AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (1/14): Darby and Pac show in-ring chemistry, MJF and Bandido, Omega sharing ring with Hangman and Swerve, Harley’s boot laces

I’m ready for Carnage. Like, the maximum kind.

HITS

PAC VS. DARBY ALLIN

What a way to start the night. Maximum carnage indeed. The chemistry between the two was off the charts amazing and the crowd was hot for it from the start. As usual, Darby sold like an absolute champ.

The suplex against the steps was ridiculous, but expertly executed to protect Darby as much as possible. A slingshot that smacked Darby’s head against the rope was sick and the toss over the ropes onto the ramp looked horrific. In the end, Darby was able to overcome Wheeler Yuta’s interference and get a tap out win after crushing Pac’s ankle in a chair. A solid win to seemingly conclude Darby’s feud with the Death Riders…. for now.

OMEGA’S RETURN

It was cool to see the top three babyfaces in the company share the ring and all of them making sure that they put over the World Title as a really big deal. The segment with the three stars did not overstay its welcome. It was short and sweet and acknowledged that Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page are still pals, but the sour look on Swerve Strickland’s face when they shook hands was fantastic. I’m eager to see how this plays out.

The follow-up with the Callis family was also well done. Callis got some great heat from the crowd and I liked Omega acknowledging that he needs to get some wins to earn his shot. Just once I’d love to see a “let’s do this tonight” challenge actually come to pass, but alas, we have to wait a week to start Omega’s road to a title shot. I also have to admit that while some may have grown tired of the old Omega catch phrase, I still love to say it with him! BANG!

MJF VS. BANDIDO

This match was well promoted throughout the show and by the time the two reached the ring and the bell rang, it had a big fight feel. Well done by the production staff.

I’m going to ignore my disdain for the “Macarena” garbage and move on because I enjoyed the match so much. Sure, the result was never in doubt, but Bandido continues to impress no matter who they put in the ring with him. The dive over the barricade onto MJF was very impressive and the technical back and forth style for much of the match showed the two have some good chemistry.

The match told a nice story and I’m glad that Max won cleanly rather than having to use the diamond ring or another object to cheat. MJF was just a little bit better and even put over Bandido after the match, which is smart. It makes Max look more impressive when he does not belittle the guy he just beat.

QUICK HITS

– The venue was shot well. The low angles and the way it was lit helped it look like there were row after row of rowdy fans.

– Hangman Page vs. Bryan Keith was a good match, but it’s hard to get invested when Keith hasn’t won a match in what seems like a year. The match went way longer than it needed to.

– It was nice to have Bryan Danielson back on commentary. When there is no former wrestler to give insight, something is missing. I also liked having a two-man booth. That way, when someone joins the table for a match, it does not seem like we are all watching The View where everyone talks over each other.

– If we are to take the Sky Flight group seriously, they really need to pick up some wins on AEW television.

– Maybe it’s the parent in me, but I spent much of the 6-women tag match worrying about Harley Cameron’s boot laces being all over the place and hoping she wouldn’t trip and hurt herself!

– Hangman Page recruiting Jet Speed to go after the Trios titles was a cool moment and a great way to promote and get some eyes on this week’s episode of Collision.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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MISSES

TAG DIVISION LACKING

While the four-way tag match was a lot of fun with the combination of high-flyers and big tough guys, the decision to have this be the match to showcase the brand new duo of Mark Davis and Jake Doyle was questionable at best. Again, the match was entertaining and the “OH” count from the crowd must have been easily in the 20s. However, it makes little sense to have the new guys earn a title shot in their first match, especially when it will be against a strong heel team in FTR.

You could tell the crowd didn’t know what to do when FTR came out to face them. It would have been much better to have Davis & Doyle beat Jet Speed in a regular tag match than have this result. The tag division has a lot of talent, but it’s not being utilized to the fullest right now because it seems like they are biding time until Copeland and Christian come back to get revenge on FTR.

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