{"id":215038,"date":"2026-04-16T11:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=215038"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:53:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:53:02","slug":"aew-dynamite-hits-misses-darbys-aew-title-win-and-why-it-made-sense-and-will-be-fondly-remembered-plus-thekla-schiavone-a-fan-sign-ospreay-jericho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/04\/16\/aew-dynamite-hits-misses-darbys-aew-title-win-and-why-it-made-sense-and-will-be-fondly-remembered-plus-thekla-schiavone-a-fan-sign-ospreay-jericho\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW DYNAMITE HITS &#038; MISSES: Darby&#8217;s AEW Title win and why it made sense and will be fondly remembered, plus Thekla, Schiavone, a fan sign, Ospreay, Jericho"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-49723111\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>HITS<\/h3>\n<p><strong>DARBY IS THE NEW CHAMP!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is a lot to unpack here, so I&#8217;ll start at the beginning of the show. The opening segment with Renee Paquette outside the arena was very contrived. However, it was also very effective. It was amusing to see overconfident MJF right from the start and that continued until the moment he lost. They set the narrative right from the opening minutes of the show with his temper tantrum.<\/p>\n<p>Darby&#8217;s emotions in the ring was the first clear sign in my mind that he was winning, but it was a great promo and built from his mic work on last week&#8217;s Dynamite and from Dynasty on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>It was another great job by AEW to build an &#8220;organic&#8221; main event that gave viewers something to look forward to and made it difficult to bail on watching the entire show.<\/p>\n<p>The video packages later in the first hour were very well done and set up the &#8220;headlock, takeover&#8221; finish in the main event.<\/p>\n<p>When I saw Sting arrive for a pep talk backstage before the match started, I was convinced Darby was going to win. My extensive background of watching pro wrestling since the mid-1980s stole some of the shock and intrigue that a newer viewer may have had and I was kind of bummed about that. However, while very transparent, I felt it was effective in building to a real moment.<\/p>\n<p>As for the match, I would have liked it to be a little longer, but I understand the entire narrative here was to make this more of a fluke win over an overconfident guy who wasn&#8217;t expecting to wrestle in the show at all and was also three days removed from a grueling match with Kenny Omega.<\/p>\n<p>As for Darby winning the title, I have no problem with it. This guy has been the heart and soul of the company from the moment he showed up. He got himself over with stunt-like spots, but he was so much more than a guy throwing himself down stairs. The emotion he brought week after week was infectious and he presented himself as an AEW guy now and forever. If anyone deserved a moment like this, it is him &#8211; and I&#8217;m glad he got it in front of his family in his home state.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-814168734\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>What&#8217;s next? I would be fine with MJF complaining for a few weeks and regains the title at Double or Nothing. In the meantime, Darby can bask in this glory and knock off a couple of title defenses.<\/p>\n<p>While we all likely saw this coming as the show progressed, it was still a moving moment and one that I think will be fondly remembered.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/aew-dynamite-darby-wins-aew-world-title-in-2-minutes-what-does-it-mean-and-was-it-a-good-idea-keller-buhagiar-4-15--71359834\">CLICK HERE<\/a> (or search \u201cwade Keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"AEW DYNAMITE: Darby Wins AEW World Title in 2 minutes - what does it mean and was it a good idea? Keller &amp; Buhagiar (4\/15)\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=71359834&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>WILL OSPREAY VS. HECHICERO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>OWill spreay still has the best entrance in AEW by a mile. Outside of Darby, the crowd was on their feet more for Ospreay than anyone else. On the flip side, Don Callis gets such a great heel reaction every time he comes out and his attempt at speaking Spanish when introducing Hechicero is always entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>Tony Schiavone saying he thought he heard &#8220;Super Nintendo&#8221; in that gibberish was his best line in months!<\/p>\n<p>The match was exceptional. It blended the usual impressive spots that both Ospreay and Hechicero can pull off with grappling and an ongoing story about how healthy Ospreay really is. They didn&#8217;t go overboard with intimating that Ospreay could be seriously injured, but played up that he&#8217;s not 100 percent and his neck is a weakness at this point. Bryan Danielson did a great job on commentary discussing that aspect of the story, with personal comparisons that really added to it.<\/p>\n<p>Marina Shafir showing up to scout Ospreay was an interesting touch and the follow up backstage interview with Jon Moxley was very well done as he asked Marina how he looked. Mox can&#8217;t be bothered to watch the TV backstage I guess, but it makes sense with his character and what he believes he is trying to accomplish. It was another Moxley home run segment as he pivoted to preview his match with Nick Wayne on Collision as well.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3875602374\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>QUICK HITS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; &#8220;MJF spins the square in Tetris&#8221; was the sign of the night! (or month!)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Tomasso Ciampa&#8217;s win over Desmond Xavier was a fun match. It was a good win for Ciampa and a solid follow up promo where we now know he is likely Darby&#8217;s first challenger for the title.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; FTR was hateable as usual. Stealing the &#8220;10 second pose&#8221; bit from Copeland and Christian was a nice touch to further this feud and it was smart to give C&amp;C a break this week to let it be all about FTR gloating over their win.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Kevin Knight looked great in his victory over Claudio. I think he&#8217;ll be a great TNT Champ. I&#8217;m still not sure what to make of his promos as they ride that line of cocky heel, but he is still likable at this time. I&#8217;m still hoping the arrogance takes over at some point and he can join Swerve Strickland to make a great heel duo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Chris Jericho is still getting decent reactions so far, but there may be a limit on how long this will go. I got a kick out of Jericho pulling out the old Saturday Night Live &#8220;Mr. Subliminal&#8221; bit when calling Ricochet bald during his promo. Respect to comedy legend Kevin Nealon! Jericho getting beat up with no help from anyone in the back may be a way to garner sympathy for him to make him more likable in this current iteration.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I know they are about to turn Hikaru Shida heel, but to me it&#8217;ll be a pure babyface move when she takes out Kris Statlander. Stat&#8217;s character is still a mess.<\/p>\n<h3>PART HIT\/PART MISS<\/h3>\n<p><strong>THEKLA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thekla is so close to being exactly what I want as a main event women&#8217;s heel.<\/p>\n<p>Great look? Check.<\/p>\n<p>Great in the ring? Check.<\/p>\n<p>Great on the mic? Ehhh&#8230;. I think she&#8217;s gotten better from a debacle of a promo a couple months ago on Collision. However, there are still some things that just aren&#8217;t clicking. Much of this week&#8217;s promo from the crowd was very good, especially her delivery on getting fired from Japan. The strange laugh should be dropped immediately as it&#8217;s way too over the top. She also still has some issues with the cadence of her voice in delivering promos.<\/p>\n<p>I think she is on the right track and more experience talking in front of crowds will do her good, but I&#8217;m hoping she can tweak some of the delivery because she is very close to being exactly what AEW needs her to be and for the fans to want to see someone get the best of her.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Don&#8217;t forget to check out the weekly free podcast I&#8217;m part of, &#8220;The All Elite Conversation Club&#8221; that drops on Fridays on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/podcast\/pwtorch-dailycast--3276210\">PWTorch Dailycast lineup<\/a>. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW. Search &#8220;pwtorch&#8221; on your podcast app to subscribe. Send questions and comments to <a href=\"mailto:allelitecc@gmail.com\">allelitecc@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (4\/15) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; J.B.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s_Ld3DOWbjY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3951052026\"><div id=\"pwtor-4107837338\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>HITS DARBY IS THE NEW CHAMP! There is a lot to unpack here, so I&#8217;ll start at the beginning of the show. The opening segment with Renee Paquette outside the arena was very contrived. However, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/04\/16\/aew-dynamite-hits-misses-darbys-aew-title-win-and-why-it-made-sense-and-will-be-fondly-remembered-plus-thekla-schiavone-a-fan-sign-ospreay-jericho\/\" title=\"AEW DYNAMITE HITS &#038; MISSES: Darby&#8217;s AEW Title win and why it made sense and will be fondly remembered, plus Thekla, Schiavone, a fan sign, Ospreay, Jericho\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-16-at-11.52.08-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215040,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215038\/revisions\/215040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}