AEW Dynamite Review - December 4, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Young Bucks and Dustin Rhodes def. Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz

This was exactly what I expected it to be in that it was a total spotfest, and while there was a lack of selling and some of those spots didn't even make sense (what the hell was Guevara going for when the Bucks superkicked him in midair?), it was still an incredibly exciting opener with everyone playing their roles remarkably well. It was especially cool to see Dustin in there doing his thing and holding his own. The Bucks and Santana and Ortiz have tremendous chemistry together and that was on full display here. AEW was wise to kick the show off with this and give the Bucks a win ahead of their Street Fight with Santana and Ortiz on next week's show.

Rey Fenix def. Trent

Trent is fresh off a singles victory over Pentagon Jr. last week on AEW Dark as well as a tag team win over The Lucha Brothers on the next night's Dynamite. He looked to keep the ball rolling here but was ultimately unsuccessful. I haven't been a fan of The Lucha Brothers eating defeat so often, mind you, but at least Trent has been given chances to shine on his own and the matches themselves have been terrific. This was no exception with the two making the most of the time they had and Fenix avenging his brother's recent losses.

Cody Addressed MJF

Along with Chris Jericho, Cody has quickly become a recurring highlight on Dynamite with his promos. I thought he came across a bit more arrogant than usual here by flaunting his money and expensive personal belongings (giving the kid in the front row a hundred dollar bill might have been a step too far in my opinion), but the crowd didn't seem to mind. I loved the intensity he had in his voice while talking about MJF and how desperate he is to get his hands on him. It's going to be a major deal when they eventually face each other.

Nyla Rose def. Leva Bates

I appreciate the effort AEW is putting into making Rose look dominant, and it is succeeding to a certain extent, but she doesn't do a ton for me, personally. Her in-ring ability is mediocre at best and her mic skills aren't much better (as you probably heard through her commentary work on this week's AEW Dark). On the bright side, her matches are being kept short and sweet for the most part, so there's that. On a side note, I can see why people thought the the Britt Baker parody at ringside from NXT TakeOver: WarGames III was funny, but I just thought it was stupid.

Jurassic Express Confronted AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and Jake Hager

These shows would be a lot less entertaining without Jericho on them. He's been far and away the MVP of AEW in 2019. He cut another excellent promo here and mentioned how he was obligated to defend his title one more time before the close of the year. That brought out Jurassic Express with Luchasaurus endorsing Jungle Boy for the number one contender spot. Although he kept what he had to say brief, Jungle Boy didn't sound as polished on the mic as Luchasaurus, who I thought would be a more compelling challenger to Jericho. Maybe they're saving that for down the road, but either way, this was a strong segment.

Kris Statlander def. Hakura Shida

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Statlander will be one to watch in AEW's women's division. And yes, she has officially signed per Brandi Rhodes, which is awesome news. She's only made a handful of appearances in recent weeks and has already proven herself as one of the most talented females they have. She simply has a presence about her than many others don't. This was a wonderful match with a surprising outcome. Unfortunately, the post-match stuff with Statlander and The Nightmare Collective (Awesome Kong and Brandi) fell flat. It screams Straight Edge Society 2.0.

Pentagon Jr. def. Christopher Daniels

Pentagon put Daniels on the shelf with an injury (in stsoryline) two months ago and I like that Daniels (and AEW Creative) didn't forget about that. The attention to detail was appreciated with Daniels wasting no time in going after Pentagon for what he did to him. There was one bad botch from Daniels toward the end, but this was a solid match otherwise. I could have done without the outside interference from Fenix, though. There was no reason for Pentagon to not beat Daniels clean.

Jon Moxley def. Joey Janela

This was a rematch from June's Fyter Fest pay-per-view, except this didn't have any stipulations attached. Janela is far from the best in-ring technician in AEW, but he's competent enough and always has enjoyable matches for the most part. They worked well together here and had a hard-hitting main event with Janela looking credible in defeat. Jericho and the rest of The Inner Circle coming out afterward in the crowd confirms that Jericho vs. Moxley is inevitable.

Overall Show

I wasn't high on last week's Dynamite at all and honestly thought it was their weakest show to date. Thankfully, they rebounded in a big way this week with a top-notch show. Almost every match was above-average and the two talking segments were a blast. There was also plenty of hype for the next few weeks of TV and seeds being planted for future feuds. The only things I didn't like about the show were the audio issues at the beginning and the excessive amount of dark gimmicks (Butcher/Blade/Bunny, The Dark Order, Nightmare Collective, etc).