AEW Dynamite Review - June 18, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jake Hager def. Wardlow in an MMA Rules Cage Fight

I love Justin Roberts, but could AEW not get Bruce Buffer to be the ring announcer for this? Okay, that's just nitpicking, as I really liked pretty much everything about this. It didn't overstay its welcome, the presentation was well done, and Wardlow scored enough impressive offense before eating the obvious loss (considering Hager's near-flawless MMA record). I can see some not liking it as much, but maybe I'm biased because I'm an MMA fan. The post-match chaos kept the Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle rivalry alive, for better or for worse.

"All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky def. Darby Allin in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Allin is a pretty dumb babyface for going at this alone instead of finding a different partner as Page and Sky requested. He had to lose because it would have made Page and Sky look awful if he didn't. It was a well-wrestled match, but I'm ready for this rivalry to be over. That said, Page pinning Allin given their established bad blood was cool. I assume the blow-off will be between them.

Orange Cassidy def. Cezar Bononi

Of everyone in The Wingmen, I have no idea why Bononi wrestles on Dynamite more than anyone. He's just not good. Okay, Ryan Nemeth isn't much better and Peter Avalon is a goof, but Bononi lacks the skills of someone who was in WWE developmental for several years despite being a big dude. The interference from The Wingmen and Best Friends was whatever, but I understand this only existed to get Cassidy back on track following his loss at Double or Nothing.

Cody Rhodes and Brock Anderson def. The Factory (QT Marshall and Aaron Solow)

Although I maintain the Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle stuff has run its course, at least the matches have been entertaining. Almost everything with The Nightmare Family and The Factory, on the other hand, has been meh for me. There wasn't anything technically wrong with this match, which was decent, but Cody felt like a star among three scrubs. Props to Brock for showing signs of potential, but it won't really matter if he's not regularly featured on the show going forward and I don't think he should be at this point.

Penelope Ford def. Julia Hart

There's a ton of athleticism between these two, but not as much experience. That will come in time, though. This marked Hart's second Dynamite appearance this year, so I don't think it's a stretch to say AEW is high on her and the rest of the Varsity Blonds act. This was a nice little match and Ford winning was the right result. Post-match, Miro taunted Ford about Kip Sabian being out injured before brawling with Varsity Blonds, setting up himself against Brian Pillman Jr. for the AEW TNT Championship for the June 30th episode.

AEW World Tag Team Champion Matt Jackson and The Good Brothers def. Penta El Zero Miedo, Eddie Kingston and Frankie Kazarian

We just got a similar six-man tag team match last week also involving Matt Jackson and Penta, so as entertaining as this was, it felt like more of the same, except with the heels picking up the win this time around. Penta, Kingston and Kazarian were a weird trio on paper, but they all have their established issues with The Elite and worked well together. Pac, Rey Fenix and Jon Moxley are all out with storyline injuries, so that's where they've been. This was fast-paced and probably the best choice to be the main event of everything on this show, but without any stakes or an idea of where this story is going, the outcome felt inconsequential.

Overall Show

There was also a pre-taped, sit-down interview with Jim Ross and Andrade El Idolo that did an effective job of portraying Andrade as a star. His English is clearly still a work in progress, but kudos to him for trying to improve it. He teased targeting the AEW TNT Championship and the AEW World Championship, but I'm sure he'll have a TV feud or two before he contends for a title. The video package promoting Santana and Ortiz vs. FTR for some point was excellent as well. This continued the trend of enjoyable Friday Night Dynamite shows (except for that post-Double or Nothing episode two weeks ago, which was disappointing), but I feel like if you didn't tune in live, you didn't miss much. Yes, there's a lot going on throughout the two hours, but it's almost too much to where it's hard to remember what happened afterward. AEW can't get back to its usual slot on Wednesdays soon enough.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews