After a lackluster episode last week due to COVID-19 throwing their plans to hell, AEW managed to concentrate on the players they have at hand and give us another great stick of Dynamite. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this much effort from the AEW crew this week since we’ve got an anniversary show and 30 years of Jericho coming up but they really blew me away in this episode.
Let’s start with that FTR vs. SCU, which was an excellent match. EX-CE-LLENT. Maybe it’s just me but Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky were booked to look like one of the best babyface tag teams ever. They looked ridiculously strong and smart numerous times during the match, with spots like Kazarian luring in FTR so that Sky could dive on them or Kazarian giving Dax Harwood a power slam when he was being lifted by Cash Wheeler.
Kazarian and Sky just looked so damn good in this Brush with Greatness challenge and having FTR cheat to win here helped elevate the first AEW World Tag Team Champions even more. It looks like Sky is going to be feuding with Shawn Spears after their encounter during Late Night Dynamite and the brief exchange they had in this episode so let’s see where that goes.
Speaking of looking strong, Chris Jericho vs. Isiah Kassidy was way better than I thought it was going to be. Jericho gave Kassidy everything in this match, and seeing the Private Party member bust out moves from Le Champion’s repertoire was the cherry on top of this nice cake I didn't know I wanted until I got it. Admittedly, Jericho winning was never in any doubt but he worked harder than usual in this match and I love how he wants to make these younger wrestlers look like stars. Here’s hoping Jericho does the same to his old rival, Dr. Luther, next week.
You know what else was nice? AEW referee Bryce Remsburg defending his decision from last week’s AEW World Championship match. Eddie Kingston was pissed about losing since he lost via knockout and never tapped, with Remsburg stating that it’s a referee’s job to make sure wrestlers can compete and protect them from themselves. Not a promo of the year or anything like that but it’s good to hear from these officials one in a while and Kingston also did a lot to make this a must-watch.
I will say that the main event between Jon Moxley and The Butcher could have been better. Not an offensively bad match or anything like that but it was a bit slow for me. They did try to make The Butcher look strong here, with Moxley having to choke out him out like he did Kingston last week, so I can appreciate the move, even if I didn't love the result. As someone who likes The Butcher’s look—he looks like a smart monster, even if he doesn’t always act like one—I’d like to see him improve and be somebody in AEW.
That nitpick aside, this was a surprisingly explosive stick of Dynamite. I’ll dive more into the promos in a bit but this was a really fun show. Here’s hoping that momentum carries over to next week’s 30 Years of Jericho episode.
Final Grade: A-
- Darby Allin beats Ricky Starks in a great opening match: After weeks of feuding, we finally see these two take each other on in the ring and they did not disappoint. Darby was in submission mode again, which was neat, and Starks was extra aggressive, which made the match feel more personal. It felt like these two were holding back a bit so I wouldn’t be surprised if these two end up wrestling again on pay-per-view, possibly in some kind of gimmick match.
- AEW announces an Eight-Man tournament to decide the #1 contender for Moxley’s AEW World Championship: The first three men announced were Jungle Boy, Rey Fenix, and Kenny Omega. Judging by Hangman’s reaction to the news, I’m sure he will be added as well.
- Cody accepts Mr. Brodie Lee’s Dog Collar Match challenge for next week, gets into a big brawl afterward: Honestly surprised they aren’t saving this for the pay-per-view, especially since the build to this match hasn’t reached its full potential yet. The American Nightmare cut a typical good promo here and he did a great job teasing us when he initially said “No” before clarifying and accepting the match.
- Dr. Britt Baker MD looks better than ever squashing Red Velvet: Even the biggest Britt Baker fan knows she isn’t the best wrestler so I was surprised to see her look really good here. That’s not a complaint and it makes me more optimistic about her matches going forward. I like her adding the Curb Stomp as a finisher since it gives Baker another weapon for foes to watch out for.
- MJF teases joining The Inner Circle: Really fun segment here where MJF offered the group some nice jackets. The fact that he didn’t get one for Sammy makes me think that those two could end up feuding, with MJF eventually taking The Spanish Sex God’s place in The Inner Circle.
- Orange Cassidy isn’t a weenie, beats The Dark Order’s 10 easy: Fine enough squash for what it was. I like that Cassidy used the Air Raid Crash for the win here since I never really liked Orange Punch as his finisher, despite the ingenious name.
- The Young Bucks superkick Tony Schiavone: Fuck these guys. How can ANYONE feel bad for them anymore?
Images from AEW
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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