{"id":220550,"date":"2026-08-07T12:31:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=220550"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:31:04","slug":"aew-dynamite-hits-misses-8-5-fletcher-vs-speedball-was-so-great-ospreay-benefits-from-heel-face-dynamic-with-davis-misticos-entrance-continental-cup-lacked-format-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/08\/07\/aew-dynamite-hits-misses-8-5-fletcher-vs-speedball-was-so-great-ospreay-benefits-from-heel-face-dynamic-with-davis-misticos-entrance-continental-cup-lacked-format-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW DYNAMITE HITS &#038; MISSES (8\/5): Fletcher vs. Speedball was so great, Ospreay benefits from heel-face dynamic with Davis, Mistico&#8217;s entrance, Continental Cup lacked format overview"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1093661633\" 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><p>Atmospheres can make a show. I experienced that last week in Detroit and I can only imagine what it was like to be at Arena Mexico for this event. The crowd was amazing from the start and seeing the enthusiasm from those fans made watching this episode of Dynamite an absolute pleasure. Onto the Hits &amp; Misses!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>HITS<\/h2>\n<p><strong>OPENING 8-MAN TAG MATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was a great call to open the show with Adam Copeland to hype up the crowd and it was effective. Putting together an eight-man tag with Cope and Christian and The Young Bucks vs. The Death Riders made a lot of sense where the fans didn&#8217;t have to choose between cheering for each side. Sure, Jon Moxley is respected by the crowd, but the rest of The Death Riders are hated enough where the fans were clearly behind the babyfaces in the match. Plus, Moxley ended up cheating to get the win and they began to tell a story to increase the tension between C&amp;C and Taew he Young Bucks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3-WAY FOR GAUNTLET #1 SPOT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The crowd&#8217;s reaction to Andrade and Komander was cool to watch and Tomasso Ciampa played a perfect heel. This was a very entertaining match that allowed Komander to show off his impressive athleticism while Andrade could play to the crowd with his charisma. The fans were on their feet the entire match and while Kommander was the standout, Andrade winning at the end was the right move.<\/p>\n<p>MJF&#8217;s return was perfectly timed. He is a big time heel in Mexico after his feud with Mistico last year and taking out Andrade and getting his ring back was a great way to bring him back into the fold leading into All-In. Max came with excuses for his World Title loss to Kenny Omega and vowed to get the title back. I do hope he does not carry around the &#8220;Triple-B&#8221; belt though, as there are far too many wrestlers with belts on the show, so hopefully this was a one-off and Max can enter the Gauntlet and try to win back a shot for the title moving forward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KYLE FLETCHER VS. &#8220;SPEEDBALL&#8221; BAILEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What a great match. These two work so well together. It really stood out in the movesets that not only do they trust each other, but the spots look seamless. So many of the big spots looked so good that for a moment I was concerned one or both could have been seriously hurt, but apparently they were just that good in their execution. The first brainbuster near-fall was so well done. Speedball looked completely out of it before the shoulder came up at the last minute. Fletcher also executed a great near-fall moments later where the crowd could really buy into the possibility that Speedball would win the match. In the end, the turnbuckle brainbuster was the difference in one hell of an effort from both guys.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1031013083\" 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><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-post-show-8-5-keller-halley-talk-night-of-1-000-highspots-great-arena-mexico-crowd-mjf-s-return-all-in-line-up-thoughts--73537594\">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 POST-SHOW (8\/5): Keller &amp; Halley talk Night of 1,000 Highspots, great Arena Mexico crowd, MJF's return, All In line-up thoughts\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=73537594&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>MISTICO&#8217;S ENTRANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was blown away last year by Mistico&#8217;s entrance at Arena Mexico and it introduced me to the song &#8220;Me Muero&#8221; that they&#8217;ve consistently played for him over the last year. I was fired up to watch the encore on this episode because of how much that moment moved me and reminded me why I love pro wrestling. I was not disappointed and this time I could actually sing a couple of the lyrics while watching! (I did not sing them well, or likely correctly, but I had fun doing it!)<\/p>\n<p>I got chills once again by the way the crowd came together to share in that moment and to see them also loudly sing along with Chris Jericho&#8217;s &#8220;Judas&#8221; just drilled down on how cool pro wrestling can be, and while watching on TV is great, being in that atmosphere makes it truly special. The two-shot of Kazuchika Okada looking annoyed while watching Mistico get serenaded was well-produced.<\/p>\n<p><strong>OSPREAY VS. DAVIS STREETFIGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Will Ospreay is certainly feeling it. He looks and acts like a star. The crowd was crazy hot for him. This was a great match to watch because it was a clear babyface\/heel dynamic. The fans love Ospreay and hate Davis and that adds a different kind of energy than you get when you have two wrestlers who the crowd likes and respects.<\/p>\n<p>The first half of the match was fine, but once Davis cracked the &#8220;board&#8221; over Ospreay&#8217;s head and he tumbled down the stairs, it really picked up. The spot with Ospreay being dropped on two chairs was not pretty and it makes you wonder why they would decide to have the headliner for their biggest show wrestle a match like this three weeks before the event. The match was wild and entertaining if you like that kind of stuff, but they were taking a major gamble with their likely future champion. I sincerely hope he does not wrestle again until the PPV.<\/p>\n<p>As for the end of the match, I liked the story of Ospreay using what he learned from the Death Riders and showing his aggressiveness to get the win.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1411825069\" 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; The women&#8217;s six-person match was a lot of fun. Willow Nightingale continued to get a good response from the crowd after last week&#8217;s special moment in Detroit. She has some great chemistry with Mercedes Mone and it was very interesting to see Willow get the pin in this one. Does that mean Mercedes walks away with the title in London? As for the other participants, it was a cookie-cutter build to the tag title match between Divine Dominion and The Brawling Birds at Wembley. I&#8217;m hoping for a sit down interview to help get fans excited for that one.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I thought Excalibur did a great job all night translating the fans&#8217; chants and really making those at home feel like they knew what it was like to be in the building. His excitement over the product has come through the past couple of weeks and that&#8217;s a big positive.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The match pitting Mistico, Jericho and Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight, Kazuchika Okada, and Hechicero was a lot of fun. Once again, the crowd loved cheering for the babyfaces while booing the heels not named Hechicero. Darby did his job of nearly suffering a major injury on countless spots! Seriously, that&#8217;s a talent that Darby deserves credit for. This was another crowd pleaser, but this time the crowd favorites got the win with Darby pinning Knight.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I was happy to see Persephone get a win over Kris Statlander even if it was tainted. I think there is a lot more they can be doing with Persephone and would like to see AEW give her a nice push where she doesn&#8217;t have to get outside help to win matches or have 50\/50 feuds.<\/p>\n<p>-Nigel &#8211; &#8220;No one is in Hangman&#8217;s corner except Ketchup-Lito&#8221; &#8230; Excalibur &#8211; &#8220;Kemalito&#8221; &#8230; Nigel &#8211; &#8220;Bless You!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Brodido &amp; &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Page winning the AEW Trios Titles gave the fans another special moment. It was a very good match with a great finishing maneuver. Just please don&#8217;t do the Macarena anymore&#8230; ever.<\/p>\n<p><strong>QUICK MISSES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I know it&#8217;s just the Trios Titles, but there have been six title changes this year alone. That&#8217;s quite a bit and it seems like it&#8217;s being used just to give some weekly Dynamite audiences a title change to see live. Due to the large roster in AEW, I believe it would be a good idea to make those titles a bigger deal and to do that, they&#8217;ll need a legitimate team to hold the titles for at least six months and actually defend them on a regular basis. Perhaps this is the reign that gives us that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; With a show that went nearly three hours, I don&#8217;t understand why you would not take a couple of minutes to explain the Continental Cup to your biggest audience. It&#8217;s an interesting concept and I liked that they did a selection show on YouTube earlier in the week that explained all the rules and gave you the participants and first round matches. As of Thursday afternoon, do you know how many views that selection show got? About 47,000. Nearly 20 times that number watch Dynamite, so you need to do more than just show what first round matches there will be on Collision this week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Please check out the weekly free podcast I&#8217;m part of, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/all-elite-conversation-club-dehnel-kanner-discuss-kanner-s-in-person-perspective-from-aew-dynamite--73322816\">&#8220;The All Elite Conversation Club&#8221;<\/a> that drops on Saturday this week 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 (8\/5) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; Halley\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3vrKqhjFQB8?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-2403420255\"><div id=\"pwtor-3214800388\"><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>Atmospheres can make a show. I experienced that last week in Detroit and I can only imagine what it was like to be at Arena Mexico for this event. The crowd was amazing from the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/08\/07\/aew-dynamite-hits-misses-8-5-fletcher-vs-speedball-was-so-great-ospreay-benefits-from-heel-face-dynamic-with-davis-misticos-entrance-continental-cup-lacked-format-overview\/\" title=\"AEW DYNAMITE HITS &#038; MISSES (8\/5): Fletcher vs. Speedball was so great, Ospreay benefits from heel-face dynamic with Davis, Mistico&#8217;s entrance, Continental Cup lacked format overview\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":220551,"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220550","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\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-at-12.25.44-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220550","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=220550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220552,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220550\/revisions\/220552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}