AEW Dynamite this week was a watchable show with some good segments, but one which had an accumulation of issues and black marks which ultimately let it down. The show did little to capitalise on the success of All Out, and while both Ricochet/Guevara and the Casino Tag Gauntlet were extremely fun, if predictable, offerings, other matches did little to set the world alight. Promos were equally as mixed, with some baffling storytelling logic in the Moxley/Darby/Danielson/McGuiness through-line undermining some strong delivery from all involved. An inventive crowd and some fun teases for the future gave the show some bright sparks moving forward, with a superb Grand Slam Card on paper. But an accumulation of missteps from the bookers pencil and some surprising poor commentary at times left me more frustrated at this show than enthralled, despite some exciting future prospects on the horizon,
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, number one contenders for the AEW Tag Team Championships will be decided in the first ever Casino Tag Gauntlet. Queen Aminata also looks punch her ticket to Mariah May’s World Championship in an Eliminator Match. Elsewhere on the card, Sammy Guevara takes on Ricochet and Jack Perry defends the TNT Title against Lio Rush
GOOD Christian Cage Promo
A good opening promo here from Christian, though very little of significance is said. He bigs up Killswitch as this turn continues to drag on, but otherwise just does his usual heel shtick to remind the audience he has the title shot. Well delivered, but not much advanced here.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3 Stars
United Empire is reforming for one night only as Callis pleads with Ospreay to team with Fletcher. Very fun team up
GOOD Jack Perry vs Lio Rush
The same comments I made about the opening promo can be transposed to this match, just in wrestling form. This was well wrestled, and the unique style Lio Rush has of launching himself at opponents in a flimsily controlled manner (the only way I can describe it) is always fascinating. Yet, this was very much style over substance, with merely a few big moves, an ad break and then a decisive Perry victory. A match not enriched in any story or character context, nor impressive enough technically to justify its existence without it, this ended up striking a perplexing middle ground that was entertaining enough but seemingly without much usage to the overall card.
Result: Jack Perry by Pinfall via Knee Strike
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3 Stars
Hangman Page is apoplectic backstage as he runs through Jeff Jarrett. A good continuation of the Hangman character.
GREAT PAC Promo
Short but sweet from PAC here, as Moxley and friends take over the entrance of Private Party and Komander. There were some crackingly memorable lines in here, namely ‘diplomacy has failed’. Too short to rate any higher, but it was a very effective burst from a very strong talker. I do wish though that this segment, and the one seen later in the show, were merged to improve pacing.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Chris Jericho is in the arena and teases an appearance later tonight alongside his brand new Bentley. I can almost certainly confirm that will be used and/or destroyed later on tonight
AMAZING Sammy Guevara vs Ricochet
The highlight of the night, this was a superb spotfest which proved that despite being often difficult to cheer for, Sammy Guevara is a mightily underrated wrestler. Him and Ricochet had amazing chemistry, and the athleticism and innovation here was marvellous. The post match teases for Ricochet/Mortos also made me very happy, and I expect that to perhaps set up something for Collision.
Result: Ricochet by Pinfall via Vertigo
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Okada and Takeshita seem to set up something moving forward following Takeshita not being pinned at All Out.
GREAT Moxley/Darby Promo
A lot to unpack in this promo. The objective was to get Moxley to coerce Darby to hand over his world championship shot, or at the very least to challenge him for it. The content of the promo was reasonably interesting, and Moxley’s coercive and hypnotic voice really helped to convey the moral murkiness of what he is trying to do. Darby, on the other hand, came across to me a little like a whiny teenage, less in content but more in delivery, his drawling voice seemingly weirdly at odds with other promos I’ve seen him do. I don’t have much of an issue with Darby accepting the challenge as that I can justify, but something about the dynamics of the two didn’t quite work for me, and was borderline irritating in places.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
AVERAGE Mariah May vs Queen Aminata
This one really stung, as I thought these two had great chemistry the first time they wrestled. They certainly still retained some of that chemistry in small bursts, but Aminata was never made to look like any sort of threat to May, which for a world title eliminator with someone who went 20 minutes with Athena on the sister promotion. May won very handily in a dissapointing match. The very brief post match call out I will not rate, but does hopefully lead to Shirakawa’s return.
Result: Mariah May by Pinfall via Storm Zero
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2.75 Stars
SQUASH The Learning Tree vs Iron Savages
Quick and reasonably fun squash here, as are most squashes involving Iron Savages. Not much to discuss here.
Result: Chris Jericho by Pinfall
GOOD Chris Jericho Promo
An entertaining bit with Cassidy paying back his debt in quarters directly onto Chekov’s Bentley. Most of the promo itself though was Jericho just recounting to us what we’ve been told multiple times, so the fun came more from the shenanigans than the promo itself, beyond a brief tease of dissension with Jericho/Bill which was very interesting.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
GREAT Nigel McGuiness Promo
From a delivery perspective, this was fantastic work from McGuiness, who built up the story and the desperation through his voice. The story doesnt make sense, as Danielson not being cleared for a Darby match yet potentially being cleared for Nigel is honestly bizarre and reductive, but none of that is McGuiness’ fault, who did the best job he possibly could to sell it.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
AMAZING Casino Tag Gauntlet
There was no doubt from the very beginning of this match who would come out victorious. Ospreay and Fletcher was the only team with star power in the match who had not already faced The Bucks, and so this match was a clear indication of the lack of depth in the division. Even the Grizzled Young Vets, the only other team who had a realistic chance of winning, was immediately taken out to further their story with FTR. That is fine in itself, but made the match a bit futile as from then it was only one winner. So, with that said, why is the rating so high? Well, put simply, the match is a ton of fun. Loads of supremely inventive spots, a great sequence with Ospreay and Dante Martin, a very unique finish and a bizarrely huge reaction for The Outrunners. Some teams probably should’ve been replaced, but nonetheless bell to bell there is little to complain about. But the wider issue of predictability and limitedness of AEW’s tag division was on full display here, leading to a bittersweet main event.
Result: Ospreay/Fletcher by Pinfall via Hidden Blade
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
Overall…
AEW Dynamite this week was a watchable show with some good segments, but one which had an accumulation of issues and black marks which ultimately let it down. The show did little to capitalise on the success of All Out, and while both Ricochet/Guevara and the Casino Tag Gauntlet were extremely fun, if predictable, offerings, other matches did little to set the world alight. Promos were equally as mixed, with some baffling storytelling logic in the Moxley/Darby/Danielson/McGuiness through-line undermining some strong delivery from all involved. An inventive crowd and some fun teases for the future gave the show some bright sparks moving forward, with a superb Grand Slam Card on paper. But an accumulation of missteps from the bookers pencil and some surprising poor commentary at times left me more frustrated at this show than enthralled, despite some exciting future prospects on the horizon,
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – September 11th 2024
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here :
