AEW HITS & MISSES 10/2: Ross & Schiavone & Excalibur, Moxley’s interference, Production Values, Cody vs. Guevara, MJF, Cutler, Riho-Rose, Hager debut

Announcing – HIT: The dream team of Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone was a major success. This was one of the smoothest announcing crews we’ve seen in AEW. Everyone on the team has a wealth of experience announcing major wrestling shows. Excalibur was the excellent “glue guy” who held the crew together and always brought the attention back to the action in the ring. Jim Ross came off as being critical of the product at times asking why the referees haven’t called for a DQ or why is security not interfering. These are all questions that the viewer at home may be asking as well which is why I tend to appreciate when he draws attention to those issues.

Production – HIT: The overall production of the show was first class. In no way did this presentation look anything less than major league. It was astounding to see NXT in between segments and think that a WWE product looked inferior on national TV. The graphics felt refreshing and the pacing kept the show moving without feeling rushed. The camera angles accentuated the action with various cuts. They also captured quite a few memorable snapshots including Jon Moxley behind Kenny Omega. This was shot more like a sport where the cameras were capturing the action in front of them instead of everyone playing to the hard camera.

Cody vs. Guevara – HIT: Really fun match to open up Dynamite. I had thought they may try to do a quicker paced match, but they ended up doing more of Cody’s style. It was a smart move to put their most over wrestler in the opening match on TV. Cody oozed charisma during his entrance with Brandi coming off as a major star in front of a hot crowd. Guevara got the right kind of heat eliciting jeers and middle fingers. The audience was introduced to a new player in Guevara who looked believable against Cody while still putting Cody over strong. The attack from Jericho hit the right notes as well establishing the jerk heel champion before heading to the first commercial break. It was curious how Cody didn’t have any friends backstage come out for the save.

MJF – HIT: MJF went out and did his thing. He cut a nice promo before his match establishing him to a wide audience who he is and why the crowd loves to boo him. He was put over quickly without having to show too much in the ring.

Brandon Cutler – MISS: Cutler looked very out of place here. His reaction to the ring came off as lukewarm at best. The audience hasn’t had much to see from in the ring since he was signed to AEW. Most of what we knew was that he’s a good family man, a friend of The Young Bucks, and a fan of Dungeons and Dragons. In the ring, Cutler is going to have some work to do. With that said, he was a satisfying babyface for MJF to defeat quickly in his TV debut.

Introduction of Tag Teams – HIT: Angelico and Jack Evans inserting themselves into the interview with Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes worked for me. It felt like and organic way to get these annoying heels on the show. Private Party’s cameo worked as well showing them as a cool baby faces who were right there to back up the celebrities. SoCal Uncensored gave the audience a bit of who they are before being interrupted by the Lucha Brothers. Leading to a brawl which easily sets up a feud based on who is the best tag team. Without spending too much time on each team, AEW effectively introduced some of the key players in the division that the audience will be seeing in the title tournament over the next few weeks.

Hangman vs PAC – HIT: Is there a more sinister looking heel than PAC? PAC again showed why he is one of the best wrestlers in the world having another really good match with Hangman Page. AEW continues to make PAC look strong after victories over Kenny Omega and Page. Page looked good as well, but is now on a losing streak. The commentary team claimed that his loss to Chris Jeircho at All Out is messing with his head. PAC appears to be on an upward trajectory while Page may be on a similar path as Omega trying to find his groove again.

Riho vs. Nyla Rose – HIT: That was likely the best match of Nyla Rose’s career. She showed a lot of potential for what she can become. She is still green and has a long road to go before entering the league of Awesome Kong, but she proved herself as a believable monster heel against smaller opponents. Riho earned the respect from the crowd and garnered sympathy. I could have gone either way as far as the winner, but it may not be a bad idea having an undersized baby face take on heel challengers as champion when the World Champion is a jerk.

Moxley’s Interference – MISS: This didn’t work for me. The camera angle of Jon Moxley stalking Kenny Omega from behind was gold. Other than that, this felt like a re-run of what we’d seen previously from these two. Of course AEW wants to renew interest in this match after it was cancelled, but I may have been more satisfied to have seen Moxley cut a promo on Omega. The interference helped the booking of the rest of the show with Chris Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz defeated The Young Bucks, but why did the referee not call for the disqualification? This has been an issue before where it is not clear what constitutes a disqualification for the different match types.

Jake Hager – HIT: This was an interesting choice to have the ending shot of the first episode of Dynamite. I don’t think most people would have predicted the show would end on the former Jack Swagger. Hager has worked independent promotions and even worked some MMA fights since departing WWE. While the depiction of the faded WWE wrestler reemerging under a new name and gimmick feels reminiscent of TNA, I am confident AEW will put their best foot forward to frame him differently. Hager was presented well in his short stint in Lucha Underground and proved himself as a legit fighter. Hager is certainly no Jon Moxley as far as a surprise or talent-wise, but he could play a key role if he is to stick with Chris Jericho.