For the most part I had a very fun time with AEW’s 200th episode. The show was very smartly integrated with a sampling of wrestling styles, making every match stand out from one another. We were given a storyteller opening, a carnage weapons brawl, an old school sports entertainment showing, a high flying stunt-fest and a main event women's title match. It is that variety that made the show compulsively watchable, even if some glaring issues in certain matches prevented my ratings from exceeding to the level they could’ve, despite my subjective enjoyment of those matches (primarily the 6 man tag and ROH Tag Title match). The show did have an underlying theme of celebration through the night, with all but one match featuring at least one AEW Original. The only match that didn't gave ROH a showcase, which I understand as a celebration both of AEW's influence and it's biggest IP Acquisition, but the segment time could've been used to build an AEW feud, saving a very fun match for ROH TV. The storytelling we did get on the show was mostly good however, with the MJF/Cole segment exceptional and an excellent Mogul Embassy pre-tape, alongside some other solid advancement, though I could've used more productive storytelling in the second half of the show. It remains to be seen if Shida winning the title is a shock tactic or a legitimate attempt to boost the division, but at present I can’t say its execution worked for me, despite my admiration for Shida. Although the main event did slightly disappoint and confuse me and some other matches on the card were somewhat constrained in one way or another, I still thought the show was very well put together in structure and production and I had a great time. Here’s to 200 more!
Tonight, on the 200th episode of AEW Dynamite, Toni Storm defends her AEW Womens World Championship against Hikaru Shida. The ROH Tag Titles are also on the line as Aussie Open defend against El Hijo Del Vikingo and Kommander. Chris Jericho also teams with Konsuke Takeshita to battle JAS Stablemates Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara. Elsewhere on the card, The Elite take on Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh, AEW Originals collide as Jon Moxley, Penta and Trent Barretta lock horns and Jack Perry and Jerry Lynn come face to face. Lets get at it!
Nice old school presentation for the 200th episode, including the old school tunnels.
GREAT Chris Jericho and Konosuke Takeshita vs Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia
This wasn’t a spectacular opener by any means, but it was a very good opener with some strong work from all four guys. The undercurrent of Jericho and Calliis’ evolving relationship through the match was a nice touch though I wished that had been explored just a little more throughout the match rather than it being exclusively for the finish and one other spot. Still some really fun work with Takeshita proving more and more every day why he is so damn good. Callis cheating to help Jericho win is also very good advancement to this story.
Result: Jericho by Pinfall via Baseball Bat shot
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
Tony Khan quite awkwardly introduces a fantastic video package recapping AEW’s history. Cannot believe we have already hit 200 episodes. Here’s to 200 more!
Matt Menard calls a JAS meeting for next week, demanding Jericho’s attendance.
Jack Perry calls out Jerry Lynn to take his beating like a man. Jerry says he would but no doctor alive would clear him, so calls out RVD instead. Lovely to see RVD and the crowd are in love with him. Excited to see that past vs present match whenever that happens. JP initially flees, very ironic given his earlier comments, but does try an unsuccessful sneak attack. Can’t rate this as its not much of a promo segment, but I did enjoy it for what it was
AMAZING Jon Moxley vs Penta El Zero vs Trent Barretta
This was an incredibly fun hardcore match, with some phenomenal spots of pure violence. These guys work brilliantly together and they did an excellent job. Trent winning for a second week in a row was wonderful, as it’s nice to see him be given a shot. The very start and very end of this match were a little underwhelming and I don’t think the finish quite worked to the extent it could’ve, but that is a minor gripe. Just incredible fun soaked in blood and bones. The parking lot brawl on Rampage also sounds like a bit of fun to me, although I feel for Penta who gets lost in the shuffle in the post match.
Result: Trent Barretta by Pinfall via Knee Strike
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 4 Stars
RVD cuts a quite fumbling promo challenging Jack Perry to a match next week. I love Rob but he struggled a bit here
MUST WATCH MJF Promo- Watch Promo HERE
MJF cuts a fantastic babyface promo here, playing off his past troubles and promises that even if he can’t not be a scumbag, he can at least be the fans’ scumbag. He brings out Adam Cole who also cuts a fantastic motivational speech to Max. Max says Adam deserves not just any match, but the main event of All In, which Adam gratefully accepts. I loved every single second of this, and I think it plays off every aspect of this story so beautifully well. Magnificent work and this match is more than worthy of All In.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.5 Stars
GOOD The Elite vs Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh
Kenny Omega and Jeff Jarrett start us off, I never thought I would see the day! Objectively, this match is a mess of bodies and convoluted nonsense, but I care none because I enjoyed the holy heck out of it. A real throwback match for the 200th episode, with the return of Brandon Cutler for a fun spot and a general sense of sports entertainment silliness. I cannot rate this especially highly because while it was a fun tag match it was extremely messy, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have the best time with it. Incredible fun.
Result: Kenny Omega by Pinfall via One Winged Angel
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
AR Fox and Swerve invade the Wayne training compound. I thought this whole segment was outstanding and this partnership is TASTY.
GREAT Aussie Open vs El Hijo Del Vikingo and Kommander
Lucha Libre wrestling has a very distinctive flavour, the kind of which does not entirely come out too strongly when put through our rating system. The match was staged, choreographed, a bit messy in places and the crowd weren’t especially into Aussie Open. With all that said, it also contained some of the most insane displays of wrestling athleticism I have ever seen. I have no issue if these things look staged if the end product is as cool as it is, and it 100% blew my mind in how a human body can do that. It’s human acrobatics and as human acrobatics go you can’t get much more fun that Vikingo and Kommander. Again like the previous match my hands are a bit tied with the rating as there was very little storytelling or psychology, but that’s not what these wrestlers bring to matches like these. They are here to be awe inspiring and do things you’ve never seen before, and they did exactly that.
Result: Aussie Open by Pinfall via Coriolis
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
GOOD Hikaru Shida vs Toni Storm- AEW Women’s Championship
Well this made me jump. I at no point in this match expected Shida to win, and was completely taken off guard. Positives first, great to see the women’s main event, and I love Shida and think she is more than worthy of a world title. Sadly this feels like a reactionary shock win to shake up a stale division, which was evident in the fact the crowd did not feel into most of this match, which given the quality of both women is indicative of the division’s tepid booking. The in-ring action was clean and solid enough, and the match did begin to pick up by the end, but for a main event match I wanted more. I was rather deeply confused by the decision, and think it is a mistake to put the belt on Shida with this little structural backbone behind her from management, but I hope she uses the belt to have a good reign and bring this division from the dust.
Result: Hikaru Shida by Pinfall via Roll-Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
Overall…
For the most part I had a very fun time with AEW’s 200th episode. The show was very smartly integrated with a sampling of wrestling styles, making every match stand out from one another. We were given a storyteller opening, a carnage weapons brawl, an old school sports entertainment showing, a high flying stunt-fest and a main event women’s title match. It is that variety that made the show compulsively watchable, even if some glaring issues in certain matches prevented my ratings from exceeding to the level they could’ve, despite my subjective enjoyment of those matches (primarily the 6 man tag and ROH Tag Title match). The show did have an underlying theme of celebration through the night, with all but one match featuring at least one AEW Original. The only match that didn’t gave ROH a showcase, which I understand as a celebration both of AEW’s influence and it’s biggest IP Acquisition, but the segment time could’ve been used to build an AEW feud, saving a very fun match for ROH TV. The storytelling we did get on the show was mostly good however, with the MJF/Cole segment exceptional and an excellent Mogul Embassy pre-tape, alongside some other solid advancement, though I could’ve used more productive storytelling in the second half of the show. It remains to be seen if Shida winning the title is a shock tactic or a legitimate attempt to boost the division, but at present I can’t say its execution worked for me, despite my admiration for Shida. Although the main event did slightly disappoint and confuse me and some other matches on the card were somewhat constrained in one way or another, I still thought the show was very well put together in structure and production and I had a great time. Here’s to 200 more!
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – August 2nd 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
