AEW Dynamite Review - December 1, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bryan Danielson def. Alan "5" Angels

Angels is an Atlanta native and has impressed in singles competition time and time again, including against Kenny Omega when he was still the AEW World Champion right before Full Gear. There was no doubt he was losing here, but at least he got to score some more offense than the other Dark Order guys. This was a fun little sprint and the post-match angle was well done. Danielson vs. Adam Page for the AEW World Championship will happen at Winter Is Coming in two weeks.

CM Punk def. Lee Moriarty

This was a hell of an opportunity for the newcomer Moriarty. This was definitely a random match, but it was cool to see Moriarty hold his own and take a top-tier talent to the limit. That said, MJF was right when he said that Punk shouldn't be struggling to beat talent with terrible win-loss records at this stage of his run. MJF's post-match verbal exchange with Punk didn't come close to last week's, but it was enjoyable. Hopefully both men didn't give all of their best stuff already.

Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta Saved Orange Cassidy From The SuperKliq

We were told that Adam Cole came out for commentary, but since Cassidy confronted Cole before any match could take place, I'm curious what he would have been out there for in storyline. This angle was a little long in the tooth, but it established that The SuperKliq's next feud with be with Best Friends. I can't say that I'm too thrilled about that, but I suppose it keeps them busy for now until AEW figures out what to do with them next.

Wardlow def. AC Adams

Wardlow decimates a ton of dudes on Dark and Elevation, but it's rare we see him have a squash on Dynamite. I thought something significant would happen afterward, but nope, it was just Shawn Spears giving Adams some chair shots. AEW doesn't typically do stuff for no reason, so I continue to believe they're planting the seeds for an imminent babyface turn for him. I mean, did you hear how the crowd reacted to him here? It's definitely coming sooner rather than later,

Darby Allin and Sting def. Gunn Club (Billy and Colten Gunn)

It was funny seeing this billed as "the battle of undefeated teams" as if Gunn Club's winning streak has actually meant anything. They've only ever won on Dark and I don't remember them ever being ranked, so it's not like they were much of a threat to Allin and Sting here. Nonetheless, they had a solid showing before eating defeat. This was basically an excuse to have Sting wrestle in Atlanta, a city he's very familiar with from his time in WCW.

Lio Rush Confronted Taz

We found out last week that Dante Martin has signed with Team Taz, but I still think it will wind up being a ruse and I think the Diamond Dozen Battle Royal would be the perfect time for him to turn on his teammates. Rush's mic work was decent and made the Battle Royal more interesting than it would have been otherwise. The diamond ring hasn't been much more than a prop for MJF over the last two years, so we'll see if they have something else in store this year and if they'll give it a new owner.

Ruby Soho def. Kris Statlander in an AEW TBS Women's Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

The video packages promoting this match leading up to it made it more meaningful. Both women have clearly cooled off since All Out, hence why the crowd was quiet for this contest early on, but they came alive once they picked up the pace. They didn't have a ton of time, but what we got was good. Nyla Rose attacked Soho afterward to set up their match in the semifinals. Soho remains my pick to win the whole tourney.

Cody Rhodes def. Andrade El Idolo in an Atlanta Street Fight

Even in his home state of Georgia, Cody still received a mixed reaction. The guy just can't catch a break. This had all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a hardcore brawl featuring Cody, complete with blood and, yes, a golden shovel. They made the most of the stipulation and the crowd was hot for all of it. I'm not thrilled with Andrade losing to Cody, but I knew it was coming considering Andrade already beat Cody one-on-one and this was on Cody's turf. At least it took a flaming table to beat Andrade (even though it was Cody who took the brunt of the bump). It can be argued that it was a stupid spot since Cody was still on fire while pinning him, but it was quite the spectacle. Can everyone involved please, please, please move on from this now?

Overall Show

This felt like a loaded-up show with all the star power that was in action including Danielson, Punk, Sting, Allin and Cody, which was a slight surprise since Winter is Coming is two weeks away. However, I can't complain about getting a thumbs-up, straightforward edition of Dynamite. The Cole and Cassidy segment was the one weak point of the night, but everything else held my interest for the most part and left me looking forward to what's on tap in the next two weeks. The Atlanta Street Fight was a nice way to cap off the evening. These two hours were efficient, entertaining and easy to digest.

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