AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash Review - December 20, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Swerve Strickland def. Rush in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

This was a necessary rebound win for Strickland after losing to Jon Moxley in last week's main event. Rush hasn't beating any of the big names in the tournament and Strickland was no exception, but they had a hard-hitting, enjoyable opener, nonetheless. I hope Rush can sustain this momentum coming out of the Continental Classic and actually pop up on Dynamite more often because the guy is great.

Mark Briscoe def. Jay Lethal in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

Of course, this was meaningless due to both guys coming into this with zero points each, but they didn't stop them from going in there and having a top-notch match, much like they did on Dynamite at the beginning of the year following Jay Briscoe's passing. Mark is over enough that fans didn't care about the lack of stakes and were into this, anyway. As for Lethal, his strong showings in the Continental Classic should be used as an opportunity to finally break him away from that goofy group of his.

AEW World Champion and ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF and Samoa Joe Fended Off Masked Men

I'm really looking forward to MJF vs. Joe at Worlds End because their original encounter at Grand Slam was excellent and this rematch could easily go either way. I'm also looking forward to this crap with The Devil being enough and I suspect we'll find out who the masked men are then, too. A whole bunch of them emerged here to attack MJF and Joe, which was completely ridiculous. I'm also not confident we're actually going to get the ROH World Tag Team Championship match next week. When it was just Joe and MJF in there, it was a solid segment.

Riho def. Saraya in an AEW Women's World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

It would been easy to book this bout without any stakes and then randomly award Riho a title shot at Worlds End, but I'm glad this was officially billed as a number one contender's match. Saraya has also had issues with Toni Storm, but Riho has been built up since her return and thus the outcome was never in question. They had a well-wrestled match and I'm looking forward to seeing what Storm and Riho can do together at the pay-per-view.

Roderick Strong def. AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander (Non-Title)

Strong has been racking up singles wins over the last month, so there has to be a reason why he's being built up, right? The same can be said for Wardlow, which is why I'm pretty confident they (along with The Kingdom) will be revealed as members of The Devil's group. We have yet to get MJF vs. Strong, so that's another possibility. At any rate, this was a fun match these two with Komander looking credible in defeat per usual.

Jay White def. Jon Moxley in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

These two last went one-on-one in the G1 Climax four years ago (if I'm not mistaken). I didn't see that match, but this was very entertaining as you'd expect from them. Moxley was likely favored by fans to win, but I wanted White to win so he, Moxley and Strickland could all be tied with 12 points heading into next week. I was just surprised he won clean, but I'm not complaining. A three-way next week will determine the winner of the Gold League.

Overall Show

Once again, the Continental Classic carried this show. Who the hell knows what's going to happen to Dynamite and Collision once it's over because it's given them a clear, focused direction for a change. The wrestling has definitely delivered and made this a thumbs-up episode. Meanwhile, the Devil storyline has worn out its welcome and needs to reach its conclusion very soon. Plus, the card for Worlds End is far from complete, which is inexcusable considering the event is next weekend. Building to these pay-per-views weeks in advance continues to be an issue for AEW.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews