AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES 3/10: MJF elevated in leadership role, Fenix shines, Omega misses with promo, more

Rey Fenix vs. Matt Jackson – HIT

Rey F’n Fenix! Every time Fenix wrestles he reinvents himself and shows off another spectacular move using his athleticism. AEW fans remember the great match he had with Matt’s brother Nick, but this was no exception. Fenix took the win as he should since in story he is more experienced as a singles act. It also gives one of the challengers a win going into their title match down the line.

Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston Explanation – HIT

AEW had to address the dud explosion from Revolution in some way. After rewatching this segment several times, I thought they did the best they could to explain certain things given the situation. They kept the tone very light instead of selling the brutality of the actual match. Kingston explained that he passed out from PTSD then accused Kenny Omega of putting together a bad bomb to make them look foolish. Jon Moxley countered saying he believes Omega actually tried to kill them before settling on the bomb being bought by Impact Wrestling. The explanation wasn’t the cleanest, but the tone established the brotherhood and bond between Moxley and Kingston.

Cody match and promo with Penta El Zero Miedo – HIT

A quick squash win for Cody followed by tremendous excitement from the Lucha Underground fan in me. A well dressed Penta cut a promo on Cody in Spanish with translations from Alex Abrahantes. Penta has largely fallen to the background when he isn’t being featured in big time matches with his brother, Rey Fenix. This is his first chance at a singles run in AEW. I’ve always thought very highly of Penta as a singles act after seeing his charisma in Lucha Underground. Although their match is set for next week, hopefully this is just the beginning of a major run for him.

Sting Promo – MISS

If you guessed that Sting would be interrupted yet again, you’d be correct. It was not long into his promo with Tony Schiavone until he was interrupted by Lance Archer. Archer is an interesting choice to mix with Sting. Archer had great vignettes beating up opponents last year, so a cinematic style encounter with Sting could be a success.

Ethan Page vs. Lee Johnson – MISS

For those watching live, this match had an unfortunate hand dealt with NBA audio overlaying the whole match. Besides the audio distraction, nothing particularly important stood out from Ethan Page. He’s a nice addition to the roster, but he will need to do more to differentiate himself from an already cluttered batch of talent on the show. QT Marshall also walked out on Lee Johnson while he got beaten down by Page. While the teacher-student story usually works, they haven’t established QT or Johnson enough for this to be a big story. Perhaps this is being setup for Dark or Elevation?

Kenny Omega Promo – MISS

I thought Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley went on about the misfire explosion, but this put it over the top. Don Callis could have made a few comments and then pivoted towards Christian. Instead he and Kenny Omega went on and on about it even putting up a countdown clock and Omega asked Callis to 69 him as a way to mock Eddie Kingston in the ring. This all could’ve been prevented with a simple explanation from Tony Khan that the explosion didn’t work and these things happen. The bigger takeaway from the segment was that it appears they are setting up a title match between Omega and Christian Cage. While it’s not an explosive (pun intended) dream match, I think it works given the build they gave for Christian if it’s a TV title match. Christian Cage is a very good worker, but not a “huge, huge star”.

Maki Itoh, Britt Baker, & Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida, Ryo Mizunami, & Thunder Rosa – MISS

After a hot streak of women’s matches, this was a jumbled mess. Too often wrestlers were out of position or obviously setting up spots. After the match, Britt Baker attacked Thunder Rosa again setting up a match between the two for next week. I’ve been a fan of this rivalry and I’m excited about what the two can put together in a singles match.

Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky – HIT

Great performances by both men. Scorpio Sky had been showing shades of a heel turn and while he didn’t win the championship, he solidified himself as a heel singles competitor. After the match, Allin tried to show gratitude, but Sky grabbed him and put him in a heel hook. Fans have wanted Sky to get his turn for over a year now and it appears he is primed to be put into an elevated spot. Allin still has quite a few competitors to challenge him, but a rematch with Sky seems like a logical next step.

The Inner Circle War Council – HIT

In a shocking turn of events, MJF has created his own Inner Circle. After much speculation that MJF would eventually become the leader of the Inner Circle, he decided to form his own group with Wardlow, FTR, and Shawn Spears. Chris Jericho brought the group together demanding more change after his loss to The Young Bucks at Revolution. Sammy Guevara made his return and showed footage of MJF trying to manipulate Santana, Ortiz, and Jake Hager. However, they all still sided with Jericho. MJF had the lights turned out and revealed his group after they came back up. In the end, this put MJF in a higher position and leading a heel group of his own as the rest of The Inner Circle turned babyface. The new 5-on-5 sets up the potential for a Blood & Guts match that was cancelled a year ago.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES: AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES 3/3: Shaq over delivers in tag match, Paul Wight makes news, Omega goes missing on go-home, more