“Kenny, Kenny, Kenny… is this really your prestigious title reign that you’re so proud of?” – PAC
This show feels like it happened at least five weeks ago.
The crowd is back; the pop is back. I missed the pop.
The World
Friday Night Dynamite provided a tasty if not slightly overcooked appetizer for Sunday’s Double or Nothing, with promos and brawls for everybody moderately involved. Most of the promos and brawls provided last-minute hype for a pretty good card, though some felt completely unnecessary.
Britt Baker and Lance Archer in particular dropped a pair of great promos, while Hangman Page looked awesome as he bled down his face and challenged Brian Cage to drop Team Taz.
A new AEW Women’s World Championship was presented to Hikaru Shida, who looked like the most lovable babyface ever as she finally got to work a crowd as champion.
Elsewhere: the Cody Rhodes/Anthony Ogogo weigh-in was kind of a waste, a very Cody scenario where everything around it (new guy getting a push, patriotism, Cody’s 75-person entourage) was the real story with the actual story just being boring.
Kenny Omega reacted with his eyes wide as Orange Cassidy revealed he was still wrestling on Sunday, while PAC reminded everybody (again) that he’s still here.
Inner Circle did a thing too. Still would like to see them wrestle.
The Wrestling
Very low-key week in the ring, but for a good purpose. Everything here hit.
Darby Allin vs. Cezar Bononi – Hard-fought victories are the best victories, especially en route to a tag match with Sting. Bononi does a Hoss Toss!
Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela – A very different match from their Chicago Street Fight at All In, this was all about making Adam Page look awesome in 5 minutes and it did that.
Jade Cargill vs. KiLynn King – This made Jade Cargill look awesome in 2 minutes. I don’t think she needs a manager.
TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Dante Martin – Young Dante impressively flew around then Miro crushed him in a pitch perfect TV match. The “Miro’s gonna kill you…” chants were music to not just Miro’s but all of our ears, a return to form for a wrestling crowd and a confirmation that Miro’s freakin’ arrived.
Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page – The inverse of Darby’s hard-fought victory, this was a hard-fought loss for the Dark Order boys who in the middle of making Sky and Page look like baddies managed to bust out a bunch of awesome spots in front of a very appreciative crowd. It was a complete 180 from the last time they were trying to do a thing in front of an audience, and for maybe the first time properly showcased these two on a Dynamite.
The Entertainment
This was mostly about a packed crowd watching AEW live for the first time since all that stuff, a large gathering of human beings reacting to things — it was great.
Darby and Hangman‘s huge pops were especially great. Jon Moxley called the Young Bucks Rod & Todd Flanders! A masked Sting revealed himself to be Sting, and Dean Malenko got kidnapped by The Pinnacle. That last one was good just because it was Dean Malenko.
Legitimately L-O-L’d as Cody Rhodes emerged with his 250-person strong entourage, a completely ridiculous scenario I’m excited to see play out with a live audience.
My Favorite Things
- Hikaru Shida works a crowd and Britt Baker brings it home
- Hangman Page bleeds from the face
- Darby Allin and Sting take no shit from Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky
Room for Improvement
- Give the other Inner Circle fellas something to do
- Less kidnappings and weigh-ins, more promos
- Go back to Kenny Omega being a good heel
Top 10 Dynamite Stars
- Jon Moxley (-)
- Britt Baker (-)
- Darby Allin (4)
- Miro (3)
- Hangman Page (NEW)
- Kenny Omega (NEW)
- Eddie Kingston (5)
- Orange Cassidy (NEW)
- MJF (NEW)
- PAC (NEW)
5 to Keep an Eye on
- The Acclaimed
- Jungle Boy
- Red Velvet
- Kris Statlander
- Gunn Club
