It is a real shame that in my first week reviewing Dynamite for the website I am not coming out more positive, but this week felt like a disappointment given what was promised, despite a very hot Texas crowd. The show-long story of the babyface challengers uniting against MJF was serviceable if still underdeveloped, with Jungle Boy vs Rush being the best match of the night. The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club’s interactions were terrific, but I feel it came at the expense of the drama that needed to unfold between Omega and Callis, which is what we as viewers tuned in to see develop after last week. The matches being set up for Double Or Nothing are exciting and should be great, but the actual Dynamite itself was full of missed opportunities. Starks vs White worked well until a flat finish, the opener was fun but not at all needed for this card, Strong vs Jericho dragged after a hot start, and the women’s tag did nothing for anybody despite the talent involved. It was a night of frustrations, of things that were mostly fine to good, but should’ve been better than they were. Not a bad show, but a frustratingly mediocre one by Dynamite’s lofty standards.
Following a day of announcements and new horizons, we must once more seek the reliable hand of AEW Dynamite, with its penultimate episode before Double Or Nothing. This week sees Chris Jericho and Roderick Strong face off in a match where falls count anywhere, supposedly without the threat of Adam Cole or the JAS, all of whom are banned from the building. We will also see ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry take on Rush, with both him and Sammy Guevara, who wrestles elsewhere on the card, looking to build momentum ahead of their involvement in the AEW Title Four Way at Double Or Nothing. Elsewhere on the card, ‘Switchblade’ Jay White and Ricky Starks do battle as Bullet Club Gold continue to pick up steam, The Outcasts look to settle their differences with Britt Baker and a returning Hikaru Shida in a tag team match and Don Callis explains all following his shocking turn on Kenny Omega in the blockbuster closing angle from last weeks show. With all this action, as well as some promised announcements from Tony Khan, we have a lot to get through, so lets get right to it!
AVERAGE: Wardlow Call Out Promo
Wardlow opens Dynamite this week, making a surprise visit to respond to Christian Cage. Wardlow gets a good reaction from this Texas crowd. He calls out Christian Cage, telling him he wants to see if Cage is willing to follow through on his promises from last week. Cage comes to the ring flanked by Luchasaurus. Cage tries to spit in Wardlow’s face after some off the mic trash talk from both men, but Wardlow attacks. He tries to hit Christian with a powerbomb but is cut off by Luchasaurus and low blowed by Cage. Luchasaurus grabs a ladder, which Cage nails Wardlow with, before Luchasaurus hits a chokeslam through the ladder. Cage then hits the Killswitch onto the ladder to end the segment. Good way to give Christian Cage some heat going forward, although the crowd wasn’t nearly as nuclear for Cage as they were last week.
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 2.75 Stars
GOOD: Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin vs Lee Moriarty and Big Bill
Unannounced tag match here between two teams currently paired on the House Rules tour of shows AEW has been doing. Cassidy and Moriarty start us off, with Cassidy’s spine heavily taped. We get some fun early action with some double pin work and a comedy slap off with low effort Cassidy slaps, before Cassidy picks up pace and takes control. Big Bill and Darby tag in, as Bill swings and throws Darby in a super cool visual. Bill mocks Darby’s height but pays with punch across the face. We get a double suicide dive by Cassidy and Darby to take us to picture in picture, but Cassidy is soon hit by Cass with a big boot to the outside as Cass takes control. They tease us with the possibility of a Darby hot tag for a while, with a first attempt not being seen by the referee, but Darby finally gets in to much rejoicing and runs wild. We get fun back and forth action between the teams, with highlights including a swinging Boss Man Slam by Cass onto Darby, a double superplex on Moriarty, and a Stundog Millionaire attempt by Cassidy buying time for a Code Red by Allin. The end of the match comes when Cassidy hits the Beach Break into a Coffin Drop from Allin, before Darby finishes Moriarty with a side headlock takedown into a pin, a direct reference to Allin’s own history with MJF which was a nice touch. This was a good match with all four guys doing good work with a very hot crowd, but felt a touch slapdash and a little unnecessary with how much is already on this card. Still a fun opener though, and Darby and Cassidy are a great team.
Result: Darby Allin by Pinfall via Side Headlock Takeover
David Sheldon’s WR Match Rating- 3.25 Stars
We cut backstage to the Young Bucks arriving, with Alex Marvez trying to get word on Omega’s condition. As The Bucks speak, the Blackpool Combat Club swarm behind them and a brawl breaks out backstage. Nick Jackson is press slammed onto a car, while Matt’s injured arm is targeted, leaving them outnumbered and beaten. Moxley grabs the camera and proclaims that ‘We are The Elite’, which is a fun line in a fun segment laying out The Young Bucks for the night.
Renee Paquette gets a medical update on Wardlow. Arn comes in to the medical room and asks what Wardlow is willing to do to Christian. Wardlow says if Christian wants to play with ladders, then let’s play with ladders, and challenges Cage to a ladder match for Double Or Nothing. I like this stipulation for some variety to the card. I would never have considered it for this match but I like it now it’s been presented to me.
Orange Cassidy tells Kyle Fletcher to ask Tony Khan if he wants a match at Double Or Nothing and says he’ll take on all challengers. I really like Orange Cassidy, and you will hear that from me very often in these reviews.
SQUASH: Sammy Guevara vs Exodus Prime
The home-state boy Guevara takes on a jobber who’s name sounds like a reject from the new Transformers film, beating him in 2 moves with the GTH.
Result: Sammy Guevara by Pinfall via GTH
BAD: Post Match Sammy Guevara Promo
Post match, Guevara cuts a babyface promo to the crowd, apologising for his past mistakes and saying he’ll shut up the naysayers at Double Or Nothing. I am so baffled by Guevara’s character, and I have no idea what he is supposed to be. He was a yucked up arrogant heel two weeks ago, is in an arrogant heel stable, yet is being presented as a babyface. Very strange. Nothing segment as well and crowd seemed quite confused.
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 1.75 Stars
Tony Schiavone is in the ring and calls out Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal for a promo. Before they can reach the ring though they are jumped by FTR, pushing Satnam Singh off the stage in a hilarious visual. The two teams brawl, and FTR get the upper hand, but Karen Jarrett comes in to save Jeff. Satnam returns from the dead to murder FTR with a double chokeslam, and are both hit with guitars marked with their names. This was a boring and tired segment, the exact same angle from the opening segment, only without any of the character behind it and the use of Karen Jarrett I thought was just silly. Can’t really rate this as it’s not an in ring promo as such, it was just very rough.
Darby is backstage, and is interrupted by Sammy Guevara. He tells Allin that one of the three challengers must take the title from MJF, and the two men show begrudging respect to each other, with Allin stating ‘may the best man win’. They are trying everything to make Guevara a viable babyface contender, which I don’t think anybody buys, and truthfully I think I have more chance of winning at the PPV, and nothing they’re doing is changing that thought.
BAD: Toni Storm and Ruby Soho vs Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker
This match was initially a trios match, but Hayter has been declared unfit to compete. A brawl breaks out from the start of the match. Hikaru Shida starts with Ruby Soho, and remains in control for a while until she is cut off. Baker gets in and takes it to Toni Storm, but is pulled out of the ring by Saraya, allowing Storm to hit a hip attack, which when combined with Saraya’s constant interference, leads to the Outcast’s taking control. They work on Baker through the picture in picture, but Baker is able to get the hot tag to Shida as we return. Shida runs wild, throwing all of the Outcasts from the ring and hitting a second rope splash to the outside into a jumping knee on the inside. Shida hits a falcon arrow for a two count, before a meteora into a pinfall attempt is broken up. Baker tries the Lockjaw but is unsuccessful, and Soho hits the No Future, which really has very little impact in the grand scheme of things. Baker hits an air raid crash and a stomp, but a Saraya distraction allows The Outcast’s to spray Baker before Storm hits a Storm Zero for the win.
The Outcasts very much have a House Of Torture energy about them, and its apt because this storyline is torturously long in the tooth. It feels like we are in the twilight zone with the same thing happening every week, the only thing missing this week was a save by a babyface. We desperately need progression, because right now the AEW Women’s division is dismally stagnant, and it’s a shame because the in ring action here was mostly solid, and the crowd were decently into it in places, it’s just really hard to care right now as a viewer.
Result: Toni Storm by Pinfall via Storm Zero
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 1.75 Stars
Orange Cassidy is backstage, where it’s announced 20 people have taken up Cassidy’s offer for a title match. Cassidy agrees to take on all challengers, and offers up a Blackjack Battle Royale for the title. This is a fun idea and I’m interested to see how Cassidy’s weariness plays into the storytelling of a match with that many people all vying for his title.
Tony Khan confirms dates and locations for Collision, and tells us to tune in next week for the location of the premiere. Come on Tony, with everything going on right now, you have to do better than that if you’re gonna hype up a big announcement. If Collision was announced on the show that’s one thing, but it had already been announced in the day, so it felt like a really underwhelming announcement.
AVERAGE: Chris Jericho vs Roderick Strong- Falls Count Anywhere
Roderick Strong attacks Jericho quickly, and the crowd go wild. They’re hot for this early. Strong makes mincemeat of Jericho early on, with Jericho selling really well. We get an early chop off but Strong downs Jericho with a kick and a slam. More chops and strikes, as both men’s chests go scarlett. Strong hits a back suplex on the apron to take us to the outside. Back in the ring, Jericho gets the Walls Of Jericho on Strong early but Starks gets the ropes. Back to the outside and into the crowd as Jericho soaks up the heat of an electric crowd. The two men walk and brawl up the arena steps, before Strong drops Jericho onto the railing multiple times, as we move into the lobby. Jericho suplexes Strong through a table, and an awkward holy s**t chant breaks out just as Schiavone breaks the sad news of the passing of ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham. Bad timing which of course can’t be helped, and my condolences to the family of Billy Graham, a true icon of pro wrestling.
Back to the action, the two men move around the catering area and the stairwell, as I start to get a little bored. Strong hits Jericho with food and cutlery, and Jericho throws a trash bin at Strong, evoking the feeling of The Rock and Mankind’s empty arena match from Halftime Heat, just without the comedy factor of The Rock’s jaw jacking. They fight outside the building, where in a clever play on the rules of the match, Adam Cole is waiting. Strong and Cole work together to finish Jericho off, finishing with a jumping knee by Strong for the win.
The match started off really well, with great brutality reminiscent of Ishii or Suzuki style matches, but once we got into the crowd it lost a lot of its momentum, although I did enjoy the end swerve of Cole appearing. The match felt reminiscent of the early AEW crowd brawls from 2019, which I appreciated, but it didn’t have the spark of those, the anything can happen joy of them. It was just a fairly dull walk and brawl. I feel like an actual match between them might actually have been more appealing to me here, because when they were actually wrestling I really enjoyed it, it just lost me the more it went on.
Result: Roderick Strong by Pinfall via Leaping Knee Strike
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 2.75 Stars
GREAT: Rush vs ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry
Rush rejects a handshake and punishes Jungle Boy around ringside early on, dominating him with really effective brutality and busting him open. Jungle Boy attempts comebacks but Rush is too strong, cutting him off every time. Perry finally gets Rush down with a dropkick, and following a slap exchange on the top rope, hits a top rope hurricanrana. Perry gets the snare trap, but is too weak and Rush grabs the ropes. The two men fight to the apron, where Rush hits one of the nastiest looking belly to back suplexes from the apron to the floor I have ever seen, and I mean that in the best possible way. Rush uses this to work over Jungle Boy more, but he gets too aggressive for his own good, and when he gets in the face of the referee, he is rolled up by Jungle Boy for the three count. This doesn’t sound like much, but it was played absolutely perfectly by both men, and the fire and brutality of it really hooked me. Simple booking, but incredibly effective.
Result: ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry by Pinfall via Rollup
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
Post match, Jungle Boy is choked out with a rope by Rush, Vance and Jose. Darby makes the save but it’s not enough, so Sammy makes the save to some rejoicing from the crowd which was nice to hear. It may just be because Guevara is in his home state, but the upgraded reaction shows that something did work with his character and the crowd on this show, which I applaud AEW for, even if I still don’t get it myself. Guevara also shouldn’t have been in the building because he is part of the JAS and so should’ve vacated the building by the time Strong and Jericho fought, which creates a tremendous plot hole, but it’s wrestling I suppose and continuity matters not. Regardless, the faces fight off the heels and stare each other down, as MJF is seen backstage, slapping the mic from Paquette’s hand and walking away. This is decent build for their match, and this show long narrative of mutual respect has been decently executed.
We have a backstage promo with an angry Toni Storm, who challenges Jamie Hayter for Double Or Nothing, which will be a great match no doubt so long as they just let the two wrestle without Outcast shenanigans.
GOOD: Ricky Starks vs Jay White
Both guys get good reactions from the crowd, especially Ricky Starks who really presents himself like a star. White ducks Starks early on, dodging and weaving attacks. The two men begin to brawl, but White gets the upper hand with a hotshot flapjack. They go back and forth, with Juice Robinson’s presence often allowing White to get the upper hand. White begins to dominate and weaken Starks, taunting the crowd as he does so. Starks makes a comeback but it is very short lived, as we see that Starks is beginning to sell an injured leg. White works over Starks to build for a Starks comeback, which the crowd are clamouring for. Starks fires up and takes it to White with a lariat, though his leg weakens with every move. He hits a great sequence of moves to White, but only gets a two count. White hits back with a DDT, and then a Urinagi for consecutive 2 counts. Starks fights out of the Blade Runner with elbows but is thrown from the ring, tweaking his knee once more. Starks gets a surprise inside cradle for a near fall, and then hits a modified falcon arrow for a really close near fall.
Jay White tries to get the Blade Runner from a trip by Juice, but Starks fights out and hits a spear. Starks tries for the Rochambeau but White rakes the eyes. As the referee admonishes White, Juice appears with a chair, but a rageful Starks turns the chair on Juice and then White, getting himself disqualified. That was a really dismaying finish to a match that I was starting to really get into, and given the crowd were so behind Ricky Starks, this could’ve had a really hot finish, but instead it just ended. The only positive I can take from the finish is that we saw a more vicious Starks, though I pray that is not a means to turn the man heel, because he is so over right now it would be incredibly foolish to turn him. This feud will clearly continue, and hopefully we get the PPV quality match these guys are capable of.
Result: Jay White by Disqualification via Chair Shot
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
GOOD: Don Callis Interview/Elite vs BCC Brawl
The ramp is flanked by security as Callis walks to the ring admonished by boos and chants of ‘piece of s**t’. Callis doesn’t want to talk about what Callis did to Kenny, he wants to talk about what Kenny did to him. He takes credit for all of Kenny’s accomplishments, and calls himself the victim. Omega appears on the stage, and is swarmed by security, who he beats up easily, but the Blackpool Combat Club appears to swarm Kenny and swarm the ring. Moxley sends a final warning to Omega to stay down. Omega rises to his feet, and the Young Bucks and Hangman Page (sporting a great eye patch) emerge on the stage. Omega and Page reunite, and the faces brawl with the BCC around the ring. Yuta is the unfortunate soul dragged into the ring and beaten up with finishers by the group. In a great bit of staging, Hangman stands adjacent from the Elite, before walking and standing beside them, finally rejoining the faction. Hangman takes the microphone and announces Anarchy In The Arena at Double Or Nothing between the Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite. That was a great end to the show in its set up of the Double Or Nothing match, though Callis’ involvement was disappointing and he just disappeared by the end, robbing us of that bit of drama to instead move swiftly onto the next bit. I feel like we could’ve had the Page reunion happen on the go home show, and let Callis and Omega breathe this week, because that part of the story was very slight. Still a really good segment which sets up a really tasty match for next Sunday.
David Sheldon’s WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
Final Rating-
Matches- 0.5/1
Show Structure-0.5/1
Atmosphere- 0.75/1
Storytelling-0.5/1
Production Theme- 0.5/1
Final Show Rating- 2.75/5
It is a real shame that in my first week reviewing Dynamite for the website I am not coming out more positive, but this week felt like a disappointment given what was promised, despite a very hot Texas crowd. The show-long story of the babyface challengers uniting against MJF was serviceable if still underdeveloped, with Jungle Boy vs Rush being the best match of the night. The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club’s interactions were terrific, but I feel it came at the expense of the drama that needed to unfold between Omega and Callis, which is what we as viewers tuned in to see develop after last week. The matches being set up for Double Or Nothing are exciting and should be great, but the actual Dynamite itself was full of missed opportunities. Starks vs White worked well until a flat finish, the opener was fun but not at all needed for this card, Strong vs Jericho dragged after a hot start, and the women’s tag did nothing for anybody despite the talent involved. It was a night of frustrations, of things that were mostly fine to good, but should’ve been better than they were. Not a bad show, but a frustratingly mediocre one by Dynamite’s lofty standards.
Image Credit: All Elite Wrestling
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