AEW Dynamite Review - August 12, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Young Bucks def. The Dark Order (Stu Grayson and Evil Uno)

I actually enjoy Dark Order and the duo of Grayson and Uno has grown on me, so I thought this was a really good opener. Young Bucks have been putting in some strong showings these past few weeks and this saw them keep that streak alive. They continued their winning ways as well, yet they have another match against Dark Order next week. Even though it will be with Kenny Omega against John Silver, Alex Reynolds and Allan Angels, I'm already done with this Elite vs. Dark Order rivalry.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley Attacked MJF

While this wasn't among MJF's best promos in recent memory, it was still quite good and entertaining.​ His feud with Moxley has a ton of potential from a promo standpoint, but I'm happy AEW is holding off on having them spar on the mic until closer to the pay-per-view. This was a pretty straightforward segment, but I don't know if I would have had Moxley get his hands on MJF so at this stage. Plus, even if Moxley did come through the "crowd," wouldn't he have gotten past MJF's handlers (other than Wardlow) with relative ease?

AEW TNT Champion Cody def. Scorpio Sky

Sky has been on a hell of a roll lately. Granted, most of his wins have transpired on Dark, but it's been refreshing to see him flying solo and flourishing. He'll be one to watch for in the future. It unfortunately wasn't the right time for him to take the title here, but at least it was a quality contest and I was happy that he was able to kick out of the Cross Rhodes at least once. I didn't walk away from this feeling like I witnessed an instant classic, but I applaud their effort, nonetheless.

AEW World Tag Team Champions "Hangman" Adam Page and Kenny Omega def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)

This is a match that honestly should have been a whole lot better given who was involved. I have practically been begging for Jurassic Express to get a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship for almost a year now, but I wish they had been built up first because this was fairly random and the outcome was never in doubt. It didn't help that some of the spots were off and they never found the right rhythm. It kills me to say that this was disappointing, but it was.

FTR Attacked The Rock 'N' Roll Express

It was cool seeing Young Bucks and FTR share the ring with The Brain Busters and The Rock 'N' Roll Express, but things didn't get interesting until tension was teased at the end. I'm glad Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard didn't forget about their recent history from All Out last year, but it sure seems like they'll be a part of some sort of faction together (along with Cody, FTR and potentially Shawn Spears) sooner rather than later. Even better than that was FTR laying out The Rock 'N' Roll Express. I know those guys probably shouldn't be wrestling in 2020, but I'd kill for at least one FTR vs. Rock 'N' Roll Express match before all is said and done.

AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida def. Heather Monroe (Non-Title)

I've seen Monroe's name mentioned online before as far as women's wrestlers to pay attention to and I thought she did fared well for herself here. Then again, this was largely designed to be a showcase/squash for Shida. I'm glad she's being kept strong, but she's been directionless since beating Penelope Ford on Night 1 of Fyter Fest last month. It's a bit alarming that All Out is a few weeks away and no one has stepped up to challenge her for the title at the pay-per-view yet.

Orange Cassidy def. Chris Jericho in a $7,000 Obligation Match

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it one of Jericho's best bouts ever (it seriously wasn't even close), but the original encounter these two had was excellent all things considered. The rematch on this show, however, was substandard. I loved seeing Mike Chioda pop up as the referee and I hope he's ultimately signed full-time, but the story they were going for with him and Jericho felt forced and wasn't necessary. Then there was interference from Jake Hager even though it was explicitly said there wouldn't be any. Throw in how the finish fell flat and this whole thing was a letdown. Jericho being pinned for only the third time in AEW should have felt like a much bigger deal.

Overall Show

My biggest problem with this show was that despite how most of the matches were well wrestled, some of the finishes were underwhelming, most notably Cody vs. Sky and Jericho vs. Cassidy. Even the tag team title match fell below my expectations. As for Tag Team Appreciation Night, FTR attacking Rock 'N' Roll Express was far and away the best part about it. What about Women's Appreciation Night? Because that division is a total afterthought right now. I was really looking forward to this show with what was advertised, but it missed the mark for me.