-It’s been a bit, but the Florida beaches called for a family vacation and I answered. Good to be back!!
-A strong open to Dynamite this week. The Mercedes Mone vs. Toni Storm All In program has been built up with comedy and neck breathing to this point, so it was nice to see it get back on track with a strong and physical heat angle for Mone. I think Mone is going to win the world championship at All In, so establishing her strong is a priority. Storm should fire back strong, though, and there is plenty of build time left for that to happen. This attack segment gave the feud a dose of seriousness that it needed.
EVP titles on the line
-The Young Bucks tossing Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay out to the ring for their tag match without warning was a cute way for them to flex their muscle. The big news of the segment was that it appears Bucks vs. Swerve/Ospreay is on for All In and that the EVP titles will be on the line. That’s a cool stipulation that gives an already fun tag match increased meaning and potential storyline impact.
-Kota Ibushi just isn’t a guy anymore. He’s more Shibata than Okada in AEW right now and likely will be forever. As long as he isn’t presented as something more than that, he can fill a spot on the AEW roster and flex up when a big nostalgia match like the one with Okada at Dynamite 300 is needed. All that said, this match with Trent Beretta was the best Ibushi has looked in a long, long time.
-Jon Moxley promos get more meandering by the day. I love the Mox promo style still, but he used to actually say stuff during them. He says a lot of nothing these days and this week’s wasn’t much different.
JetSlowed
-JetSpeed gets a tag team victory so they can head to All In and challenge Hurt Syndicate for the tag titles. That’s all the match was and JetSpeed is going to get JetSlowed by Hurt Syndicate at the PPV.
-Hurt Syndicate are firmly heels now. That’s good because they needed clear definition. Not sure I get why you’d turn them heel when they were over as babyfaces, but such is life. Better that they are defined one way or an another instead of just floating around.
The pickle
-Well, Mark Briscoe and the Kosher Pickle promo is Briscoe’s best microphone work yet in AEW. There is a match between Briscoe and MJF — potentially a long feud — if AEW wants it. The duo seemed to have good chemistry together. More than likely, this little interaction was just to push a feud in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In. Both MJF and Briscoe will be in it with Briscoe entering one because of his win this week.
-Kris Statlander gets help from Marina Shafir and earns the number one spot in the Casino Gauntlet? I smell a tease here. Statlander aligning with Shafir is so choreographed at this point that the more sensible move is to predict Statlander staying babyface and challenging Shafir.
-A solid main event this week between Adam Page and The Beast Mortos. Good action and a strong win for Page. The heat angle with Page and The Death Riders at the end certainly wasn’t fresh, but it’s important to showcase Page as the ultimate underdog compared to Moxley. They need the audience feeling like Page only has a slim chance to win the big one and these heat segments help that effort. It isn’t fun work, but the payoff at All In with a Page title win will make it all worth it.
What did you think of AEW Dynamite this week? Let us know in the comments!
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