AEW Dynamite Review - August 7, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW American Champion MJF def. Kyle Fletcher in an AEW American Championship Eliminator Match

Fletcher consistently has strong showings yet can never win when it matters most. Hell, even his recent ROH World Television Championship run was a bust because he lost so frequently on AEW TV. Thus, the outcome here was never in doubt, but it was an excellent opener, nonetheless. Fletcher scored plenty of offense and was made to look credible in defeat. I could've done without Don Callis throwing the screwdriver to Fletcher, though. I know Fletcher didn't use it (and that was actually what cost him the win), but they need to stop going back to that stupid trope.

Mariah May def. Viva Van

I'm surprised this went through a commercial break. It was essentially a standard squash match for May, but it definitely didn't need to last as long as it did. Post-match, Toni Storm emerged to brawl with May. It was kept short and sweet and served as more simple build for their match at All In, which already sells itself. Storm is super over as a babyface and the fact she hasn't really changed anything about her character is probably why.

Katsuyori Shibata def. Bryan Keith

I like both of these guys, but this was a Rampage-level match. The sole reason why it happened on Dynamite was of Chris Jericho's involvement. We can't go a week without him being featured in some form or fashion. The matchup was well wrestled albeit uninteresting. Hook made the save for Shibata afterward, so it looks like Jericho and Hook will resume their rivalry over the FTW Championship. Ugh.

Jim Ross Conducted a Sit-Down Interview with AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland

Ross shines in these pre-taped sit-down interview segments and is the perfect person to be hosting them. Strickland had more great mic work about Danielson and did an effective job hyping up their match for All In and giving it a big fight feel. Strickland has excelled as AEW World Champion and I'd love to see him hold onto the title beyond All In, but Bryan's newly-added retirement stipulation doesn't give me confidence that'll be the case.

FTR and Orange Cassidy def. Rush, The Beast Mortos and Roderick Strong

Cassidy was without his usual Conglomeration teammates because of travel issue, so North Carolina's own FTR stepped up. Cassidy's feud with Strong ran its course a while ago and he has no real beef with Mortos or Rush, so this was a random match. The action was enjoyable per usual, but it'd be nice if AEW made these multi-man tag team matches matter. At least Mortos didn't take the loss for his team after pinning Mark Briscoe last week.

Kamille def. Jazmyne Hao and Clara Carter in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

This is going to sound silly but I wish Mercedes Mone would stop wearing heels. They make her look almost as tall as Kamille and that defeats the purpose of Kamille looking more physically imposing than her. At any rate, I appreciate how they've made Kamille look dominant in such a short span of time. They're following the same formula the NWA did when she debuted there, except now she's a lot more polished. This was another straightforward squash for her.

Bryan Danielson def. Jeff Jarrett in an Anything Goes Match

It's almost impossible to care about a Jeff Jarrett main event in 2024, but to the company's credit, they're capitalizing off his momentum from his amazing profile piece that aired prior to the men's Owen Hart Cup. They had a good brawl as they took their fight all over the arena. The end result was predictable, but the crowd was into it. Post-match, Strickland challenged Wheeler Yuta to a match on next week's show.

Overall Show

There wasn't anything about this edition of Dynamite that stood out to be as special coming into it, and other than the opener, it was a pretty ho-hum show. MJF vs. Fletcher was the highlight of the night for me. Everything else was solid but felt inconsequential. Dynamite has been on a roll since right after Forbidden Door, but this was one of the weaker efforts recently. On the bright side, the build for All In this year already far surpasses the build for last year's show.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews