Less than two weeks away from what’s shaping up to be their biggest show yet, All Elite Wrestling is firing on all cylinders. Dynamite has been hitting gears only reserved for that AEW engine. No other Wrestling company has the horsepower to hit the speed and power of these shows. This episode proved that as well. It was jam packed and loaded with chaos. My head was spinning as the show flew by me like a drag race.
Let’s talk about it!
Segment:
Back-to-back weeks with a segment to start Dynamite. I still love starting hot with a match, but awesome segments like this make me happy too. Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia both came out to discuss Daniel’s behavior after his match with Bryan Danielson last week.
The “You’re a wrestler” chants were back this week, which have added a fantastic part to this feud. The voice of the people wants Daniel Garcia to embrace the Wrestler inside him versus the Sports Entertainer. We want Garcia in the Blackpool Combat Club and not the Jericho Appreciation Society. Daniel Garcia was conflicted because he wrestled his hero last week, but his mentor has helped him tremendously. Danielson eventually came out to add the fuel to the fire, which only confused Garcia more. Jericho pushed Garcia too far, causing Garcia to push back. This was a great segment as Garcia left in shame.
This left Danielson and Jericho in the ring together, which sets up their match at All Out. I guess it’s a match for custody of Daniel Garcia?
Dax Harwood vs. Jay Lethal
I wasn’t expecting our first match of the night to be Dax Harwood facing off against Jay Lethal, but this was good. This was a solid match between a tag team specialist taking on a former multiple-time Ring of Honor champion. The whole match revolved around Dax belonging with the decorated champ until Lethal targeted Dax’s knee. There was a lot of great wrestling here. Dax hits fantastic German Suplexes and I’m always a fan of the Figure Four, which Lethal deploys like the Ric Flair wannabe he tries to be.
The pace quickened as Sonjay Dutt tried to distract Dax into a stolen victory for Lethal, but Dax has seen that trick too many times. Both guys countered each other with constant near falls, which eventually led to Lethal getting the better of Dax and stealing a pinfall by pulling the trunks like the dastard heel he is. Has anyone ever asked why pulling at someone’s trunks creates more leverage? Or is the person so embarrassed at their booty on display they lose from embarrassment?
That’s why you come here to Game Over Gimmicks. I ask the important questions. Good match to start Dynamite!
3.5/5
We got a confirmation of a Trios match at All Out involving Wardlow and FTR right after, but Lethal has other friends apparently! Lethal isn’t teaming with Sanjay and Satnam…he’s teaming with the MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS!!! That’s a huge deal. One of my favorite tag teams in the world.
- Schiavone backstage with Thunder Rosa, who is stepping aside from being champion due to injury. She seemed to be on the verge of tears! There’s now going to be a 4-way match at All Out to crown the “Interim” Women’s World Champion. Seemingly giving that result away? One has to assume Interim Toni Storm facing off against Thunder Rosa in the future. Not a huge fan of AEW going right back to the interim well, regardless of the backstage situation (if you believe the rumors).
Billy Gunn vs. Colten Gunn
Up next was a match that was truly unnecessary, but I understand what AEW was doing and why. Colten and Billy Gunn had an interesting match that was over before it truly started. The “Who’s your Daddy” chants from the crowd made me laugh more than I should have. The lone interesting part was the nice character work from Billy Gunn. The elder Gunn, despite his sons turning on him, was reluctant to continuously beat up Colten.
This allowed Colten, Austin, and Stokely Hathaway to take advantage and used the Acclaimed’s boombox to hit the popular duo with it. Colten low blows his Dad and hits a Colt 45 to win the match. Cool. Stokely and the Gunns have a working partnership now, but Swerve in Our Glory came to the ring to help the Acclaimed, seemingly setting up a match at All Out.
2.5/5
- Backstage confrontation with Death Triangle vs. United Empire. I was already hyped for this match. Did not need this!
Dr. Britt Baker vs. KiLynn King
When the card came out for this episode of Dynamite, I was very happy to see KiLynn King get another shot at an AEW Women’s division stalwart. Unfortunately, King didn’t get much chance. I liked the match we got, but there should have been more of it. King has proven herself to be a quality opponent. I feel like she got done a little dirty here. AEW easily could have removed the Gunn Club Daddy issues match and given a few more minutes here.
Britt played the Cleveland/Pittsburgh rivalry really well in this match. It added to the energy here as the Cleveland crowd chanted “Pittsburgh Sucks,” at the good doctor and refused to chant her DMD. As I’m from Northeast Ohio, I’m inclined to agree with my hometown faithful! King did her best to string together some offense, but the obvious inevitable happened. Baker locked in the LockJaw for the victory.
3/5
- Backstage interview with Swerve in our Glory and The Acclaimed. The match is set for All Out. I feel like we could have just seen this without the match earlier.
Title Unification match: CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
Everything about this title storyline is weird. Announcing the unification match for a week and a half before All Out, the rumors of backstage heat towards CM Punk, and then not making this the main event was the cherry on top. I could not believe my eyes as Moxley and Punk came out to start the second hour! But if it was AEW’s intention to make a statement, they succeeded a hundred times over. All Elite Wrestling knows how to use the squash match effectively. I haven’t been this stunned by a match result since Brodie Lee destroyed Cody Rhodes for the TNT Title. RIP Big Rig.
The story here was CM Punk was not ready to come back and face the wrestler of the year, Jon Moxley. The surgery on Punk’s foot was only two months ago, and Punk has clearly not healed. Punk kicked Moxley’s head and immediately grabbed the injured foot….
Or did he?
I caught this on rewatch, but CM Punk kicked Moxley with his right foot and grabbed his opposite foot. Something is definitely…afoot here. Commentary tried to play it up that Punk injured his plant foot on the kick, but I’m still not sold. The All Out in Chicago rematch might be on, which means something dastardly could be coming from everyone’s beloved CM Punk. Jon Moxley proceeded to hit two Death Riders for the squash victory. This was phenomenal.
4/5
Segments:
- Christian Cage was backstage with Schiavone. Run-of-the-mill intense promo here. The match at All Out is official.
- Ricky Starks came down to the ring to cut an amazing promo up next. He’s at his wit’s end dealing with ten people all at once. He challenged Hobbs at All Out because Hobbs made it personal. Hobbs knew Starks’s neck surgery’s difficulty and used it as a target. Great stuff here! Starks could sell me a bag of dog crap.
- Our new undisputed Champion was backstage next. Moxley knows how to cut one hell of an intense promo. He doesn’t care who’s next for All Out. They’re going down to the Wrestler of the Year!
Trios Tournament: Death Triangle vs. United Empire
Our main event of the evening was the perfect example of AEW’s need for Trios titles. The fans got to witness a PPV-caliber match on free television, which is something that will happen routinely with a division and titles. This matched RULED for thirty minutes. Getting to see how special Will Ospreay is on national television was my main enjoyment of this match. He killed it, as he is one to do. The match possibly went a little too long, but I loved the twists and turns it took on its way to Match of the Night. It’s a match to go out of your way to check out, despite the dragged-out middle section.
The story of this match solely revolved around the amazingness of Will Ospreay. The commentary team put him over hard as he did things I’ve seen him do fifty times. He and Aussie Open controlled a good portion of the match, except when Death Triangle would flurry some offense together in spurts. This match was LONG and would be pointless to recap moves because there were so many. It was even at the beginning, United Empire dominated for a while, and then the pace picked up in a frantic elevation to the finish, which was amazing.
Both teams hit move after move after move, each becoming more insane after another. I still don’t understand how PAC seamlessly reversed the Stormbreaker into a Hurricanrana without decapitating Ospreay. The craziness didn’t stop there, as PAC moonsaulted onto the floor right in front of Kip Sabian. Or what we were led to believe was Kip Sabian. The winner of the first ever AEW singles match (remember that?) blindsided PAC, which allowed Ospreay and Aussie Open to finish Fenix and pick up the victory.
Fantastic match. Definitely, my match of the night, albeit I still think it was too long. There was a lot of Aussie Open domination that could have been cut down.
4.5/5
Match of the Night
But we weren’t done! Kenny Omega and the Bucks come out to confront Ospreay, which is a match I CAN NOT WAIT for.
OVERALL
All Out is only eight days away, at time of writing, and we’re getting amazing Dynamites week in and week out in the lead up. The Labor Day PPV has a chance to be the best thing AEW has ever done, which is something I say every single show. I have no idea how Tony Khan keeps raising the ceiling and still smashing through it. This week’s episode of Dynamite was WILD and I had a blast from start to finish. My lone complaints keeping this from perfection were the length of the main event, Gunn Club weird match, and both of those taking from Kilynn King and Britt Baker. Or even adding a segment with Jade on it or something. Small minor complaints, but complaints nonetheless.
VERDICT: 4.5/5