-It was nice to see AEW lead Dynamite with all the MJF stuff that transpired last week. MJF turning back heel is a major moment for AEW as a company and focusing on that right away reinforced that reality for fans — especially those that might have missed MJF’s promo on Collision.
Good enough
-Will Ospreay was good on the mic, right? Good enough. The promo wasn’t bombastic, but it was authentic and that continues to be the best trait of Ospreay on the microphone.
-Is MJF boring? It kinda seems like it. MJF cut an MJF promo this week and he’ll always grade out at a B. — minimum. We need more range. He’s the same heel as before and it’s just not as interesting as it was “back in the day.” He’s strong enough to do it and Ospreay is the babyface to do it against. MJF just has to decide that he wants to.
-If you were on the fence as to whether or not television ratings matter, they do. AEW hot-shotting a MJF vs. Will Ospreay match only happens because they matter. I can sympathize with Khan feeling like he has to pull out all the stops to get the TV deal bag from WBD. It doesn’t make the product good, though, and next week is way too early for this match to go down — especially with a huge PPV looming. I don’t expect a finish in this and they’ll wrestle at All In, but you can only do the first match once and this isn’t the right time for it.
All in on Bryan Danielson
-Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Page was excellent as expected. It wasn’t as good as their previous encounters, but was more than worthy of being the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final. Page and Danielson both could have won this, but after watching Danielson get the W it’s clear that he’s the guy to go with. Danielson hasn’t been in nearly enough championship main events and now he gets to do it on the biggest stage against a top talent like Swerve Strickland. This is the right call by Tony Khan and the right main event for All In.
-The downside of Danielson winning was Page had to lose. This moves him down the card a little and he’s back in a story with The Elite now. Look, it can work, but I’m skeptical. Page is the ultimate serious character right now. How does that fit in with what The Young Bucks are doing each week? It’s likely that we’ll see The Elite get Page back on winning track and to an eventual showdown with Swerve down the road.
10 pounds of “you know what” in a five pound bag
-Swerve Strickland lost the point his promo about halfway through it. He tried to navigate Danielson, Blood and Guts, and Okada together and it just didn’t land. As for Swerve vs. Okada, see the bullet point above about Ospreay vs. MJF. Same analysis applies.
-I’m over raps by The Acclaimed. Are you?
-Do better than a paper wall, AEW! Look, Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe wasn’t a great match by any means and yes, they have to try and make the wall look better if you are going to drive Joe through it with a fork lift. All that said, a maniacal Jericho character in the vein of The Learning Tree is better than comedy Jericho in that same character. It’s not main event, but it has more range and that’s important.
-PAC put a lot on the line after he won the fatal four-way to earn a shot at the International Championship. He’s losing to either Ospreay or MJF.
-What the hell is going on with the Blood and Guts match? There is no reason for this match to happen at this point. Team AEW vs. Team Elite? Why? The entire story has been dropped on television and they are going with the match anyway. AEW had a good reason to do Blood and Guts and add stakes into a major gimmick match of theirs. Abandoning it here is a giant miss.
-Mercedes Mone calling herself “the best there is, was, and every will be” solidifies herself as a heel. It’s official and thank goodness. Baker is a strong babyface to put opposite her too. Thumbs up.
An all-time angle
-A good main event match between Mariah May and Willow Nightingale to crown May as the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament champion, but a better post-match angle. May didn’t tease being Toni Storm’s friend after the win, she just won and then beat her to a pulp. She got what she wanted out of the relationship and then booted Storm to the curb. This was a great angle. May changed up her demeanor, body language, and facial expressions in a way that met the moment. Storm turned on the selling and really made the May attack look good. An all-time angle for not just the women’s division in AEW, but in AEW across the board.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
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