Another week, another Wednesday, and another episode of AEW Dynamite have passed us by. It might as well be a broken record talking about how AEW is on another hot streak of episodes, except it’s still true. The drama has amped up as All Elite Wrestling has found a good blend of wrestling theater and action for the fans to sink their teeth into.
This week’s card was headlined by the return of Adam Cole to face Daniel Garcia, and Kenny Omega answering Jeff Cobb’s challenge for the IWGP US Championship.
Life is good when wrestling is fun, so let’s talk about it!
Matt Hardy vs. Jungle Boy
This week’s Dynamite opened with a random contest between Jungle Boy Jack Perry and Matt Hardy. Jungle Boy is on the rise as he gains momentum toward the AEW Champion, while Matt Hardy and Ethan Page have fantastic chemistry in their story of an unlikely friendship. All in all, this was a decent match with a great segment afterward.
The story in the match revolved around Matt Hardy’s significant experience edge on Jungle Boy. This led to Hardy using the Side Effect to good effect, in all honesty. Between that and Ethan Page attacking from behind the ref’s back, there wasn’t much Jack Perry could do.
Until Hook came out to help his friend and former split-second tag partner. Jungle Boy then had his nice comeback, which led to him hitting the sliding elbow for the victory. When did Jungle Boy start using this as his finisher? It’s quite good and comes out of nowhere! Good stuff.
3/5
Segments:
- MJF comes out instantly after the bell rings. He and Jungle Boy have a wonderful promo battle about their history and match at Double or Nothing 2020. MJF gave Jack some advice back then to focus on himself only. Jungle Boy isn’t MJF on the mic obviously, but he’s had some serious growth in that area. They both threw hard truths at each other, but they came to blows after MJF started talking about Anna Jay. This was great.
- Another awesome segment after that with Don Callis and Kenny Omega. Don admitted to taking a dive last week and apologized to Kenny for trying to deceive him. He also smartly asked why Kenny quickly assumed Hangman would hit him, which is a good point. This Elite drama is too good.
- The Acclaimed were invited out by 2point0 to a hockey game. They had a fun travel package with all of them doing random shit. Menard and Parker are still asking The Acclaimed about joining the JAS, to which Acclaimed shall answer next week. Cool.
- Dalton Castle and the Boys were picked apart in ten seconds by the Blackpool Combat Club. Wham bam thank you, Dalton.
- Hangman was backstage with Marvez next. Don Callis pops up once again and apologizes for trying to get between Hanger and Kenny. All of a sudden the BCC attacked Hangman and Callis, who was busted open. A camera quickly cut to Kenny Omega warming up for his match, which was up next, as Schiavone gave him the news of the attack. Kenny was visibly distraught but came down to the ring anyway.
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
Jeff Cobb has been hunting for Omega ever since New Year’s Dash in Japan. Omega defeated Will Ospreay, Cobb’s United Empire boss, for the IWGP US Championship the previous night at Wrestle Kingdom. Omega told Cobb to come to America and that’s what Cobb did. Kenny Omega and Jeff Cobb had a great match and continued Kenny’s singles momentum.
When one watches Cobb, nothing about him screams charismatic mastermind. Cobb was out to prove people wrong in this one as he spent a good portion of this match trying to get into Kenny’s head, which had already been messed with earlier in the evening. Kenny and his injured ribs were not ready for Cobb’s strength and toughness either.
This led to Cobb having the advantage for a good portion. However, Kenny Omega is Kenny Omega-Rise of the Terminator, Snapdragon Suplexes, and the V Trigger worked to neutralize Cobb. The One Winged Angel couldn’t be performed, however, because of the massive size of Cobb and Kenny’s hurt ribs. So Kenny blasted Cobb with two V-Triggers and used the ropes as leverage to hoist Cobb onto his shoulders to finally hit the One Winged Angel for the victory. Good stuff! One of the most impressive One Winged Angels Kenny has ever hit.
Match of the Night
4/5
Just like last week, The Blackpool Combat Club was out to attack Omega again. Except for this time, Omega had no backup as Hangman and the Bucks were all injured. Danielson made his triumphant return to aid his former rival, but all was for naught. That scamp Danielson tricked everyone and hit the Busaiku knee on Omega to realign with his bad boy BCC friends.
- Backstage segment with the Gunns talking about their Titles versus Careers match next week against FTR.
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. The Butcher
AEW’s best title reign at this very moment is not the AEW Championship, nor is it the TNT Championship. The best championship reign in the company belongs to Orange Cassidy and the International Championship. Freshly Squeezed put the belt on the line against the Butcher in a fairly decent match. It was nothing special, but this match played a part in the overall Cassidy storyline.
The Butcher and the Blade attacked before the bell. The Blade got himself ejected because of a crowbar. Orange Cassidy never got started before Butcher had complete control. The big man bashed him into all the ringside barricades. Butcher keeping Cassidy down with his size ended up a big part of the match. Because Orange Cassidy continuously hurt his back with unsuccessful attempts at the Beach Break. He finishes people with the Punch, stop hurting yourself! This would allow Butcher to keep an advantage and target the back.
Eventually, Cassidy got some momentum until Blade popped up and tried to steal one with the crowbar again. Best Friends evened the odds, which allowed Orange Cassidy enough time to hit the Orange Punch and muster the strength to hit the Beach Break finally. This was a fine match that exhausted the Orange man. Someone might score a shock upset because Cassidy can’t say no to title shots.
3.25/5
- Jade Cargill was backstage whining about Taya Valkyrie again. Smart Mark Sterling warns that using the Jaded one more time will cause them to sue. It’s technically called the Road to Valhalla, but whatever Mark.
- Juice Robinson versus Action Andretti on Rampage. Juice warns Starks to watch, as it’s a preview of what he’ll do to Starks next week.
Willow Nightingale vs. Ruby Soho
The Outcasts were at it again in this one. Ruby Soho was taking on her former tag partner and former friend, Willow Nightingale. This was another fun match on an evening of good ones. Dynamite is in a rhythm again.
Despite all the crap that The Outcasts have done, it did not look like Willow wanted to fight Ruby. She’s usually filling arenas with her bubbly personality, but not here. Willow looked frustrated and unhappy to be fighting a former friend. She looked very conflicted here.
The match was back and forth as Willow would pull ahead until The Outcasts did something on the outside to allow Ruby to take back over. Might as well have been a three-on-one match. Willow did what she could, however. She sent Saraya careening into the ring post and planted Ruby with a Spinebuster. It was just not enough to overcome the three-on-one.
In the end, Saraya distracted the ref to allow Ruby and Toni to work together on an elevated rope pin to steal the victory. The “elevated pin” is a huge pet peeve. It’s been in wrestling for as long as I’ve been watching and I don’t get it. Taking your feet off the ground removes the leverage you can get on the pin, not adding to it. Still a fun match.
3/5
The Outcasts attack Willow after the bell. Riho, Skye Blue, and eventually Jaime Hayter save the day.
Adam Cole vs. Daniel Garcia
And just like that, we reached the main event. Time flies when you’re having fun, indeed. This week’s Dynamite main event served two purposes-the return of Adam Cole and the debut of AEW: All Access. Cole’s return from injury was a big deal, but nobody truly how bad it was. Two concussions in three weeks, especially the nasty one from Forbidden Door, almost caused him to retire. Adam Cole wrestling again is best for business. Thankfully he’s okay!
That being said, Daniel Garcia didn’t care about Cole’s injury. The pro wrestler turned sports entertainer targeted Cole’s head and neck area with multiple piledrivers. Garcia is a very good heel when he’s given the time to bully someone.
Eventually, Cole turned it around with his signature moves-hiroshi giroshi, superkick, etc. Daniel Garcia tried to keep Cole on the mat, but Cole wouldn’t be denied his return win. After missing one Panama Sunrise earlier, Cole hit one and the Boom knee to put away Daniel Garcia. This was a good match to cap off a good Dynamite.
3.25/5
Britt Baker came out to celebrate following the match. Jericho also came out to ruin the party and grabbed Daniel Garcia to usher him to the back. Jericho kept looking back at Cole, however. AEW looks to be teasing a Cole and Jericho feud. Not a bad returning feud for Cole.
OVERALL
And that was Dynamite for the week! What did you think of this week’s episode?!
All Elite Wrestling has done something incredibly smart since Revolution. They’ve revolved their entire shows around the Elite and the Blackpool Combat Club, which makes for captivating television. The Blackpool Combat Club has become the final boss in AEW and welcomed back one of the best wrestlers of all time into their midst. MJF has a great feud going with his fellow pillars, Jaime Hayter and the Outcasts is fun, and Orange Cassidy has the best title reign in AEW history.
There’s a lot to like about AEW right now. The show has found its rhythm and this episode strikes its chords perfectly in beat.
Verdict: 4.25/5