HEYDORN’S AEW DYNAMITE RECEIPT 8/17: Kenny Omega return garners big reaction, but questionable return story

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

-Silly C.M. Punk trying to work the AEW fans, right? Look, Punk addressing Adam Page the way he did to start his promo only makes sense as a work. Otherwise, it’s a Page burial and Punk simply seems smarter and knows better to do that.

-Punk and Jon Moxley. Wow. That was brilliant work from both men that instantly sold PPV buys for All Out to see them wrestle. On…wait…more on that later. Anyway, the work itself was pure mastery. It felt real, authentic, dramatic, and featured two alphas going at it with big stakes on the line. A home run segment that AEW needed.

-Powerhouse Hobbs cut a decent little promo and continues to come across as a key up and comer for the company. Ricky Starks deservedly gets a lot of attention, but Hobbs is someone to keep an eye on. Triple H probably is.

-Typically, I’m not a fan of two out of three falls matches, but Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia had one of the best in a while. This felt like a 1930s wrestling match at times, was stiff, aggressive, and painted both men as lethal competitors.

-Garcia on the outs with Chris Jericho is a smart booking move. Garcia never fit well with that gimmick and now he can lean more into what appears to be his real personality.

-It’s great that Swerve in our Glory got time to promo against Private Party ahead of their Rampage match. And yes, Rampage needs top tier matches, but the AEW World Tag Team Championships are distant in their relevancy. Get the darn titles on Dynamite every so often, eh?

-There was nothing more obnoxious than The Acclaimed gallivanting around with Billy Gunn. Now, we’re sure to get more of that. Yuck. That said, Acclaimed got a really nice babyface reaction. Their turn is officially complete.

-I like the blood feud nature of Jungle Boy vs. Christian Cage and it’s nice to see Jungle Boy find additional range with is aggressiveness, but it feels like we’ve seen the same angle every week for two months at this point. A match at All Out is all but official and an effective, unique go-home segment is necessary.

-What in the hell is happening with FTR? Tony Khan is going to look back and regret the way he’s booked that team coming out of the hottest run of their career. A missed opportunity for sure.

-Toni Storm didn’t get the greatest pop in the world. That’s a problem. The women’s division needs a jolt of excitement. That certainly will mean a title change at All Out, but needs further definition within the company to keep momentum with whoever is the champion.

–Kenny Omega is back on AEW Dynamite and got a great reaction, but then immediately jumped into a “I’m not really fully back and ready story?” It’s just too cute. Can Omega just be Omega please? Let the guy shine, have Omega level matches, and allow the fans to enjoy his work. You wouldn’t see any other major top stars in wrestling saddling themselves with something like that. The Rock? Austin? No way. Wouldn’t happen and shouldn’t happen here either. If this story isn’t an angle, shame on Tony Khan for allowing Omega to come back when he’s clearly not ready.

CATCH-UP: 8/17 AEW DYNAMITE TV RESULTS: Keller’s report on Danielson vs. Garcia with Ricky Steamboat as guest time keeper, Toni Storm vs. KiLynn King, Bucks reveal tag partner