AEW brought the holiday spirit this week, as Dynamite: Holiday Bash turned out to be a great show. The match quality was of a very high level. Darby Allin was able to overcome Will Ospreay in what could well be TV MOTY, as both men exceeded the already extremely high expectations of them. Mercedes Mone retained her title against a very spirited Anna Jay. This one was able to show Anna’s vast improvement from an in-ring perspective, while Mone is finally starting to look her best in AEW. The main event is the only match I had a major problem with, but that was only because the can they coexist stuff is getting a bit stale now. Storytelling outside of the ring was once again up and down this week. Although the MJF and Adam Cole storyline still doesn’t make any sense, their segment on the show was probably the best in the rivalry yet. Mainly because MJF could be his usual heel self, and the weird storyline advancements were kept to a minimum. Then with the Ricochet stuff, I’m not a fan of it and I feel he is being made to look like a bit of a joke. The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant, Washington DC was on fire and credit to AEW for that because the fans weren’t going crazy for no reason. Commentary did a great job, specifically in the Darby and Will match, they really helped elevate the contest. I’ve got to give the company their props this week. The storytelling was pretty bland at times, but thanks to the match quality doing much of the heavy lifting, they will very much be on the nice list this year!
AEW presents to us, Dynamite: Holiday Bash. The card on tap for us looks stacked, as we have two Continental Classic matches lined up. Mercedes Mone defends her TBS Title against Anna Jay. Adam Page, Jay White and Orange Cassidy look to put their differences aside, as they take on Death Riders. Let’s get into the review!
GREAT Mercedes Mone vs Anna Jay – TBS Title Match
I didn’t have too high expectations for this match going into it, but these two certainly proved me wrong. Mercedes and Anna have really good chemistry with each other, and although we can say how good Mone is, Anna has improved so much since her run in Japan. Everything she does looks a lot smoother, while her strikes hit a little harder as well. Yet another great match to put on Mone’s end of year resume, she has been getting a lot of criticism over the past year, but now we are starting to see her get back to her best.
Result: Mercedes Mone by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GOOD MJF and Adam Cole Segment
This was probably the best segment from this storyline so far. Again none of this makes any sense, and there were some weak and confusing points even in this segment alone. But the moment of Adam outsmarting Max was pretty cool.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.25 Stars
GREAT The Patriarchy vs Hook and Katsuyori Shibata
The Patriarchy gets one over Hook yet again, as Christian Cage hit the Killswitch on Shibata which allowed Nick Wayne to pick up the victory. Tremendous heel work from Christian in this one, he had to crowd in the palm of his hand which really elevated the atmosphere. Shibata was also very fun to watch in the contest, his hot tag was great and the selling from Nick Wayne on his sleeper hold was fantastic.
Result: The Patriarchy by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GOOD Ricochet Segment
How to make Ricochet look like a complete joke 101. This might seem harsh to some people, but after this segment I don’t know how you can take him seriously. Ricochet begged to join the Hurt Syndicate, MVP ripped up his business card and Bobby Lashley pushed Ricochet away, resulting in him just running from the faction instead of standing up for himself. Now on the other hand, it made the Hurt Syndicate look dominant.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.00 Stars
GREAT Shelton Benjamin vs Beast Mortos – Continental Classic
Some timing issues at the start of this contest, but as the match went on Shelton and Mortos got used to each other’s styles and it ended up a very solid match. Beast Mortos looked great even in defeat, while Shelton’s story in the Hurt Syndicate develops organically. Probably one of the worst matches in the Continental Classic this year, but the bar is incredibly high so that isn’t anything to be ashamed of. After the match, the Hurt Syndicate started beating up Mortos but Daniel Garcia and Mark Briscoe came to his rescue.
Result: Shelton Benjamin by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.50 Stars
MUST WATCH Darby Allin vs Will Ospreay – Continental Classic
My first review of the year, Will Ospreay was on the show and put on a TV MOTY contender. In my last review of the year, he does the exact same thing. But that little fact there shows just how world class Ospreay is, because Darby Allin is a completely different kind of wrestler to Josh Alexander. It was very much resilience vs gifted athleticism. Of course as standard with Darby matches, there are going to be some insane bumps he will take. The Coffin Drop on the hardest part of the ring, and Styles Clash to the outside are examples of that. But what surprised me is how perfectly matched Will and Darby were, everything just looked so effortless for them. One particular sequence in the match was probably one of the best sequences of the year in wrestling. Now usually I would find criticism in the fact that Darby won the match and hit three Coffin Drops, after he took a Styles Clash to the outside and an Oscutter after it. But the thing is, that is Darby’s character, he is resilient and just when you think he is out he gets back in. So I had no problem with that aspect of it, and neither did Washington DC by the sound of it. TV MOTY contender without a doubt, and I’m struggling to think of a TV match better honestly.
Result: Darby Allin by Pinfall via Coffin Drop
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.50 Stars
GREAT Death Riders vs ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, Jay White and Orange Cassidy
The can they coexist stuff that this storyline has been built around is a little old now. It worked with the tag match involving Jay White and Orange Cassidy, but it made the main event feel a bit messy here. Hangman left his team for the majority of the match, came back and cost them the bout. Other than that, there wasn’t really any beneficial advancement of this main event storyline.
Result: Death Riders by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Overall…
AEW brought the holiday spirit this week, as Dynamite: Holiday Bash turned out to be a great show. The match quality was of a very high level. Darby Allin was able to overcome Will Ospreay in what could well be TV MOTY, as both men exceeded the already extremely high expectations of them. Mercedes Mone retained her title against a very spirited Anna Jay. This one was able to show Anna’s vast improvement from an in-ring perspective, while Mone is finally starting to look her best in AEW. The main event is the only match I had a major problem with, but that was only because the can they coexist stuff is getting a bit stale now. Storytelling outside of the ring was once again up and down this week. Although the MJF and Adam Cole storyline still doesn’t make any sense, their segment on the show was probably the best in the rivalry yet. Mainly because MJF could be his usual heel self, and the weird storyline advancements were kept to a minimum. Then with the Ricochet stuff, I’m not a fan of it and I feel he is being made to look like a bit of a joke. The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant, Washington DC was on fire and credit to AEW for that because the fans weren’t going crazy for no reason. Commentary did a great job, specifically in the Darby and Will match, they really helped elevate the contest. I’ve got to give the company their props this week. The storytelling was pretty bland at times, but thanks to the match quality doing much of the heavy lifting, they will very much be on the nice list this year!
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here
