 Willow Nightingale and Swerve Strickland def. The Death Riders (Marina Shafir and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley)Strickland and Nightingale worked really well together as partners, and although I don't care much for Shafir in the ring (or at all, really), I thought she held her own well enough here. All in all, this was an enjoyable opener. The babyfaces picked up the win, but the heels immediately got their heat back with Moxley laying out Nightingale afterward. I'm not convinced Strickland has much of a shot of dethroning Moxley at Dynasty, but we can only hope for a miracle. AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Penelope Ford (Non-Title)I appreciate all of the television time Ford has gotten as of late, even if her alliance with Megan Bayne has yet to be explained (and likely never will be). Of course, the outcome of this contest was never in doubt, but what we got was perfectly fine and didn't overstay its welcome. I was surprised to not see Storm and Bayne get physical, but their post-match stare-down served as simple final hype for their Dynasty match. The Hurt Syndicate Declined MJF's Services; Big Bill and Bryan Keith def. Local AthletesThe ongoing angle with MJF and The Hurt Syndicate has had my interest in recent weeks, especially since I genuinely don't know where it's going. This latest development with Lashley declining MJF's services on MVP's behalf was also intriguing, but I'm sure that's not the last we'll see of them together. Bill and Keith's subsequent match was a total squash as it should have been, establishing that they'll challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Dynasty. Kevin Knight and Will Ospreay def. Lee Johnson and Blake ChristianKnight made his AEW TV debut on last Saturday's Collision and had a hell of a showing against Jay White before it was officially announced that he was "All Elite." I'm glad AEW wasted no time in capitalizing on his momentum by putting him in action on Dynamite and giving him the win for his team. This was a glorified showcase for him and Ospreay, but it was fun while it lasted. With Knight set to replace the injured Jay White (which really sucks) in the men's Owen Hart Cup, he and Ospreay will have their quarterfinal match on Sunday night. Brody King def. Lance ArcherWe found out when the men's Owen Hart Cup bracket was revealed that King will be facing Konosuke Takeshita in the first round, so I guess this was supposed to be a preview of that with Archer being a member of The Don Callis Family like Takeshita. I'm always down for a hard-hitting hoss fight, so this was good stuff. King never wins when it matters most, so while this was refreshing, I have zero faith he's beating Takeshita. Cope def. AEW World Trios Champion Claudio CastagnoliI truly don't understand why a majority of Cope's singles matches have to be overly long and plodding. Honestly, this was one of his better ones, but it definitely didn't need to be as lengthy as it was. Thankfully, they picked up the pace down the stretch, so the final few minutes were entertaining and it was a logical match to do before Rated FTR challenge Death Riders for the AEW World Trios Championship. The Death Riders Attacked Swerve StricklandI would've been content with the show ending with Cope standing tall, but they cut to the back where Strickland was shown brawling with Moxley and the rest of Death Riders. That led to Death Riders attacking him in the ring. It wasn't a necessary angle, but it accomplished what it needed to as far as sending the message that Strickland is willing to attempt to overcome the odds at Dynasty. The best part of all of this was the brief exchange Strickland had with Adam Page backstage where Strickland actually admitted he got what he deserved. Overall ShowAEW had plenty of time to build to Revolution, but Dynasty has suffered from only having a four-week build. The pay-per-view is virtually guaranteed to deliver (they usually do), but this wasn't a super strong go-home show as it did nothing to add to my anticipation for the event. I will say that pretty much everything served a purpose and there was some quality wrestling, it just wasn't the most exciting two hours on the whole.
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