AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (6/12): Dustin vs. Perry, MJF-Rush angle, Ospreay vs. Fenix, Ospreay-Swerve exchange, The Acclaimed, Mark Briscoe

After a bounce-back edition of Dynamite last week, AEW was in Des Moines, Iowa to continue the build to Forbidden Door. There were some good matchups on paper planned for the show including what should be a classic with Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix. Plus, we’ll get some TV Time with Chris Jericho!! Isn’t everyone fired up for that?!? On that note, let’s see how they did this week. Bye Guys!!!

HITS

DUSTIN VS. PERRY

You gotta hand it to Dustin Rhodes. He’s not on TV much these days and Methuselah thinks he’s old, but he has a passion that is nearly unmatched in the company. Rhodes and Jack Perry put on a great match. Dustin really got the crowd into it and they were loud and chanting even though we all knew who was going to come out on top in the end. Kudos to Rhodes for continuing to give everything he has at the tail end of his career.

I STILL LOVE MARK BRISCOE

How could you not enjoy every second of Mark Briscoe’s backstage promo? The guy was all over the place in the best possible way. Watching Kyle O’Reilly’s face during the whole thing was hilarious and when Briscoe was done, O’Reilly saying “I’m so motivated!” was perfect. O’Reilly hasn’t been the most expressive guy outside of the ring since his return, but Briscoe got it out of him! Mark Briscoe is entertainment and I write it and say it every week, he needs to be showcased every Wednesday.

MJF-RUSH ANGLE

When there was no mention of MJF at the top of the broadcast, I was prepared for a major “miss” if he was not on the show this week. Thank goodness I didn’t have to follow through with that. The surprise appearance of MJF got a huge crowd reaction and that helped make the pull apart brawl something special. Even better, they spent the last two weeks building to a match between the two and then they paid it off by promoting it for next week’s show with no commercial interruptions. Good calls all around on this program.

OSPREAY-REY AND THE CLOSING ANGLE

As you would have expected, the Ospreay-Rey Fenix match was a blast to watch. The best part for me was in past years, they would have likely ended the match by showing a couple seconds of Swerve looking on and that would have been it. However, this time, they had the two wrestlers confront each other in the ring. I loved that they didn’t use microphones and you were able to hear what Swerve was saying to him like we were a fly on the wall to a private conversation. It added tension to the program with just over two weeks to go until Forbidden Door. It was a solid ending to the show.

QUICK HITS

– The six-man tag match was fun. All six guys put on a show and it was nice to see the Callis Family get a win. They needed it.

– Hook doing the “Samoa Joe walkaway” was great

– I now know the proper compost level for growing corn. Thanks Chris!!!

– Hey Nana! Pull your pants up!

MISSES

ACCLAIMED TO THE RESCUE?

I thought the opening segment was well done and teased what SHOULD be an epic Blood & Guts match in July, but bringing out the ice-cold Acclaimed to “save” Swerve and have all the heels run from a group that has not been much of anything in the past six months was a mistake. I realize they want to save the members of the “Team AEW” group for a later reveal, but there was very little reaction when the Acclaimed showed up and Tony Khan should have seen that coming.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I felt like this was a good episode of Dynamite that packed a ton into it. Perhaps it was too much, but with Dynamite being the show that gets the most ratings by far, I’m guessing they feel they need to stuff it full of storylines and promos. They also did a better job this week promoting Collision and next week’s Dynamite.

PODCAST TIME…

Continued thanks to everyone listening to The All Elite Conversation Club on the PWTorch Dailycast podcast lineup. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW! Send questions and comments to allelitecc@gmail.com.

RECOMMENDED NEXT: AEW DYNAMITE RESULTS (6/12): Keller’s report on Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix, Jack Perry vs. Dustin Rhodes, TV Time with Chris Jericho, plus Mercedes, Rush

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix for the AEW International Title, Mercedes Mone vs. Zeuxis for the TBS Title, Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry in a ladder match qualifier