AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES 4/27: Dax vs. Cash, Archer vs. Wardlow, Punk promo, Guevara defends against Sammy, more

Dax Harwood Defeated Cash Wheeler – HIT

This was a fantastic opener to tonight’s Dynamite. I’m a sucker for a technical twister, and the one that started this match would’ve made Bill Paxton proud. The action continued and grew from there, with both men showing they’re the Top Guys together and separate.

While the intensity, storytelling and emotions were incredible, I just feel like this would’ve been better off happening in the Owen Hart Tournament proper. Spending a couple of weeks building the match up as both men maneuvered through the bracket would’ve only made the emotion and intensity grow, and it would’ve built it up into can’t miss television. To me, placing this match as a qualifier to the tournament soured the concept of the mop and the hair fighting for the first time, and squandered a prime opportunity to have multiple interesting storylines playing out through the tournament.

C.M. Punk Promo – MAJOR HIT

Punk was on the money tonight. Seeing Punk jump up from the commentators desk once the title match against Hangman Page at Double or Nothing was made official, and hearing the intensity in his voice was spectacular. It seems as if, as his confidence in the ring grows as the rust falls off, his promo skills are getting stronger as well. This is no longer the Punk who was just happy to be here. This is the Punk who has found his purpose. This isn’t Happy Punk. This just might be Champion Punk.

Scorpio Sky/Dan Lambert Promo – MINOR MISS

Dan Lambert really doesn’t need to be there to support Sky. Thankfully, TK is learning that and limiting his minutes. Sky is really growing into himself. His promo deliveries are improving each week and it’s compelling television.

Wheeler Yuta & Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley defeated Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto & Q.T. Marshall – HIT

Excellent work from the Blackpool Combat Club. Yuta continues to take advantage of the opportunity and is showing he deserves to be there. The BCC are excellent at making their opponents look credible while also systematically destroying them.

Side note: The way Regal pronounces “Mr. Ross” sounds like he’s calling Good Ol’ JR “Mr. Ass”, and that is just delightful.

Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter/Toni Storm/Ruby Soho Segment – MINOR HIT

Not much to this. Deliveries were a little stiff, but should be a fun tag match between all four performers.

Jungle Boy/Christian Cage/Ricky Starks/Powerhouse Hobbs/Luchasaurus Segment – HIT

Wow, that wasn’t even a hint at Christian’s upcoming heel turn. That was about as blatant as you could imagine. Then before you can even process it, Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs walk in and all eyes immediately turn to them. Starks was great on the mic and Hobbs towers over everyone. This is a match that should be quite fun.

Wardlow defeated Lance Archer – MAJOR HIT

This was Wardlow’s greatest match to date. Archer is a unique performer, possessing the size and power that puts him on par with Wardlow, while possessing agility like some of the smaller opponents that have been a thorn in Wardlow’s side. This forced Wardlow to up his game, and he handled the task with flying colors. The most remarkable part of this match is how Wardlow worked the crowd. The audience felt hot and cold all night, and the energy didn’t feel there when the match started. Wardlow knew exactly when and how to work the crowd and escalate the cheers with the crescendo of the match. It was impressive work, and AEW has a legitimate star on their roster.

Jericho Appreciation Society/Eddie Kingston/Santana and Ortiz Segment – MAJOR HIT

This was fantastic. Eddie Kingston was incredible as usual, and truly embodied the gangster mentality and spirit that Arn Anderson turned into a meme. Menard and Parker were great and are only getting better. Santana and Ortiz were effective as cocky faces, and Daniel Garcia was shockingly effective. This mimicked the segment between Moxley and Kingston in the run up to their title match where they couldn’t hit each other, with Kingston now the confident one in charge. This is character development companies and fans alike truly dream of.

Sammy Guevara Video Segment – HIT

Great segment hyping the upcoming ladder match. Editing it together and tightening Guevara’s deliveries made the lines land much clearer, and seeing Guevara and Conti truly lean into being heels is so much more satisfying. Guevara and Conti instantly feel like top level heels, and that is excellent news for a god who was lost in the desert of faces along the depth chart.

Serena Deeb defeated Hikaru Shida – HIT

Solid match from both women. Calling this their rubber match feels like a mistake, as both performers are so revered amongst fans that it’s easy to see them going back to that well in the future. They worked the death match stipulation well though, and didn’t resort to blood. The powder to the eyes was a nice touch, as AEWs past suggested it was a bag of tacks.

MJF Promo – MAJOR HIT

From a delivery standpoint, this was excellent work from MJF. His ability to turn from conniving and calculating to thoroughly unhinged is incredible. His performance suggested Patrick Bateman without the internal monologue.

Setting up a match against the man who wouldn’t need to be taught how to be seven feet tall even if you could is as intriguing of a matchup as it is surprising. This would seem to suggest that AEWs working relationship with Impact is back open, and will open an exponential number of eyes to Mr. Morrissey and what he can do. William has turned his career around in recent years and after the excellent match Mr. Low and Archer put on, seems primed for a huge showcase on national television.

Kings of the Black Throne/Death Triangle Segment – MAJOR HIT

The implied corpse of Fuego Del Sol was a great setup for the return of Fenix. The pop from the crowd was great as well. Creating a story reason for the Alex Gargamelhantes was smart. Seeing Fenix pick a singles fight with Buddy Matthews immediately got my adrenaline pumping, and that match will surely burn some barns by the time it’s done. Lots of intriguing single and multi man match permutations are possible with these wrestlers. They should get plenty of mileage out of this.

Darby Allin/Swerve Strickland – MINOR MISS

Two incredible stars with very awkward chemistry and promo stylings. Swerve and Allin will be an incredible match, but not because of this segment.

Undisputed Elite defeated Dante Martin & Brock Anderson & Lee Johnson & Varsity Blondes – HIT

Wasn’t expecting this match to last this long, but I’m not mad it did. The action was stellar, and seeing whether the Bucks would play nicely with ReDRagon added a fun layer of intrigue to this match. The five man match combination well will run dry sooner than later, so keep the story tight and move it along.

Jericho Appreciation Society Segment – MINOR MISS

Great little video showcasing the JAS as heels, but the fireball looked a little weird. Wasn’t perfect but was better than the ending to the Moxley/Omega Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. Kingston screaming felt forced. Not the type of work Kingston normally does and it showed.

Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara – HIT

Excellent ladder match from these performers. A little overbooked at times, with Conti and Paige VanZant, so that match will clearly be coming soon. Cutting off two minutes and a couple spots would’ve really helped this match. The camera work made up for this a lot in the final minutes of the match, hiding the set up of spots and manufactured some drama. Building a match story on crazy spots doesn’t pull in the audience in the same way. Less is more in these matches. Don’t twirl your finger around your head and insinuate your mental capacities. Do the spot and prove them.

The recent hot potato nature of the TNT belt is fine, but I’d like a little stability for now. Let Sky hold the belt for awhile. Establish himself as champ, give him some promo time, and let him elevate some youngsters. He’s perfect for an open challenge, and Kaz is a great first challenger.

Overall – HIT

Very few segments that didn’t hit this week. This episode wasn’t lacking in segments, but overall the action and storytelling felt tighter. There were less leaps of logic and editing gaffes, and even threw in some surprises. Excellent episode and start of the build towards Double or Nothing.