-It was really nice to see AEW start this week’s Dynamite with Samoa Joe and Hook. Both men had a memorable main event match last week on the show and reminding the audience of that is smart, but not something that AEW regular has done. It set a good tone that the match last week was very important, Joe is important as champion, and everything else happens around that. Really good stuff.
Championship focus
-A good match between Adam Page and PENTA. It sounds lame, but my favorite part of this was the commentary throughout it. Everything was framed around the context of a win mattering as it pertained to Samoa Joe’s championship. Gave the match stakes and positioned Page as a reasonable contender after he won.
-Ha! How about that Orange Cassidy promo? Cassidy was tremendous and AEW should look to feature him more in a talking capacity. He stayed in character and sold the match. Sure, it was unorthodox — obviously — doesn’t mean it was bad though and this wasn’t. It’s moments like these that continue to make me think that Cassidy can be a world champion down the road.
-Yeah, so I’m in wait and see mode on this new Young Bucks gimmick. I very much like the notion that they are becoming a key part of the show. That’s wonderful and will be impactful. The meta, making fun of themselves being EVP’s? Not sold yet. Referencing on television that some stars in AEW are EVP’s hasn’t helped anything. Ever. No reason to think it will now and The Young Bucks habitually go too far with whatever gimmick they’re portraying. Tony Khan has to be ready to check them for this to work.
Kick em while down and out
-Nine minutes for Wardlow to beat Trent Beretta? Man, talk about kicking a new faction while it’s down. Not a good night for Wardlow and not a good night for Undisputed Kingdom either.
-Ok, I’m not trying to be overdramatic here, but the women’s segment this week between Deonna Purrazzo and Toni Storm was the best women’s promo segment in AEW history. Really excellent stuff from both women. Storm continues to take the bizarre “Timeless” gimmick, but run it in a way that focuses on winning matches in the ring. Purrazzo comes across as a credible threat and carried herself like a well-traveled champion out there. Calling out Storm and saying she didn’t buy the act was effective in positioning Purrazzo as a smart competitor and not a star playing along with gimmicky nonsense. Really good touch there and when these two clash it’s going to feel big.
-Nice to see Swerve Strickland get a win over Jeff Hardy, even it did take him 14 minutes to do it. Strickland still has tremendous upside and a lot of momentum. However, and call me crazy, it feels as if he’s cooled a bit. Could have been the small crowd this week, but the crowd reaction to him was more tempered than it’s been in months.
-Thunder Rosa secured a little win over Red Velvet this week. The match was what it was, but Rosa called out Toni Storm after the match. Like the men’s division, it’s good for the show to have the top women focused on the world title. Rosa’s small call out here did that effectively.
Sting, Darby, and the AEW World Tag Team Championship
-So, Darby Allin and Sting made the challenge to Ricky Starks and Big Bill for the AEW World Tag Team Championships and the match is set for two weeks time on Dynamite. I like this booking quite a bit. Allin and Sting are primed to take those titles and then put them on the line against The Young Bucks at Revolution in Sting’s final match. Allin and Sting holding the belts going into the PPV make for a more intriguing story for the match and the build. In this scenario, Sting can grab some gold on his way out, but do a job to top tier team as well. Smart and will be an entertaining watch throughout the next six weeks.
-Real quick on Darby Allin — that guy can talk. He cut a strong promo this week and has developed significantly in that area since joining AEW four years ago.
A dream match?
-Did anyone else expect a little more from the main event? I did. It was fine and it’s always fun seeing Minoru Suzuki take on a fresh opponent like Adam Copeland, but it was flat to me. The match had it’s moments of violence like any Suzuki match does, but that’s about it.