HEYDORN’S AEW DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2/8: Danielson vs. MJF feud gets needed shot of adrenaline

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

-What’s not to love about that MJF/Konosuke Takeshita match? That thing was hot and the reason why resided with both guys. MJF looks and acts the part of a champion. We know this. What is easily forgotten is that he can wrestle like one in the AEW ecosystem. As for Takeshita, well, it’s time for him to be and get more than just good opponents to lose to on television in a good match. He’s clearly and off the chart talent that needs to be fed a more prominent role.

-Glad to see AEW recap the Samoa Joe/Darby Allin/Wardlow stuff from last week. AEW should want to remind fans about important happenings on their shows, especially if it is going to lead to a bigger match down the road, which I suspect this will. Smart stuff.

-Geez, let’s hope The Bunny is ok. She took a nasty, nasty bump that seemingly ended the match earlier than planned. Qualifier, Eliminator, whatever — The Bunny should not be near the AEW World Championship in any capacity.

-Saraya sure is a heel now. It’s the right way to go given how audiences reacted to her, but a shocking failure from an AEW booking perspective given all the anticipation around her return to wrestling. Now that we know Saraya is the heel, Britt Baker needs to be getting a solid babyface turn moment too. Baker walking the line in this instance won’t get this to the blood feud level that TK clearly wants it to get to.

-Well, if you wondered whether or not MJF still could bring it on the microphone for some reason, you were reminded that he in fact still can on this week’s show. I’m not a fan of yelling in promos, but it worked in this instance and painted a picture of the psychotic champion begging to be taken more seriously. It got that storyline over strongly. Well done.

-Ehh. I’m just “ehh” on the Ricky Starks vs. Chris Jericho stuff at this point. It’s like the feud is moving in reverse to me. Why does Ricky want Jericho so bad? He’s already beaten him. Starks is on a new level and a PPV match with Jericho will help continue his rise, but the week to week material is flat — this week on AEW Dynamite included.

-Bryan Danielson and Rush are outta their damn minds. That match was a war and really showed off the range Rush has as an in-ring performer. Not that anything was wrong with Danielson’s performance, but we know how good he is. The finish was not a surprise, but the trading headbutts sequence certainly was. This was tremendous. The match along with the post-match beat down of Danielson by MJF gave the feud a needed shot of adrenaline.

-Another really good match by The Elite on AEW Dynamite. This time against AR Fox and Top Flight. Does it mean anything? Who knows. Do they even care? Who knows. Oh, hey Elite. PLEASE STOP SINGING YOUR ENTRANCE MUSIC AS YOU WALK TO THE DAMN RING!!

-I’ve got mixed feelings regarding the tag team championship situation and finish to the main event. On one hand, it worked. The Acclaimed can now chase for the titles in the lead up to Revolution and then get the belts back then. On the other hand, it’s The Gunn’s. Of all the tag teams that AEW has access to, The Gunn’s are the heel team Acclaimed is working with here? Nothing wrong with The Gunn’s, but they just lack any and all credibility when it comes to being a viable team that wins.

CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW RECEIPT 2/6: Chapter one of Reigns vs. Rhodes a massive success