This was a bad episode of AEW Dynamite, one with occasionally good segments but one which suffered from a lack of anything hugely memorable and some very poor decisions in structuring. This show underwhelmed in many areas, and despite enjoying Young Bucks/Best Friends and Ospreay/Hobbs, most of the matches were unmemorable, and I can give or take them, aside from Gunn/White which was immensely damaging and I would avoid like the plague. Archer/Danielson and the aforementioned Gunn/White went too long, while Rosa/Storm and Ospreay/Hobbs felt too short. The atmosphere was hot and cold, the opening segment was well delivered but morally misguided and overall the show didn’t come together cohesively. A show with enjoyable segments but one you can certainly miss.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, It’s a battle of Will’s as Will Ospreay takes on Will Hobbs. The Young Bucks and Best Friends do battle for a spot in the tag tournament final. Elsewhere on the card, Mariah May and Thunder Rosa face off in a number one contenders match and Bryan Danielson battles Lance Archer. Lets get at it!
GREAT Adam Copeland Promo
This is a very tough promo to rate. It was a brilliantly delivered promo from Copeland, a battle cry against tribalism in wrestling while holding up the virtues of AEW. While I very much enjoyed his fire and it did make me ready for the show and steadfast in my enjoyment of AEW, I couldn’t help but find it reactionary and even a touch tone deaf given certain things going on in the company right now. It is the type of promo I would criticise WWE for doing in this situation, so I must extend the same energy to AEW. Copeland is amazing, and the promo was excellently delivered, but in context and content, it’s something I just wouldn’t have done.
Result: Will Ospreay by Pinfall via Hidden Blade
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
GREAT Will Ospreay vs Powerhouse Hobbs
It was no surprise this was a strong match between two great competitors, but not one without issue. The first few minutes of the match felt very staged and clunky, as both men felt like they couldn’t find their chemistry. They got there for some very good sequences in the second act, which was by far its strongest section, and a surprisingly decisive and abrupt end, but not without a slightly iffy looking Sky Twister. Great match, but Ospreay’s weakest since arriving in AEW, which is a crazily high bar.
Result: Will Ospreay by Pinfall via Hidden Blade
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
GOOD Bryan Danielson vs Lance Archer
This had every ingredient it needed to succeed but I don’t think the pudding came together in the oven. Some occasional botchiness and an overly slow pace led to this feeling like a chore to watch at times. These guys are both great and at some points it came alive, but for how excited for this match I was, I’ll admit I was disappointed with how the final product turned out.
Result: Bryan Danielson by Pinfall via Running Knee
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
BELOW AVERAGE Jericho Call Out
It’s getting borderline painful now. Jericho and Hook announce they’ll team on Collision but the crowd care horribly little about Jericho and it’s negatively impacting Hook. This man was challenging for the world title in January and seeing this awkward and stilted pile of nothing really made me sad.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2.25 Stars
BAD Billy Gunn vs Jay White
This was one of the slowest, most painful drubbings I have seen in a long while. Billy can go in the ring, and Jay is amazing, so between them they could’ve had a decent match. Unfortunately this is so long and so boring, with White getting almost no offence in whatsoever before it ends on a nice juicy DQ. This is the worst White has ever looked in AEW and didn’t do anything for anyone. What a waste of time.
Result: Billy Gunn by DQ
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 1.5 Stars
GREAT Willow Nightingale/Mercedes Mone
This started with a brilliantly authentic promo from the amazing Willow Nightingale, one which would’ve got a 4+ star grade, but felt like it lost some of that authenticity when Mercedes came out, talked like a corporate catchphrase and then left. Waiting 2 months to see her wrestle isn’t all that exciting to me, and it frustrated me given how much I was enjoying the authenticity. This could be a huge heel work and I will look very foolish if that’s the case, but right now whatever is happening it is not clicking at all.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
GREAT Young Bucks vs Best Friends
I had a blast watching this match. A very entertaining back and forth with some enjoying comedic action. Some spots, particularly around Sue, got heavily whiffed, but I nonetheless enjoyed the campness of it, and I am intrigued by the post match. Not the best of the tournament, but a really entertaining silly spectacle.
Result: Young Bucks by Pinfall via Corner Shot/Roll Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
GOOD Mariah May vs Thunder Rosa
This was functionally good in the ring but never got the crowd heat or structure to really build into anything great. Rosa’s win felt abrupt and the story never came together as it had the potential to. It could’ve been something that really fired up multiple angles, but instead ended up feeling a bit colder than it should’ve
Result: Thunder Rosa by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
GREAT Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland Contract Signing
The best elements of this contract signing happened within the physical body language of both men. Joe no selling the chain, Swerve laughing through the blood or Nana looking on in pure horror. That stuff was all immense, but the dialogue itself was standard contract affair. It was very well delivered but I’ve seen far better in AEW previously. Again hard to rate as the physicality was better than the speech, but it was a well done and effective segment to continue the build to Dynasty.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
Overall…
This was a bad episode of AEW Dynamite, one with occasionally good segments but one which suffered from a lack of anything hugely memorable and some very poor decisions in structuring. This show underwhelmed in many areas, and despite enjoying Young Bucks/Best Friends and Ospreay/Hobbs, most of the matches were unmemorable, and I can give or take them, aside from Gunn/White which was immensely damaging and I would avoid like the plague. Archer/Danielson and the aforementioned Gunn/White went too long, while Rosa/Storm and Ospreay/Hobbs felt too short. The atmosphere was hot and cold, the opening segment was well delivered but morally misguided and overall the show didn’t come together cohesively. A show with enjoyable segments but one you can certainly miss.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.25/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.5/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – April 3rd 2024
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
