AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (12/25): Continental Classic continues with Darby Allin vs. Ricochet, Fletcher vs. Garcia, Komander vs. Claudio, Ospreay vs. Brody King, Taz returns, Critique of Tournament Rules and Presentation

First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone! Second, it’s time for Dynamite on 34th street as we all get ready for World’s End this weekend! The Continental Classic has been bonkers, Toni Storm is… well… bonkers! And can MJF and Adam Cole make us all care about their matchup this weekend? There’s a lot going on so here we go!

HITS

WILL OSPREAY VS. BRODY KING

Despite the recent losses, nobody gets me more fired up than watching Will Ospreay’s entrance. Now while I would not have had Ospreay lose as much as he had so far in the tournament, it made this match a must-win for both wrestlers which is exactly what you want to see in a tournament like this. The crowd was engaged in both guys and you really have to give credit to Ospreay. Why? Because both Darby Allin and Brody King are great performers but they are drastically different. Ospreay is able to adjust his style and wrestle a great dramatic match with both guys. What a physical battle with Brody. Sure, I expected Ospreay to win, but there were a couple of near falls that got me because I didn’t expect Ospreay to lose the previous two matches. It took two Hidden Blades and a Stormbreaker to get Ospreay to 9 points. Great match.

DARBY ALLIN VS. RICOCHET

I was very worried after last week’s Dynamite that Ricochet was emasculated to the point of him becoming a joke. That still may be a factor moving forward, but the fan response to him as he came out to fight Darby was solid heel heat… and that’s a good thing. I haven’t seen fans throw things into the ring in quite some time and they were firing away at Ricochet while loudly chanting “You Suck”. If I’m Ricochet, I’m loving it. I certainly burst out laughing when he told the ref that Darby pulled his non-existent hair.

As for the drama of the match, it was great. When the fans are screaming at Darby to hurry up as time ran out, that’s all the proof you need that they were all invested and this match really meant something to them. Sometimes you don’t get what you want as a fan and that’s what happened at the end with the draw. With Ricochet being hated as much as he was, it makes sense to have a legitimate heel moving on to the semifinals.

KOMANDER WINS!

I really liked this story telling because it showed they set this up weeks in advance. When small things that happen over a couple of week’s time ends up paying off in a smart way, I’m all for it. Recapping Collision when Darby kept the brass knuckles was important. Darby’s desire for revenge on Claudio and the Death Riders was important. I wondered why Darby threw his coat under the ring when he came down for his match, but then forgot about it during the Komander match until he reached under and got it.

It thought it was perfectly set up and executed and it was a perfect way to cost Claudio a spot in the semifinals as well as further the Darby vs. Death Riders story.

FLETCHER VS. GARCIA

Would they put Garcia in the semifinals? I thought they might. That made this match unpredictable like most of the latter half of the tournament. This was a fantastic back and forth battle and one I would love to see revisited in the future. Fletcher has stood out to me in this tournament and if I was booking, I’d have him win it, but I feel after all the losses Ospreay has had, he’s likely to get his win back over Fletcher in the semifinal. Either way, Fletcher and Garcia are two young guys with a bright future.

QUICK HITS

– It was a pleasure to have Taz back on commentary. I don’t mind Nigel or Daddy Magic, but Taz takes it to another level for me with his analysis and banter with the other commentators.

– I love how the Gold League matches went back-to-back-to back to start the show. Every match led into the next and I would think made it hard for anyone invested to stop watching. That’s some smart, well thought-out production.

– It was probably smart to just show a video package with MJF and Adam Cole rather than have them interact again after they had a face-to-face on Collision. Hopefully they put on a good match Saturday and move on.

– The Okada-Benjamin match was a great technical battle after the high flying and physical matches earlier in the show. Their skill is off the charts and I enjoyed the respect they showed each other during and after the match.

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MISSES

GIVE SOME LOVE TO THE WOMEN

Outside of a very quick Toni Storm match which seemed to be rushed due to time, there was no real buildup of the women’s matches for the PPV. I suppose 30 second video packages are better than nothing, but they really needed to sell those matchups a little more on this go-home show.

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC RULES

I feel this has been a very fun Continental Classic with upsets and drama, but there are a few things I believe they should improve upon for next year.

First, enforce the rules better. For example, while the table spot was impressive in the Ricochet/Darby match, if this is a tournament with rules, then Ricochet should have been DQ’d for using a table giving Darby the win. This was not necessary.

Second, there was far too much cheating to protect wrestlers in the tournament. I’m fine with having a few matches end with cheating and some you needed to tell the story like Komander using the brass knuckles, but the low blows and ref bumps were used too much for my liking.

Third, you don’t need to have every match go between 10-20 minutes and have the loser kick out of a finisher or kick out at 1 on a big move to show how tough they are. Spread those out and they’ll mean more.

Finally, on this episode of Dynamite, they had an opportunity to really sell the fact that the stakes for these matches were huge, so let us hear from the wrestlers throughout the show as they prepare, so we can really feel how much this means to them. Nearly all of the matches were win or go home, so make us feel that by hearing from them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, I enjoyed the final week of matches in the CC and can’t wait for the PPV this weekend to see how it all works out. I have guesses, but they’ve done a good job of keeping me on the edge of my seat during the past couple of weeks so I can’t pick who is going to win and I love that.

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