AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES 4/20: Punk and Rhodes hit, Baker misses on the mic, more

AEW HITS & MISSES

C.M. Punk Defeated Dustin Rhodes – HIT

The show opened with a match that oozed big fight feel, and largely delivered. Dustin and Punk showcased great chemistry in their first outing together, and I hope it’s not the last time.

The match had good pacing, but definitely slumped towards the ending, and that’s what makes this match good, when it could’ve been great. The story of Dustin battling through a knee injury worked well, but the ending was pretty clunky. The emotion flowed out of both men when the match ended. This may not have had the emotional catharsis as Dustin and Cody Rhodes’ match at Double or Nothing 2019, but it was a fun and great way to start the show.

Post Match Angle with Hangman Adam Page – HIT

This was played incredibly smart. AEW knows they won’t be able to make fans cheer Page and boo Punk, so they gave viewers the subtle cue through the entrance tunnels that both men are equal. Neither is face and neither is heel. Page can come out of the face tunnel, and Punk will leave through it. Letting fans cheer and boo as they please takes the pressure off of Page to try and out duel Punk on the stick, and hopefully lets him stay relaxed enough to channel and showcase that same fire game exuded before the Texas Death Match with Adam Cole.

Wardlow/Smart Mark Sterling Segment – HIT

This was a fun segment. It’s still showing how dangerous Wardlow is by treating him like Hannibal Lecter, while allowing Sterling to heel it up. Wardlow’s calm and borderline cocky response played perfectly against Sterling.

Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson and Wheeler Yuta Defeated Brock Anderson, Dante Martin and Lee Moriarty – MAJOR HIT

The Combat Club of Blackpool is so much fun to watch. The idea of team chemistry forged in blood is a fun concept and what makes the Blackpool Combat Club unique, rather than being a blind carbon copy of every other tough guy faction in wrestling.

BCC did a great job of showcasing their opponents. This match did more for Brock Anderson than anything before. Dante Martin reminded fans why he’s there with incredible feats of agility, and Moriarty was on his game. Nothing they did though was enough, and the squash was complete with a Paradigm Shift to Dante Martin.

Undisputed Elite Segment – MINOR HIT

This was a deceptively interesting segment. Cole showed a much more serious tone than in previous AEW backstage segments featuring him, ReDRagon and the Young Bucks. O’Reilly did an inspired job of trying to mend the fences with the Bucks. The idea of an open 10-man tag match is…something, but hopefully it leads to an interesting combination of performers across from the Undisputed Elite. Cole stating he has business to attend to is a small but very welcome touch in continuity for later in the show.

Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal/Sonjay Dutt/Satnam Singh – MINOR HIT

This was fine. This did a good job of helping rewrite AEWs history to forget the lights off intro for Satnam Singh never happened. Joe calling Satnam “Titan” and “Giant” really put over how big of a threat Singh can be. Dutt and Lethal did a good job of putting Singh over and furthering the issues with Joe.

Tony Khan’s HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT – MAJOR HIT

Sometimes it doesn’t matter if a secret is the worst kept one in the room, C.M. Punk debuting in AEW can show those kinds of secrets can still be a blast. Limiting Khan’s involvement to hype man was smart, and featuring Cole was intelligent, as he’s one of several performers on the roster who have been stars in AEW/NJPW/ROH, but makes sense with the ties to White. Cole vs. Ishii is an incredible treat to fans or AEW Rampage, and White shined on the mic vs his tepid introduction a few weeks back. White seemed to hint at a match at Forbidden Door with Kenny Omega. Sign me up!

Jade Cargill/Red Velvet/Kiera Hogan/Smart Mark Sterling Segment – MINOR MISS

This didn’t hit with me. Cargill continuing her angle underestimating Marina Shafir is fine, but everyone else felt so awkward in comparison. In a weird way this is a sign of Jade’s growth as a performer. She’s gaining the confidence to be able to pull off her character so effortlessly.

Wardlow Defeated The Butcher – HIT

MJF and Shawn Spears did an excellent job setting the tone for this match. The heat was palpable with the crowd as Friedman forced Wardlow to come out as if he were participating in a Lights Out match back when AEW cared about the presentation for their Lights Out matches. Wardlow came out to no music, but a flurry of a fanfare. Roberts did his best to keep his energy up with no music to play off of, and it all worked. Wardlow looked like a big deal against The Butcher, while essentially keeping the same formula that AEW has used for months to build him up. Butcher stood basically no chance, succumbing to a Bittersweet Powerbomb Symphony in short order. The looks on Spears and Friedman’s faces is what I imagine Dr. Robert Oppenheimer had on his face as he was reminded of the Bhagavad Gita following the first nuclear bomb test. Wardlow has become death, the destroyer of worlds.

Eddie Kingston Segment – MINOR HIT

Not much to this, but it didn’t need much. Kingston uses his intensity and facial cues to say more than his words needed to. Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia will be fun, as will the build towards Kingston and Jericho.

Kyle O’Reilly Defeated Jungle Boy – MINOR HIT

Good match between O’Reilly and Jungle Boy. Boy didn’t get to be as flippy as he normally does and instead tried to play more into Kyle’s style, and that ultimately came back to bite him. Quality storytelling and quality action in the ring.

MJF Segment – MINOR HIT

To me the Wardlow/MJF storyline still feels like a copy of every other story MJF has done in AEW, but playing off of Jake Roberts and letting Lance Archer come off his hinges is a good way of keeping the concept fresh. Treating Wardlow like he’s the protagonist of a wrestling games story mode and giving him a clear progression in difficulty of opponent is quite fun.

Hook Defeated Anthony Henry – HIT

It was never going to be a question of how much the crowd was going to be behind Hook in his Dynamite debut, but he had one of the bigger pops of the night. Hook did well in his debut, and showed a progression in his learning. From what I remember from his past matches, he ran the ropes more effectively and incorporated more striking into his repertoire. Hook put away Anthony Henry quickly, which lead to…

Post Match Angle with Danhausen – MAJOR HIT

My god. When Danhausen started talking, the arena exploded. The crowd got really into what he was saying, and when Mr. Hausen proposed a match between him and Hook, the crowd got even louder, and to my ear came close to matching the pop for CM Punk. It’s strange, and some people won’t like it, but some people will hear that crowd response and think this is a big deal. I’m very intrigued to see how this goes.

Scorpio Sky/Frankie Kazarian Segment – MINOR MISS

Short segment setting up Sky interfering in a Guevara promo later in the evening, but Kazarian was incredibly wooden in this segment which dragged it down a bit.

Thunder Rosa Video Segment – MINOR HIT

Nothing major to this. Just confirming the program with Nyla Rose is over and Rosa is in need of an opponent for Double or Nothing. A challenger will likely come forward next week.

Sammy Guevara/Scorpio Sky Segment – MINOR HIT

This segment was head scratching. Certainly felt like Guevara was attempting to play into a heel personality with the pimp jacket, having Tay cosplay as Olivia Newton-John from the end of Grease, and acknowledging the boos, but trying to pivot mid segment to genuine appreciation for fans was weak. Guevara attempting to play both sides is keeping him from being good at either.

Page and Lambert were on fire tonight, and their work on the mic was great. Guevara challenging Sky to a ladder match seems odd, as Sky has previously won a Face of the Revolution ladder match. I get that they’ve both won ladder matches, but Guevara beat Cody. Sky beat five other guys. That math doesn’t seem to favor Guevara.

House of Black Video Segment – MISS

The production and delivery was excellent and captivating. I just couldn’t understand if the House of Black was still talking about Fuego Del Sol or if they’ve moved on to a new target.

Dr. Britt Baker Defeated Danielle Kamela – MINOR MISS

I blinked and this match was over. There’s squashes, and then there’s squashes. The performers can’t help that this match mainly happened during a commercial break, but that fact feels like a slap in the face. I’d rather remove this match (or something else) from the show and have it air some other time.

Post Match Promo – MISS

This was just bad. Baker already has a very breathy delivery for her promos, but being immediately after a match really made it worse. The delivery on her lines were horrible and none of the jokes really landed well. It was cool to have Harris and Friermufh out there, but there’s not much else to like about this.

Serena Deeb/Hikaru Shida Video Segment – MINOR MISS

Fine enough video segment, but it’s felt like the Deeb/Shida feud has gone on forever now and each match is the last one. They’re very fun to watch, but I’ll believe their word when I have a reason to.

Darby Allin Defeated Andrade El Idolo – MINOR MISS

This was fine, but just fine. I don’t feel like this had anything I haven’t seen before, and that’s not what I want from Sting, and certainly not what I want from Allin and Andrade. The beats of the match all felt familiar, Sting doing a crazy spot felt familiar. The only thing that felt fresh was Jose the assistant running out and tearing his shirt off, which turned the freshness down to rotten pretty quick. The Hardy’s deletion salute also felt weird, and it looked like Jeff tore a labrum doing that so let’s stop while we’re ahead.

Overall – MINOR MISS

There’s definitely some stuff to like in this episode of Dynamite but the show felt too stuffed and too hectic. Too many segments had logistical issues and just felt like they sacrificed tightness in segments for cramming as much into the show as they could. Next weeks card is shaping up to be loaded, but let’s hope that it’s not overloaded.

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CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S NXT 2.0 RECEIPT 4/19: Bron Breakker and Joe Gacy miss with silly vignettes