AEW FEUD TRACKER: Assessing and grading Joe vs. Strickland, Danielson vs. Ospreay, Storm vs. Purrazzo, Christian vs. Copeland, more

Another week, another Wednesday night. That means another AEW Dynamite. This should be a good show. There’s two really good matches on tap, one that could be exceptional quite frankly. There’s also lots of intrigue as to who’s going to challenge for what title. We also can’t forget about Chris Jericho’s proposition for Hook although given how many times he got dropped on his head by Hook last week, Jericho might have. That was rough trip to Suplex City (looks like there’s a new mayor now) for Le Champion. Don’t forget to check Twitter for the updated rankings at the conclusion of tonight’s show! With that, in the words of the late great Marie Frederickson of Roxette, “listen to your heart” and keep reading.

Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland

Swerve made it very clear that his eyes are still on the prize of the AEW World Title in a backstage interview with Renee Paquette. He then laid out an open challenge which was answered by The Butcher. Swerve dispatched of The Butcher, scoring his first submission victory with a short-arm scissors. He called out Samoa Joe and the two exchanged words, appearing to agree to a title match before Canada’s least favorite son Don Callis emerged to spoil the party. He pointed out that Konosuke Takeshita has the same 2024 record as Swerve. He also pointed that even though he didn’t eat the fall, Swerve technically lost his title match last month. He challenged Swerve on behalf of Takeshita where the winner will face Joe at Dynasty. Of the three attempts to imbue uncertainty into title matches that we’re going to discuss in this column, this is the weakest. Swerve and Takeshita weren’t feuding before this. Takeshita was just dropped into this to have a really good match but have no realistic chance of winning. If they had set this up more than a week in advance it would be more believable. As it stands Swerve will emerge victorious from this very competitive hard fought match establish for sure the main event for Dynasty.

Grade: B+

Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay

Will Ospreay cut another enthusiastic, high-energy promo apologizing for his behavior the last time he was in Toronto. He complemented Bryan Danielson’s match against Katsuyori Shibata and then challenged Shibata to match himself. Ospreay’s energy and genuine passion for what he’s doing is infectious. For a guy who wasn’t used to cutting regular promos on weekly episodic TV, he’s really good at it. He concluded his promo by challenging Shibata to a match tonight on Dynamite. Holy smokes, Shibata vs Ospreay on free TV. That’s going to be a sight to behold. Danielson meanwhile, has date with the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club in Arena Mexico. That match should be a lot of fun too. I’m really interested to see where this game of one-upmanship goes as we cruise toward this dream showdown at Dynasty.

Grade: A+

Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo

When Deonna Purrazzo enlisted Thunder Rosa to deal with the numbers game of Toni Storm and Mariah May, she was looking for a temporary partner not a rival for the AEW Women’s World Title. Turns out she got the latter. Rosa got the pin on Storm much to Deonna’s chagrin. While Deonna has been angling for a rematch based on being cheated last month after getting the visual tap, Rosa now has a pin on the champion. That means both women have a claim to the title I expect a match between the two for the right to face Toni and I expect Deonna to win. This makes more sense then the situation with Takeshita because it feels like Rosa is a viable alternative challenger (In addition to pinning Toni, Rosa never lost the title but rather vacated it due to injury) so there’s some intrigue though not a ton.

Grade: A-

Kazuchika Okada vs. Pac

Kazuchika Okada defeated Eddie Kingston for the Continental Championship. The match was good. Okada withstood Eddie chopping his chest bloody to bring down the Mad King with a Rainmaker. Eddie cut a promo on Twitter conceding defeat thus the feud between them is over. Enter Pac. The Bastard emerged onto the stage as Okada celebrated his win. Pac has been “looking for trouble” ever since his return to AEW and it looks like he found in the form of the Rainmaker. That should be a real fun match presumably for Dynasty.

Note: Renee Paquette acted essentially as a sideline reporter at the end of the ramp relaying Eddie’s thoughts ahead of the match. More of this please. It makes the matches feel bigger and enhances the show

Grade: A-

TBS Title Saga

I labeled this feud the way I did because there are so many moving parts and it’s not entirely clear who specifically is going to be feuding with Julia Hart going into Dynasty. Willow Nightingale made clear her goal of getting a TBS title match. The newly arrived Mercedes Moné came in with an eye on unfinished business with Willow but has since also gotten into with Julia. I anticipated a match between Willow and Mercedes for the right to face Julia so imagine my surprise when it was announced that there would be a four way between Willow, Kris Statlander, Skye Blue, and Anna Jay for that right with Mercedes doing commentary. It’s a weird choice but I safely assume that Willow is winning and maybe Mercedes challenges her to put up her title shot. Mercedes has to be on the Dynasty card and I do not want her first PPV match to be a triple threat.

Grade: B+

Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage

These two put on a violent classic in front of an electric crowd in Toronto. In the end Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard helped neutralize the Patriarchy and Copeland forced Christian to say “I Quit after striking him in the nether regions with Spike and then threatening to smash his head with it. Adam Copeland is now TNT champion and I think he should have a short reign. He announced that the Cope Open is returning this Saturday on Collision. Fine, ok. I think Daniel Garcia should challenge him to match for Dynasty and win. They have unfinished business after all, given that the Patriarchy disrupted their previous match back in February. Copeland doesn’t really need the title and he would be more useful giving a rub to popular young wrestlers, so use him that way.

Final Grade: A-

AEW Tag Team Title Tournament

The tourney continues to be underwhelming. Orange Cassidy and Trent Baretta won their wild card match over The Don Callis match. The match was good. Tonight on Dynamite we’ll see The Young Bucks face Private Party and OC and Trent battle the Undisputed Kingdom. I think the outcome of both of these matches are obvious. Hopefully this weekend’s match between FTR and the Infantry adds intrigue.

Grade: C+

Bullet Club Gold vs. The Acclaimed

Bullet Club Gold cut a pre-taped promo from their pool. The promo was nice return to form as they trashed The Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, and Darby Allin. Jay White showed off Sting’s bat that he’d stolen from Darby and desecrated by dipping in gold. Not cool, Jay, not cool at all. Anyway, the Acclaimed cut a live promo in the arena and it was fine but the Acclaimed need a break. The act has peaked even if Billy Gunn is still way more over in 2024 than he should be. Bullet Club Gold need to win decisively, unify these titles, and move on while the Acclaimed go reassess.

Grade: B-