-I’m so happy that the Will Ospreay return match this week on AEW Dynamite against Blake Christian wasn’t great. The best thing about it was that it was just ok. It was solid. If this is a new formula for how to use Will Ospreay, it’s beautiful. Ospreay and Blake Christian had a totally fine match together. I’d have given Christian a little less offense, but Ospreay was the clear guy. He was better and they showcased that. They didn’t have a competitive match just because. With Ospreay back in the fold, his singles matches are the biggest draw that the company has. They have to make fans pay for those, which means it’s PPV and huge matches only for the full “Ospreay Effect.”
Ospreay vs. Death Riders
-Regarding the specific Ospreay return storyline, PAC is a strong stop on the road to Jon Moxley. That’s clearly the match, but there’s equity and lots of content in Ospreay taking out everyone else in The Death Riders along the way.
-As for Moxley, his Death Riders got a maintenance win this week. Nothing wrong with that. Are they babyfaces or heels? Heels now, right? Babyfaces on Sunday, heels this week? Got it. Can we iron this out?
-Let’s talk about the Coffin Match between Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd. Bad. The pre-taped car accident outside the building to start the match was fine in theory. In practice, it just made the crowd ice cold. By the time Allin and Kidd got into the arena, the audience seemed bored. Plus, the car accident was overly produced and staged. So much so, that it looked as fake and pre-planned as it was. The crowd laughing as Kidd fell out of the trunk of the car after the accident is all you need to know. Nobody bought this.
From The Takedown on SI
-A strong promo by Swerve Strickland in the middle of the ring. He answered Kenny Omega’s challenge from earlier in the show, but with an enormous caveat. Strickland will put up his world championship number one contendership up if Omega puts up his EVP status. Ok …. pause. AEW has talked a lot about the EVP title, but they haven’t defined what exactly it means. Omega doesn’t come across as better off than others in the company without that title. I like the idea of Strickland wanting power in AEW, but as a company, you have to do the work to get there. If the goal is to make the EVP status matter, show why it does. Strickland vs. Omega 2 is a must-see match, but is watered down by the lack of definition around the stakes.
-Ok, the Jack Perry riding the bus to the arena with Luchasaurus video. I can’t unsee that now, but I’d like to. Awful. Perry continues to not have a good handle on what the wrestling business is actually about.
Hello Mike Bailey
-Don’t look now, but Mike Bailey is getting television time and wins. Bailey has had true babyface promos the last two weeks and got a singles victory in a good match this week against Mark Davis. He talked about being the AEW World Heavyweight Champion this week. I don’t see that, but he’s clearly a guy that Tony Khan feels like he can use a lot with successful results.
-Why is Mina Shirakawa beating Marina Shafir? It’s mind-boggling. Khan and AEW have spent plenty of resources in getting Shafir some momentum. Now, she has it and Ronda Rousey is with her and she loses to a glorified jobber in Shirakawa. Nothing against Shirakawa, but Shafir has a significantly higher ceiling at this point.
-If you like Young Bucks matches still, you loved the main event of the show. A classic Young Bucks style tag match in every way. Yawn.
-Now, for as yawn as their match was, they cut one of their better promos after it. They weren’t meta or inside baseball, they talked like babyface pro wrestlers that an audience could get behind. They set themselves on a journey and now the crowd can travel with them.
Tag team spotlight
-The little confrontation between The Bucks and the Adam Copeland and Christian Cage team was fun. That’s a match you could run at All In. Good to see the tag team division get a spotlight.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
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