We’re back with another Dynamite review! It was a nice week off and now it’s time to push through May and Double or Nothing. The annual PPV is slowly beginning to take shape, which is exciting. It’s also just an exciting time to be an AEW fan right now. Between All In being a monster success already, Forbidden Door, and the rumored AEW Collison, All Elite Wrestling is set up to have its best year yet and a blast of a summer.
With Double or Nothing finally on the horizon, could Dynamite in Baltimore start the hype train? Did this week’s episode do anything spectacular or fall flat?
Let’s talk about it!
Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Orange Cassidy, Bandido, Adam Cole, & Roderick Strong
The opening match of the evening was an eight-man tag between the Jericho Appreciation Society facing Orange Cassidy, Bandido, Adam Cole, and newly signed Roderick Strong. This was a fun match that was strictly used as a storytelling device to advance Adam Cole and Chris Jericho’s new story. Big matches in AEW are usually a good time, and this checked all the boxes.
Everyone remembers how Jericho handcuffed Adam Cole to the bottom rope while the Outcasts beat the hell out of Britt Baker. Well, the best part about the match was Jericho on commentary. He was verbally berating Cole from behind the commentary desk, hilariously calling Cole a coward for not saving his girlfriend without acknowledging that he restrained Cole himself.
The match itself was standard fare for a big AEW match. They all fought back and forth for a while. Cassidy and Bandido could make an awesome tag team in the future, as they worked really well together. Cassidy’s comedy plays well with the Luchador. Roddy Strong, on the other hand, looked like a man possessed as he dominated the JAS after a hot tag.
Adam Cole had enough nonsense, as he smashed the finisher button and used the Boom knee to pick up the victory. He immediately made a beeline right for Jericho, which was hilarious. Zero celebration or acknowledgment of the victory. It was pinfall, running, and beatdown. It was great.
3/5
Segments:
- Renee Paquette was backstage with Darby Allin and Jack Perry, who was talking about their match later in the evening. Both guys were excited to beat MJF and Sammy Guevara and earn a shot at the AEW World Title at Double or Nothing.
- Up next was a quick cutaway to the parking lot as Adam Cole needed to be restrained and was taken away. Jericho’s night continued to worsen as Britt smacked Jericho in the face. Watching Jericho get comeuppance will always be funny.
- Blackpool Combat Club was backstage for a simple promo, but an incredibly effective one. Bryan Danielson pissed a bunch of people by talking about being better than Bret Hart. They claimed that they were not bullies, but are looking for iron strong enough to sharpen their iron. Moxley and Danielson killed this small segment. Next week is the steel cage match between Omega and Moxley. It should be amazing.
Saraya vs. Willow Nightingale
Saraya isn’t the best worker in the ring. That being said, she has done a fantastic job of creating a group for the fans to hate. The Outcasts might as well be the “Mean Girls” of AEW, calling people losers and overrated while taking every opportunity to cheat to win. Her match against Willow Nightingale was the perfect encapsulation of this.
This entire match revolved around The Outcasts using the numbers game to outsmart Willow. Someone truly needed to give Willow a tip to not fall for the distraction every single time. Willow did use her strength to overcome the cheating with a nice Death Valley Driver, but the 3-on-1 was too much to overcome.
Saraya used Toni Storm to create a referee distraction, which also distracted Willow, and then Saraya hit the Good Night DDT for the victory. This was a fine match with a good story that continuously shows that the Outcasts will do whatever it takes to win. Tried and true heel stuff.
2.75/5
On the other hand, the post-match angle was exceptionally good! Hikaru Shida made a surprise return to surprisingly join the Outcasts, except it was a double swerve! Jaime Hayter and Britt Baker emerged from the crowd and everyone brawled. This was a fantastic segment. We need more of this and fewer formulaic angles.
- Quick vignette of the House of Black, whom are instilling an Open House challenge for their Trios titles. This new open challenge has a new ruleset of 20 second countouts, No rope breaks, and Disqualifications are optional. Awesome!
Tres de Mayo Battle Royale
Up next was your standard fair battle royale. We had comedy spots, some flying around by Rey Fenix and El Hijo del Vikingo, and a lot of grappling around. It was nice to see Vikingo again, but he was eliminated way too early. QTV and Hobbs were the main foil here. Regardless, this whole match was one of the fastest royales I can remember in AEW. Wham, bam, thank you Acclaimed for winning a short royale and probably facing off against House of Black at Double or Nothing.
Segments:
- Renee was backstage again; this time with Sammy Guevara. He wasn’t alone for long, as MJF immediately interrupted to explain why he abandoned Sammy last week. MJF did what he does best — he played the victim card and started crying. Sammy bought it, for some reason, to which they hugged and celebrated their win later that evening. MJF brings out the best in everyone!
- Kenny Omega and Don Callis were backstage following that. They were both very angry at the actions of the Blackpool Combat Club over the past few weeks. Both of them unsurprisingly had fantastic promos. Omega and Moxley in a steel cage will be nasty, guaranteed.
- Wardlow dissected some guy up next, except this segment was not over. The TNT Champion called out Christian Cage and Luchasaurus for a TNT Title match. Cage answered Wardlow’s challenge, to everyone’s surprise. Luchasaurus was the assumed challenge, but this swerve was well executed. Maybe Luchasaurus factors into the decision.
- Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Sanjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh visit the home of Mark Briscoe. The Briscoe Brother put them all to work and they did it in overalls. This was so stupid, yet so perfect. Jay Lethal then randomly called out FTR for Double or Nothing. Fantastic segment here!
Ricky Starks vs. Juice Robinson
Ricky Starks faced Juice Robinson up next. It’s been a while since Juice attacked Ricky Starks. That attack led to the debut of Switchblade Jay White, but it’s a little surprising this match took so long to happen. It was really good! An easily digestible match between two game competitors.
There wasn’t much of a story here, outside of the fact that they hit big move after big move. The most memorable part of this match is depicted in the picture above. Ricky Starks lifted Juice into a body slam position, then proceeded to walk up the steel steps and deliver the slam from that position. Juice literally splatted like a tomato on the floor. Ouch.
The rest of the match was fairly simple. They traded a bunch of moves, but Ricky came out on top with the Spear and Rochambeau to win the match. Jay White attacked after the match, except Ricky was ready this time. A Ricky Starks and Jay White match is assuredly slated for Double or Nothing.
3.5/5
Segments:
- A Hardy Compound match is happening! The Firm will be traveling to the Hardy Compound to participate in the Firm Deletion on Rampage. Hardy Compound matches are always a blast. DELETE DELETE DELETE!
- Before their main event match, Jungle Boy and Darby Allin were in the locker rooms discussing strategy. The snakeiest snake of all, MJF, snuck in to drive a wedge between Darby and Jack. MJF tried to sweet talk Jack Perry into betraying Darby Allin, to which Jack vehemently said no. However, MJF’s goal ended up successful because Darby Allin overheard the end and watched MJF walk out. The Salt of the Earth was able to sew the seeds of doubt into Darby. This was a brilliant small segment right before a lovely main event.
Darby Allin & Jack Perry vs. MJF & Sammy Guevara
This main event was all about the main event for Double or Nothing. If Darby Allin and Jungle Boy Jack Perry won, they would be added to MJF and Sammy’s Double or Nothing match. MJF and Sammy had previously agreed to Sammy losing on purpose in a singles match, but Darby and Jack had other plans.
I can summarize this match quickly like this – good match, great psychology. It’s already been established that these four respect each other, but also dislike each other. Both teams were forced to work together in a lovely story, in all honesty. MJF and Sammy don’t want to share the spotlight, but Jack Perry and Darby Allin want a fair shot at the AEW Championship. The two egomaniacs faced the humble upstarts. This led to a wonderful dichotomy of teamwork from Darby and Jack, but one-upmanship from MJF and Sammy.
As a result, Sammy got tired of MJF trying to steal his spotlight. This caused Guevara to superkick his “friend” and effectively eliminate the champ from the match. Jungle Boy hit his running lariat, but Darby Allin stole the pinfall by hitting a Coffin Drop out of nowhere. Darby did the same thing MJF and Sammy were trying to do but in a much smarter way. Great stuff in this match.
4/5
Match of the Night
Overall
And that was Dynamite for this week! This episode was fun and did a great job of forwarding the storylines of major players. The Pillars story obviously took the majority of the time, but Cole and Jericho were good, the women’s stuff was also fun, and Ricky Starks had a big win against Juice Robinson. This episode didn’t hit any supreme highs, but it was a solid episode.
Verdict: 4/5