SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
After what was, in my opinion, a stellar episode of Dynamite last week, I could not wait to see what was to come on this week’s show. Last week was an episode with great matches and stories with very little goofiness and was a positive step forward for the company. Let’s see if they were able to sustain that momentum.
HITS
CONTINENTAL CLASSIC MATCHES
While predictability reigned in the tournament matches on the show, all of them were great. Rush vs. Moxley was as physical as most expected and it was the right move to have Mox win. Swerve vs. Mark Briscoe was also a fantastic match and while I wanted to see Briscoe get an upset win at some point, if you are setting up Mox vs. Swerve next week for ‘Winter is Coming’, then it was the right move to have Swerve win. And thank goodness they didn’t have Hangman interfere. I’ll say again, there is something special with Briscoe and hopefully he gets to play spoiler and can get a nice boost from being in this tournament. He’s one of the better sellers on the roster and can be a solid mid-card babyface. Finally, the Jay vs. Jay tournament match was also entertaining and it was important to have Jay White win to keep him right behind the leaders in the Gold League.
MORE DEVIL QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
Since they aren’t ready to pay off the Devil story yet, it made sense to continue to keep people guessing. I’m actually glad they didn’t go ahead with the tag team match as it would have been a little silly why they would wrestle and MJF or Joe wouldn’t try to rip the masks off their opponents the entire time. It was smart to avoid it and make you wonder if MJF set the whole thing up and faked his attack, or was that too obvious? Add MJF accusing Hangman Page of possibly being the Devil and you’ve added another suspect to the list.
TONI STORM’S WIND UP PUNCH
If you watched during the commercial break in the Toni Storm-Skye Blue match, you would have seen the longest wind-up punch in the history of the world. It got a chuckle out of me.
COPELAND VS. CHRISTIAN
The crowd being red hot for the match took it up a notch for me, but either way, these two put on a great one with a solid story. For a split second, I thought they were going to start the match with a collar and elbow tie-up in which case Wade Keller may have just retired on the spot! Thank goodness they didn’t and the match was off and running with a slap to the face.
Copeland stalking Christian and delivering punishment was on brand. Christian running, trying to get DQ’d, and attempting to win by countout was on brand. I even stayed with it during the ‘picture in picture’, although my attention couldn’t help but go to the left of the screen when Natalie Portman was on there pushing her perfume.
I’m sure most fans saw the Shayna Wayne involvement coming a continent away, but it was still effective. She’s gonna be a little raw and inexperienced, but she did a fine job looking torn and while many were expecting a make-out session with Christian, I think it was smart to wait on that as it would be weird if she just forgot about all the horrible things Christian said to her just a a few weeks ago. But don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t be long until she’s ‘hanging’ with her son’s new Dad!
MISSES
TAG MATCH EXPLANATION
It would have been nice during the MJF & Samoa Joe vs. Minions segment that the announcers explained that they won’t be having a match due to the attack on Max.
BLACK & WHITE SHENANIGANS
I am a fan of a lot of what Toni Storm is doing with her wacky character and if I’m watching a short backstage segment that’s in black and white, I’m fine with it, but please stop switching to black and white during the matches she’s in. It’s dumb and distracting.
MAIN EVENT PROMOTION
With the build up and history between Christian and Adam Copeland, why did they wait an hour and 19 minutes to show a video package promoting the match. Sure they mentioned it a few times earlier, but if this was supposed to be a match 13 years in the making, I’d want interviews and hype throughout the show to get everyone ready for the main event.
WE GET IT, ALL-IN IS HAPPENING AGAIN
I know AEW is proud of All-in and the ticket sales so far and all that. I know they are going to mention it once or twice or 50 times during the show. But please… PLEASE!!…. don’t interrupt your hard-hitting grudge match main event with what seemed like the 20th mention that you can now buy tickets to an event 9 months away.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While it wasn’t as great of a show as last week, I thought Dynamite was paced well and, once again, they had very little nonsense in the show. That continues to be a selling point for me and I enjoy the shows so much more when they save the “sports entertainy” stuff for Rampage and keep Dynamite serious.
For more on all things AEW, please check out The All Elite Conversations Club on the PWTorch Dailycast podcast lineup later this week.
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Dynamite results (12/6): Powell’s live review of Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland for the TNT Title, Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue for the AEW Women’s Title, Continental Classic tournament matches
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