AEW Dynamite Review - July 10, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MJF Challenged AEW International Champion Will Ospreay to an AEW International Championship Match on Next Week's Dynamite

Ospreay has improved quite a bit on the mic over the years and I thought he cut a good job here discussing MJF's brutal beatdown on Daniel Garcia at the end of last week's Dynamite. What I didn't expect was MJF challenging Ospreay to a match on next week's Dynamite, which was later made official. Like most people, I assumed they'd save their first-ever encounter for All In, but that appears to be where the rematch will take place. That's a hell of a hook for next week since it was announced it'll be opening the episode.

Bryan Danielson def. "Hangman" Adam Page in the Finals of the Men's Owen Hart Cup Tournament to Earn an AEW World Championship Opportunity at All In (Jeff Jarrett Served as Special Guest Enforcer)

Danielson had a string of stellar matches back in 2022 and this was equally excellent, especially with what was at stake. Page has been fantastic in the heel role over the last week and Danielson was phenomenal while fighting from underneath (though I could've done without him bleeding since we got it again at the end of the night). Even Jarrett played his role well. I was hoping Page would win with Nigel McGuiness (who was on commentary) costing Danielson the win to set up a match between them for All In, but no such luck. Despite that, Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland is going to be an awesome main event. I'm curious what Page does at the event instead, but we do know he'll be in Blood and Guts alongside The Elite before then (after originally turning them down last week).

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland Addressed Bryan Danielson, Challenged AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada and Agreed to Join Team AEW in Blood and Guts

Strickland came out shortly following Danielson's victory, but after the commercial break, Danielson was gone. It was weird seeing Strickland address Danielson when Danielson was just there, but he did a nice job of hyping up their championship clash, nonetheless. He also named himself the captain of Team AEW in Blood and Guts in two weeks and randomly challenged Okada to a match on next week's Dynamite. All in all, this was a solid promo from Strickland.

FTW Champion Chris Jericho def. Samoa Joe in a Stadium Stampede Match by Referee Stoppage (Non-Title)

This was essentially a Falls Count Anywhere match in that they took their fight all over the arena. It had its moments but was mostly a mess and a little long in the tooth. It didn't help that it had a lackluster finish that didn't come off great. Reportedly, it was designed to write Joe off AEW TV for the foreseeable future as he prepares to film for the second season of Twisted Metal, so time will tell if Jericho keeps this aggressive edge.

Pac def. Kyle Fletcher, Tomorhiro Ishii and Claudio Castagnoli in an AEW International Championship No. 1 Contender's Global Glory Four-Way Match

Was this always advertised as a number one contender's match or was that added later? Either way, I'm glad this had stakes and wasn't a random four-way (ROH TV has enough of those). Unsurprisingly, it was a very fun match, though Ishii being involved makes the stuff with Forbidden Door mean even less if we're going to get appearances from New Japan Pro-Wrestling stars after the event is over. Pac hinted at getting his shot at All In in England, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Britt Baker Interrupted AEW TBS Champion and NJPW Strong Women's Champion Mercedes Mone

As I mentioned last week, Mone is absolutely in her element as a heel. She cut a decent promo here, but it paled in comparison to the one from last week. This was fairly formulaic stuff with Mone heeling it up in the ring before Baker interrupted her and chased her away. However, their exchange last week was so strong that I was fine with them not trying to top each other this week. At least they got the chance to further their feud and weren't left off the show entirely.

Mariah May def. Willow Nightingale in the Finals of the Women's Owen Hart Cup to Earn an Opportunity at the AEW Women's World Championship at All In

I was wondering why the women's Owen Hart Cup finals went on last instead of the men's despite being more predictable, but we found out the reason afterward. It was an entertaining main event with both women putting forth a terrific effort and Kris Statlander factoring into the finish to keep her feud with Nightingale alive. Meanwhile, May's post-match heel turn was exceptionally executed. We all figured May would betray Storm at some point (since Storm has become such a beloved character), but I didn't think it would happen on the same night she won the Owen Hart Cup. It made for an amazing ending. AEW really has handled this storyline perfectly since it started.

Overall Show

Although I thought last week's show had a better flow, this was still a thumbs-up episode that I enjoyed on the whole. They kicked the night off on a high note with the Ospreay and MJF segment, kept the momentum going with the finals of the men's Owen Hart Cup, and closed with an outstanding angle. Everything in the middle didn't matter as much, but at least it all served a purpose and set stuff up for the coming weeks.

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