AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (3/11): Fletcher vs. Speedball for TNT Title, Hangman-MJF press conference and brawl, Danielson’s one-liner, Mox & Claudio vs. Takeshita & Hechicero

It’s go home for Revolution. Here we go!

HITS

KYLE FLETCHER VS. SPEEDBALL BAILEY

This was a fantastic match with some great storytelling, great spots, and great commentary. The chemistry between the two was fantastic. Both wrestlers sold effectively throughout the bout. Don Callis was crushing it, making fun of Tony Schiavone’s age, the possible ringworm that Speedball may get for wrestling with no shoes, as well as dropping some physics knowledge on us. Bryan Danielson was great as well and it was great to have him back at the announce table to give the necessary analysis.

Something as simple as Fletcher taking two seconds to talk to Callis costing him furthered the exceptional storytelling. The corkscrew moonsault to the outside by Speedball was a thing of beauty. Sure we expected Fletcher to retain, but Speedball’s performance had the crowd reacting to every near fall. This match was right up there with their Continental Classic battle, but unlike that one, we had an unfortunate distraction finish that left a bad taste. This was a “Hit” of a match, but had a very disappointing finish.

HANGMAN – MJF HYPE

It started with a terrific video package that effectively used older footage weaved into the narrative to tell their entire story leading to this big time match. It was one of the better video packages AEW has produced over the years.

The press conference was decent and an original way to promote the main event. Hangman’s best line was saying Max will leave Revolution in an ambulance and promised something so extreme that fans will never forget it. With what AEW’s done in the past, that’s quite a promise and quite frankly makes me a little nervous! Predictably, it got physical and they ended up in the arena brawling and giving fans a preview of what is to come. What I liked most was that they tried something new with this and did not do a typical contract signing in the ring where someone goes through a table. I honestly have no idea what way they are going on Sunday and that makes the build a success.

One note, I have worked in the media for more than 30 years. The press DOES NOT applaud participants at press conferences. It’s not professional.

QUICK HITS

– The opening tag match between Jon Moxley & Claudio vs. Takeshita & Hechicero was very enjoyable. I would prefer opening a show with a clear babyface vs. heel match to get the crowd going, but by the end of the match, these four did the job and the fans were very much into it. It did enough to set up what should be a classic between Mox and Takeshita at Revolution, especially with Takeshita pretty much cementing his babyface turn by refusing to hit Mox with a chair.

– “Claudio has a super tight small package” — Bryan Danielson (Sorry, I may be old, but my sense of humor is not.)

– I’m intrigued by MJF’s interactions with wrestlers backstage like Kyle Fletcher. It sets up future storylines while we wonder whether he’ll still be champion after Sunday.

– Ian Riccabani to Don Callis: “Why are you hiding behind me, what am I going to do?!” — Callis: “Human Shield.” – Priceless!!

– The Brody King-Swerve Strickland altercation was well put together. From Swerve hiding in the crowd, to Brody breaking the chain to Nana landing “blow” after “blow” to Brody’s back, this segment did a great job setting up their match at Revolution.

– I loved the match between The Dogs and Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin. These three are menacing and need to rack up wins to make sure viewers take them seriously. However, the Roderick Strong portion really made no sense to me. He moped around for months with the Conglomeration, then left Orange Cassidy mid-match and now comes back and helps him? The crowd enjoyed it, but it seemed like a swerve for the sake of a swerve.

– I want to give Riccabani’s Willow Nightingale rap a “Miss,” but the immense joy he had on his face while delivering it made me smile so he’s off the hook!

– Willow vs. Persephone was a well-wrestled match with a solid story. It’s not often you see a backslide win, but it worked here.

– The main event trios match was another fun one, but it wasn’t quite good enough for a full “Hit.” There were some great spots, but there were a number of them that were not timed well and thus threw off the flow. The right team won, but I felt commentary needed to do a better job calling out the actions of Tomasso Ciampa in a stronger way when recapping his heel turn on Collision last week. The post-match beatdown furthered their feud, but despite some good wrestling, something was missing in this one for me.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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MISSES

I didn’t feel there was a clear “Miss” on this show. I noted above some of the things that didn’t really work as well as they hoped and some things they could have done better. This show did a good job setting up what should be a decent card that’ll have some exceptional wrestling and a HUGE violent main event.

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