HEYDORN’S AEW DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2/15: Flat show features important building blocks for Revolution

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

-I guess the eight-man tag to start the show this week was fine. But, like, fine? This lacked context and reeked of silliness than it did of competitors fighting. It was imperative that The Acclaimed acknowledge the fact that they lost the AEW World Tag Team Championship and they did, but it was bare minimum stuff. Better than nothing?

-Jon Moxley in a match with Preston Vance? This is a perfect example of the problems this week’s show had. Why are these two in a match like this one? Not a lot of sense in this. And next week Moxley against Evil Uno? Not great.

-A strong interview segment with Wardlow this week. Finally. Finally, we saw some character development from him. Here’s the thing, though. They landed in the right place on this and gave Wardlow a reason to hate Samoa Joe like he does. The hair story and connection to Wardlow’s father was well told. This needs to be told ahead of the hair cutting angle, though. Give this story to the fans earlier, so they can invest. Then, when you run the angle it means more.

-Mark Briscoe is such a brave man. To go what he’s gone through in losing his brother, but still have the energy and tangible joy of performance on television very much speaks to his character and love for wrestling. It’s a blast to watch him out there and his match this week against Josh Woods delivered.

-Something was off about the Adam Cole interview with Renee Paquette. It felt like Paquette was overly into everything that Cole said and it somehow made some very serious material not that serious. Who knows whether or not Cole is telling the truth about his concussion symptoms. It doesn’t matter, though. I don’t think you want Cole’s fans thinking about that stuff while he’s out there wrestling. If he’s back, let him be back. This is another example of AEW playing 12 chords when only three are needed.

-Stellar work from MJF and Christopher Daniels. Nothing meta about this promo. It was all business with Bryan Danielson vs. MJF for the world title at the center. Tony Khan needs to find a way to keep MJF on these shows. He’s by far the most entertaining element. Can you imagine this week without him? Yikes.

-Well, Jungle Boy vs. Christian is ice cold, but I’m in for seeing them close the feud out at Revolution. The injury to Christian hurt this program, but Jungle Boy getting the big win likely will launch him near the exact place he’d have landed if everything played out as scheduled.

-I can’t stand the backstage interviews with The Elite. They are smug, unlikable, and come across as if they are poking fun and diminishing the show they are on each week. There has been nothing positive with these. Period.

-Glad to see Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian end quickly. Page vs. Moxley in a Texas Death Match? I’ll take that.

-From a match perspective, I liked the main event quite a bit. Toni Storm, Britt Baker, and Ruby Soho each worked hard and delivered, but the OG vs. invader storyline isn’t clicking for me. I don’t think Soho has played the part of confused and frustrated friend well to either the OG or invader side AND there just isn’t a lot of heat. Britt Baker turning full-on babyface can make this work. Is that coming? I doubt it, but it remains to be seen.

-That said, putting this on in the main event slot of the show tells the audience it’s important. Smart call by Tony Khan given what he wants the story to be.

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