AEW Dynamite Review - August 21, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW TBS Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Mercedes Mone and Britt Baker Signed the Contract for Their AEW TBS Championship Match at All In

This was the segment I had been waiting for from this feud since it started. The promos weren't as strong as that first face-off they had, but this was still a solid segment and a necessary one ahead of their All In match. Baker getting the better of Mone and Kamille and posing with the belt at the end further fuels my prediction that Mone will retain.

FTW Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho def. "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington (Non-Title)

Billington has been impressive in the few matches he's had on Collision and it was fitting that he made his Dynamite debut in front of this rowdy crowd in Cardiff. They were more into the match than most U.S. crowds probably would have been. It was competitive and Billington was made to look credible in defeat. Jericho, Big Bill and Bryan Keith laid out Hook afterward to build toward not only the FTW Championship clash at All In but also Bill vs. Hook the night before on Collision.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Saraya

Saraya won the title at All In, beat Storm in what may have been her only successful title defense, and lost it soon after without ever getting a rematch. It's not a match I've been clamoring to see, but I'm glad we got it before Storm presumably loses the belt to Mariah May on Sunday. I remember enjoying their match from Grand Slam more than this, but this was a quality contest for what it was. May's post-match attack on Storm was more simple yet effective stuff.

AEW American Champion MJF Attacked Will Ospreay

MJF and Ospreay have done an excellent job of progressing their program in the weeks preceding the pay-per-view and they saved the best for last (at least in terms of their mic work). The crowd was super behind Ospreay while MJF's promo was on par with what he usually has to say. MJF bloodying Ospreay was an awesome visual. This left me more excited for their match than I was previously, and I was already highly anticipating it.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Claudio Castagnoli Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

I had no issue with this not being shoehorned onto the All In card, especially since they wouldn't have gotten the same amount of time they did here. Speaking of time, I hate that AEW did another time-limit draw after just doing one on Collision a few days ago. Time-limit draws should be done once a year at most in my opinion, and we got two in less than a week. Otherwise, this was the excellent outing you'd expect from them. Perhaps the rematch will be saved for All Out.

Darby Allin and FTR def. The Elite (AEW TNT Champion Jack Perry and AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks)

This was a straightforward preview for two different matches at All In, and unsurprisingly, it was an entertaining outing. FTR and the Bucks have always had terrific chemistry and Allin and Perry are very talented as well. The babyfaces scored the momentum boost, but I think everyone from The Elite wrestling at All In will win. Post-match, The Acclaimed cut a promo that was well delivered and the crowd was into it, but their stale act is in desperate need of a fresh coat of pain. A heel turn might help.

Bryan Danielson Attacked AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland

Strickland has teetered the line between face and heel throughout the build to his bout with Danielson, but it felt like he was a full-blown heel during his promo. It was a missed opportunity for Nigel McGuinness to be out there but not interact with Danielson. Despite that, Danielson showed fantastic fire during his rebuttal and I liked how he led the crowd in a "Yes!" chant to close the show.

Overall Show

The crowd in Cardiff made for a much hotter atmosphere compared to what we've been getting on Dynamite this year. This was a successful go-home show in terms of selling viewers on the top matches and hyping everything else on the card. Dynamite has been hit or miss this summer, but they needed to hit a home run with this episode and I thought they did. All In has the potential to be even better than last year if executed properly.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews