Dynamite: The Alpha and OMEGA of Wrestling is BACK

This week’s episode of All Elite Wrestling Dynamite felt like a Pay Per View. The buzz around this week’s episode was palpable as everyone waited for the answer to one question: Who’s the Young Bucks partner? Between that, CM Punk and Moxley getting face to face last week, and Bryan Danielson squaring off with Daniel Garcia in a 2 out of 3 falls match, the fans knew they were in for something special.

And special was what we got. This week’s episode hit a gear that only one weekly wrestling show can hit.

Let’s talk about it!


Segments:

  • The show starts as CM Punk comes down to the ring. A promo segment starting Dynamite has been a recent rarity, which makes this a fresh change up. Punk was sorely missed as he was in rare form in this promo. He called out Hangman, Moxley, and Eddie Kingston. He had big one-liners for all of them. He called Hangman “Coward Shit,” Moxley the “Third best guy in his own group,” and Kingston the “Third best Eddie I’ve shared a ring with.” We even got a Shield and John Cena reference. Moxley came down to the ring and they brawled like two drunk dudes fighting over a spilled pitcher. It took ten minutes to sell me on their fight at All Out. Cannot wait!
  • Quick Powerhouse Hobbs interview following that, as he finally explained why he attacked Ricky Starks. He was sick and tired of Ricky hiding behind Hobbs to keep the FTW title, but Ricky admitting he was okay with losing was the last straw. Hobbs came off like a shining star in a minute-long promo. He’s fantastic.

Best 2 of 3 Falls: Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia

Photo Credit: AEW

There are some wrestlers who just have ‘IT.’ They have incredible talent inside the squared circle and can cut a promo, but some wrestlers have an indescribable connection with the audience that puts them into a special category of talent. They understand the wrestling world so much that they can elicit the perfect reaction from the audience whenever they want. Chris Jericho is the model of it, Bryan Danielson also has it, it’s what makes CM Punk generational, and Wheeler Yuta has recently shown an ability to tap into it.

Daniel Garcia has IT too. He showcased it in this awesome match. I loved this two out of three falls match, which easily won the match of the night for me. It was technical, the story was great, and they teased all sorts of future possibilities.

The story revolved around Garcia beating Danielson before, which played out again as Garcia won the first fall. He targeted Bryan’s head again and ultimately won using a Piledriver and the Dragon Sleeper. But this match was only getting started, despite Danielson looking a little rough! (Garcia up 1-0)

Garcia ultimately got too greedy with the Dragon Sleeper. Danielson was able to sneak a pinfall by reversing Garcia into a surprise capture. This was cool! I really enjoyed Danielson using his brain to steal one (Tied 1-1). This match came down to the inevitable final fall!

This was incredible. Both guys fought like hell to beat each other. Garcia kept trying everything to beat the veteran, but he just couldn’t put Danielson away. Eventually, Danielson’s longevity won out as The American Dragon finished the match with the Labelle Lock (Danielson 2-1).

4.5/5

Match of the Night

After the match, Danielson gave Garcia a standing ovation and offered him a handshake, but Jericho interrupted it by blindsiding Danielson. Garcia stopped Jericho, which caused the crowd to chant “You’re a wrestler” at him. I LOVED THIS.

Segments:

  • Swerve in Our Glory backstage with Private Party following that match. Keith and Swerve do not look concerned about the young team and their challenge coming up on Rampage.
  • This next segment was wild, as Tony Nese came down to the ring for a match, but Jon Moxley came out of nowhere to take him out. Moxley wasn’t finished with Punk, so they continued the earlier brawl! This one was different because Moxley’s Blackpool Combat Club members separated them. Claudio Castagnoli has another career as a bouncer waiting for him. He picked Moxley up like a mother scolding a child.
  • Jericho and goons were backstage up next, but they were interrupted by a wrestling legend. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat confronts Jericho and tells him to leave Garcia alone. I couldn’t believe it when Steamboat punched Angelo Parker! That was great.

Even more segments…

  • Up next was a match that wasn’t a match. This was a full Gunn Club squashing of the Varsity Blonds! I was very surprised by this, but I enjoyed it. I feel like I’m the only person who enjoys the Gunn Club! I also enjoyed what happened after the match, as Stokely Hathaway came down to the ring as Billy Gunn was finally proud of his sons. The Gunn Club turning on their Dad wasn’t what I expected for this evening, but the Acclaimed came down for the save and we got the reunion everyone has been clamoring for. SCISSOR ME DADDY ASS! I’m a child, I know.
  • Jungle Boy came to the ring to address Christian Cage ducking him. He challenged Cage to a match at All Out, to which the veteran promptly says “No”. Cage comes down to the ring, which causes a huge brawl. These two feel like they want to kill each other. This feud shouldn’t get a normal match. Even with the weird stuff with Luchasaurus, this is still one of my favorite feuds in AEW.

Toni Storm vs. KiLynn King

Photo Credit: AEW

Up next was a match between a returning and underrated KiLynn King taking on Number #1 ranked Toni Storm. I’m incredibly happy to see KiLynn King back in AEW because she’s a talent that needs to be signed. And she demonstrated exactly why during this match with Toni Storm. King was strong, athletic, and looked great in her returning bout. Her height poses a difficult task for any established woman in AEW. Give me that ‘All Elite’ Graphic!

The majority of the match was actually controlled by King. She looked good in control of the number one contender. Toni Storm eventually evened the odds by reversing a back suplex into an avalanche cross body. This led to her awesome Hip Attack and a sweet Pendulum DDT for the victory. I enjoyed this match. Simple and to the point. Good stuff.

3/5

Young Bucks/??? vs Andrade el Idolo/Rush/Dragon Lee

Photo Credit: AEW

Everyone knew who the Young Bucks partner was, but there was still a small doubt in my mind. It wasn’t until Justin Roberts started reading that I knew for sure. It was Kenny ‘BY GOD’ Omega! I was so happy to see the Cleaner back! Something I wasn’t expecting, however, was this match (and the next ones surely) story completely revolving around Kenny Omega himself. The match was really good, but the story has my creative juices speculating all over the place.

The match was always going to be good from an inside-the-ring, physicality standpoint, but the story really took this one over the top. Everything about the story revolved around Kenny’s health not being 100%. Don Calllis rambled off like five or six surgeries Kenne needed, which obviously would have been difficult to recover from in nine months. Kenny didn’t look like his normal self either. He missed the “You Can’t Escape,” hobbled around on a ‘bone to bone’ knee, and kept grabbing at his stomach like his repaired hernia was acting up. This was exacerbated by La Faccion Ingobernable attacking Kenny from every angle.

Dragon Lee was great in this match too. The entirety of La Faccion really, but Dragon Lee got beat up constantly and hit an absolutely insane Tope Suicida that landed him into the first row. He’s one of my favorite luchadors because of the insanity that he brings to the table.

Omega eventually got the hot tag, which brought out vintage Omega with Dragon suplexes. La Faccion almost stole the pinfall after an Andrade Hammerlock DDT, but The Elite prevailed after Omega mustered enough strength to hit a V-Trigger and One Winged Angel for the victory. The Elite prevail!

4.25/5

I cannot stop thinking about Omega after that fight. Will him being banged up cause the Elite to lose? I assume United Empire beats Death Triangle to set up an Ospreay and Omega face-off. Ospreay is a massive butthead, but he’s one of New Japan’s best talents. He’ll take advantage of Omega’s weaknesses. I cannot wait to see what happens!


OVERALL

That episode of Dynamite was outright amazing. Everything about it checked all of my boxes on what I want to see on a weekly episode of wrestling television. My lone complaint was only getting a small snippet of women’s stories. That’s it! I love The Acclaimed and Gunns story, but that could have gone on Rampage to give me something Jade related or some more back and forth between Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa.

Bottom line though, this episode ruled.

Verdict: 4.75/5

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Game Over Reviews