SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
As we inch closer to Revolution, Dynamite comes to us from the Hostess City of the South, Savannah, Georgia. The rankings are back as AEW goes hard into regaining its original sports-like vibe. With the return of rankings comes the return of matches specifically focused on those rankings and wrestlers securing their place within them. It’ll be interesting to see how the new/old look Dynamite comes off tonight. There’s also the main event, featuring a special appearance by Minoru Suzuki, which should be a whole lot of fun. This week, instead of quoting a movie or celebrity, I’m going to use three little words that Savannah should be shouting from the top of their lungs tonight: “Kaze Ni Nare”!
Samoa Joe vs. “Hangman” Page vs. Swerve Strickland
I hesitate to label this feud this way given that it hasn’t been officially made a triple threat and that I still think there’s a strong possibility that it still ends up being a one-on-one match. The rankings returning adds another new wrinkle this story as it seems pretty clear that Swerve and Hangman will both be chasing or trying to hold on to that number one position. If one guy is clearly ranked number one, it’ll be interesting to see how a three-way match could be justified. To me I still see this coming down to Hangman and Swerve fighting it out for the number one spot and I’m cool with that.
For his part Joe had a successful title defense against Hook. He dominated the match, at one point hitting a vicious uranage on the announce table, before Hook made a brief, fiery comeback. Joe extinguished that fire with a Coquina Clutch, choking the second-generation wrestler into unconsciousness. Joe absolutely looked like a badass and that he could be more than just transitional champion even if I’m afraid that’s what he’s going to wind up being.
Grade: A
Sting & Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks
The Young Bucks, excuse me, Nicholas & Matthew Jackson, are fully leaning into being arrogant, obnoxious, overbearing jerks and it works for them. They’re taking all the fans criticisms and turning them up to 15. Most importantly, they laid an honest-to-goodness mission statement. They want to rid AEW of all the wrestling legends who have joined AEW but don’t represent what the Bucks believe AEW’s founding vision was; and it starts with Sting. Sting and Darby, meanwhile, called out Ricky Starks & Big Bill for the AEW Tag Team Titles, so it looks like my dream of Sting winning one more title before he hangs up the bat for good is going to come true. It also means Sting’s last match is likely going to be a title defense and that Sting could retire as champion or the Bucks could get the ultimate heat by denying the Icon that honor.
Grade: A
Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purazzo
Deonna had a match with Anna Jay in which she was able to demonstrate further her technical prowess. Toni was on commentary and absolutely stole the show. Her one-liners were hysterical, peaking with telling Ian Riccaboni, “I don’t know what you’re doing with your feet under this table but please do it harder.” Toni Storm is operating on another level right now. This week the two women are scheduled for a face-to-face interview. This should be quality entertainment. I think it’s highly possible Deonna wins at Revolution, but I’m going to enjoy the ride
until we get there.
Grade: A+
FTR & Daniel Garcia vs. House of Black
Daniel Garcia and Buddy Matthews had a barn-burner on Collision. In the end, Garcia picked up the win! Yes, it was a jackknife rollup but he still won the match. Afterwards, all six men engaged in a huge pull-apart brawl that required security, referees, and multiple wrestlers to try and split them up and they were still going at it when the show went to commercial.
On the other side of the break, Dax challenged House of Black to an elimination trios steel cage match. Tony Khan made the match official for this coming Saturday as a way to counter-program the Royal Rumble. It’s not going to work, but credit to him for not just rolling over and taking the loss. The match itself should be epic. These six guys can go and they are going to work hard to make this match special. To me it’s a toss up as to who’s going to come out on top. I feel like FTR & Garcia need the win more, especially Garcia considering he’s been rebuilt right now.
Grade: A
Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland
Christian successfully defended the TNT Title against “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes. The two vets had a classic match that saw Dustin break out both a Code Red and a Canadian Destroyer and survive one Killswitch before succumbing to a second. Copeland continued his open challenge series in a spirited match with Dante Martin. Tonight he brings the Cope Open to Dynamite where he will be challenged by Minoru Suzuki. “The Rated R Superstar” vs. “Crazy Murder Grandpa” is not a match many people expected, but I for one am excited. These two are sure to lay into each other mostly because Suzuki doesn’t know how to do it any other way. Copeland likely wins. The looming question is how to we get to the rematch at Revolution and what’s the stipulation to make it feel different than their previous match. To me, this feud has some work to do to get where it needs to go.
Grade: B
Ruby Soho/Angelo Parker
This story continues to be written, apparently, just for me. On Rampage, Renee Paquette attempted to interview Ruby and Saraya when the ever-unstable Harley Cameron flitted into the picture. Ruby immediately snatched up Harley by the throat and slammed against a wall. She demanded answers from Harley as she throttled her. Saraya mouthed for Harley to blame Anna Jay for Harley making a move on Angelo. So now Anna is being dragged into Saraya’s manipulations.
Raging Ruby is absolutely my jam, but I have to admit this story puts her in awkward position. She essentially has to have not watched the show back in order for Saraya’s manipulations to remain a secret. So, even though this story is very soapy and I’m absolutely ready for Ruby to beat Saraya senseless, it is demonstrative of how difficult it is to do this kind of story on a real time program.
Grade: B+
Roderick Strong vs. Orange Cassidy
It was made official on Dynamite, Roderick Strong will challenge Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Title at Revolution. The segment making it official was what it was. I don’t think it was egregious mostly because it was a standard pro wrestling trope of having the heel the delay the match to upset the live audience. The bigger issue at hand is the Undisputed Kingdom writ large.
This group continues to struggle mightily, largely due to the fact that it’s leader Adam Cole is still on crutches. Cole is the centerpiece of the group and, without him to focus on, the other members have to pick up the slack. Roddy was fine in his role opposite OC. Cole was at least there to talk up Wardlow but again I think Wardlow needs a more attainable goal than the AEW World Title.
More importantly, though, where is the group that was sneak attacking people in the back for months? Why did they suddenly become more docile now that the masks are off? Historically top heel factions have established dominance through violence. The Shield laid people out with the Shield Bomb for months. Though ultimately a failure, Nexus had that highly-memorable debut where they destroyed the ring, ringside area, and everyone in it including Justin Roberts. The NWO terrorized WCW for months, infamously shutting down Nitro for 15 minutes following a backstage attack. Going back further, the Dangerous Alliance got over by slamming Barry Windham’s arm in a car door. The Undisputed Kingdom need to make a similar statement fast before they become a an afterthought.
Grade: C+
Bullet Club Gold/The Acclaimed
It’s not technically adversarial yet so I won’t label it as such. What seemed like a potential team up to go after the Undisputed Kingdom has seemingly spun off into its own thing. On Dynamite last week Bullet Club Gold defeated The Mogul Embassy to win the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles. On Collision, they united with The Acclaimed to form the Bang Bang Scissor Gang.
The last thing I want is Bullet Club Gold associating with the Acclaimed or holding ROH Titles. However, I’m hopeful that this is all in service of the bigger goal of unifying both sets of titles on Bullet Club Gold. I think strong heel Bullet Club Gold holding those titles (whatever their unified name ends of being) for several months will help both the titles as well as Jay White and the Gunns. Right now, I’m still in wait and see mode.
Grade: N/A
Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale/Stokely Hathaway
So this story got a little weird this week. Stokely Hathaway helped himself to following Stat to the ring for match against Queen Aminata. The match was good. Aminata continues to impress with each outing. Following Stat’s victory, Stokely raised her arm while she side-eyed him. Renee attempted to interview them after the break and that’s when Willow, who’d been conspicuously absent, showed up with her luggage and said that her ticket on her flight had been cancelled. It was quickly apparent that Stokely was behind the delay. The weird part of this whole thing was that in spite of that, Stat seemed maybe open to Stokely’s managerial services. I don’t know if he’s growing on her or if he’s worn her down but I’m going to need some kind of explanation, especially with Statlander likely being the heel, otherwise this feud could spiral into a mess.
Grade: B
Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. The Don Callis Family
Jericho cut a promo on the Callis Family and then got into a scuffle with Takeshita following Jericho’s match against Matt Sydal on Rampage. With Jericho preparing for his annual cruise it’s likely he’ll only be on Dynamite in the form of a pre-tape but it certainly seems like we’re building towards a tag-team match at Revolution.
Grade: N/A
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Samoa Joe vs. Hook for the AEW World Championship, Christian Cage vs. Dustin Rhodes for the TNT Championship, Jay Briscoe tribute
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