AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (2/18): Swerve turn gives AEW a big-time heel at the top of the card, Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis in a slugfest, MJF-Hangman in-ring exchange a home run

It was another impressive card for Dynamite in Sacramento. Let’s see if they can keep a string of solid Wednesday nights going.

HITS

MOXLEY VS. DAVIS

I wasn’t sure about choosing this match as the opener, but they won me over with one hell of a slugfest. The best thing to happen in the match was Mark Davis cutting his hand because it really took the match to another level when you see how Moxley was able to use his experience to make that a focal point. It certainly got the fans more into it.

What also helped it feel more important was that it was a clear babyface vs. heel battle where the crowd was definitely behind Mox. This match showed how talented Davis can be and it’s too bad he’s been so unlucky in recent years with injuries to himself and his partners.

MJF-HANGMAN IN-RING CHAT

This was another great performance from MJF. He continues to refrain from the old cute and clever lines that would get “ohhhhh” reactions from the fans. He was serious. He got right to the point. “I hate you” was a perfect way to start and taking shots at Hangman’s failures was a perfect place to end it.

Hangman was just as good. He laid out his feelings pretty clearly and everything made sense. He made one comment about Max’s hair, but the rest of it was pretty serious and that’s what a World Title program should be.

Then came the stipulation. What a ride this was. MJF may be a coward and a heel, but he is smart. He played into Hangman’s weakness, which is acting before thinking. Now it’s likely we’ll have a Texas Death Match, but with Hangman saying he won’t ever challenge for the World Title again if he loses, it makes this match gigantic. I’m not sure how they are going to handle it, but it’s going to be exciting finding out. The look on Hangman’s face as he left the ring was very well done to show how he may have regretted what he offered.

As far as hype goes for Revolution, this was a home run segment.

SWERVE VS. OMEGA

First of all, I give a lot of credit to AEW for giving us this main event on free television. This was a PPV-worthy matchup, especially since it was the first time they’ve gone 1-on-1.

This match was fantastic. They both made it feel like a big deal and that we were seeing something special on a Wednesday night in the middle of February. There were a couple of shaky spots early on in the match, but that just made the amazing moves later mean much more because they pulled those off brilliantly.

Their storytelling was solid and Bryan Danielson added a lot on commentary constantly referencing his matches with both guys.

And then there’s the turn. There had been some speculation, but this was a masterful job of Swerve slowly turning heel as the match went on. First, a couple of borderline heelish moves. Second, pulling Aubrey Edwards into harm’s way. Third, using underhanded tactics to punish Omega enough to get the win. And finally, the post-match attack. I am not a fan of the hanging spot, but that was over quickly and the exclamation point was putting him through the announce table.

AEW was in need of another big time heel at the top of the card and now they have one.

QUICK HITS

– Big Stoke was the star of the FTR-Young Bucks segment. He got the crowd completely onboard in getting behind Matt and Nick Jackson to assault him. Unfortunately, a technical glitch caused the television audience to miss the superkick. There are a lot of issues that could have caused that so I’m not going to criticize the company completely, but it was an anticlimactic ending for those watching at home.

– The TBS Title 4-way wasn’t the cleanest match, but the four women did a good job with all of the chaos that a 4-way can provide. There were a few spots that were close to catastrophe, but there was also plenty of good action that had the crowd engaged the entire time.

– It was nice for the broadcast to acknowledge the passing of Kerwin Silfies. AEW continues to do a great job showing respect to the business no matter where a person spent most of their career. I would have liked for them to have shown a picture of him as they went to break.

– The slap fight between Tomohiro Ishii and Gabe Kidd was off the charts. It’s unfortunate Ishii was legitimately hurt on what looked like a normal clothesline, but my goodness did he show some toughness if that was indeed a legit injury. To be able to fight through the pain and execute so many power moves was a testament to Ishii being a total badass.

– Kevin Knight vs. Beast Mortos was a fun buffer match to have just before the main event. It’s nice to see Knight continue to rack up wins.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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MISSES

LIGHT THE CROWD EARLIER!

The crowd in Sacramento was loud from the start. They were chanting and cheering. The venue may not have been the most ideal set up visually, but who cares?! They reportedly had a sellout of 3,000 fans in the building, so light the crowd better so we can see them to set the tone for the show! It made it look like they are trying to hide something by keeping it that dark. About halfway through the show, they did start lighting it better, so I’ll end up making this a “Half-Miss”!

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