AEW Dynamite Review - July 17, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MJF def. Will Ospreay to Win the AEW International Championship

This could very well be a case of recency bias, but for my money, this was one of the best matches in Dynamite history. Yes, it went almost an hour, but it was how they filled those 60 minutes that made this match so excellent. It never felt as long as it did and that's because it was constantly compelling. The finish wasn't the greatest, but MJF winning the International title was a pleasant surprise. I have no idea how they top this at All In, but perhaps AEW is going in a different direction with both men. Plus, they would've never gotten an hour on pay-per-view unless it was an Iron Man match, so I was fine with this happening on Dynamite.

Minoru Suzuki Crashed TV Time Hosted by FTW Champion Chris Jericho

Following up that amazing opener with TV Time was certainly a choice. It was almost as if they were encouraging viewers to change the channel. That's how bad Jericho's shtick is right now. The segment itself was whatever, but at least it set up Suzuki as Jericho's challenger next week. It was teased a few days before Forbidden Door and now we're finally going to get it. I'm curious how that will play out.

AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone def. Nyla Rose

When Mone issued an open challenge last week for this episode, part of me thought there was a legitimate chance it'd be answered by Natalya, whose WWE contract was rumored to be up at the time. But then it was reported Natalya had re-signed and Rose was eventually announced as Mone's opponent. I couldn't care less about Natalya these days, but a run in AEW would have been a nice change of pace for her. Nonetheless, this was a well-worked match where the outcome was never in doubt. Post-match, Britt Baker jumped the barricade and attempted to go after Mone before security broke them up.

Mariah May Explained Her Actions

I was really looking forward to this after how perfectly May's betrayal of Toni Storm was executed last week. Aside from the ever-obnoxious "What?" chants from the crowd, this delivered. Her cadence was spot-on and the explanation she offered was well done, dating all the way back to the beginning of their alliance. The build to their bout has the potential to be one of the best things heading into All In.

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland def. AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada (Non-Title)

This should've felt a lot bigger than it did. They billed it a Champion vs. Champion match, but it didn't get much time and the disqualification finish was lame (albeit understandable since you want to protect both champions before Blood and Guts). The show-closing brawl was typical AEW, but I wish they had saved Darby Allin's return as a surprise instead of having him in a quick backstage segment on last week's show.

Overall Show

I think it's safe to say this show will go down as having one of the best first hours in Dynamite history. I had high hopes for MJF vs. Ospreay and they somehow exceeded my expectations. Unfortunately, the rest of the show was subpar at best. I enjoyed May's promo, but the women's match was an afterthought, TV Time is never good, and even Strickland vs. Okada was slightly underwhelming. But like I said, you can't go wrong with that gem of an opener.

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