-This week’s chapter of Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay was a bit of a bust. Ospreay’s initial promo was fine and he came across wonderfully when talking about his grandfather, but then the train went off the track. Here’s what I don’t get — why did Ospreay rundown Omega for not being at Dynamite last week? It felt a lot like Roman Reigns berating Brock Lesnar for being a part-time world champion. That’s not Omega. Fans don’t think of him in that way. Also, what was with the way Omega addressed Ospreay? It was as if he was worried about his opponent, despite the fact that Ospreay has been on a bit of a roll. He beat Mark Davis last week and sure, was getting smoked by the Don Callis gang this week, but Omega’s words didn’t match up with the Ospreay story we’ve seen for the last couple months. Omega and Ospreay have history and the world title. That’s enough. The more they talk about that, the more entertaining and effective they’ll be in hyping up their match at All In.
-Is Nick Wayne ok? Goodness. MJF jacked him up with a forearm shot as a means to counter a Wayne top rope maneuver. Their triple threat with Mike Bailey was full of fun action, but MJF was the obvious winner all the way through. Tough for a match to really cook with gas when that happens.
-The “real world champion” bit with MJF isn’t landing at the moment. Why? Well, he hasn’t done a very good job of articulating just what the hell it means. MJF lost the world title in front of the world. Period. This isn’t a wronged champion or someone who lost the title unethically. To do the “real world champion” thing, there has to be a viable argument that the title is around the waist of an undeserving or fake champion. That’s not the case here with MJF at the moment.
-AEW ran a handful of pre-recorded promo videos throughout the show for various mini feuds. Jay White, David Finlay, and Divine Dominion all got some time to talk. These were short, but worked to put a little extra juice on their feuds.
-Real quick regarding Divine Dominion. They’re great and incredibly believable in how they present. The Wembley Stadium audience is going to be hot for their All In match against Brawling Birds.
-Good to see Jay White get a strong win over David Finlay in the Continental Cup Challenge tournament. White continues to be an underused talent on the roster. Since joining AEW he’s obviously lost a significant amount of momentum, but in watching him wrestle, it reminds you of how good he is and how close he is to finding his old groove again.
-Ok, so why is Swerve Strickland mixed up with this Adam Page and Brodido trios championship stuff? It was fun seeing Strickland again, but he didn’t really have a place in the segment he was in. What’s the endgame? A huge match with Page, Brodido, and Strickland against The Demand? Potentially. Either way, Strickland feels forced into this.
-Speaking of Strickland, he, Page, and MJF are without significant matches at All In this year. Odd. I’m not arguing whether that’s the right or wrong call, but it’s certainly notable.
-Traditional heat angle alert! Mercedes Mone obliterated Willow Nightingale during her interview with Renee Paquette. I loved this. Straight up heat on Mone and she looked vicious during it. Thumbs up.
-Ohhhhhhh dear … Chris Jericho is going to want a mulligan on the match this week with Kevin Knight for the TNT Championship. Holy smokes. The entire match felt disconnected and sloppy. Near the end when Don Callis got involved with his trusty screwdriver, it fell off the rails completely. There is a spot in the match, where Jericho obviously walks over toward the ring ropes while Knight was in his Walls of Jericho submission, so that Callis could hit him with the screwdriver. Yikes. The camera caught all of it. Look, this can’t happen. Knight won, blah blah blah and that’s great, but this was awful and not only a low point on the show, but a low point for Jericho in AEW. That’s saying something.
-It was the Maya World show this week. She was fantastic in the women’s division tag team match with Thunder Rosa on her side against Hikaru Shida and Persephone. The match was designed to make her look good and she nailed it. World hit memorable moves and power-based moves, which hooked the audience. World won the TBS Championship as an underdog. I like the slow pivot to her being a more confident champion and matches like this help that narrative.
-Jon Moxley vs. Jack Perry in the main event was excellent. The match of the night for sure. There are times while watching Perry work when I think to myself that the dude just doesn’t get what’s going on out there in the ring. He doesn’t have strong pro wrestling instincts. HOWEVER. He can work this type of match very well. Perry as a fighting underdog is his bread and butter. When he wants to, he can sell and really generate babyface sympathy. Working that match opposite Moxley gave Perry a ruthless opponent to work off of. They were able to find a competitive match that was rooted in the idea that Perry wouldn’t give up. Moxley advancing? Pretty obvious. Tony Khan needs him on the All In PPV, so I wouldn’t bet against him getting through the Continental Cup Classic tournament.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments! My letter grade? C.
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