AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (9/3): Brodido vs. Claudio & Yuta, Wild Opening Segment with Gabe Kidd and Darby, Mercedes vs. Windsor, All-Star Eight-man tag, more

It was a newsworthy day for AEW with Dynamite set for week number two in Philly. Their PPVs will now be available on HBO Max with a $10 discount and All Out will now begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 20 from Toronto. Please check out this week’s “All Elite Conversation Club” on the PWTorch Dailycast podcast this Friday to hear Joel Denhel and I give our thoughts on these announcements, but as for this episode of Dynamite, let’s see how they did.

HITS

WILD OPENING SEGMENT

I am a big fan of Gabe Kidd, so seeing him open up the show was a strong start for me. The narrative picked up just where we left off last Wednesday night when Darby Allin fled from the Death Riders. This time he had some help. Now, having Hook come out to add another angle with him miffed that the Opps stole his thunder was a bit jarring at the time, but they did a good job following up with the backstage interview where we got some clarity on why Hook has been so upset with Samoa Joe. The lack of response to Hook and his new, strange music, likely means we will be seeing him turn heel sooner rather than later.

This opening segment set the tone that the show was going to be a bit off the rails. Oh, and they listened to me this week by giving a rundown of what was to come on the show right off the bat and gave more information before going to the first break. Well done!!

TAG TITLE MATCH

While this was a great match, it was the crowd that put it over the top. They were into this from the start. As far as fan-favorites go, Brodido clearly received the loudest positive reaction from the crowd. And for a guy who loses constantly, Yuta has an impressive amount of heat from the fans. That’s a testament to him and makes him a compelling character to keep an eye on.

This match combined some impressive spots with some entertaining moments that made it a blast to watch. Darby coming out to thwart the interference from Jon Moxley further moved their story along.

I never would have thought years ago that a threesome of Darby Allin, Brody King and Bandido would have a Philly crowd on their feet, cheering and chanting. Kudos to all three of those guys for pulling that off.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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THE MAIN EVENT

All eight competitors were able to shine in this one. It was wild, fast, and athletic. Exactly what you would expect and it was great TV. Seeing the four Elite members battling in the middle of the ring was a cool moment that the crowd picked up on immediately. It had been a while since I heard an “Elite” chant so that was a nice callback.

It was important to have the Callis family come out on top so they remain a threat to every babyface in the company. The arrogance of Don Callis is at an all-time high and that’s a good thing.

The beatdown of Kenny Omega was a familiar sight, but I’m assuming it’s to set up a match at All Out allowing Kenny, with perhaps Hangman Page, to get his revenge.

QUICK HITS

– Mercedes Mone and Alex Windsor wrestled a great match. Both women are very skilled and showed good chemistry. It’s important to have Mercedes get regular wins over well-respected opponents to remind everyone how good she is. I loved the fake out of announcing the time left in the match when they were 10 minutes in. Doing that on a regular basis makes draws far less predictable. Once the fans realized that it was Riho that returned to save Alex, they gave her a nice response. Riho is definitely someone who can give Mercedes a good match at All Out.

– It’s not often AEW promotes matches for Collision, so it was nice to see them set up what should be a great battle between Mark Briscoe and Takeshita for Saturday night as well as a video package previewing the match between Moxley and Daniel Garcia.

– It was a nice change of pace to feature Copeland/Christian in a pull apart brawl with FTR rather than another talking segment.

– It was nice they showed Taz’s banner for being inducted into the 2300 Arena Hall of Fame, but I think they missed an opportunity to show a little bit of the footage AEW put out last week of Taz being honored after Dynamite. It was very touching and it’s not often we see Taz get emotional, so I think it was something they could have spent 30-45 seconds revisiting since it was not broadcast on the show last week. Taz mentioned it, but it would have meant more to see it or at the very least have Excalibur let viewers know it’s on AEW’s YouTube page.

MISSES

While this was not a headline making show, I saw nothing I would consider a “Miss” in the episode. This was a solid two hours that further built stories toward All Out.

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.