AEW Dynamite 4/19 kicks off with The Pillars, minus MJF, trash talking each other to stake a claim to be in the running for an AEW World Championship opportunity. Darby Allin, Jack Perry, and Sammy Guevara trade a mix of respect, disrespect, love/hate, and ultimately personal attacks. While some good one-liners would pop the live crowd, this felt like a rehash of segments we have previously seen.
Allin outright called Perry one of the “California Boys” referencing his association with the Jackson brothers, also trying to sling mud on the inconsistency of his in-ring name. What threw me off, is how Allin says Perry “has it easy” yet a few weeks ago, MJF gloated how Perry had to compete weekly on multiple shows, many on YouTube, to get noticed.
I may get burned by this, but I thought Sammy was the best voice of the bunch…
… Until MJF arrives to give us a mini-tourney to determine who faces him at Double or Nothing.
AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Ruby Soho and Toni Storm
Good tag team match, Hayter is by far the best of the four, and it is hard for me to admit that when I am a big fan of Dr. Baker. I still have reservations about this “Outcast” stable, something feels missing but I can’t put my finger on it.
During the match Hayter seemed to take a bad bump on the stairs, and when the match ended appeared to be rushed to the back.
The Elite come to the ring for a promo, but Kenny Omega just wants to fight. Instead on the big screen, Bryan Danielson calls them amateurs, in a distraction to allow the rest of the BCC to attack from behind. Don Callis runs down, chair in hand, but then cowardly runs away, or so we think. He brings out Konosuke Takeshita who saves the day with Omega, driving off the BCC.
This was interesting, and boy did I get a Golden Lovers II vibe. We’ve seen Callis chat with Takeshita in the past. This is intriguing. The Bucks are reluctant, and no Hangman in sight either.
Wardlow defeats Hobbs to regain the TNT Championship
This was a good match, however I am not sure what the long game is here. We had a whole build for Hobbs with his “Book of Hobbs” story of redemption, he gets it, and less than two months later he drops the TNT title back. My guess is Wardlow is getting the push again, but man, I would much rather see a series of matches between Wardlow and Hobbs instead of an abrupt end. Where does Hobbs go from here? His alliance with QT Marshall seems to have zero return, so what was the point of this?
Despite this, the addition of Arn Anderson was a welcome sight. I popped when he spiked QT with the DDT. QT does make a great on-screen villain. You just love to see him get clobbered. Penta El Zero M provided the assist to set this up.
Even more confusing, Christian Cage with Dark Luchasaurus comes out to stake their claim for a TNT championship match. TNT championship is now the “hoss fight” championship?
Jay White defeated Komander in his AEW debut
What, did you have any doubt White would lose his debut match? Come on. Despite a predictable outcome, the match was fantastic. Komander, recently signed to AEW, is an incredible athlete and pulls off gravity-defying moves like it’s nothing.
In the crowd is Shawn Spears who gives Komander a “10” on his dismounts, while White’s highest score was a 5. Bullet Club member Juice Robinson didn’t like this so he attacked Spears. Out comes Ricky Starks to make the save. Looks like Bullet Club Gold will have some tough opponents in tag team action in the very near future.
Chris Jericho and Adam Cole in the ring
If you forgot just how evil Jericho can be, we got a harsh reminder. Wearing his “Painmaker” jacket, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla laid it in thick to Cole, showing only disdain and disrespect. Brawl breaks loose, and Dr. Britt Baker comes to make a save, but is beaten up by Soho, Storm, and Saraya. The “injured” Jamie Hayter is unable to make the save, and clearly no one else in the locker room was around to stop Jericho from hitting Baker with a Singapore cane.
Adam Cole is on fire, easily a top babyface and will likely now begin dismantling the Jericho Appreciation Society to get Jericho at Double or Nothing. Give me this match. GIVE.
The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass Billy Gunn defeated Jake Hager, Cool Hand Angelo Parker and Daddy Magic Mike Minard
Not much to report, a goofy-ish match which is fine. I am thinking the days of the Jericho Appreciation Society are numbered.
Sammy Guevara defeated “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
First, this was a great, great match. Highly entertaining, fun to watch, and certainly no easy way of predicting the outcome, despite an earlier backstage segment with MJF seemingly buying Sammy’s loyalty. Lots of near falls and some great spots, my favorites being a rocket-launching Destroyer by Jungle Boy onto Sammy and the dueling Reverse-Hurricanranas. Lot of neck pain in their futures. Despite the even pace, it would be through the underhanded tactics of one MJF who clocks Perry with the original AEW MacGuffin, the Dynamite Diamond Ring, and we get a count-out victory for Guevara. Not the expected finish, but this may mean Perry will get his revenge at some point later.
Next week, Guevara must defeat Darby Allin to face MJF at Double or Nothing. Something tells me MJF’s plan may go awry.
AEW Dynamite 4/19 was not the strongest Dynamite, but it doesn’t have to be. Not every week needs to be of PPV quality. We fans tend to get spoiled, much like hardcore Marvel fans if a movie doesn’t meet every specific expectation. Or Star Wars fans who like to hate themselves.
The past few weeks, and I would guess the next few will feature more builds towards Double or Nothing which is typically one of their big Pay-Per-View events.
