AEW Dynamite 2/21/24 Live from the Bok Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Revolution is a week and a half away but the Blackpool Combat Club and FTR wrestle like it’s the main event of a pay-per-view. I’m giving the MVP award to Cash Wheeler. He took control of the majority of the match, moving fast and hitting hard. Both duos put on an excellent show, and the time limit draw was the right call. Evidenced by last week’s singles match between Dax and Mox, going to the time limit draw helps escalate the idea that the BCC is not indestructible. Instead of the usual bell being rung before the ref counts a pinfall, the bell rang as FTR set up for the Shatter Machine. Despite the bell ending the match, the fight continued all around ringside.
Announced shortly after, FTR vs. BCC at Revolution. This is going to be a war.
Orange Cassidy defeated Mike Bennett
Fun match, exciting too. Bennett hit his signature pile driver but couldn’t keep Cassidy down. After each struggled to set up for a finish, Cassidy managed to score Beach Break for the win. Post match, Undisputed Kingdom charged and overpowered Cassidy. With the rest of Best Friends all on the shelf, it seemed no one would be able to rush in for the save…
… Until a wild Jake Hager appears! He fights off the Kingdom. That was an unexpected twist.
Backstage: Ruby Soho and Angelo Parker set out for their date. A large white SUV limo rolls up, but it’s not for them. Out comes Ric Flair who voices his displeasure about a lack of inclusion in Sting’s final match. He enters the locker room/office of The Young Bucks.
Uh oh. Here’s my theory. It seems, as of now, the Bucks will win the AEW Tag Team Championships at Revolution, with Ric Flair turning on Sting and Darby Allin. It would be a way for Sting to go out without taking a clean loss, but it still feels a bit off.
The real surprise would see Sting and Darby retain, then relinquish the championships. But we know in order to get uber-heat on the Bucks they’ll have to win.
Daniel Garcia interview – It is announced Adam Copeland is injured, making Garcia the official number one contender for the TNT Championship. He cuts a superface promo, thanking fans, but as he turns attention to Christian Cage, who immediately comes out with his entourage. As most expect, the promo takes a dark turn when Cage brings up the fact Garcia’s father is dead. Hoo boy, Garcia loses his mind and as a fight breaks out, Daddy Magic hits the ring with a chair to even odds.
Apparently, Cage gave an address for Garcia’s mother… Someone googled it and posted a photo of the location. It’s a cemetery.
Backstage: Don Callis Family segment, Don promising that Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita will steal the show.
Toni Storm defeated local wrestler
Squash. But the best part, as always, are Storm’s antics and as it continues into the next segment, the black and white filter is used in brilliant fashion.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Madison Rayne
Welp, this one went sideways. The errant botch is now the highlight of social media. Hard to say where so-called blame or fault should be. But maybe that’s not really important. A mistake happened, and that’s all there should be to it. Unfortunately it wasn’t a very good match either.
The activity outside the matches were much better and shows one of the rare times where matches were not necessary to further the hype for their upcoming PPV match. The use of the filters, splitting the screen with Storm and Purrazzo was brilliant work.
Prior to the main event, Wardlow hit the ring and cut a solid promo about not getting opportunities and being passed over constantly. He promises to inflict more damage and mayhem if he doesn’t get what he deserves. Clear references made to a certain “Best in the World” and being “Better than you.” It didn’t come off as cheap attention-seeking, but genuine ire. It has been said multiple times about the big man, getting push after push only to be abruptly cooled off for no straightforward reason.
Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and Brian Cage defeated “Hangman” Adam Page, Hook, and RVD in the main event
I’m calling this the fun match of the show. Lots of action, Hangman gets funny as a heel. He’s trying to direct traffic while Hook and RVD do their own thing. Everyone got their time to be featured throughout the match. RVD kept pace pretty well. The match successfully continued to build the tension between Joe, Page, and Swerve heading towards the big match for Revolution. Whenever Hangman and Swerve faced off, the live crowd lost it. It’s fairly clear Page and Strickland have a genuine chemistry in the ring, we want to see them fight. Joe refused to take a back seat, mauling all opponents, mostly Hook. A worrisome moment took place towards the end of the match, as Joe held up Hangman for the Muscle Buster, but Page managed to slip out and clearly landed awkwardly, clutching his ankle while rolling out to the floor. Waving off the camera, it does lead to concern whether Page is injured just a week and a half before a major PPV event.
While many might view this Dynamite as a bit weaker than the past few episodes, it was good enough to build more hype for what looks to be a highly anticipated PPV.
