AEW Dynamite 11/20/24, the last Dynamite before Full Gear, was packed with lots of wrestling and promos to push the hype for what appears to be a great PPV.
Kicking off the show is a fun eight-man Tag team match with all sorts of crazy wrestling and high-flying action. The Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Brian Cage, and Lance Archer) defeated Will Ospreay, Mark Davis, Ricochet, and Will Hobbs.
Definitely got a little teaser of Fletcher versus Ospreay, the return of Mark Davis who looks like he has not lost a step despite the long injury and recovery time, and of course the big meat moments with the big guys. Takeshita got the win by pinning Davis after Ospreay inadvertently hit Davis when aiming for Takeshita. Cuz it’s influenced the outcome at Full Gear? Seeds are planted – let’s see if they grow.
The low hum of an entrance for the Callis Family invites the boos and crowd hatred. I love it and hope it never changes.
MVP announces from the parking lot that Bobby Lashley will be competing tonight. Before he can continue his promo, Swerve Strickland blindsides Lashley and runs away laughing. missed opportunity for the rest of the show for Swerve to repeat the sneak attacks over and over with his sinister laugh.
In the ring, Adam Cole cuts a promo of disappointment about being unable to face MJF this Saturday. However, Kyle O’Reilly interrupts and gives him words of caution to drop his Vendetta before something bad happens. O’Reilly seems to convey a sense of sympathy but also of warning as he highly encourages his friend to drop the blood feud. I can’t help but wonder if this is teasing a heel turn from O’Reilly. It would be shocking considering how much of a baby face he has been in the past year, but look at what they did with Takeshita and it worked wonders.
Kris Statlander defeated Hikaru Shida
Unbelievable women’s match. Absolutely unbelievable. I know the women’s division tends to get a lot of negative commentary online, and from some podcasters, however this match should prove that the women’s division does have quite a few bright spots. These two women had an excellent match, and were given a long match which definitely kept the live crowd going and I’m sure entertained the fans at home. Statlander’s win over Shida should enforce her potential to become TBS Champion again.
Post-match, Mercedes Mone spoiled the respectful moment between Shida and Statlander. While the live crowd chants expletives towards Mone, she sends a broken Kamille into the ring, and is immediately stomped on. Mone tries to blindside Statlander, and gets crushed for it.
Now I’m worried they made Stat look too strong and will be another fallen opponent for Mone.
Sorry to say, I think the Mone experiment needs to end. I don’t like how Kamille is being booked. Honestly, she could be in the role Marina Shafir is in.
Backstage, Orange Cassidy tells the rest of his teammates not to interfere in tonight’s main event. Mark Briscoe was unhappy but respects the decision.
Bobby Lashley defeated Joey Keys and Cheeseburger
Yes, a squash match. but an entertaining one at least. Swerve showed up after the match and brawled before clocking Lashley with a chain wrapped around his hand.
Taped promo from MJF – Drives up to a derelict trailer park, fends off a homeless guy, leads to a promo where he brings up Roddy’s traumatic past, to a point where he says deep down maybe Roddy’s father should have killed him. Oh. He did that. I get they want to make this match more intense, but I’m not quite sure they needed to shoehorn it in like this. This should have been done weeks ago and drawn out to make us want Roddy to win and to really hate MJF for it.
Claudio Castignoli defeated Darby Allin
I enjoyed this match. Yes, it was mostly Claudio throwing Darby all over the damn place, surprised he didn’t just rip off a limb. Darby’s sells are gut-wrenching. He crumbles, folds, it looks painful to watch. However, Claudio did some solid selling of his own, really leaning into a lot of the offense and defensive moves.
The big spot of the match, Claudio holding Darby up for a vertical suplex, walking from the arena floor, up the ring stairs and throwing him in the ring. His win over Darby was brutally well-done. While Darby survived a crash of a throw on the outside, getting in the ring before a count-out, a stiff lariat ended it.
After the match, Claudio leaves with a look of satisfaction and disgust.
Daniel Garcia, Matt Minard, Jack Perry Hostage Segment
It seems Garcia has lost his marbles. In footage obtained from Collision, we see how Garcia strapped Perry to the hood of his own van and drove off to an undisclosed location, which thankfully had a cameraman waiting. “Daddy Magic” seemed unhappy with the lengths Garcia was willing to go, but after bashing Perry’s van, Garcia leaves with unresolved anger.
The Strangest Segment Ever
This was supposed to be a contract signing for the Ring of Honor World Championship match between Tomohiro Ishii and Chris Jericho. Instead, Jericho awkwardly tries to run away with the contract because “lawyers” but Ishii slowly and menacingly follows Jericho, who realizes it and kicks up his pace. They end up back where they started in the ring, but ambushed by Big Bill and Bryan Keith. The Conglomeration saves Ishii when Briscoe delivers a Jay Driller to Jericho.
I’ll be honest, this segment was stupid and maybe that was the intent. I was laughing at how ridiculous it was. To be fair, if Ishii were following me like that, I would run away too.
Roderick Strong responds to MJF
He addresses the trauma of his childhood, but largely shrugs it off as a juvenile attempt like a 5th grader to get his attention. Regardless, Roddy plans on winning anyway because, well, that’s the goal of a match, right?
Curious, Kyle O’Reilly cautions Adam Cole, but yet doesn’t give the same warning on Roddy? Curious, indeed.
Julia Hart is returning soon!
These video packages are great.
Orange Cassidy defeated Wheeler Yuta
Cassidy and Yuta put on a great main event. Partly because I don’t think many saw these two main evening shows a year or two ago. Now here they are, and the resulting match was fun to watch. Yuta has improved tenfold since his debut a few years ago. Cassidy no comedy tonight. Yuta looked vicious and Cassidy continued to show why Mox should have more fear than he lets on. Despite the win, PAC blindsides the championship challenger and the rest of Death Riders come out and use duct tape to lay in a beating. After a long time, the Conglomeration came out for the save.
I get O.C. wanted to do this on his own, but you would think someone would come for the save once the duct tape was brought out. That’s just me. Wrestling isn’t meant to make sense.
I’m hyped for Full Gear. I think it will be a fun show. Full Gear is the PPV which seems to have a history of being better than anticipated.
