-Bobby Lashley vs. Ricochet as a strong opener. A really good match. It didn’t feel like they were fighting over much, though. A good entry position in a match for a title that nobody really knows or cares about? This is the problem with having too many championships on your show and the addition of the AEW National Championship adds to an already overpopulated title picture in AEW. A good match that pretty much happened without consequence or context behind it.
Keep it quiet, Joe
-Samoa Joe is so much better when he doesn’t yell during promos. Joe was excellent talking for Shibata and found the mix of dangerous, serious, and a little maniacal.
-This little deal between The Young Bucks and Don Callis continues to get an eye roll from me. First off, the build to their million dollar match at Full Gear was pretty much sacrificed to focus on this will they or won’t they with Callis and The Bucks. Nobody cares. It doesn’t look like The Bucks are actually going to side with Callis, so there isn’t any real heat around what’s going on. Look for The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega to get on the same page at Full Gear. That noise you hear will be a collective yawn from the crowd and those watching at home.
From The Takedown on SI
-Too much silliness from Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale. Both of those women have likable personalities. They don’t need to turn the volume up to 15 on those just because. Fans connect with them and that’s enough. Even with the silliness, this is my pick to click for first-time AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Uh oh
-Not a great finish to Mike Bailey vs. Shelton Benjamin. They messed up the pin attempt and essentially just did a second spot — that was weaker — in order to get to the end. An odd bad day at the office for two total pros who rarely even breathe funny in the ring.
-Jon Moxley needs to break with The Death Riders, but if he does at Full Gear this weekend after losing to Kyle O’Reilly, it’ll fall flat and come across as incredibly weak. In what world does Kyle O’Reilly get a win over Moxley? This is the wrong match and and example of how this Death Rider story with Moxley is on fumes.
-Both women’s tag team championship tournament matches were predictable this week. Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa advanced over Riho and Alex Windsor. Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir advanced over TayJay. Nothing exciting there, but Storm/Mina vs. Bayne/Shafir match should be a banger.
Welcome Marina Shafir
-Real quick on Marina Shafir. She’s got a helluva finishing submission. More of that and she’s going to be a very over heel for babyfaces to work with.
-AEW left some money on the table by not having a distinct angle to further Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe before the PPV. Same thing with the Brodido vs. FTR match. Those are both two of the most interesting matches on the show and neither got much time to grow this week outside of a pre-recorded backstage promo. A miss.
-Adam Page vs. Katsuyori Shibata was fine for what it was. Joe was hilarious on commentary, but didn’t say anything to truly make people hate him going into Full Gear. Page had a nice one-liner to Joe about his commentary days in WWE, but ultimately Page was pretty flat in his final verbal joust with Joe. Delivery was fine, but it’s nearly impossible to feel anything with this when the outcome is so certain.
-Okada vs. Mascara Dorada was fun enough. Thats kind of all it was, though. Fit well on a three hour show like this.
More for Mone
-A fun main event with Mercedes Mone and Red Velvet. Mone won another championship. Can you believe it!? It’s at the point now where I’m more interested the more titles she secures. The end game of this thing is pretty damn compelling. AEW had to go all the way to get there with it and they did.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
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Follow Zack Heydorn on Bluesky @zackheydorn.bsky.social
I agree that sometimes Willow Nightingale gets a little cringe and corney. But I'm also partial to Heels!