This weeks Dynamite was a strange show, because the best segments were really outstanding, but the weaker elements dragged it kicking and screaming down into an occasionally frustrating night. The positives are evident, two excellent matches, a fantastic Adam Copeland promo, an excellent MJF/Bullet Club Gold segment, and a rabid crowd. A shame then we also had a random and pointless Acclaimed Trios’ match, a predictable and slightly stale Wardlow squash, a very standard Toni Storm and Skye Blue match (though Toni’s characterisation is excellent) and an overall chaos to things that pointed on occasion to bad production. From one match being exclusively announced twice to matches finishing during show run-downs to audio issues in vignettes, it felt on occasions like the right hand didn’t always know what the left hand was doing, which made things feel sloppy. I think a more focused show here taking out the filler and allowing segments like Copeland’s to breathe just a little more would’ve made the show feel all the more cohesive. Nonetheless it was still a very good episode, and its highs were terrific, but I couldn’t shake the fact that the show, on occasion, didn't always feel right.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, it’s the 40th anniversary of AEW Dynamite. Following his shock debut at Wrestledream, we hear the mission statement of Adam Copeland. Also on this show, Nick Jackson faces Rey Fenix and Jericho and Omega team to take down the Don Callis family. Lets get at it!
Edge is in the same building as Jericho and Kenny Omega, its happening folks it’s happening
AMAZING Rey Fenix vs Nick Jackson
While not on the level of their original encounter, this was a brilliant opening match, incredible agility, flawless fundamentals and a rabid crowd. The psychological makeup of the match was knee vs back, but although they sold moves to that area well, they were still able to hit all their other big moves without incident, which I do think is a flaw. Also the storyline context, while there if you want to find it, didn’t especially play into anything beyond the surface level of the history. The ending was also slightly underwhelming with it merely a roll up which we have seen many many times, which hurts the innovation slightly. Flashes of a next level encounter, but settled at merely an excellent one.
Result: Rey Fenix by Pinfall via Roll-Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 4 Stars
Adam Cole and Roddy Strong have a great little vignette showing bonding via injury race and interior design. Very funny stuff.
SQUASH Wardlow vs Griff Garrison
Nice to see Wardlow back. He dispatches of Griff very quickly. Just fear he hasn’t evolved and is exactly the same as before.
Result: Wardlow by Pinfall via Powerbomb Symphony
Guevara isn’t cleared tonight (then why announce it through the show then). Anyway, Kyle Fletcher is the replacement for Guevara which certainly isn’t a bad choice.
We play Roderick and Cole again because of audio issues. Didn’t get any on FITE so its clearly a TBS issue.
AVERAGE The Acclaimed vs Butcher, Blade and Kip Sabian
You can tell how important this match was because the announcers were doing next weeks show rundown and then missed the finish. This was absolutely nothing, totally well done nothing, but nothing none the same. No botches or anything to go wrong, but just a match that happened, was clean and then finished. No reason to care, zero story or intrigue, but the crowd very much cared about Billy Gunn who they barely got to see, so that was worth it.
Result: The Acclaimed By Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2.75 Stars
Tonight we see the ‘timeless’ Toni Storm, curious to see how her character changes.
Vignette for Swerve and Hangman, but the sound mixing was so bad I couldn’t hear a word Page was saying.
AMAZING Bullet Club Gold/MJF Promo
This was a totally functional segment. We know its not MJF behind the mask, we know The Gunn’s and Juice are idiot characters, and we know MJF is very entertaining. There’s only one major problem. The man in the mask doesn’t look anything like MJF, so for Jay White to believe its him is deeply silly. Still, it was really well done, and Jay and MJF is set for Full Gear which is great. Very fun segment, just a bit overlong and with some major story holes.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
Cassidy is still depressed. There was an air of stoner comedy about this mixed with a poignant sense of regret and bitterness. It was only slight but I really love this dynamic.
AMAZING Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega vs Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher
A brilliant match between four excellent competitors. The tag psychology was all over the place, but outside of that it was a fantastically worked match that really got my blood pumping, featuring a star turn by Kyle Fletcher. The post match angle with Powerhouse Hobbs joining with Callis…we’ll see how it goes. Don’t know why Copeland didn’t make the save
Result: Kenny Omega by Pinfall via One Winged Angel
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Caster and MJF have a fun bit before MJF tries and fails to call Adam Cole. Good furthering of this story.
GOOD Skye Blue vs Toni Storm
The match itself was rather uninteresting and not the most exciting 6 minutes you’ll ever spend, but Toni is a phenomenal character and some of her new quirks are absolutely brilliant. This wasn’t really about the wrestling, it was more about establishing a character which it did pretty well at. We’ve just gotta keep building.
Result: Toni Storm by Pinfall via Storm Zero
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3 Stars
MUST WATCH Adam Copeland Promo- Watch Segment Here
Firstly, thank you FITE for cutting this segment off half way through. Such a great service. Anyway I have seen the rest on Youtube, and it was undoubtedly fantastic. Copeland is fabulous, Cage is brilliant, their dynamic is ace, and this worked really well. I almost wanted this to have more time as it did seem a touch rushed, but the content was so good I didn’t care, this was fantastic stuff.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.5 Stars
Overall…
This weeks Dynamite was a strange show, because the best segments were really outstanding, but the weaker elements dragged it kicking and screaming down into an occasionally frustrating night. The positives are evident, two excellent matches, a fantastic Adam Copeland promo, an excellent MJF/Bullet Club Gold segment, and a rabid crowd. A shame then we also had a random and pointless Acclaimed Trios’ match, a predictable and slightly stale Wardlow squash, a very standard Toni Storm and Skye Blue match (though Toni’s characterisation is excellent) and an overall chaos to things that pointed on occasion to bad production. From one match being exclusively announced twice to matches finishing during show run-downs to audio issues in vignettes, it felt on occasions like the right hand didn’t always know what the left hand was doing, which made things feel sloppy. I think a more focused show here taking out the filler and allowing segments like Copeland’s to breathe just a little more would’ve made the show feel all the more cohesive. Nonetheless it was still a very good episode, and its highs were terrific, but I couldn’t shake the fact that the show, on occasion, didn’t always feel right.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.5/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – October 4th 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
