HEYDORN’S DYNAMITE RECEIPT 6/1: For better or worse, MJF steals the spotlight

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-A smart call to have C.M. Punk out first for the big crowd pop coming off his AEW World Championship win at Double or Nothing. I don’t want to nitpick. Well, ya know, I guess I do. I’d liked to have seen a promo from Punk ahead of the match. He just reached the mountain top and it would have been beneficial for him to talk about the meaning of that to him. Elevates him and elevates the title.

-Punk vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door? Yep, sign me up. Looks like the AEW World Champion will go over and the IWGP World Champion will go over as well, such is likely the reason for keeping them away from each other.

-Did anything happen with MJF this week? I kid, I kid. A lot happened with the promo MJF cut and we simply don’t know the type of impact it’ll have long term. First, it was a brilliant promo from a delivery, articulation, and artistic perspective. MJF is fire with a mic and no one else is close. Now, the content I’m iffy on. Work shoots rarely are effective. They are fun, but don’t draw because they undermine the entire purpose of the shows they take place on. This certainly was fun, but Wardlow felt like an afterthought because of it, Punk as champion faded into the background, and babyface Tony Khan with his babyface company AEW essentially turned heel. That’s a lot, but it’s true. Lastly, what’s the payoff here? Khan isn’t going to have a match with MJF – let’s hope not anyway. So, who will? Punk? Someone else? It’s messy, but it sure was a blast.

-Good to see Miro back. Would anyone else like to see Keith Lee and Miro go at it?

-Who else is numb to the eight or ten-man, AEW style tag team matches? It’s hard to reinvent those matches as it is, but they regularly include many of the same talents, making it even harder. These have their place on the show as the crowd eats them up live, but diminishing returns are on the horizon.

-Poor Wardlow. Gets the big win on Sunday and then the guy that he beat gets all the shine and attention just three days later. It’s a rough business ain’t it? Wardlow’s reaction was dramatically less passionate than I expected and it directly correlates to what MJF pulled off earlier in the show. Wardlow vs. Scorpio Sky quickly could help dull that MJF blow and putting the title on him at some point would certainly help too.

-Surprised to see Britt Baker do the job in the women’s tag team match this week. A bit of 50/50 booking there with Baker winning the women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Sunday and then losing right back a few days later. Baker needs something now. A grudge feud of some kind to keep her relevant and hot as a top star without going after the world title.

-I could watch Jon Moxley and Daniel Garcia every day and be happy. Those two guys are viciously smooth and look like they want to pulverize one another out there. It complements the show very well overall.

–Blood and Guts is set for June 29 in Detroit. Jericho Appreciate Society vs. Team Eddie Kingston, which right now includes Jon Moxley. This will be a must-see match based on Anarchy in the Arena. Not only do they have the feud between both entities boiling to the point where it needs this match, but there are a lot of creative talents involved that can help make it stick out compared to the one from last year. Sign me up.

CATCH-UP: 6/1 AEW DYNAMITE RESULTS: Keller’s report on Double or Nothing fallout, MJF speaks, Punk’s first week as champion in six-man tag, more