AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (5/7): Hangman and Ospreay, Six-Man All-Star Action, Women’s Eliminator, Okada’s Character, Samoa Joe is a Star,

Live from The Masonic Temple in Detroit, it’s Dynamite! Yes, I was in the building. And yes, AEW did a poor job promoting the event over the past couple of weeks. Honestly, going into the night, I was excited to be there, especially since it was the first time in two years AEW was in my area. However, there was not that anticipation that I was hoping for because only two matches were promoted on TV. At the end of the night, though, I thought the show was very good and below you can read why!

HITS

HANGMAN AND OSPREAY IN-RING SEGMENT

AEW rarely starts a show with an in-ring promo segment, but it’s nice to mix things up every now and then. This was a home run because the crowd was ready and hoping to see some stars and perhaps not promoting it more made this a bit of a surprise. Hangman did a great job laying out his feelings and finally embracing the fans’ love. When Will Ospreay’s music hit, the crowd’s eruption in the building actually gave me chills. Their interaction was cool because it was something we have not seen before and adding the Callis Family added that heat that made the segment whole. The crowd was booing Callis so loudly that we could barely hear him. This was a great way to start the show.

WOMEN’S ELIMINATOR MATCH

I, and the fans in the building, had a blast with this match. Toni Storm continues to be hugely popular with the crowd and each woman held her own. The crowd was behind Thunder Rosa as well, which was nice to see. Toni getting revenge with a low blow on Penelope Ford was a cool way to end it. Did the match need interference from Megan Bayne? Perhaps not, but it keeps her in the minds of the fans and that’s an important note when it comes to AEW, who can often allow talent to be off TV for weeks at a time when they don’t have a feud for them.

This match also featured the line of the night from Taz, who, after Toni took the first low blow, quipped “maybe she’s wearing a cup!” That got me.

HURT SYNDICATE AND MJF LATEST

Once again, the crowd gave a great reaction to the Hurt Syndicate and MJF. Most of it was due to this story being the most intriguing thing going on AEW TV right now, but also because they were not advertised, so it was a surprise to see them. Sure, we all were hoping to see them, but you never know who is going to show up week to week, especially if they aren’t promoted.

The story was predictable but very entertaining and the crowds in recent weeks have really gotten behind MJF. AEW has a big decision to make in their direction of this story. Should MJF be rebuffed so Cedric Alexander can join? Or, do they welcome him into the group and open up some new stories? Either way, this was a solid segment with a tease ahead to next week’s big decision by “Bob” Lashley.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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SIX-MAN ALL STAR MATCH

This match was exactly what you expected. The crowd ate up all the action and all six competitors were fantastic as usual. Swerve was the fan favorite and while it was tough to see him take the pin, I’m sure there will be a story there with how Swerve’s anger can cost him. The crowd LOVES to jeer Ricochet and he is doing a great job in his role. I give him a lot of credit in differentiating himself from the other high-flyers. All three babyfaces got individual cheers at one point in the match and the crowd played along with the Bucks heel personas despite their appreciation for their style.

SAMOA JOE IS A STAR

There was not much suspense to the outcome of this match, but you would not know it because Samoa Joe has a hold on the crowd that likely makes many wrestlers jealous. He oozes cool and even though we know he won’t be defeating Jon Moxley for the title, it’s just fun to see him wreak havoc in the ring. The post-match was a little anticlimactic, but after two hours of good wrestling, the crowd was still hot for Joe.

QUICK HITS

– FTR and Stokey bullying Tony Schiavone continued a solid opening segment to the show. They are effective in their heel roles now and it certainly made me want to see someone beat them up. Will it be Danny Garcia? Probably not, but I’d like to see Nigel McGuinness do it!

– It was cool to see Rhino show up in his hometown and he got a great reaction for his match with Nick Wayne. The crowd was livid that Rhino took a clean pin rather quickly, but I thought it was effective in making Wayne look good as he heads over to Japan and I’m sure Rhino will get a more positive result on Collision.

– The Jamie Hayter interview was decent, and the brawl afterwards looked very cool in the building. They are pulling out all the stops in trying to make this match seem less predictable. It’s a big spot for Hayter, win or lose, to show she can go with Mercedes in a PPV match.

MISSES

OKADA IS STILL MISCAST

This was a tough one because Okada and Kevin Knight did a good job in their match and told a good story. The match was not a “miss”, but I find myself frustrated with the fact that the crowd loves to cheer Okada, but in his current role, he’s fighting against a current. Okada is giving this heel role all he can and looks like he is enjoying it, but the overall presentation just is not working for me. I hope they can work on his character and either turn him into a babyface or go stronger in his heel persona as they get set to likely match him up with Kenny Omega for All-In.

PROMOTE THE MAIN EVENT… AGAIN

It was not as noticeable in the building and we all knew what was coming up, but for those at home, I’ll continue to say that hearing from both participants of the main event during the show would be wise.

I had a great time at Dynamite. The show flowed very well and there were no lulls. AEW does a good job keeping everything moving where you never really have any down time. Even when they went to commercials, Justin Roberts engaged the crowd and for one of them, Christian Cage decided to heel on us to increase the boos for when they returned from the break. Hopefully it won’t be two more years until they return to Detroit.

Don’t forget to check out the weekly free podcast I’m part of, “The All Elite Conversation Club” that typically drops on Fridays the PWTorch Dailycast lineup. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW! Search “pwtorch” on your podcast app to subscribe. Send questions and comments to allelitecc@gmail.com.