 FTW Champion Hook Interrupted AEW World Champion Samoa JoeJoe continues to kill it on the mic. I'm glad he's been getting an ample amount of television time as champion and I hope it continues. Additionally, it would have been easy for Hook to not be featured coming off his strong showing against Joe last week (AEW has been guilty of this on many occasions), but I'm happy he confronted Joe here. Now the key is putting him in a meaningful program with someone. Having him beat up security guards is fine, but he needs to maintain this momentum instead of going back to beating enhancement talent. "Hangman" Adam Page def. Penta El Zero MiedoI'm actually amazed we've never seen this match before now considering both guys have been in AEW since Day 1. They had the fun match you'd expect from them and were given plenty of time. I'm bummed AEW isn't doing more with Penta on his own, but he's in a certain spot on the card at this point and I don't foresee that changing. Page needed to win if he's going to challenge for the AEW World Championship at Revolution. Wardlow def. Trent BerettaBeretta's buddy Orange Cassidy will defend the AEW International Championship against Wardlow's stablemate Roderick Strong at Revolution, so that was the connection here. It was also another chance for Wardlow to display his dominance. It was a glorified squash with Wardlow going over decisively. Unfortunately, due to Adam Cole's injury and MJF not being around at the moment, The Undisputed Kingdom feels cold despite their hot start. AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Deonna Purrazzo BrawledThe booking of the AEW's women's division receives a lot of flack and justifiably so most of the time, but I appreciate the effort that's been put into the Purrazzo vs. Storm storyline so far. Purrazzo has gotten consistent television time, mic time and a string of wins. Storm's shtick won't be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoy it and I thought they had a solid segment that successfully built toward their upcoming championship clash. Swerve Strickland def. Jeff HardyThis would have been a "dream match" a few years ago when Hardy wasn't as broken down, but it was still surreal to see them sharing a ring together and they delivered a damn good match. Strickland is obviously excellent, but to his credit, Hardy proved he can still go and had a great showing. His loss adds to the frustration storyline with The Hardys, and Strickland's win gets him another step closer to AEW World Championship contention. Thunder Rosa def. Red VelvetI know Rosa has primarily been exclusive to Collision since returning, but it's important to get her on Dynamite as well if the idea is for her to challenge Julia Hart for the AEW TBS Championship soon (and she should). For whatever reason, these two didn't click very well and they had a flat match. It had the right result, but I wish AEW would do more to make these women's matches on Dynamite feel important instead of just giving them five to seven minutes every time out of necessity. Darby Allin and Sting Announced Their Intentions to Challenge for the AEW World Tag Team ChampionshipThey teased it in a vignette last week, but now it's official: Allin and Sting will challenge Ricky Starks and Big Bill for the tag titles, and the timing is perfect with the power rankings returning and Sting and Allin being undefeated as a duo. No date was announced, but I assumed it will take place in the next few weeks so Sting and Allin vs. The Young Bucks at Revolution will be for the belts. This was a good segment that accomplished what it needed to. AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn def. Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony)I couldn't care less about the stuff with the AEW World Trios Championship and the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship if I tried. Above all else, it feels like a total waste of Jay White. Mogul Embassy just lost the ROH six-man belts, so there was no way they were winning here. The match was okay, but the Bang Bang Scissor Gang stuff does nothing for me, personally. Let's hope it's building to a title unification match at Revolution. Adam Copeland def. Minoru SuzukiI definitely did not have this match on my 2024 wrestling bingo card. Who would've thought we'd ever see these two collide? It turned out to be an entertaining main event even though the outcome was never in doubt (which is the case with almost every match Suzuki has in AEW). Copeland once again called out Christian Cage afterward, so that's clearly the direction they're headed in for Revolution. Although Copeland feels less special wrestling every week than he did as a part-timer in WWE, it's cool to see him killing it in the twilight of his career. Overall ShowFrom an in-ring standpoint, this was a thumbs-up show. It gave AEW 2019/2020/2021 vibes with the emphasis on the first-time-ever matches while also furthering storylines, and there's thankfully a handful in place heading into Revolution. They have to kill some more time before then, but they're doing an effective job of it. My biggest knock against this episode was how quiet the crowd was and how it sounded like there weren't many people in the building. They need to work on booking better arenas and selling more tickets because it has become a recurring issue.
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