Man, isn’t Kenny Omega great? The guy has had some of the best matches mankind has been witness to, was the comedic highlight in many a BTE episode, and probably rescues kittens in his free time. Everything about him is great; his face, his hair, his wrestling, his lack of social media presence, the way he ties his shoes, what’s not to like? I used to be a mark for Hangman Page but I now declare Kenny Omega as my—nay—Smark Henry’s favorite wrestler of all-time in every alternate dimension and universe that exists. No one’s better, not even your mom!
So uh, AEW, can Justin Roberts mention us on one of his genuinely awesome long introductions for Kenny’s entrance? Pretty please? Don’t you want the world to know that the hottest wrestling website in the Philippines loves Kenneth Omega?
This would be the part where I trash-talk AEW behind their back since I buttered Omega up so much that you could have two loaves of bread touch him and make a sandwich; but the stick of Dynamite we got this week was genuinely great. This episode’s goal was to complete the Full Gear lineup in the most entertaining way possible and my goodness, it was a jolly good show.
Now that I’m on the Kenny Omega suck-up train, we might as well talk about his main event match against Penta El Zero M, which was like his new entrance; fantastic. The chopping contest early on was great, as was his taunting of Rey Fenix when bringing out his AAA Mega Championship. It was everything you would want from these two and more, with Slingblades, V-Triggers, arm breakers, and more. Both men pulled out all the stops, as they should, but Omega emerged the victor, facing my former favorite Hangman Page in the finals at Full Gear (still love you, Adam).
While Omega is probably going to face Jon Moxley for the title after Full Gear, the folks at AEW have done a great job ofmaking us care about the champion’s feud with Eddie Kingston. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that this is Moxley’s best feud for the belt thus far as the personal animosity between the two just feels so real. It’s something he didn’t have with the giants he beat and puts it leagues above that lame MJF rivalry. The fact that these two are among the best mic workers in the business helps a ton and Moxley’s promo this week was fire, as was Kingston’s match with Matt Sydal.
Granted, I wouldn’t have made Sydal say “I quit” but nothing’s perfect.
Speaking of championship matches, new NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb successfully defended her belt this week against Leyla Hersch and this was also great. Hersch is surprisingly strong for her size and Deeb continues showing her submission know-how in these well-worked matches. I am so glad AEW hired Deeb when they did since the company desperately needs good female workers and she should be a great mentor for the division, seeing how relatively inexperienced the company’s women’s division is. Plus, her affiliation with NWA will hopefully lead to more crossovers with that promotion.
I’ll discuss more of the in-ring work soon but know that the wrestling in Dynamite this week was superb. Thankfully, the sports entertainment stuff wasn’t too bad either. Chris Jericho and MJF had the townhall meeting segment that I was dreading, so seeing all the goofiness with Britt Baker, Luchasaurus, and Peter Avalon didn’t help. However, once Eric Bischoff got involved, things got great.
When Bischoff asked MJF how he knew his alignment with The Inner Circle wouldn’t result in self-destruction, with Jericho backing him up, Friedman turned up the intensity and brought up how he has done everything in his power to show how he won’t stab them in the back. MJF has given Jericho gifts, friendship, and Le Dinner Debonair but he still wants to know what he has to do. Then Jericho made the challenge; if MJF beats him at Full Gear he gets to be in The Inner Circle. Just great stuff and the fact that MJF said he’d do “anything” to win got me excited.
Full Gear is going to rule, you guys.
Final Grade: Since Kenny Omega is the best wrestler in the multiverse and we got a great episode as a result, he breaks my grade meter to give this episode an AAA+. Get it? Because he’s the AAA Mega Champion? (Please quote us, AEW.)
Bullet Point Party:
- Hangman Page vs. Wardlow exceeded expectations: Man, Wardlow is going to go places. This was a really good match that played to both men’s strengths. While no one was shocked about Hangman winning, they made Wardlow look strong in defeat by having him take two Buckshot Lariats to lose. The fact that the first one didn’t knock him down was a brilliant touch that added to this match.
- The Young Bucks do not deserve your sympathy: After all these weeks of wondering how they were going to make us cheer The Bucks over FTR, this is the best they got? The Bucks not apologizing because “they needed that edge” and “are the old Bucks again” was what these guys came up with? Plus they’re using the whole “if we don’t win, we’ll never challenge for the belts again” stipulation that Cody used last year to try and garner sympathy. It just makes them look like stupid, unapologetic assholes and they’re probably winning. Ugh.
- Cody vs. Orange Cassidy 2 was good but not great: This was a really fun Lumberjack Match and I liked how The Best Friends actually took cheap shots at Cody since they wanted their friend to win. In the end, John Silver and Arn Anderson cost Cassidy this match. The story they’re telling here is that Cody is kind of losing his edge and I think having Darby Allin beat him at Full Gear will be a good way to continue that angle.
- Sammy Guevara and Ortiz don't want MJF in The Inner Circle: I figured that they would transition Sammy into a feud with MJF after all this Matt Hardy business is done but Ortiz actually cut a hell of a promo on MJF too. Having Santana actually show interest in MJF joining is definitely interesting and makes this group more dynamic.
- Miro and Kip Sabian hate The Best Friends because they broke their video game: I can’t believe Shawn Spears is more credible than Miro right now.
- Scorpio Sky beats up Shawn Spears after a squash match: I can’t believe Shawn Spears is more credible than Miro right now.
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 of 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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