Performance Review – AEW Dynamite (9/30/20)

Overall Evaluation and Achieved Goals

This was a watchable but realistically skippable week of Dynamite, and I say nearly because the first half-hour was awesome and so was the main event.

Areas of Excellence Within Performance

Darby Allin vs. Ricky Starks opened and was great as a standalone match but even better as a long meaty match between two of AEW’s finest young wrestlers. Darby is SO good, the smoothest high-flyer who is reckless when needed but also the most proficient and stunning wristlocker in wrestling today. Starks is SO good too, but in a different way that perfectly complemented what Darby does – great heel, great seller, and offense based more often than not around takedowns and suplexes which is really cool.

The TNT Title Dog Collar Match setup for next week was an incredible angle with a couple weeks notice, flowing from one great piece of business to another. First black-haired Cody cut his first real PROMO since his return last week and it ruled, a passionate place-setting that led to him at first responding “no” to the challenge before accepting and cutting a big time promo all fired up to kick Mr. Brodie Lee‘s assssss. The way suit-jacket Brodie and suit-jacket Cody went at each was SO wonderfully 70s or 80s, just a wild chaotic brawl that felt like decisions were being made in the moment.

Taz calls him Butch, and at Eddie Kingston‘s behest he (The Butcher) challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW Title in the main event. This was seriously good, a low stakes World Title defense on TV that keeps things interesting while everybody quarantines. It had a wild feel to it where each guy just kept moving and punctuated it by just knocking the other down. Jumping piledriver!!!

Still love that Kingston didn’t technically lose to Moxley.

I think it is just excellent that this week was used to give breathing room for some of our favorite acts: Orange Cassidy and the returning Britt Baker squashed somebodies, while MJF and The Inner Circle are flirting. Or not. Or are they?

Suggested Areas of Improvement

If Nick Jackson isn’t here, just stop with Matt Jackson. Heels. Yeesh.

FTR‘s Brush with Greatness match for the Tag Team Titles was the introduction of a new concept where FTR is working with a 20-minute time limit draw for their matches on TV. They wrestled Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian and, well – it was fine. Kind of. There were a lot of impressive wrestling sequences overwhelmed by just a boring wrestling match.

Chris Jericho wrestling Luther in a tag at the Jericho Anniversary Show makes sense but I can’t think of any reason to spend as much time on the match setup as they did, and you might know I like my match setups.

AEW is dealing with COVID-19 and Jacksonville but despite next week’s Cody/Brodie match I think they might need to start getting something really cooking. The plus of AEW is they usually have like 25+ little story threads they can branch off into, but beyond maybe The Elite going after championships soon I am not sure where we are REALLY headed.

My Favorite Things

3. Ricky Starks’ Foot Stomp
2. Shawn Spears wishes Scorpio Sky luck
1. Billy Mitchell Cameo at Kip Sabian’s Bachelor Party

Official Star Rating

3 out of 5 Stars

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