SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
•Jon Moxley vs. Ortiz – HIT: This was one of those matches that felt like it went about 4 or 5 minutes when in reality it took up the first 15-20 minutes of Dynamite. Jon Moxley is still really hot with the crowd. He was spotting a more stable eyepatch this week. Ortiz has been growing a following lately and for good reason. He is an out of the box character whose remarkably entertaining with just about everything he does. Moxley picked up the win in the build towards his championship match in a few weeks. In the post-match, Moxley took a spike to Santana’s eye setting up a match for next week’s show.
•Best Friends vs. SCU – HIT: Solid match between these too teams. The announce team kept addressing the fact that SCU was not accompanied by Christopher Daniels. Daniels came out after Dark Order teasing he has some affiliation. Dark Order is still not a great act, but I think they are positioned in a spot that better suits them. They’re nowhere near being a main event level act, but there’s a lot of interest in the identity of the exalted one. Whether it is Daniels himself or someone like Matt Hardy or the former Luke Harper, I only see this as a positive for the act.
•Britt Baker vs. Yuka Sakazaki – HIT: I’m even more confident that a heel turn was the right move for Britt Baker. Even though she took the loss, she retained her heel heat. In a graphic angle, Baker appeared to have broken Yuka Sakazaki’s tooth. Sakazaki bled from the mouth in the post-match where Baker applied her submission finish. The crowd laid in the boos to Baker while Sakazaki received a positive reaction upon her return.
•Kenny Omega & Hangman Page & The Young Bucks vs. The Butcher & The Blade & The Lucha Bros. and post match – HIT: The crowd was really into this match. Tons of incredible action as you would expect from the match participants. Hangman Page continues to be really over with the crowd despite his displeasure with the rest of The Elite. It feels like they are still moving towards a heel turn for him, but it’s intriguing to see how they play this out. Do they stick with the original plan (whatever that is) or do they change course because of how the audience has reacted? Hangman lost the match for his team because he refused the tag from The Young Bucks which would lead me to believe there is going to be a match with The Young Bucks at some point. However, there is a Tag Championship rematch against SCU which may be another turning point in the story.
•Kip Sabian vs. Joey Janela – MISS: They had been building this meeting for awhile so it was weird to just give it away with no hype. That said, it felt like they held back quite a bit in this match. With Sabian getting the win, perhaps there is a hardcore rematch down the road that will fit Janela’s style.
•Cody Receives Ten Lashes – HIT: This was a lengthy segment. I was not sure what to expect from the lashes, but overall I think this segment worked. Cody is likely the only wrestler I would put in that position because of the sympathy he draws from the crowd. Having his allies there to watch and support him added to the drama as well. Even Brandi came out to comfort him! AEW shot an angle on Dark where the Nightmare Collective turned on Awesome Kong which was not mentioned or shown on Dynamite. Brandi appearing as normal Brandi Rhodes would indicate that they are moving away from the Nightmare Collective which is a positive, but it was odd to see Brandi return as herself with no explanation to the Dynamite exclusive viewers.
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