HEYDORN’S AEW DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2/1: Violence bookends a strong week for AEW Dynamite

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

Jon Moxley to appear at major NJPW show.
Jon Moxley (media photo courtesy AEW)

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-Jon Moxley vs. Adam Page was such a damn gem of  beautiful picture of violence in pro wrestling. This was a wrestling match. Awesome storytelling and strong character development for both Moxley and Page. Based on how things ended up in the end, we’ll be getting match four between these two at the Revolution PPV.

-Why is The Bunny in title eliminator matches? Just, no. Go ahead and do Jaime Hayter vs. The Bunny, but just have the match. The Bunny isn’t a credible threat and shouldn’t be presented as one. On top of that, Hayter shouldn’t react to her as own either. A good example of AEW doing too much. Make the match, have Hayter squash Bunny, and move on. Simple is better in this case.

-It was nice to see The Acclaimed get a strong squash match win — See? It can be done. Now, The Acclaimed vs. The Gunn’s? I don’t know. I don’t really care. Is Billy turning? Probably. But, turning again? That gets a bit of an eye roll with me. We’ll see here.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa. JungleHook is no more???! You mean that wonderful tag team name just vanishes into the ether? Oh, what will we do. So, I’m kidding on that front, but AEW was effective in separating this Jack Perry and Hook. There is nothing wrong with tag teams just going their separate ways and potentially returning later. This was handled like adults and both will be fine coming out. Frankly, both are more valuable as singles acts in the company anyway.

-Takeshita needed the win over Brian Cage and got it. He’s in a big spot next week opposite MJF.

-I’m really getting tired of The Elite. I can’t be the only one, right? They don’t seem to have any constitution of character that directs what they do and when. It feels like the character is “we have amazing matches that you know are fake, but we’re cool and embrace that out in the open.” It’s not working as weekly act that people can get behind or get against and it’s why they are tucked away in the trios division instead of on top as the premiere stars of the company.

-Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher = exactly what you thought it would be. Exactly.

-I liked the storyline connectivity of AEW actually showing MJF going to Rush and paying him off to do his bidding next week in his match next week against Danielson. This type of storyline progression is usually touched on in less than a second by Excalibur and falls by the wayside because of a lack of focus on it. This stuff matters and it’s good to see AEW embrace it as a means to build the MJF and Danielson story.

-Jade Cargill continues to be one of the hardest pushed stars in AEW, but she STILL needs a viable opponent to go up against. She’s eliminated all of her Baddies at this point. It’s time for an actual story. Preventing her from having that in the name of protecting her will eventually stunt her growth. Her ceiling is so high because she is so talented that AEW can’t continue to keep her away from the next level.

-Again, and just like last week. Britt Baker is a babyface, right? Heel? Either way, it needs to be more definitive.

-Wow. Darby Allin vs. Samoa Joe was an absolute war. Allin is a maniac. The bumps he takes makes his matches incredibly compelling, but you have to wonder whether or not adding another, more calm, layer to his style would benefit him in the long run. With that said, Joe is so menacing that he’s just perfect to be the guy giving the offense to Darby. These guys have chemistry together. Strong chemistry. It’ll likely be a bit before they are in the ring together again, but man, this was a treat.

-Wardlow is back and got strong audience reaction on AEW Dynamite this week. Here’s the thing. Samoa Joe isn’t a strong enough heel to keep Wardlow universally cheered. Joe is a good heel, don’t get me wrong. However, the respect fans have for him forces him to swim upstream to get a negative reaction. Good luck, Wardlow.


CATCH-UP: 2/1 AEW DYNAMITE TV RESULTS: Keller’s report on Hangman vs. Moxley, Darby vs. Samoa Joe for TNT Title, Danielson vs. Thatcher, Jade vs. Velvet for TBS Title

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