AEW Dynamite Review - April 22, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Darby Allin def. Sammy Guevara in an AEW TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I absolutely loved the match these two had at the Revolution pay-per-view and I appreciated that they got twice the amount of time to work with here. They maximized their minutes and had another entertaining affair. The way they played off their original encounter was a nice touch. Allin advancing in the tournament was for the best after he teased facing Cody when they unsuccessfully teamed a few weeks ago.

AEW World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega def. Alan Angels

If you've been wondering why we've been seeing a lot of Omega in action on Dynamite lately, it's because Adam Page and The Young Bucks weren't flown in for these tapings. However, I'll never complain about getting more Omega matches. He's been on fire for the past two months and this was another example of that. The fact he managed to have an awesome enhancement match was impressive and filled the time well.

Orange Cassidy def. Jimmy Havoc

This was only the second time we've seen Cassidy wrestle on his own in AEW. His outing against Pac at Revolution was so great because of the crowd, so while this wasn't the same without that element, it was still fun for what it was. As for Havoc, we don't see a ton of him on Dynamite nowadays, but I thought he had a good showing here. His newfound alliance with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford is odd, but oh well. Best Friends later challenged Sabian and Havoc to a tag team matchup because of how he and Havoc attacked Cassidy following his victory.

Wardlow def. Lee Johnson

MJF offered an update on his status beforehand via a pre-taped message, claiming that he's been "suffering" from a hangnail and that's why he hasn't wrestled in a while. This was a nice way of explaining why he won't be a part of this batch of shows. That said, his huge win over Cody at Revolution feels like it was forever ago. It's possible they were setting him up for a shot at the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing before the coronavirus ruined everything, but I guess we'll never know. At any rate, Johnson was previously squashed by Brodie Lee on Dynamite and he was once again murdered here, this time by Wardlow. This was short, sweet and exactly what it needed to be.

Brodie Lee def. Justin Law

If the backstage segment that preceded this match with Lee scouting a new member of The Dark Order was any indication, it looks like Lee is going ahead with his impersonation of Vince McMahon and I can't say I care for it, personally. This was another dominant performance from Lee as he beat Law quickly and decisively. Next week, he'll have the chance to annihilate, er, take on Marko Stunt.

Dustin Rhodes def. Kip Sabian in an AEW TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Coming into this match, Rhodes vowed he would retire if he lost. Yes, it added "suspense" to the main event, but it also made little sense because of how it came out of nowhere and ensured that the outcome was never in doubt. You have to remember that Sabian, while skilled, has been a glorified midcard competitor up to this point. They told a simple story, but it never felt like it belonged in this spot to me. On the bright side, Rhodes finally won with the Destroyer and the interference from Ford and Brandi Rhodes was kept to a minimum.

Overall Show

Similar to NXT, there were more video packages and pre-taped material than usual and it helped fill out the two hours. Even the opening video was excellent. I found this week's enhancement matches to be better than last week's and the overall flow was stronger, too. The semifinals of the TNT title tourney are now set and will go down next week. The rest of this episode was solid with all the right people going over and getting spotlighted. As I've said before, the wrestlers sitting ringside definitely add to the atmosphere and make the shows more enjoyable.