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LOOKING AT LAST NIGHT'S AEW DYNAMITE

AEW DYNAMITE, JULY 3, 2024

IS MJF BACK?

The biggest story coming out of a very newsworthy Dynamite is that MJF is a heel again. As he should be. The phoney, corny babyface act seems to be behind us and we are back to what put MJF on the map in the first place.  A natural heel through and through. This was completely telegraphed once we learned that MJF would be at ringside, but my initial thoughts were that he would turn on Ospreay. This felt like a big match for Daniel Garcia, and one that I thought he needed to win. Ospreay doesn’t need this title, and it looks like Ospreay vs MJF will be a big All In match. Which certainly doesn’t need a title involved. This was a great match and a strong main event showing for Garcia, who looks like he will be involved in this story going forward. At least I hope so, because Garcia has had more stop/start pushes than Dolph Ziggler at this stage. The angle was very well done. I liked the agents getting involved to try and put a stop to it and this was a time where blood enhanced the impact of the angle.  This was great stuff and a much needed course correct for MJF. With several weeks yet to go until All In, AEW have time to really heat this up into a major Wembley Stadium match.  

COURSE CORRECT

Mercedes Mone also had her course corrected on this very productive Dynamite.  Another natural heel that should be a heel. This segment between Britt Baker and Mone was excellent and felt like the start of the build for a massive match in AEW, one that feels big enough for Wembley Stadium. Britt Baker’s story about her mini stroke is a good reminder to people that you never know what someone is going through when they disappear from the public. There were all sorts of ridiculous rumours online about where Baker was, and it turned out none of them were true. What an awful year it must have been for both her and Adam Cole as they both dealt with major health and injury setbacks.  Her promo was superb, especially once she started talking about Mone. She is a natural talker and the story of her being the original female trailblazer in AEW standing up to the arrogant Mone is one that is easy to get behind, especially with the crowd already turning on Mone.  Mone immediately looked more at home as a heel in this segment than at any other point in her AEW run so far. Apart from the word “bitch” being used three times too many and becoming the most overused word on AEW TV, this was a home run segment.  

THE OWEN

I thought Bryan Danielson was a sure bet to win the Owen Hart Tournament. But now I’m not so sure after the excellent return of Hangman Page.  With new music, a new demeanour, and a great sympathetic babyface in Jeff Jarrett for him to beat, this was a great re-introduction for Page. Jeff Jarrett’s great interview a number of weeks ago made him the sentimental favourite in this tournament, and AEW absolutely could have done more with that, but the bigger picture is more important. Page was The Elite’s chosen wildcard, and I was relieved when he told them he wanted nothing to do with them. Lone wolf Hangman Page is the way to go.  The crowd chanting for Swerve Strickland throughout this only made it better. The Page/Strickland story has been one of AEW’s best over the past year and has lots of mileage left in it. It would without a doubt be a fitting All In main event, which is why I now don’t see Danielson winning the tournament. Maybe Danielson gets his last crack at the title in Washington in October? Danielson vs PAC was an outstanding match between two of the world's finest. A selling masterclass and a match that should be watched by any aspiring wrestler.  

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

This was a very strong Dynamite, but sadly it wasn’t all positive. As always, it came from the same places.  The Elite story is still a huge mess. One minute they are making decisions and the next minute Tony Khan is, with no real indication as to who has the final say. Blood and Guts feels like it's happening just to happen, and has no real heat, because The Elite just cannot get serious for five minutes.  The Young Bucks took away from Mercedes Mone’s arrival at the building, which felt completely unnecessary. 

Chris Jericho once again was the worst part of this show. Constant over the top, inside references and woeful commentary after he had Taz ejected.  This stuff is just so Vince McMahon brained, like much of Jericho’s stuff in AEW. I’m sure Jericho thinks that because the crowd are reacting to him negatively, that this thing is another sign of his great genius to reinvent himself. And maybe he’s right, because people do react to it. But the entire tone and execution of this gimmick is just unbearable to sit through and brings the show down on nights like this when so much was clicking. Did we really need this extended heavy beatdown on a show that was to end with a heavy MJF angle? Would the show be better or worse off if this stuff just disappeared from it? Would anyone notice or care if it did?

WEMBLEY

Last year AEW did a woeful job of building big matches for All In. It seemed like they just did not grasp the enormity of running Wembley Stadium and how it was their opportunity to have a yearly Wrestlemania level event. Already there has been major improvements from last year as we can see the stories developing and the card taking shape with about seven weeks left to go.  Swerve vs Hangman or Bryan, Ospreay vs MJF, Baker vs Mone, maybe Storm vs May.  AEW need to focus on making every major match on this card feel like just that. Major. With 40,000 tickets sold, the next seven weeks should be all about creating buzz, excitement and anticipation for this card in an effort to shift as many of the remaining tickets as possible and delivering a statement event.

I can be reached at matthewmacklin90@gmail.com.

 

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