-A bit of a rare opening segment this week on Dynamite. It certainly worked, though. Good to see Joe show some emotion about being punked out by Adam Page and Tony Schiavone last week and try for some revenge this week. Good to see Page ready for it. Logic! The Samoa Joe vs. Adam Page feud is still cold because the majority of AEW fans simply don’t buy Joe as a heel, but this was a “check the box” step in trying to get more people to care.
Thumbs up to Blood and Guts Advantage Series
-A nice match between Orange Cassidy and Claudio Castagnoli and a nice concept with the Blood and Guts Advantage Series. Blood and Guts this year doesn’t have a sizzling story behind it, but these matches have a a reason to exist and give a canvas to paint some additional storyline nuggets on between teams ahead of next week.
-I’m surprised we are getting another Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe match for the TNT Championship this soon. They’ve wrestled a lot this year and with the stipulation on their next match being that Briscoe joins The Don Callis Family if he loses, it foreshadows the finish for Briscoe more than AEW should want. The positive? When Fletcher loses that TNT Championship, he’ll be lined up a nicely for a world title program with Page.
-Upset alert! Anyone else surprised to see Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale defeat Athena and Mercedes Mone? How could you not be? With Sisters of Sin winning last week and Cameron and Nightingale getting the W this week, there is a concentrated effort by Tony Khan to get over actual tag teams and not singles stars thrown together. It’s smart booking if he wants the division to stand up on it’s own.
-The Young Bucks aren’t going to join The Don Callis Family, right? They are all over the place. Just all over the place right now. Heels that are kind of acting like babyfaces as they get recruited by Callis. It’s just a mess and The Bucks have never meant less in AEW than they do right now.
Another damn championship?
-The AEW National Championship? Another damn championship title? This is a total Zack Heydorn troll job at this point. Sorry, folks.
-A solid Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia match. Good television and a strong win for Allin. With Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland out of action due to injury, Darby is a top guy right next to Adam Page.
-At least FTR got some heel heat out there — pretty much all thanks to Bandido’s grandmother. That’s a weird sentence. It was goofy stuff, but they got booed and not enough heels do in AEW right now.
-Like the men’s Blood and Guts match, the women’s bout — while important to have — really has no reason to exist. It’s disappointing that the company couldn’t get a strong story built to make the match matter and worthy of the violence we’re sure to see. It’ll feel like a stunt show more than it will a battle with stakes and meaning.
Credibility for Samoa Joe
-After being egged on by Hook in the opening segment to put the AEW World Trios Championships on the line in the main event, thank goodness The Opps didn’t lose them. Joe needs all the heel credibility that he can get at this point, so getting him a victory, even if it wasn’t him doing the winning at the end, was important.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
