AEW Dynamite Review - June 12, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn Helped AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland Fend Off The Elite

It looks like Strickland will be splitting his time in the coming weeks between building toward his AEW World Championship defense against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door and stepping up as a member of Team AEW to fight The Elite in Blood and Guts next month. I have little desire to see The Acclaimed on the team, but they make sense since they've been feuding with The Elite in recent weeks and FTR are out indefinitely (Dax Harwood recently announced a back injury he has to take time off for). The Elite teased needing a fifth member and I'm curious who that would be.

Jack Perry def. Dustin Rhodes to Qualify for the AEW TNT Championship Ladder Match at Forbidden Door

If Tony Khan is back on the road, it's bizarre to think he'd be okay with Perry competing in a qualifier considering Perry attacked him back in April and Perry has yet to suffer consequences of any kind. Nonetheless, this was a good match from him and Rhodes. It's always nice to see Rhodes pop up on Dynamite because who knows how much time he has left in the ring. Perry remains my pick to win the vacant TNT title, even though I'd love for it to be Konosuke Takeshita instead.

Rush def. Deonn Rushman

This was necessary in reestablishing Rush as a no-nonsense badass as part of his program with MJF. He shined during the Continental Classic late last year, but we haven't really seen him on AEW TV since then. This was exactly what it needed to be and the post-match brawl with Rush and MJF was well done. I thought their first encounter would be saved for Forbidden Door, but it'll actually be opening up next week's Dynamite instead.

The Don Callis Family (ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita) and Roderick Strong def. ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy and Kyle O'Reilly

This was one hell of an action-packed six-man tag team affair. All of these guys are great, so it was hardly surprising that this was as entertaining as it was. It also managed to further a few feuds simultaneously. Fletcher pinning Briscoe was interesting since Fletcher has lost a lot of matches in recent months and Briscoe is the ROH World Champion. Is this setting up a match between the two, or perhaps building toward Fletcher qualifying for the TNT title Ladder match at Forbidden Door?

Hook and Samoa Joe def. Premier Athletes (Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari)

Joe going from headlining a pay-per-view two months as AEW World Champion to fighting Premier Athletes is quite the demotion, but at least this was a short-lived feud and simply served as a stepping stone for wherever Joe and Hook go from here (likely a match with Chris Jericho, Big Bill and Bryan Keith). Thankfully, this was brief and didn't overstay its welcome. I continue to dig the chemistry Hook and Joe have as partners.

AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone def. Zeuxis

Zeuxis is a CMLL talent. We've seen a lot of CMLL's male stars appear on AEW programming this year, so I'm glad we finally got one of the women for a change. Granted, the outcome was never in doubt, especially with Mone headed for a Title for Title match against Stephanie Vaquer at Forbidden Door, but it was a quality contest while it lasted and Zeuxis was impressive. Plus, I can't complain about Mone getting back to wrestling on a regular basis.

Private Party Attacked FTW Champion Chris Jericho, Big Bill and "Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith on TV Time with The Learning Tree

I have no idea why AEW has been adamant about featuring this garbage on a weekly basis since it started. Very few people in AEW get consistent television time, yet Jericho does despite this gimmick being awful. This was more of the same from Jericho, but I appreciated that Private Party didn't join them as I thought there was a chance they might. That said, I don't see how they benefit from facing Jericho's crew when they'll likely lose.

Daniel Garcia def. Nick Comoroto

AEW usually uses local athletes in these enhancement spots instead of their own talent, but I can't say it made much of a difference that Comoroto was in there eating a loss since he's been damaged goods for a while. This was a pretty straightforward showcase for Garcia ahead of his eventual opportunity at the AEW International Championship, which could be coming at Forbidden Door if Will Ospreay ends up pulling double duty on that show.

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay def. Swerve Strickland

This was the type of high-flying fun you'd expect from these two. What's wild is that I'm sure they're capable of even better, but it was still a super enjoyable main event, even though there was no chance of Fenix handing Ospreay his first singles loss in AEW. The crowd was into all of the action as well. Ospreay and Strickland went face-to-face afterward and were cordial, but I wouldn't be shocked to see tensions boil over ahead of their big championship clash.

Overall Show

This was a solid edition of Dynamite on the whole, capped off by a thumbs-up main event that's worth seeking out if you missed it. The middle of the show was hit or miss depending on how invested you are in some of the storylines right now, but I liked how they laid the groundwork for Forbidden Door, the Owen Hart Cup and Blood and Guts throughout the night. That just means there will be plenty to look forward to in AEW this summer.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews