The post-WrestleDream episode of Dynamite lowered the volume, giving fans and wrestlers the opportunity to take a collective deep breath to relax and take a low key approach this week. My guess, while this week is officially the anniversary of the debut Dynamite episode back in October of 2019, the filler episode paves the way for next week’s much anticipated “Title Tuesday” edition of Dynamite to be a big one. Next week will have a stacked card.
The show opens with Rey Fenix successfully defending the AEW International Championship against Nick Jackson. Fun opener which started off slowly, playing up the injuries sustained at WrestleDream. However, I believe Fenix has been wrestling hurt for a couple weeks, and I imagine next week he may be dropping the championship back to Mox.
The pace gradually picked up, more risky moves led to some impressive offense, ultimately with Fenix countering a roll into a pinfall. This was the standard opener to get the crowd going, and while it was exciting, this wouldn’t be considered memorable.
Backstage: Renee interviews Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega which is interrupted by Adam Copeland, who greets Jericho and introduces himself to Omega. Didn’t have this on my bingo card.
A video airs featuring Adam Cole being buddy-buddy with Roderick Strong while the Kingdom look on, petting a stuffed giraffe. Strong gifts Cole a scooter for the bum leg, but then asks Cole to rearrange the furniture in his home. The first time this aired, the audio sounded pumped from the arena and could not hear a thing. Later in the program they replayed it again and without issue. Funny as it was, it seemed strange. Like Adult Swim strange.
Man, AEW just can’t catch a break with sound problems.
Wardlow returns, murdering Griff Garrison on live television.
He mauls the lad from the bell, powerbombing him a dozen times. Gets a TKO victory then leaves through the crowd. Geezuz. No posing and conducting here. Just straight up mayhem.
The Acclaimed defeated Kip Sabian, Butcher, and the Blade
Again, a good match, but not a whole lot to be invested in here. This felt like a match which is better suited on Rampage. Acclaimed will always be a commodity in AEW, but with House of Black seemingly distant, and makeshift trios are often fodder, the division as a whole is has taken a bit of a sabbatical.
Bullet Club Gold Promo – The mystery is afoot of who exactly mugged Jay White last week. Each member took turns running down MJF. Juice Robinson is a funny, funny guy. MJF eventually arrives and delivered yet another verbal masterclass in both comedy and straight fire. However, an irate MJF allowed the gold club to bait him into rushing the ring, where he would be blindsided by Jay White and the rest of the club. White and company left the ring at their leisure, with White this time cutting a scathing promo belittling the champion in an effort to shake his confidence. We get the main event for Full Gear – Jay White challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship.
Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega defeated Konoske Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher
Due to illness, Sammy Guevara was unable to compete, due to injury, Mark Davis is out of action, leaving Fletcher to join the Callis Family. We got our big match of the night, with one impressive display after another. Jericho broke out Lionheart like it was 1996 with a top rope hurricanrana. I have to say it is impressive to watch Jericho keep pace with the likes of Takeshita and Fletcher. Unfortunately, Fletcher’s time in the Callis Family would be short as he takes the loss for the team, earning the disdain and ire from Don Callis. However, Powerhouse Hobbs rushes the ring, mauling both Omega and Jericho. Yep, Hobbs has joined the Callis Family.
Notice the stable is full of the younger guys, Ospreay, Sammy, Takeshita, and adding Hobbs. No veterans here, with the exception of Ospreay of course. Hobbs is a menace and needs a guy like Callis to be his mouthpiece. This stable is going places.
Mark my words, Takeshita is going to be a major wrestling star. The feud with Omega and Jericho against the Callis Family has the ability to divert in many directions and give us plenty of combinations of matches, as long as the story is told right and we avoid any repetitive or redundancies.
Give us Takeshita and Ibushi. There’s the money match.
“Timeless” Toni Storm defeated Skye Blue
Decent match, and the “Timeless” moniker seems to complete Storm’s transformation into a batty, star-crazed starlet of yesteryear. She pulls it off flawlessly. Wrestling-wise she has not changed, and that is a good thing. Toni Storm has always been a fantastic in-ring performer, I felt the Outcast stable was a step backwards. Even in defeat, Skye Blue continues to improve and has potential to be a mainstay star in AEW and professional wrestling as a whole.
Adam Copeland Speaks: In the final segment of the night, Copeland reveals what we all heard, he plans on retiring soon, but per request of his daughter, wants one more run with “Uncle Jay.” That’s Christian Cage if you didn’t figure it out. Adam, basking in chants of his real name, amusing and unique. He runs down a list of potential opponents he has never faced before. He sounds so excited to be doing this. However, while excited for the potential opponents, he wants one more thing… He calls out Cage, who obliges, but tells his brother-in-arms he wants one more run as a tag team. Go up against FTR, the Young Bucks, and cement the legacy of being one of the greatest teams of all time. This evokes an embrace, but Christian tells Adam in some colorful language, “no.”
He said something I will not repeat here. Instead he brings out Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne, to Adam’s disappointment.
Great way to conclude the show. It sounds as though Copeland genuinely wants to be in AEW and appears to be excited for many new opportunities. He has not been outside a WWE ring since joining the company in the late-90s. Christian however has been in TNA/Impact, other promotions, and then landing in AEW. This is brand-spankin’ new to Copeland and he appeared to love every moment of it. When he chided Christian Cage for doing wrong by Sting, he was beside himself. “Sting! Sting! Sting!” he cried over and over at the idea of Cage harming a legend such as the Stinger. It’s like having the ultimate fan in utter shock of the idea of their hero, and known legend being subjected to such horrors.
While the night’s episode felt a bit of a weird booking and match lineup, the moments intended to stick out did just that. White vs. MJF, Omega/Jericho feud with Callis, and Copeland/Christian Cage all stood out as they should. The rest of the show felt like filler which is a bit disappointing for a branded “Anniversary Show.” However, this being said, next week’s Title Tuesday lineup shows promise to make up tonight’s low-key showing.
