AEW Dynamite Review - April 15, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lance Archer def. Colt Cabana in an AEW TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

The pre-match promos that accompanied this first round outing were a nice touch. Even though the outcome was never in doubt, I thought this was an enjoyable opener and I didn't have any problem with Cabana lasting as long as he did. Archer went over decisively and that's all that matters. I fully expect it to be Archer vs. Cody in the finals of the tourney with Archer going over.

Britt Baker def. Cassandra Golden

Baker is really starting to find her footing as a heel and I loved the little promo that aired beforehand with her in her dentist's office discussing the injury she sustained at the hands of Hikaru Shida last week. Speaking of which, that match was absolutely excellent and I hope she can continue to incorporate that aggression in her matches going forward. This was a short and sweet squash that allowed her to bounce back from last week's loss.

Sammy Guevara def. Suge D

Chris Jericho dubbed Suge D "Pineapple Pete" last week and immediately got him over in the process. He stood no chance here, so I don't think there was a need for it to be five minutes length. On the bright side, Guevara's antics were entertaining and Jericho's commentary was the best part about this. Darby Allin going after Guevara afterward set the stage for their first round clash next week.

Kip Sabian def. Chuck Taylor

I'm a fan of Best Friends and both of these guys are good, but there was zero reason for this match and I couldn't have cared less as a result. Most of Sabian's matches blend together due to Penelope Ford's constant interference and I didn't think this was anything above of average. I don't view Sabian as a threat at all, but he needed this win going into this his first round match in the AEW TNT Championship Tournament against Dustin Rhodes.

Shawn Spears def. Justin Law

I got my fill of Spears on Tuesday's episode of Dark when he faced Billy Gunn in an overly-long match. That isn't to say this was bad, but I fail to see what purpose it served. Sure, it gave Spears a rebound win following his loss to Cody last week, but for what? They weren't doing anything with him prior to the tourney aside from teasing that he was searching for a tag team partner, a storyline I assume has been put on hold for the time being.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. JAke Hager in a No Holds Barred Empty Arena Match

Props to AEW for hyping the hell out of this main event over the past two weeks and giving it a big fight feel, but this fell flat for me. It went long for the sake of going long and didn't have anything special about it. I applaud their effort and Jim Ross did his best on commentary (doing a better job than Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton did with the Last Man Standing match at WWE WrestleMania 36), but the fact of the matter is that I never bought into the possibility of Hager capturing the title. Worse yet, their styles didn't mesh well and it made for an underwhelming affair on the whole. Here's hoping this is the last we see of Hager in the title picture.

Overall Show

AEW has been producing some strong shows with Dynamite lately, but this wasn't one of them. The main event was boring and the many squash matches made it feel like I was watching an episode of Dark. The show peaked with Archer vs. Cabana and everything that followed was painfully average in my mind. I realize they taped a month's worth of content at one time in early April and we might be seeing more of the same going forward, but this didn't generate a ton of excitement from me. The rest of the TNT title tourney should be great, though.