Apologies for the delay on the AEW Dynamite column this week. Had a death in the family and was out of town for services most of the week.
-An interesting hook to start the show this week with Rush brawling with MJF before their world title match. First of all, that was one of Rush’s best promos ever. Now, that doesn’t mean it was good, because it was kinda, ehhh. It worked, though. Rush made you feel that this was the most important match of his life.
Importance without drama
-The MJF vs. Rush match itself was as good as could be expected. Look, the match was really solid, but there just wasn’t much drama regarding the finish. No matter what happened in the match, the near falls felt a bit performative. All of that said, I like that AEW has these kind of title matches on television. It reinforces that everyone is chasing the top title and that the other matches on the show matter in that chase.
-What the hell is this Lio Rush gimmick? Tony Khan must like it, otherwise there is no reason it would be on television at this point. He isn’t all that over with the audience, yet he keeps appearing. The match with Mark Briscoe this week was a comedy match. To that end, it was fine, but it was inconsistent with the tone of Briscoe’s promo after the match.
-Speaking of, hell yeah Mark Briscoe. That was a really good promo. Briscoe was serious, emotional, and believable. Briscoe vs. MJF has been a long-running feud in AEW, so it makes sense to run it back again with the world title on the line. The stuff with the devil and Briscoe’s “child of god” tattoo resonated in a strong way. Really well done.
-You know who else had a better than usual promo on this show? Andrade El Idolo. He didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything like that, but presented as an alpha star. His days with Don Callis are numbered, but more promos like this one will elevate him.
-Thekla. Damn. Spitting on the Stardom banner? Someone from Stardom is on the horizon for her at Forbidden Door and it’ll be a hot match because of Thekla’s work on the mic. I’ll say it again, her microphone work is top three in AEW right now.
Kevin Knight doesn’t need Don Callis
-Kevin Knight is in The Don Callis Family? Really? File this under the category of too many cooks. Knight got plenty of heat as a heel on his own last week. You put him with Callis if Callis can help him in some way — he can talk for him, help him get a negative reaction, etc. Knight doesn’t need any of that. Plus, Knight joined Callis so he could continue his quest to beat MJF for the world title. He said that. Umm, dude? A major storyline within The Don Callis Family right now is that Callis doesn’t want his guys going after MJF because of a business deal they have with them. Kevin Knight, how does this help you???
-Knight vs. Mike Bailey was fine, but didn’t have as much tension as a match between tag partners should. Bailey nearly killed himself on a move from the top rope. Glad he’s ok.
From The Takedown on SI
-There we go! With one segment, the AEW men’s tag team division felt more alive than it has in months. Last week The Dogs attacked Copeland and Cage, which seemingly setup a match between the two teams. It probably does, but they tossed a curveball into the mix with The Young Bucks this week. The Bucks, trying to defend the honor of Cope and Cage, confronted The Dogs and now there is a match there. I love this. First of all, babyfaces standing up for other babyfaces is a good thing. Second, The Bucks had a reasonable claim to a title match anyway and winning this match against The Dogs would solidify that. Plenty of reasons to do Dogs vs. Bucks instead of running to Cope/Cage vs. The Dogs right away. Smart booking.
She’s back
-Mercedes Mone is back in AEW. Her return helps the women’s division a lot and her Owen Hart tournament match this week against Alex Windsor was very good as expected. This has to be the start of a Mone vs. Thekla match at All In, right?
-Surprised we didn’t get a little more movement on the Tommaso Ciampa and Chris Jericho program this week. Ciampa cut a short little promo that was a fine mini chapter in the story. Jericho will need something significant to make this anything other than a small television feud.
Babyfaces?
-A very strong main event between Will Ospreay and Mark Davis. Plenty of wild outside involvement with The Don Callis Family and The Death Riders. Are the Death Riders babyfaces now? They sure seemed like it when they heroically saved Ospreay. This adds more fuel to the Death Rider and Ospreay storyline. This was an obvious win for Ospreay. He continues on to the tournament final and will be victorious there too.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
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