It’s time for a weekly look at the best, the worst, and the weird or otherwise notable—the Hungee—from the latest episode of AEW Dynamite.
The Good
Well, this had to be a statement show after everything that happened after All Out, and fortunately, they could book a show that made a good statement about the company. The opening MJF promo may have been a quiet parody of CM Punk’s initial “I’m so happy to be here” phase, but more importantly, Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho cut loud promos about how AEW is bigger than Punk and the company is really about putting on great shows and not public-facing backstage drama.
We had three fantastic matches on this show. The trios opener to crown the new champions was fast-paced and well worked and was a very nice way to get the belts back on track quickly. Adam Page-Bryan Danielson wasn’t as good as their pair of matches around the start of the year, but it was still a great, intense match where both guys shined.
I also really liked the Daniel Garcia-Wheeler Yuta match – the hometown crowd was so heavily into it for the eventual Garcia win, and the post-match angle with Danielson putting the belt on Garcia while Jericho looked on angrily was a nice setup for the next step in that story. Wheeler Yuta being pissed the entire time could be adding a nice twist to the story as well – it feels like we’re not just getting an eventual Garcia babyface turn & jump to the Blackpool Combat Club, but a possible heel turn by Yuta.
I thought the announcing was good on this show. A less crowded booth helped, as did the lack of Jim Ross.
The World Championship bracket looks great, and I’m very excited about all the matches they have lined up.
The Bad
Despite everything good on this show, it was a very weird atmosphere. Between avoiding the names of those involved in the now-infamous locker room incident, vacating two championships without any on-screen indication, and completely scrubbing all of them from the show intro, the show had a persistent undertone of how weird this situation was. I think Tony Khan & the roster responded well by putting on a fantastic show, but the vibes must be noted.
Toni Storm and Penelope Ford were having a solid match, and then it completely fell apart coming out of the commercial break and got really sloppy.
The Hungee
Chris Jericho accidentally spoiling the result of the Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Page match was rough. In kayfabe, you could believe that he was so fixated on Danielson that he just didn’t care about Page, but that’s a flimsy excuse. An unfortunate side note to this episode.
People spending hundreds of dollars to get floor tickets opposite the hard cam so they can hold up signs about how they hate the show to ingratiate themselves to Jim Cornette is true galaxy brain behavior.
Overall rating
9.5/10. I thought this was a home run of a show and an important mission statement
Fred Morlan’s Chris Jericho’s Sports Entertainer of the Week
I’ll give the nod to Daniel Garcia on another great performance in a big-time spot, with the added boost of doing it in front of his rabid hometown crowd..
Match Star Ratings
- Death Triangle defeated Best Friends & Orange Cassidy to win the vacant AEW World Trios Championship: ****1/4
- Toni Storm defeated Penelope Ford: *3/4
- Wardlow defeated Tony Nese to defend the AEW TNT Championship: *
- Bryan Danielson defeated Adam Page: ****1/2
- Daniel Garcia defeated Wheeler Yuta to win the Ring of Honor Pure Championship: ****1/2
