I wrote a bit last week about how Dynamite’s opening and closing segments felt at odds. This week’s episode felt like more of the same.
The proceedings started off hot with Will Ospreay opening the show against Brian Cage. Ospreay’s ability to maintain the interest of the crowd for nearly a year now has been impressive to see. The decision to have him lose to Swerve at Forbidden Door last year and take a longer path to an eventual world title win seems to have paid off as crowds are still very into what he’s doing.
Cage signed a long term deal last year and has earned every cent of it so far. Cage has always been a fun wrestler to watch but he’s really improved in terms of character work in and out of the ring. He’s very reliable and looks strong enough even in defeat that you could heat him up for a midcard title win at any time.
This match played to the strengths of both guys and the angle as a whole, with plenty of fun acrobatic spots from Ospreay and feats of strength from Cage. Callis and Archer had some strategically planned bits of heel interference that didn’t overstay its welcome and got the crowd more invested.
Ospreay won the match and the Callis Family attacked him after the bell. Of course, Kenny Omega appeared for the save, fending of the Callis Family - but not for long as the numbers overwhelmed them. They need to be careful with this angle or I worry this is going to start feeling like the Death Riders angle with post-match attack after post-match attack.
The show went from strength to strength, heading backstage with Renee Paquette who was looking for Swerve Strickland. Hangman Adam Page appeared, also looking for Swerve. I’m not sure where they’re going here, but anything those two do is gold. A slow burn reconciliation and team up between the two would be a huge angle for the company heading into the summer with the company’s first stadium show in the US coming up.
Hangman walked away, but bumped into MJF. MJF still seems tied up with Jarrett, but they’re hinting at a looming Hangman/MJF feud here. It’s uncharted ground and would probably be a good match to run at All In. Adam Page from the end of 2023 to now has continued to have one of the most interesting arcs in the company and is doing some of his best work.
The next match was Jarrett vs. Claudio Castagnoli. It started out decently enough, but the match kind of fell apart the longer it went, with a few rough looking sequences. It all led to another post match Death Riders attack. It wasn’t the last of them either!
MJF came out afterwards to gloat, which wasn’t bad. But watching two somewhat ineffective storylines intersect like this didn’t do the show any favors. The Jarrett/Claudio segment, post match attack and MJF promo altogether took up 15 minutes of the show. I think one of AEW’s biggest problems right now is how they’re allocating their TV time. This is something that would’ve been fine had it taken up 8-10 minutes instead of 15, but has been such a huge focus for weeks in a row.
Ricochet/AR Fox was next up. Ricochet is doing some of his best work in this new heel role and the match was fun. It’s been nice to see AR Fox back on TV again; you know he’s going to lose but you also know he’s going to impress you. The post match angle with Swerve did a great job building their match next week in Atlanta. This is a simple wrestling feud done well and I’m excited to see how it continues next week.
The show went from Ricochet vs. Fox to more Death Riders, this time highlights from their episode of Close Up with Renee. This clip did a bit to establish the motivations of the faction, but it also feels like groundwork that should have been done months ago.
From there, Wheeler Yuta faced off against Jay White. The match was solid with Jay wrestling in his typical counter style. Since coming back from injury, AEW has done a great job making White seem like a threat. We’re now at the point where the crowd actively anticipates him hitting the Blade Runner because they know it can end a match out of nowhere.
After that was yet another Death Riders post match attack. This time, Jay White was saved by Adam Copeland and FTR. FTR challenged Moxley and Claudio to a Mid-South Street Fight on Collision. The match should be good, and I’m hoping it will inject some real stakes into this angle.
Renee Paquette then came out to the entrance ramp to introduce Mariah May. It’s very nice seeing Mariah get another chance to do a live promo, because she does a great job with them and the women’s division as a whole needs more of them. This was a great promo. The story with her and Storm has had some of the sharpest and most inventive storytelling in the company’s history. They’ve really turned this angle on its head from how it started in a fun way.
The show then had an odd five minute sequence in which two recaps of events earlier in the show happened. This is something AEW does at times, but usually they’re following it up with something new that furthers the story. That didn’t happen here, so it made the whole thing feel a bit awkward.
The Vendetta, Deanna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie, then had a promo in which they called out Harley Cameron. The Vendetta is a cool idea for a faction, but it feels a bit like they’re treading water on them as well. I think AEW creative sometimes misses the point of creating factions. Speaking for myself here, the cool part about them is watching them evolve and grow. Adding a member or two to the faction would get more women on screen and create the opportunity for new storyline beats.
The main event of the show was Mercedes Mone vs. Yuka Sakazaki. It was nice to see this get the main event slot, and it also got a decent overrun. The match was good, with Yuka showing off some inventive offense and Mercedes, as usual, selling those moves effectively. It felt a bit sloppy at times, but not excessively. I think these first time match-ups can lead to a bit of miscommunication. Mercedes got the win to retain her TBS Championship. She has continued her great run of form from the end of last year. I would love to see Yuka stay involved in stories moving forward, and this was a great showcase for how fun she is to watch.
Overall, this was a decent episode of Dynamite with segments that felt actively disengaging. As mentioned earlier, I think AEW needs to reconsider the amount of television time they are giving to certain angles to improve the show.
Rating: 3/5