SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW DYNAMITE REPORT
MARCH 27, 2024
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC, CANADA AT CENTRE VIDEOTRON
AIRED LIVE ON TBS
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
Attendance: WrestleTix reported earlier today that 4,053 tickets had been distributed so far; arena was set up for 4,429.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
[HOUR ONE]
-After the Dynamite opening, they cut to the arena with pyro on the stage and cheering fans as Excalibur introduced the show.
(1) WILL OSPREAY vs. KAZSUYORI SHIBATA
They showed a clip of these two wrestling in New Japan seven years ago with Shibata scoring a three count. The bell rang 4 minutes into the hour. They cut to a double-box break at 7:00. [c/db]
Shibata and Ospreay were brawling at ringside after the break. Ospreay got the better of him. Shibata took over again for a few minutes in the ring.
At 15:00 they took turns letting each other strike themselves with elbows to the side of their head. Ospreay landed a jumping round kick, but Shibata ducked another kick and then suplexed Ospreay onto the top of his head. He then put Ospreay in a sleeper. Ospreay came back with an OsCutter for a two count. He followed with a Saito suplex and an elbow to the head for a two count. Ospreay followed with a stacked Tiger Driver followed by a running Hidden Blade elbow for the win.
Shibata bowed for Ospreay, then hugged him and raised his arm after the match.
WINNER: Ospreay in 19:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Ospreay is carrying himself like a top-top guy for AEW. This was a good , hard-hitting, competitive match start to finish. I’d rather see this a few more weeks into his run in AEW after he’s scored a quicker win or two against mid-card agitating heels whom he can decimate with his signature moves.)
-A video aired on Bryan Danielson’s background with clips of his indy days and ROH days. Excalibur narrated. He got into Danielson’s forced retirement and subsequent comeback and eventual arrival in AEW.
(Keller’s Analysis: Nice video package, and the ROH footage is cool to have access to.)
-The announcers hyped the AEW Tag Team Title Tournament, showing the graphics and then hyping the two scheduled matches on this show.
-Renee Paquette interviewed Nicholas & Matthew Jackson backstage. Nicholas didn’t like her initial question. Matthew asked where Alex Marvez went. Matthew bragged about “retiring Sting’s old ass.” Matthew said their biggest goat is to get the AEW Tag Titles back and that starts with beating Private Party tonight. Matthew told Renee she is doing good work, but she should consider smiling a little more. [c]
-They showed Kazuchika Okada arriving in a red sports car in the parking lot.
(2) THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. PRIVATE PARTY (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy) – AEW Tag Team Tournament match
The Bucks made their entrance first. Matthew leaned into the camera and told Excalibur to announce the big news about Double or Nothing. Excalibur said it’ll take place on May 26 in Las Vegas, Nev. again. The bell rang 36 minutes into the hour. Matthew gave Quen a Falcon Arrow off the ringside barricade. Excalibur then said the Bucks were trying to win via countout. They cut to Okada watching from the back. Quen made it back into the ring in time. They cut to a double-box break at 4:00. [c/db]
Private Party hit Gin & Juice on Matthew at 10:00. They followed with More Bang for Your Buck for a near fall, broken up by Nicholas. Nicholas brought the ring bell into the ring. The ref yanked it away. Matthew gave Kassidy a kick to the crotch. Quen tackled Matthew suddenly and scored a near fall, with Nicholas draping Matthew’s leg over the bottom rope. Kassidy tagged in Quen who leaped off the top rope with a 630, but Matthew moved. The Bucks then finished him with an EVP Trigger. The ref, oddly, let Matthews and Nicholas both cover Quen and made the count.
WINNERS: The Bucks in 12:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Some fun spots and a lot of action. It seemed like there were times they were setting things up rather than fighting and it looked a little overly choreographed.)
-They showed the tournament bracket. The Bucks will face the winners of the Undisputed Kingdom vs. Best Friends in the semi-finals.
-Excalibur plugged AEW action figures.
-A vignette aired on Takeshita with comments from Don Callis about his match later against Swerve Strickland.
-They showed Mercedes Moné arriving in an SUV. [c]
-Darby Allin stood by Tony Hawk and said he was going to climb Mt. Everest, but then he broke his foot. He said he was going to raise money for Hawk’s charity for community skateboard parks. They plugged the charity. Then they showed Hawk skateboarding at an indoor park as Darby watched from above.
(Keller’s Analysis: I’m glad they had Darby check in with fans about what happened to his Mt. Everest trip and didn’t assume everyone would have heard via social media. It’s also good to see the charity gets a little make-good.)
-Renee interviewed Chris Jericho and Hook. Renee asked Jericho what his proposition is for Hook. Jericho said Hook exceeded his expectations and got his first pinfall win in AEW against him. He said he is proud of him. He said he’s never managed anyone or had a wrestling school, but Hook’s skills are so “highly tuned but very raw.” (Huh?) He told Hook he’d be happy to offer him any advice. Hook said he appreciates it, and he’ll accept his advice, but he also knows who he is. Jericho said, “I know who you are, but more importantly I know who you can be.” They fist-bumped.
(Keller’s Analysis: I was expecting them to become a team. Not sure what to make of Jericho merely offering to give him advice. Is that the most we’ve heard Hook string words together into actual multiple sentences?)
-Mercedes made her ring entrance to her “CEO” theme. She joined the announcers on commentary.
[HOUR TWO]
(3) WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. ANNA JAY vs. SKYE BLUE vs. KRIS STATLANDER (w/Stokey Hathaway)
All four got individual ring entrance beginning with Willow. The bell rang 2 minutes into the hour. Willow took Skye down with a Pounce at ringside. She turned to Mercedes, who stood and eyed Willow as they cut to a break at 2:30. [c/db]
Back from the break, Sky landed Code Blue on Willow, but Statlander broke it up. Anna then slammed Statlander onto Blue for a two count. Willow then hit Anna with a dropkick. Willow and Statlander faced off. Willow battled Skye on the ring apron and delivered a Death Valley Driver onto the edge of the ring. A “Holy shit!” chant broke out. Anna and Statlander battled in the ring. Anna sent Statlander to the floor, but then Willow gave Anna a sitout powerbomb for the win.
WINNER: Willow in 10:00.
-As Willow began celebrating, Julia Hart hit her from behind with her TBS Title belt. She then turned and stared at Mercedes. Excalibur said Willow will challenge Julia Hart at Dynasty next month.
(Keller’s Analysis: I can’t recall anything of note Mercedes said on commentary. I saw this as an opportunity for her to assert herself as a leader of the division, showing passionate working knowledge of each personality and having definitive thoughts on each of their backstories. She got to shed the image, as a lead babyface on air and top paid wrestler off-air, that she’s taking concrete steps to elevate the division through more than really good outfits and occasional standout matches. The match itself was fine, with the obvious winner.)
-Renee interviewed Dustin Rhodes. He said he has started 2024 with a bang. He said all of his matches have been bangers. He said at 55 years old, he’s still as passionate as he’s ever been. In walked The Butcher. Dustin indicated he smelled. Butcher said it’s his mustache. Butcher challenged him to a match on Rampage. Dustin said he’ll find out that he’s a Natural Born Legend and “everybody loves me, including Canada.”
(Keller’s Analysis: I suppose doing this to give a little boost to Rampage is a net-positive. That said, it does nothing to erase the perception that Rampage is a C-show with wrestlers who either lose on Dynamite or who you rare see on Dynamite. I still think – and I’ve said this for four years – that AEW should be regularly finding an actual storyline related to Dustin that fans can get invested in.)
-Ben Mankiewicz from Turner Classic Movies interviewed Toni Storm in a black and white setting. He said she has defined the artistry of pro wrestling. She asked him to crispen his enunciation. She told him tits out and wait for the shoe. [c]
-They showed the exterior of the arena.
-A video package aired on Swerve Strickland who said he has to get past Takeshita to get his rematch against Samoa Joe.
(4) ORANGE CASSIDY & TRENT BERETTA vs. MATT TAVEN & MIKE BENNETT – AEW Tag Team Tournament match
Excalibur hyped an Adam Copeland open challenge for his newly won TNT Title on Saturday’s Collision. Bennett piledrove Berreta on the ring apron. They cut to a break at 3:00. [c/db]
Roderick Strong went after Chuck Taylor at ringside. Cassidy leaped from the ring and knocked Strong down. Back in the ring, Taylor knocked Taven off balance on the top rope. Beretta then quickly pinned Bennett with a jackknife cover.
WINNERS: Cassidy & Berretta in 10:00 to advance to face the Bucks.
(Keller’s Analysis: When Excalibur said Trent Beretta is the only wrestler in this match to not hold an AEW title, it made me wonder how often that could be said in AEW matches – that a wrestler involved hasn’t held a title. It also means they’re counting ROH titles as “AEW titles,” apparently. It’s not a huge deal, but Bennett and Berretta were wearing trunks that nearly matched and it threw me off a few times when they hit each other because it seemed like partners were hitting each other. It’s a detail that wrestler should pay attention to.)
-As the Best Friends were about to hug, the Bucks music interrupted. They walked out and stared down their opponents next week.
-Renee interviewed Kyle O’Reilly who said it felt good to get that first win in his return to AEW. She asked if he has any second thoughts on doing it on his own without his friends. O’Reilly said he’ll do it alone again on Saturday and prove he belongs.
(Keller’s Analysis: O’Reilly is so chill right now, it’ll really mean something when something gets a rise out of him.) [c]
-A video package aired on the Adam Copeland win over Christian Cage for the TNT Title last week.
-Excalibur plugged Collision: Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli & Shibata vs. The Righteous & Lance Archer, FTR vs. The Infantry, and Ricky Starks & Big Bill vs. Top Flight. Then he plugged Dynasty’s line-up so far including Ospreay vs. Danielson for the first time ever one-on-one.
(5) KONSUKE TAKESHITA (w/Don Callis) vs. SWERVE STRICKLAND (w/Prince Nana) – No. 1 Contendership for the AEW World Title at stake
Justin Roberts did formal ring introductions for the main event. Callis joined in on commentary. The bell rang 44 minutes into the hour. They shook hands at the start, but didn’t let go. At 5:00 Swerve gave Takeshita a snap German suplex. Takeshita followed with a strike, knocking Swerve to the floor. They cut to a double-box break. [c/db]
Swerve backdropped Takeshita over the top rope to the floor and then head scissored him to the floor. Back in the ring, he landed a top rope crossbody for a one count. Takeshita landed a forearm to the neck and head back in the ring. Callis said, “No mercy, follow up.” Swerve ducked Takeshita, but Takeshita landed a dropkick. Swerve rolled to the floor. Takeshita landed a running flip dive onto Swerve at ringside at 12:00. Taz noted that Samoa Joe is watching the match from a monitor backstage.
Back in the ring, Takeshita and Swerve battled for leverage on the top rope. Swerve DDT’d Takeshita off the top turnbuckle. The crowd chanted, “Swerve’s house!” Swerve hit a Sky Twister for a two count. They battled back and forth. Takeshita landed a poison rana and then a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall at 15:00.
[OVERRUN]
Swerve made a comeback and scored a two count after a DDT. He climbed to the top rope and delivered a Swerve Stomp to Takeshita, who had rolled to the ring apron. Takeshita made a comeback and set up a top rope move. Swerve held on and knocked Takeshita to the mat. He went for a Swerve Stomp, but Takeshita moved. Swerve sent Takeshita into the corner hard. Swerve followed with a leaping House Call sidekick followed by a successful Swerve Stomp for a believable near fall. Swerve countered a Takeshita pop-up powerbomb into another Swerve Stomp followed by a half nelson cradle power bomb for the win. Schiavone said that’s a five-star match if he’s ever seen one. Taz said he doesn’t care about stars, but it was a great match.
WINNER: Swerve in 21:00 to earn a match against Joe at Dynasty.
-Renee interviewed Joe backstage. Joe said next week, when he signs the contract, he’s going to make sure he understand what he is asking for. “No, no, you’re not that man,” he said.
-They cut back to Swerve celebrating with Nana in the ring.
(Keller’s Analysis: This was good enough that it made me with they had done more than a one-week build-up of Takeshita as a potential no. contender. The match was hampered by the sense of inevitability that Strickland was winning. If AEW planned TV main events six to ten weeks in advance and booked backwards from there, then the anticipation and effectiveness of these matches would be higher. Joe’s post-match promo was a good, and I liked that they got his reaction right afterward.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Format-wise, with no in-ring promos, it seemed they were cognizant of a French-speaking crowd in Quebec being more likely to react to in-ring action than in-ring talking. The video segments and backstage interviews were well-done and provided a good cadence to the overall show between matches. Not a monumental show, but some definitive good in-ring action and consequences to each of the matches.
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