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.
-Matt and Jeff Hardy both got excellent pops this week to start Dynamite, but I just don’t know if they bring anything to the table anymore outside of losing matches like the one this week to The Gunns. This seems to be their role now and that’s fine — provided they stay there.
-As for The Gunns, they’ve greatly improved throughout the last 12 months. Their matches are now on par with expectations that AEW matches have, but the growth from a personality perspective have really changed their trajectory. Right now, they look a little like a fish out of water with Bullet Club, but it has potential and needs time to gel.
-CM Punk appearing in Chicago on Dynamite wasn’t a huge surprise, but a welcomed sight. Using that appearance to hype up AEW Collision was smart, but the match itself feels a little “been there, done that” after what we already saw last week on the premiere episode of the show.
-The CM Punk training wheels are off now. He got the ease in thanks to the hometown Chicago town, but that’s over. Time to see what the broader AEW audience thinks of him since his return and that will be interesting to watch as he tries to carry the new Collision brand for Tony Khan.
-I’m out on the Concession Stand Brawl. Out. It was a Jeff Jarrett special, but Mark Briscoe has more to give than just silly comedy nonsense.
-Blackpool Combat Club continue to be too cool as heels. There just isn’t anything unlikable about them at the moment and it’s hurting the babyfaces they are working with. Danielson spoke well regarding Kazuchika Okada and laid in some calm hype for the match on Sunday.
-It was pretty darn obvious that team Jericho would get the win this week, but the mystery partner for Sting and Darby Allin certainly isn’t. My vote is Tetsuya Naito. Naito has a history with Jericho and is a star worthy of a surprise being a part of his appearance.
-I like that Eddie Kingston just isn’t forgetting about his disdain for The Elite even in partnering with them against Blackpool Combat Club at Forbidden Door. We don’t see that type of continuity in AEW often, so it was important to give him a reason to be there during this promo. Kingston is great and maybe the most authentic talker that AEW has
-Ok, look. What in the hell is the Blind Eliminator Tournament? What does it mean? What are the rules? What is it??!?! I liked the promo this week between Adam Cole and MJF, but it’s clear that this tournament is going to be the main storyline driver for the MJF vs. Adam Cole program and the audience should know how it’s going to work.
-CM Punk in the Owen Hart Cup tournament works for me. It’s something he can do this summer while things iron out between MJF and Adam Cole before Punk jumps right into the deep end with MJF and the AEW World Championship again.
-A good little tag in the AEW International Championship part of the card. This served to feed into the fatal four-way title match at Forbidden Door — another match that Orange Cassidy is certainly going to win.
-Zack Sabre Jr. looked like a natural on television this week. The guy is so darn good and has proven to transition well to a big platform show like AEW Dynamite on TBS.
-AEW and New Japan are working very hard to present Will Ospreay as a heel opposite Kenny Omega this weekend and a pairing with Don Callis — even a distant one — is a guarantee to make that happen. It’s a bit of a weird thing to force on fans because Ospreay has such a strong story chasing the gold at this point, but Omega has to be a babyface in Canada and this sets that up perfectly.
-Kris Statlander vs. Taya Valkyrie was built up, but the match didn’t deliver as well as I’d hoped. Statlander with the clean win helps establish her title reign, but it just didn’t entertain like a major match like this one should to stay on par with the level that Jade Cargill brought TBS title matches to.
-A Bryan Danielson vs. Okada staredown and near collision physically was the perfect balance to strike in terms of their interaction before Forbidden Door. These guys both looked ready to go and ready to prove who was best, which was the entire point of the segment. Mark my words, this will steal the show on Sunday night, even with Kenny Omega on the same show against Will Ospreay.
CATCH-UP: RADICAN’S TAKE – AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door PPV preview series: Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
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