HEYDORN’S AEW DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2/22: Danielson vs. MJF feud gets another jolt of momentum

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

AEW assessment
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

-Wait, so Blackpool Combat Club are heels now? Good to know! This type of inconsistency with characters week to week plagues AEW constantly. Fans don’t know how to feel about most of the stars in the company and it leads to a lack of true investment in the product. Yes, the Wheeler Yuta vs. Orange Cassidy match was excellent. Stellar, even. It doesn’t matter, though, if the audience doesn’t return the following week.

-Even after all these years, I still don’t buy Adam Page with Dark Order and their association with one another defines him down. It is what it is at this point, but let’s just admit Page is the worst friend ever at this point. On and off with The Elite. On and off with Dark Order. Look in the mirror, Hangman!

-Good promo segment between Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho. Babyface Starks clearly got the upper hand and convinced Jericho to give him the match that he wanted. Simple, but effective in setting up another AEW Revolution 2023 match.

-Why the fatal four-way at Revolution? Like, AEW has a real storyline and feud between The Gunns and The Acclaimed and they are watering it down on purpose with two other teams. Why?

-I loved the angle between Jungle Boy and Christian Cage. Great stuff all around. Nothing meta, just a tried and true pro wrestling show angle. Well done.

-Saraya gave a lot to Skye Blue this week — probably too much given the circumstances. Saraya is leaning fully into being a heel now and I suppose it’s working fine in that regard. The triple threat match between Saraya, Ruby Soho, and Jaime Hayter seems like a way to keep the embers hot for Saraya and Hayter down the road. Soho! Time to do that job.

-MJF really has to stop talking about killing himself on television. Like, just think of a different way to articulate that part of the story. As for the rest of the promo? Bravo. Danielson and MJF were emotional and kept the AEW World Championship at the center of their disdain for one another. Danielson gave MJF a shot to the face that looked really stiff. A sign of things to come at Revolution? For the second week in a row, they’ve added some nice sizzle to this main event program.

-The finish to the tag team battle royal this week was horrendous. Satnam Singh catching Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal the way that he did looked terrible, fake, unambitious, and just really bad. Again, why are we watering down a solid tag team title feud with two teams that don’t fit into that story. It’s silly.

-Looking forward to seeing The House of Black confront The Elite face to face. If this is done properly, that could be a very hot match headed into the PPV. The Elite, I’m looking at you to make this work. No silliness, no meta, no basketball nonsense. Just a pro wrestling angle. Can they handle that? We’ll see.

-More content for AEW and Tony Khan to worry about on a weekly basis. Look, the show could be interesting, but history tells us that adding to the plate hasn’t made the meal taste better in AEW.

-Good to hear that Adam Cole will be returning to the ring. He can really influence the babyface side of the roster in a positive way and it won’t be long before he will be ready to clash with MJF for the world title. Now that he’s back, I’d keep the concussion details to a minimum. They don’t help the narrative that fans are supposed to follow in being excited about seeing him wrestle again.

Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno was way bloodier than it every needed to be. Yeah, I mean it made the match more exciting, but all of that just to further the Moxley vs. Page stuff? A little overboard. Moxley and Page have this thing simmering at the right time and the Texas Death Match stipulation is a perfect fit as well.


CATCH-UP: 2/22 AEW DYNAMITE TV RESULTS: Keller’s report on Tony Khan’s announcement, Tag Team Battle Royal, Acclaimed vs. Bill & Moriarty, plus Saraya, Christian, Danielson

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