It’s AEW Dynamite! You know what that means…
Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. was AMAZING. What else is there to say?
From the moment Britt Baker dissed Thunder Rosa on Twitter, fans called this the best women’s rivalry in AEW history. That’s definitely true—though it’s not like there was competition—to give credit where it’s due, AEW did a lot to make us care about this rivalry. We’ve seen these two at each other’s throats for months—brawling after matches, interrupting interviews, and even having a singles match with a dirty finish. This rivalry deserved a violent match to cap it off.
And the match itself? By God, they delivered.
Like previous Lights Out matches in AEW, this one was extremely violent as these two did everything in their power to put each other down for the count. A superplex on a bunch of steel chairs, an Air Raid Crash on the entrance ramp, A FUCKING POWERBOMB ON THUMBTACKS—the main event lived up to the Lights Out stipulation.
Having Rosa win was the right call but also a little surprising; last I checked, she’s only working part-time with AEW and is technically an NWA talent. Was it done to make the Forbidden Door more friendly-looking to other companies that AEW might want to work with? Or was this to ensure that she’ll sign with AEW once her NWA contract runs out? Honestly, I'm just glad this rivalry ended with Thunder Rosa winning.
It took a good while, but AEW's women’s division is finally beginning to get it together. We can only hope every women’s rivalry after this gets as much time and respect as the Baker/Rosa saga.
Honestly, the main event was so good that it almost makes up for how lackluster most of the show was. The only other thing that felt special on this week’s stick of Dynamite was MJF introducing us to his new stable, The Pinnacle. He powerfully put over all the members and the promo itself was reminiscent of that time Jericho introduced us to The Inner Circle during the second-ever episode of Dynamite, which was a nice touch.
Everything else was just kind of there. None of the other matches and segments stood out that much. Sting got interrupted twice, for Pete’s sake. Still, definitely check this episode out for the awesome main event.
Final Grade: Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker elevated this C show to a B+
Bullet-Point Party:
- Sting got interrupted twice: What the hell was this? Brian Cage turning babyface is kind of intriguing and Lance Archer continuing his spiel from last week was fine, but this was a mess. Jake Roberts also had another bad week on the microphone, yeesh.
- Christian Cage wants to earn an AEW World Championship shot: Good promo from Christian here. He understands that just waltzing in and picking up the belt isn’t enough to get a title shot, and I can’t wait to see who his first match will be against.
- Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston barely beat The Good Brothers and then get beaten up afterward: Honestly, I didn’t dig this match too much until the last few minutes when Moxley was making a great comeback. The small package win was disappointing, as was the beatdown they got from Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers after, though at least The Young Bucks saved them.
- Bullet Club Civil War: Meh. We haven’t seen The Young Bucks interact enough with Kenny and The Good Brothers to make this mean anything. AEW fans knew this was coming, but the road to getting here was disappointing.
- Cody Rhodes beats Penta El Zero Miedo with a surprise pin: This match was almost great at times but proved to be disappointing by the end. Penta’s swagger was great, and Cody’s Canadian Destroyer wasn’t half bad. But I’d like a more decisive match, please, particularly one where Penta wins.
- Rey Fenix beats Angelico: No joke, the second-best match of the night.
*****
Nico Parungo is a freelance contributor for Geeky PH and previously wrote for Epicstream. He provides weekly recaps of AEW Dynamite for Smark Henry and has contributed several reviews for PWR and MWF shows. When he isn't frustrated about the WWE, he's playing video games at home and is bugging his friends with glorious puns. He's new to the world of Twitter drama but is quickly getting hooked.
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