Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
AEW DYNAMITE MAY 29, 2024
OSPREAY VS SWERVE
Will Ospreay vs Swerve Strickland is without a doubt a huge match for AEW. But already? And at Forbidden Door? It was almost a given that this should headline All In at Wembley, and maybe it still will, but this almost felt like a hot shot, and makes you wonder even more, why Ospreay won the International title. We will see how things play out, but Ospreay’s first world title match should be saved for Wembley in my opinion. Maybe Ospreay comes up short against Swerve, and has to earn another shot at the title by going through the Owen Hart tournament to get a rematch at Wembley. If this is the start of a long term story, I’m all for it.
The gauntlet match was a hot main event that felt star studded and unpredictable. It was a match that was all about different characters having unique interactions, which is something that you don’t get in AEW enough. In typical AEW fashion, the rules were left a mystery, and didn’t become clear until the match was half way through. Excalibur talking a million miles an hour over the Swerve/Ospreay face off to close the show, really took the focus off that moment too. But overall, this was a hot end to Dynamite that put focus on the world title over heel authority figure angles, as it should be.
MERCEDES
We got the impromptu Dynamite in-ring debut of Mercedes Mone, which I liked. Something that AEW rarely do are angles that set up matches later in the same show, and is something they should do more of. Whether Sky Blue was always meant to be revealed as Mercedes mystery attacker (If you even remember it happened), or not, at least it cleared up that loose end, and gave some sort of reason for this match to happen. The match was solid, and it was a strong win for Mercedes, as it should be. It looks like she will be facing Stephanie Vacquer at Forbidden Door. The video to introduce her earlier in the show was a good idea, but the voice over from Excalibur was poor. I love a lot of what Excalibur does, but video package voice overs are not his strong point. Vacquer is an amazing talent. She looks like a star, and is a top level in-ring worker, so I have high hopes for this match at the PPV.
I AM NOT SPORTS ENTERTAINED
I have no idea why AEW insists on doing bad sports entertainment angles. And by that I mean, some really played out tropes associated with WWE. Talk show segments are one of the worst parts of WWE TV, and have been for many years. AEW as the alternative should be staying away from this stuff, unless they are doing it much better than WWE. In the case of The Learning Tree, they are doing it much worse than WWE. The internet hates Jericho because he loves his TV time, so he’s playing into it. Just like he did when he was a “sports entertainer”. We get it Chris, you’re a GENIUS. This thing was mildly amusing for about two weeks, and has already overstayed its welcome. This was BAD. I just hope it actually does something for Big Bill and Bryan Keith, unlike the numerous others who’ve had their momentum completely killed by being associated with Jericho.
Speaking of bad sports entertainment. Did anyone for a second think that Orange Cassidy was going to join Don Callis? And did anyone not see that Trent would be the one to join him? This was more predictable, Vince McMahon’s WWE brained rubbish. And who could possibly care about Trent now that he’s already lost to Orange Cassidy twice?
IWGP TITLE
As a long time New Japan fan, I can’t get over the sight of seeing the IWGP title involved in random eliminator matches on Dynamite. Sure, NJPW isn’t what it was, and you have guys like EVIL challenging for the title in matches filled with garbage, dated interference spots, but in the world of NJPW, it is a heavily protected and prestigious prize. Rocky Romero is a superb wrestler and an extremely important figure in the relationship between AEW & NJPW, but as a TV character in AEW, he means next to nothing. In Japan, it’s a different story. He has a huge connection with the fans. If he faced the IWGP champion in Korakuen Hall, the crowd would be molten hot in support of the beloved underdog, Rocky. But here, it was just another match where the result was never in question, that went too long, even though the work in the match itself was really good. I expected this to be the backdrop for someone to set up a Forbidden Door match with Moxley, but that didn’t happen. I expect we will get his Forbidden Door challenger after his match with EVIL at Dominion.
TNT TITLE
Christopher Daniels is back on TV, which logically makes perfect sense now that Tony Khan is back. The Elite trying to give the title to Jack Perry, also made logical sense. But going back to my point earlier about AEW using dated WWE tropes, do we need power struggles and on screen authority figures? Wasn’t AEW supposed to be about giving fans the alternative from what they got for YEARS from WWE? Hopefully this thing will not continue to be a focus of the show, as it was in the lead up to Double or Nothing. Okada was superb here, he has fantastic timing and continues to evolve brilliantly as a TV character. AEW are obviously in a very tough spot with the TNT title, and we have a tournament for the belt. I just hope it doesn’t become another tournament too many with The Owen coming up soon. I would love to see this opportunity used to elevate a new star up the card, like a Konosuke Takeshita, or Brody King.
I can be reached at matthewmacklin90@gmail.com
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
