Welcome to another edition of Game Over Gimmicks AEW Dynamite review! All Elite Wrestling was in Columbus, Ohio this week. As originally an Ohioan, it was great to see the home state crowd show a lot of support.
All In is only three weeks away. This episode started molding the clay into what looks to be a masterpiece sculpture final card. AEW has dubbed All In as “The Biggest Event in Wrestling History.” That’s a huge moniker to live up to! How did they start the full build?
Let’s talk about it!
- Dynamite starting with a promo is awfully rare! This week started with the Jericho Appreciation Society mandatory meeting. It wasn’t so much of a meeting, but a therapy session. Every member walked out on Jericho, who looked like the saddest puppy dog. This was pretty good! It’s another interesting Sports Entertainment storyline with a bunch of possible outcomes.
- Directly following, Renee Paquette wanted to get a word with Jericho, but Don Callis arrived first. Next week will be the announcement of the possible Jericho and Callis family team-up. This feels too obvious. There’s a swerve coming somewhere.
The Hardys vs. Young Bucks
The first match of the evening was a generational brother tag team matchup between The Young Bucks and Hardys. These four have a lot of history, which played out in this match where both teams knew what the other was about to do. The Bucks had all the counters throughout, telling a nice story about knowing their idols. Them Jacksons know how to tell a story.
Of course, The Hardys had a massive comeback in them. Twists of Fates for days and a massive Swanton Bomb couldn’t put away The Bucks. Matt Jackson kicked Jeff Hardy as he went for the Whisper in the Wind one more time, which led to a BTE Trigger and the win for the Young Bucks. The Young Bucks just knew exactly what The Hardys would do. Good stuff!
3.25/5
Segments:
- FTR arrived after the match! They called out The Young Bucks last Saturday on Collision. The AEW Tag Team Championships are on the line at Wembley Stadium at All In. FTR vs. Young Bucks in front of 80 thousand people…oh boy!
- We got another Adam Cole and MJF vignette! The new besties went to a Trampoline park, which was such a random and hilarious idea. Max was not happy, however, until he heard that there was dodgeball. This was an absolute gold segment. I’m not proud of how hard I laughed at the slow-mos of each kid getting beaned with a dodgeball. It was hilarious, though.
- Blackpool Combat Club were then backstage, bragging about their Parking Lot win over the Best Friends and upcoming match against the Lucha Bros later. Claudio took credit for injuring PAC, which we know wasn’t the case, but it’s cool that AEW made it a kayfabe injury.
FTW Championship: Jack Perry vs. Rob Van Dam
Then us fans were treated to a wrestling legend showing that time and age do not matter. Rob Van Dam challenged newfound butthead Jack Perry for the FTW Championship in a great match. If it wasn’t for Jack being a good rap scallion, RVD would have won.
RVD is 52 years old. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he was hitting all the same moves from twenty years ago. He had the spin kicks, rolling thunder, and even hit a picture-perfect Five Star Frog Splash. Not to mention he hit a spinning leg drop with Jack draping over the outside barricade. There was no protecting himself on it either, Jack took it like a champ and RVD showed some impressive athleticism. Incredible!
But it was Jack’s night in the end. He escaped with the belt after referee Bryce Remsburg got knocked out, which allowed Jack enough time to recover and use a low blow and a chair shot to steal the victory from RVD. The match went to Jack Perry, but RVD dominated and showed that he’s still got it. Great stuff here!
3.75/5
Match of the Night
Segments:
- Renee was backstage with the Lucha Bros up next, who were looking for revenge with the BCC for their brother PAC. This was a cool promo, with the Lucha Bros speaking a lot more English than expected.
- AEW treated us to more MJF and Adam Cole bay bay! MJF hilariously teased a promo battle, but Adam Cole wanted to talk about the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships instead. Cole convinced Max to work double duty and challenge Aussie Open for the ROH Tag Championships on All In’s Zero Hour. Roddy Strong then interrupted to portray the worst jealous boyfriend ever, which then caused MJF to insult him. This angered Adam Cole, and they yelled at each other. This is sports entertainment drama at its finest and I cannot figure out what’s going to happen. Something big will come from this All In match. Please don’t break them up AEW!
Lucha Bros vs. Blackpool Combat Club
The next match of the evening was a continuation of the BCC being bullies against another AEW original tag team, The Lucha Bros. This was a hot match with all four guys beating the hell out of each other.
There’s not much to say here. It was a good match and everyone played their part well. Mox and Claudio used their beatdown style to overwhelm, which then led to the Lucha Bros making a flashy comeback through the air. Saying that makes it seem that the match was basic, but it really wasn’t. It was just a match that wasn’t a surprise at all; it was high-impact from all sides.
The Blackpool Combat Club won by being the bullies once again. Claudio stole Penta’s mask, which allowed Moxley to get the rollup victory. Mox getting a cheap victory like that is a little out of character, in all honesty. Maybe the match didn’t end as planned. Still a lot of fun!
3.25/5
Segments:
- Alex Marvez was backstage with Kenny Omega, trying to ask him about a possible match at Wembley. Omega said that next week there will be a sit-down interview with JR as Omega discusses what he plans to do for All In. All signs point to a huge match against Konosuke Takeshita.
- Swerve and the Mogul Embassy made another appearance this week. They wanted to explain themselves after their attack on Nick Wayne. Swerve made it seem like he wanted to rule the Seattle wrestling scene. Darby Allin then comes out to berate his long-time rival, but he wasn’t alone. Sting made a surprise return and then mimicked the dumb WWE pointing to Wrestlemania by pointing to the All In sign. Sting and Darby are set to take on Swerve and AR Fox at Wembley in a Coffin match.
AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Anna Jay
And finally, it was main event time! It was a welcome sight to see a woman’s match main eventing two weeks in a row, except it was a main event in name alone. They just were not given enough time to do anything amazing. Despite the time constraints, Hikaru Shida and Anna Jay had a fairly decent match to close out a fun Dynamite.
If there’s any one singular member of the Jericho Appreciation Society that has benefited the most, it’s Anna Jay. She’s way more fierce and aggressive in the ring, which fits her striking offense and the Queenslayer finisher. Being next to Jericho has seemingly given her the confidence and match time to elevate her game. She looked really good in this match. We got the kicks, Queenslayer choke, and she effectively used the stairs to amplify some attacks.
And Hikaru Shida is the champion for a reason. She’s arguably the best women’s talent on the roster. She looked great in a prime-time position for two weeks in a row. She won with the Katana knee strike to advance to Wembley Stadium as the champion in a 4-way match for the Women’s title.
2.75/5
OVERALL
And that was Dynamite for this week! What did you think of this week’s episode?!
I thought it was good, not great. The matches were good and the segments were great. It’s one of those story-driven episodes where the segments outshine the matches, even despite there being four matches this week. My preference for wrestling story is blending the matches with the story, but there’s truly nothing to complain about in this week’s edition of Dynamite.
Verdict: 4/5