It just feels like it’s on the wrong show given how overstuffed this episode already is
GOOD The Gunns vs The Young Bucks
This was the match you expected from these guys with the pace of this show. Once again fast, energised and what can be described as car crash tv. The work was all very clean and well executed, but the ending is tired and played out and in general I just wanted everyone to take a breather and calm down, because having been subjected to an episode which moved way too quickly. The post match angle was fun and this did feel like a main event, just a bit of a messy one.
Result: The Young Bucks by Roll-Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
Overall…
AEW Dynamite this week was an overstuffed mess of a show, unfortunate given it also housed some outstanding promo work. MJF and Adam Cole had a typically remarkable segment while Don Callis, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega also had fantastic promos. The show at its best resembled Attitude Era car crash booking, and at worst felt like a desperate attempt to string together the final matches for All In by frantically booking attack after attack to fill out the card. At one stage I had to stop the show manually and take a breather because I got overwhelmed from the amount happening and couldn’t concentrate, and it felt more to me like unfocused booking than a deliberate choice. While I appreciate all the announcements and matches booked, I needed more reasons why with such little time before the show, and while some matches were brilliantly hyped, others were random, unexplained or underdeveloped, which limits my rating in that regard to 0.5. The wrestling also really took a back seat, and while the opening two matches delivered very nicely, keeping the show very narrowly at a 0.5 in that area the shows second half fell apart fast. The only positive I can muster for the dismal Deathmatch is the money I pray it has made for charity, while the women’s division booking continues to severely underwhelm. The Acclaimed and House Of Black angle should have been saved for Collision for greater impact, and the main event while good fun was a car crash affair that continued to confirm the overwhelming sensory experience. This show had some very high highs and some very low lows, but at the centre I struggled to watch the show because it just moved at a pace in which far too much was crammed into a single episode, kinda undermining the show at its core.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.25/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 2.75/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – August 16th 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
(Tonight’s special episode of AEW Dynamite raises funds for the Maui Food Bank, in response to a series of deadly wildfires in the area. We at Wrestling Republic send our thoughts and prayers to all affected. You can find information on how to donate here.)
