AEW Dynamite Review - June 17, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page def. The Natural Nightmares

Needless to say, the outcome for this contest was never in doubt. Rather, this was all about furthering the story with QT Marshall and Allie, which has been pretty prominent on Dark lately. The Natural Nightmares are a fine team, but they are nowhere near as being on the level of Page and Omega. The champs managed to carry them to a decent opener, but this was one of their weaker title defenses to date in my opinion. By the way, can Dustin Rhodes please stop doing the Destroyer as a transitional move?

Abadon def. Anna Jay

We've seen Abandon before on Dark in a match against Hikaru Shida. I thought the gimmick sucked then and I still think it sucks now. I honestly wasn't even paying attention to the match because of how distracting her zombie makeup was. And no, it's not the same thing as The Fiend, who looks cool and has matches that are booked in a certain way to highlight his strengths (even though some of those matches are boring and are oddly laid out, but that's a different discussion for another day). I was surprised that a non-signed talent would beat someone who just got the video package treatment, but it was revealed after on social media that she's been signed. I found the post-match stuff more interesting with The Dark Order offering Colt Cabana a contract in the crowd while helping Jay to the back. Dark Order could benefit from adding a female to their ranks.

MJF def. Billy

Yes, Billy Gunn is going simply by Billy now, presumably because WWE owns the rights to the Billy Gunn name. I'm fine with him wrestling occasionally and putting over younger stars like MJF, but after what I've seen from him so far in AEW, less is more as far as his matches go. In other words, there was no need for this to last as long as it did. MJF should not be struggling to beat a 56-year-old Billy Gunn. He needs actual direction and fast.

AEW TNT Champion Cody def. Ricky Starks

I love the idea of free agents accepting Cody's AEW TNT title open challenge, as it makes matters more exciting and unpredictable. What I love even more is that Ricky Starks accepted the challenge here. I became a big fan of his work in the NWA and was disappointed to read that he left a few months ago, but he feels like the perfect fit for AEW. In fact, Tony Khan revealed on Twitter later in the night that he was signed immediately afterward because Khan was so impressed by his performance. This was fun while it lasted but definitely deserved more time. Starks is a great get for the company.

The Young Bucks def. Superbad Squad

​Jimmy Havoc has grown on me in 2020, but his current pairing with Kip Sabian does nothing for me. They're both talented in the ring, but their personalities and styles don't mesh well in my opinion. My biggest issue with this bout (aside from that insanely stupid Tombstone spot) was that it went over 15 minutes when it had no business to. This merely existed to further the feud between Young Bucks and FTR, so at least it served a purpose in that respect.

Best Friends def. Le Sex Gods in an AEW World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

I know Inner Circle have been feuding with Best Friends and Orange Cassidy in recent weeks, but why would Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara have a chance to become the number one contenders to the tag titles? I don't even think they're ranked. Don't get me wrong, this was a quality main event, but it lacked logic. Best Friends winning clean was cool and Cassidy showing some aggression for a change by attacking Jericho post-match was refreshing. That said, they probably should have saved the announcement that they'll be clashing at Fyter Fest for next week so it wouldn't have felt as rushed.

Overall Show

While there weren't any must-see matches on this edition of Dynamite, it was still a worthwhile show on the whole with the build to Fyter Fest in two weeks revving up and more stars picking up key victories. I'm not sold on Abadon, but Starks is a wonderful signing for AEW. This show would have benefited from featuring more vignettes, backstage promos and stuff of that nature, but that's merely a minor criticism. The two hours didn't drag, but then again, they rarely do.