All Elite Wrestling has been on a roll recently. They are firing on all cylinders and bringing top tier talent into the young company. AEW have simultaneously built Revolution to be one of the best cards ever, all while teasing future long term feuds.
This week’s episode of All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite featured a crazy Tag Team Royale and a main event featuring Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia. But how did the show fare?
Let’s find out!
Tag Team Battle Royale
Finally! This week’s episode of Dynamite opens with some action. The Tag Team Battle Royale starts the night off, and it was a lot of fun. Rules were simple. Both members of a team need to go over the top rope to be eliminated. This setup allows for cool stories to be told. We got that in spades.
It started with the usual chaos of a Battle Royale. Everyone jockeying for position to knock out everyone else. AEW has had camera issues in the past with Battle Royales, but they mostly did good here. There was one glaring omission involving Matt Hardy and Private Party, however, where they totally missed Private Party’s elimination and Hardy walking out again. The format and pace of this was well done. A lot of times AEW Battle Royale’s feel rushed. This one lasted awhile and had great story, especially towards the end.
We were down to the final four: Dax Harwood, John Silver, Matt Jackson, and Kyle O’Reilly. Jackson and O’Reilly had just teamed up to eliminate Santana and Trent, but their teamwork ended up being temporary. There was an awesome sequence with John Silver, but Bobby Fish stole his thunder by sneaking from under the mat and eliminating Dax Harwood. With Matt Jackson, Kyle O’Reilly, and John Silver the only ones left, you’d think KOR and Matt would team up to eliminate Silver, yes?
Not so fast, my friend!
O’Reilly showed his true colors by betraying the Young Buck and eliminated both Silver and Jackson to win the Tag Team Battle Royale for reDRagon to go to Revolution.
This Battle Royale was awesome! A Royale is hard to grade because it’s not a standard match. On a scale of AEW royales, however, this was one of their best. It was loaded with intrigue, story, and paced well. AEW actually let the eliminations breathe so the camera crew could keep up. For the most part, that is.
4/5
Segments:
- reDRagon were celebrating in the ring after the match. The Young Bucks were obviously pissed off at the betrayal. Both teams almost come to blows until Hangman shows up. The AEW Champion unloads on Fish and O’Reilly as the Bucks just walk out of the ring. Cole and Silver get involved as the fracas ends with an amazing Hangman promo. THIS is exactly what Hangman needed. There’s a fire lit underneath the champ again. Amazing after match segment.
- Bryan Danielson is backstage with Schiavone. Out main event for the evening is apparently him versus Daniel Garcia. He also mentioned William Regal, which was interesting.
- Something happened next that I don’t quite understand. MJF cuts an otherworldly promo about his tough upbringing and the CM Punk photo. He literally had tears in his eyes for the entire promo. He’s literally on another level with a microphone in his hands because I had, and still don’t have, no idea if he’s telling the truth. His acting skills are amazing. CM Punk comes down the ring to reason with Max, but MJF leaves. Amazing segment here.
Kings of the Black Throne vs Death Triangle
Up next we had a weird and awkward match between the Kings of the Black Throne and Death Triangle. The match itself was a little out of sync, but loaded with story. I am fascinated by the House of Black, Pentagon, and PAC stuff. There were more question marks added, but I’ll get to that.
Everything around Malakai Black is decaying and black now. Pentagon el Zero Miedo is now Pentagon Oscuro. His attire completely black from head to toe. He looked great, but was outdone by Alex Abrahantes. He looked like an evil grave digger that resurrected Pentagon into this form. I love how Malakai’s mist is simultaneously brainwashing and corrupting people. The ones that don’t follow Black have still changed. I wish commentary would explain what is happening better though. Excalibur tries, but Schiavone and JR say a semblance of “everyone is just crazy.” I dislike that.
The match itself was forgettable. I look forward to future bouts between these four because they could do better. My favorite parts of the match involved the strength of Brody King. He was awesome here. King chopped PAC so hard that he hit a poisonrana on his own partner. My brain couldn’t comprehend it. The match was standard tag fare outside of that. The ending was fun, though.
Malakai attempted the Black Mist again, but Pentagon wasn’t having it. Penta covered Black’s mouth, which caused Malakai to writher in pain like he was choking on it. This allowed Pentagon to roll Black up for the victory. Average match. Not bad, per se, but not great.
3.25/5
I’m happy for Pentagon getting the victory, but what’s the overall goal of the feud? Possibly to introduce the next guy…He’s a Secret No More! Buddy Matthews makes his AEW debut after the match and helps Malakai beat up Penta and PAC. Malakai and Matthews are two of my favorites on the planet. It makes me very excited that they’re together.
Segments:
- Up next was a really cool segment between Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho. Everyone knew two of the best talkers in AEW would deliver, but they crushed those expectations. It was just two alpha males talking shit for ten minutes. Being in Connecticut, there were multiple WWE references. Jericho even reference Cody by calling him “what’s his name.” Jericho always makes me laugh. It culminated in the confirmation of their Revolution match. That should be a slugfest.
- Matt Hardy, Andrade, and Private Party were backstage. They’re challenging Sting, Darby, and Sammy Guevara to a trios match at Revolution. Incredibly random, but I guess this is the way All Elite Wrestling loads up Revolution with star power.
Face of Revolution Qualifier: Ricky Starks vs. ’10’
Up next was a random unannounced match between Ricky Starks and Preston ’10’ Vance of the Dark Order. This was another qualifier for the Face of the Revolution ladder match. It was a fine match. Nothing really to complain about outside of being forgettable. On the other hand, I really enjoy seeing both Starks and ’10’ on television more. My favorite part of the match was the ending sequence with Starks sneaking out of a second Full Nelson attempt and reversing it into his spear for the victory. Give me all of the Absolute One! Starks wins and advances on to Revolution.
2.75/5
A quick ‘Cutler Cam’ segment followed that match. Adam Cole and reDRagon were celebrating their victory until the Young Bucks rain on their parade. The Bucks vow to qualify for the other spot in the Revolution 3-way for the tag titles in the Casino Tag Royale next week. I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a Tag Team Battle Royale and a Casino Tag Royale.
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. The Bunny
The woman made of money, Jade Cargill, defended her TBS Championship against the Bunny next. It was a pretty good match, despite the unfortunate pinning situation that happened during the middle section. Mistakes happen, and it looked like Jade got slightly rocked by Bunny’s flying elbow. Other than that it was fine. Bunny is always capable of a good match and Jade gets better every week.
Halfway through the match, Matt Hardy came down to the ring to loudly chant ‘DELETE’ at Mark Stirling. This was funny as Hardy is obviously losing his mind again. Broken Matt and Jeff coming to AEW is the worst kept secret ever.
Hardy played into the ending sequence as well, as he distracted referee Aubrey Edwards, but dropped the brass knuckles to Bunny. Unfortunately for her, Mark Stirling equalized the odds with the TBS title. Jade got the best of Bunny by reversing the ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ into the Jaded slam for the victory.
3.25/5
Jade conjures up Goldberg with a “WHO’S NEXT” after the match. She’s immediately answered by Tay Conti, who confronts Jade. The Bunny brawls with Tay, which allows Jade to take them both out. Tay and Jade might be set up for Revolution.
A quick segment featuring Keith Lee, Ricky Starks, and Will Hobbs previewed them possibly having a future feud. I’m so excited for this Ladder match.
Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia
And that led us into the main event! Bryan Danielson is still waiting on Jon Moxley, so he’s challenging young guys in the meantime. Danielson wanted Garcia to show him violence, and based on this match, he succeeded. This match was technical and hard hitting. Neither guy pulled any punches in a great main event match.
The match was set up fairly similar to Bryan’s match with Lee Moriarty. Bryan wanted to test Garcia on how nasty he could be. Unlike with Lee, Garcia really held his own. He matched Danielson tit for tat with the wrestling. Bryan really started pulling ahead until Garcia hit him with a chop block. Garcia really latched onto Bryan’s knee from there on out. It was really fun watching a young guy outsmart the American Dragon.
Unfortunately Garcia didn’t keep him down for long, as eventually Bryan kicked it into high gear. He stomped Garcia’s face and locked in the Arm triangle for the victory. This was a great match that stood head over heels above the other standard matches of the evening.
4/5
Match of the Night
2point0 attacks Danielson after the bell rings, which triggered Jon Moxley. He beat up 2point0 and we officially have Jon Moxley versus Bryan Danielson at Revolution!
Verdict!
And that concluded All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite for this week! This week’s episode was a great example of the shift in style Dynamite has in 2022. The show has become story focused every single week. The promos, segments, and matches all lead down the story path. There’s a perfect blend of it all on Dynamite. Truly is a pro wrestling fan’s dream show.
But that’s not to say this week’s episode was perfect. The matches this week did let me down a little. The Tag Royale and main event were great, but the others left me wanting more.
Generally speaking though, this week’s edition of Dynamite continued the hot streak All Elite Wrestling has been on. I am incredibly excited for Revolution next week.
4/5