Once again AEW spoils its fans with AEW Dynamite 3/27/24 — a top-tier episode of the Wednesday night tradition. Sandwiched between pay-per-view level matches is a big beefy show full of wrestling action and probably some of the best promos to date.
Kicking off the show is Will Ospreay defeating Katsuyori Shibata. What are you expecting me to say? Wrestling war. Suplex heaven. Chop-fest. Strong-arm competition. I never thought I would see these two compete against each other on American television. Shibata is a wrestling monster, Ospreay has all the makings of a legendary wrestler. His persona, the confidence, the facial expressions, and of course, his insane blend of wrestling style.
Both wrestlers can sell and no-sell fluidly. Sure, no-selling is often criticized, but remember, it’s a freaking TV show. Shibata no-sold one of the hardest chops I’ve seen and I can’t fathom how he does it. Ospreay on the other hand sold it all like death itself came for him.
Epic matches such as this one will fuel both fans and detractors. Fans will applaud seeing a PPV-quality match on free TV, while the forever angry online will find ways to belittle this because “tHeRez nO sTOrY.”
It was a damn fun match.
Promo Package for Bryan Danielson. Whoever produced this needs a raise now.
The Young Bucks defeated Private Party to advance in the Tag Team Tournament
Their pre-match backstage promo was funny. Nick Jackson taking more of the always-angry role while Matthew seems to play the meticulously structured corporate poster boy. They’re arrogant jerks. Simple as that.
A non-stop bout with some pretty unbelievable forms of offense. It felt like a reminder of what AEW’s tag team division was like a few years ago, when Private Party was featured often. They certainly lived up to expectations tonight as Quen and Kassiday worked as well as they ever have. Bucks won with some underhanded tactics, disappointing but expected given their lust for power is portrayed to know no bounds.
Backstage: Chris Jericho makes an offer to HOOK, except his offer sounded more like “Hey, I’ll give you advice if you want it.” This was the one off-segment tonight, Hook’s mic skills are still a major work in progress and I’m just not sure what the whole point of it was. Hook knows Jericho? Jericho knows Hook?
Great!
Willow Nightingale defeated Anna Jay, Sky Blue, and Kris Statlander to earn a shot at the TBS Championship at AEW Dynasty.
Fun match, all four women stood out on their own merits. Anna Jay fit well here, and for a while I thought she would have upset the match. Willow however, earns the MVP for the bout. Lots of near falls from Skye Blue, really creating this uncertain atmosphere of who would win. Willow winning makes sense as it will put her in the cross-sights of one Mercedes Mone who was on commentary.
I don’t think they need to pump in their own C-E-O chants anymore.
Best Friends (Orange Cassidy & Trent Barretta) defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) to advance in the AEW Tag Team Championship tournament.
Fantastic match. Well paced and well balanced. Like a good diet. Best Friends have been on a roll, despite Cassidy losing the International Championship to Roderick Strong a few weeks ago. That being said there was interference from Strong and from Chucky T who proved to be the extra support needed to foil the Kingdom and go on into the next round.
In a perfect uber-heel move, the Bucks interrupted the big group hug to the ire of the live crowd.
I really want Best Friends to go over the Bucks next week, but I feel like my wish will not be granted.
Main Event of AEW Dynamite 3/27/24: Swerve Strickland defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the main event to challenge Samoa Joe for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at AEW Dynasty.
Excellent show-closing match. Swerve and Konosuke shook hands at the start, but got tense right away as neither let go, and creatively turned it into the first lockup of the match. Swerve in the babyface role was a natural transition thanks to fans, but nothing changes about his wrestle style in the ring. He sold everything Takeshita threw at him. Another guy whose facial expressions can tell more of a story than words. Takeshita at most times was the dominant force in the ring, overpowering and even outsmarting Swerve on quite a few occasions. While believable Takehsita could win, it’s clear the path for Dynasty has Swerve and Joe’s names on it.
Joe cut a promo backstage after Swerve claimed victory, driving a deadly point to the heart. Joe intends to make sure Swerve regrets chasing him and the AEW Championship.
