AEW Dynamite Review - June 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion CM Punk and ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Max Caster and Gunn Club (Austin and Colten Gunn)

Punk and FTR have such stellar chemistry as partners and you can tell they thoroughly enjoy teaming together. If and when AEW introduces trios titles, I absolutely wouldn't be opposed to them holding it. I don't know if their alliance was ever explained on television, but oh well. This was fun despite some of the awkward spots down the stretch. Post-match, Punk issued an open challenge for his AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door, which was quickly accepted by Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi first teased appearing in AEW last summer, so I'm happy to see it finally happen.

MJF Addressed Tony Khan

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this will go down as one of the best shoot promos of all-time, if not one of the best promos period. I honestly thought he would disappear from TV after how his loss to Wardlow was booked at Double or Nothing, but AEW putting him on this show and having him air his grievances while also weaving it into his character was brilliant. The crowd was captivated the entire time and his execution of everything he said was perfect. And yes, this was definitely a "worked shoot," though who knows how much Khan knew what he was going to say beforehand. This was spectacular stuff that, of course, leaves me eagerly anticipating what's going to happen next.

Miro def. Johnny Elite

This was advertised as an open challenge from Elite, who I still don't believe has been officially signed by AEW at last word. It was cool that they brought back Elite in his home state of California, but the focus quickly shifted to the returning Miro once it was revealed he was Elite's opponent. We haven't seen Miro since Full Gear in November, so it's about damn time he resurfaced. This was a dominant return for him and I hope they can find something significant for him to do now that he's back.

Eddie Kingston Challenged Jericho Appreciation Society to a Blood and Guts Match; Chris Jericho Challenged Ortiz to a Hair vs. Hair Match

I would've loved if this feud ended after the mess that was Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing, but I knew that wouldn't be the case. That said, I loved that Kingston brought out William Regal just to scream "Blood and Guts!" in the same way he used to say "WarGames!" in WWE NXT. That will be going down on June 29th. Ortiz also cut off a strand of Jericho's hair, which is why we're getting a Hair vs. Hair match between them in two weeks. Jericho offering to put his own hair on the line was weird, but I don't think he's losing, anyway.

Undisputed Elite (The Young Bucks and reDRagon) and Hikuleo def. AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express, Christian Cage, Matt Hardy and Darby Allin

Adam Cole and Jeff Hardy were originally scheduled for this match when it was advertised during Double or Nothing, but both were pulled for injury-related reasons reportedly, so Allin took Hardy's spot and Hikuleo filled in for Cole. This was an all-out frenzy, as you'd expect given who was involved. If you aren't a spot-fest person, then this probably wasn't for you, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Young Bucks were super over in their home state and having them go over was the right move.

AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill and The Baddies Interrupted Athena

The former Ember Moon was never known for being the best talker in WWE, but I thought she fared just fine with her promo here introducing herself to the AEW audience. I'm glad we heard from her on this show instead of waiting until Rampage (where she'll have her first match) or next week. Like we saw at Double or Nothing, Kris Statlander and Anna Jay came to Athena's aid, so a six-woman tag team match is certainly coming.

Wardlow def. JD Drake

Wardlow facing Drake wasn't exactly what I had in mind for Wardlow following his dominant win over MJF at Double or Nothing, but at least this was booked like a squash with Wardlow winning fairly quickly. Post-match, Mark Sterling emerged and threatened legal action on him. Is this really what they have in mind for Wardlow now that he's wrapped up his rivalry with MJF? There better be more than this crap.

Toni Storm and Ruby Soho def. Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter

Soho and Storm have both lost to Baker in the last week, so this gave them their shot at redemption. Of course Soho would pin Baker when it doesn't actually matter. Plus, the babyfaces got laid out afterward, so how much does it really mean? The match itself was well worked and it got the women on the show, but this left me looking forward to Baker vs. Hayter more than anything else.

Jon Moxley def. Daniel Garcia

As talented as Garcia is, I can't remember many (if any) times he has won whenever he's competed in the main event, so it's gotten to a point for me where it's hard to care. We also got the furthering of this feud earlier in the evening with the Blood and Guts announcement, so I'm not sure why this match was necessary. Despite that, they gave it a great effort and had an entertaining affair. It wasn't the most exciting ending to the show, but they delivered from an in-ring standpoint.

Overall Show

The second hour was definitely weaker than the first hour, but this was a hot post-pay-per-view show, nonetheless. Between Tanahashi's surprise appearance, Miro's return and that phenomenal promo from MJF, it was a newsworthy night, and we also got the beginning of the build to Forbidden Door in a few weeks. There's a lot to get excited about as far as where we go from here with certain storylines, so here's hoping they can keep the momentum gonig.

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