Written By Gino Lewis
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Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs FTR: Draw – Rating *** ½
There was a wild brawl between the teams after the match. Jobbers and security unsuccessfully tried to break it up.
Gino’s take – Physical match that felt more like a fight. They didn’t work together as well as I thought they would. Claudio especially seemed to want to give more than he got. Most FTR matches are cleaner than this was. The intensity was believable. It’s clear the feud will continue. This was a good way to build up another match that we will likely see at Revolution. I didn’t like the time limit draw finish. This is the third one in recent months. It’s not something AEW should use too often and they are getting to that point.
Orange Cassidy was interviewed by Renee Paquette and there was a video package showing how busy Orange Cassidy has been defending his International Championship. Cassidy is cleared to wrestle tonight despite taking a lot of punishment lately.
FTR was being interviewed Alex Marvez. Moxley and Claudio came up. There was an intense exchange between the combatants. The match for Revolution was made official. This was an effective way to continue heating up that bout.
Orange Cassidy def Mike Bennett – Rating *** ¼
Gino’s take – Good match with a predictable outcome. Cassidy really does take a heavy beating in most of his matches. He always finds a way to make the comeback. It’s a good way to book a smaller baby face like him.
Undisputed Kingdom attacked Orange after the match. Jake Hager came out and made a random save.
Gino’s take – It makes sense for Hager to make the save since he is from Oklahoma where the show is taking place. Hager has a match against Roderick Strong on Rampage. I don’t like the direction of Undisputed Kingdom. This was another example of that. The program between Cassidy and Strong hasn’t been bad but UK should really be feuding with Bang Bang Scissor Gang.
Ruby Soho and Angelo Parker are finally going out on their long-awaited date. A SUV pulls up. Ruby thinks it’s for her and Angelo but they are getting a Lyft. It was Ric Flair in the SUV. Flair is disappointed he’s not been a bigger part of Sting’s retirement match. He says he is exploring his options and meets with the Young Bucks.
Gino’s take – I’m glad Ruby and Parker are finally moving their storyline further. AEW doesn’t do many angles like that so I think it’s working. I guess Flair isn’t limousine riding anymore. I liked the wrinkle of having Flair meeting with the Bucks. What he said about not being a bigger part of Sting’s match makes sense. That’s what he gets for making a joke about 18-year-old girls with his past in the year 2024. Read the room Ric.
Daniel Garcia had an in-ring promo he was fired up calling out Christian Cage and Adam Copeland. Christan came out and talked about Daniel Garcia’s dead father like he normally does. He called Daniel’s father trash and brought his mom into it as well.
Gino’s take – Tremendous promo from both men. Christian comes off as such a bastard like he should in his role. He’s still one of the best heels in wrestling. The crowd hasn’t been the loudest tonight. They were very hot for this promo. The TNT Title match between Garcia and Christian at Revolution is now official.
Renee Paquette interviewed Hangman Page, RVD and Hook about their match in the main event. Page acted heelish like he was in charge of the team. He wants “his” team to focus on taking out Swerve Strickland.
Toni Storm def Sidney Winnell – Rating SQUASH
Sidney was from Tulsa which is why she’s in this match. Storm used Deonna Purrazzo’s finisher to put her away quickly.
Deonna came made her entrance while Toni was celebrating her win. There was a contrast between Toni in black and white and Deonna in color. AEW showed it on the same screen which was cool.
Deonna Purrazzo def Madison Rayne – Rating * ½
Gino’s take – This was rough. I don’t want to blame it all on Madison. She doesn’t wrestle much and looked rusty. The spot at the end of the match where Deonna dropped Madison on her head suggests both women struggled working with each other. Purrazzo won using Storm’s new ankle lock finisher the same way Toni won using her finisher. The best part of all of this was the contrast between black and white for Toni and color for Deonna. Fantastic production by the AEW crew.
After the match Toni Storm attacked Deonna slapping on her ankle lock. This was effective to add heat to their match and put over Toni’s new finisher as a painful hold.
Sting and Darby had vignette ahead of Sting’s last match at Revolution. Sting mentioned that his father has recently died.
Gino’s take – Awesome work from both Sting and Darby. I’m fired up for Revolution. Sting’s last match could be the highlight of the show. It’s a shame about Sting’s father especially so close to such a big event in his life. Hopefully Christian doesn’t find out about it.
Wardlow had an in-ring promo. He spoke about all the top AEW talent he has beaten over the years. This included MJF, Samoa Joe and CM Punk.
Gino’s take – Wardlow was terrific. There was nothing but truth to what he said. He talked about how hot he was and how he should be on top in AEW. He’s 100% right. I have no idea why he essentially went away at the height of his popularity. His line about Punk was spot on. He said he destroyed Punk’s body and he hasn’t stopped getting hurt since then. He’s not wrong. The Punk line was only a few seconds of the promo but I’m sure it will get the most attention.
Bang Bang Scissor Gang had an average vignette. I don’t like their direction as I mention almost every review I write.
We’re shown a video package for Will Ospreay who will be on Dynamite new week for the first time since becoming a full-time member of the AEW audience.
A match called “Meat Madness” is announced and will take place at Revolution. Wardlow will participate in the match.
Don Callis family is backstage. Callis spoke about Ospreay’s match against Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution. Will Hobbs will also be in the “Meat Madness” match.
Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland & Brian Cage def “Hangman” Adam Page, RVD & Hook – Rating *** ¼
Gino’s take – The match was clunky at times. Especially when RVD was in there. He still moves well but didn’t have his best stuff tonight. The action was very good towards the end. There was a good spot with Hangman power bombing Swerve though the announce table. There didn’t seem to be enough animosity in the match. Mainly between Swerve and Joe who are opponents in the World Title match at Revolution. They worked it like a normal tag match for the most part.
Overall Rating – 7.75/10
2024 Average Rating 7.69
Final Thoughts – A rare episode of AEW television where the promo’s outweighed the wrestling. It worked really well since we are so close to Revolution. AEW has been storyline heavy so far in 2024. They’ve nailed the buildup for Revolution. The PPV should be amazing. The wrestling on this show was just above which is below average for AEW. If that makes sense. I think it does. Overall, it was a very good Dynamite that accomplished its goal of building excitement for Revolution.
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