AEW Dynamite Review - June 21, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Gunns def. The Hardys

This stemmed from The Hardys and Isiah Kassidy beating Ethan Page and The Gunns at Double or Nothing. It marked The Hardys' first formal tag team match in over a year and I was worried how they'd look after their disappointing showing at Double or Nothing. To their credit, they held their own here and had a quality contest with The Gunns. I wasn't a fan of the outcome, but that's largely because I'm not a fan of The Gunns. It sure seems like they're members of Bullet Club Gold, but that hasn't been made official yet. CM Punk, FTR and Ricky Starks emerged afterward to even the odds against the heels, though The Hardys disappearing from ringside was weird.

Mark Briscoe def. Jeff Jarrett in a Concession Stand Brawl

This program has only gotten more and more ridiculous and thus the stipulation fit the feud, especially if this was intended to be the blow-off. As you would assume, they started by a concession stand and their brawl eventually led them to the ring with tons of shenanigans and interference along the way. It didn't do much for me, personally, but the crowd certainly got a kick out of it. I'm just glad Briscoe is being used on AEW TV. Will Jarrett stay true to his word and never compete in AEW again? I doubt it.

Minoru Suzuki and Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) def. Darius Martin, Action Andretti and AR Fox

Remember when Andretti scored that career-changing upset over Jericho in his Dynamite debut last December? Me either. Andretti's win was never going to win, but it was an enjoyable affair while it lasted. Suzuki, Jericho and Guevara won their six-man tag team match last year at Forbidden Door, so it makes sense they'll be in action again together at the event this year, this time against Sting, Darby Allin and a partner of their choosing (who will be revealed on Collision).

Tony Schiavone Announced AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole Will Be Partners in the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament 

This segment started out with Cole confronting MJF and challenging him to a rematch after their original encounter ended in a draw, which MJF denied. Schiavone interrupted to inform them that they'll be partners in the upcoming Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament AEW is doing. Yes, it's a total pro wrestling thing for two rivals to be "randomly" paired together, but it does drag out their storyline and should be entertaining.

NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and Daniel Garcia def. ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata and AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy

This was set up in a backstage segment on last week's show and it was the very well-wrestled match you'd expect from these four. Shibata wrestling on Dynamite was a treat and I enjoyed the dynamic of Cassidy being his partner. The crowd was into the action and the heels winning was necessary, especially if they're going to be challenging Cassidy for the AEW International Championship at Forbidden Door. That should be a fun four-way.

AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander def. Taya Valkyrie

Amazingly, this received more build than Valkyrie and Jade ever did (and that goes for either of their encounters). I didn't legitimately expect Valkyrie to take the title, but I thought they worked well together and had a good match. Maybe this feud will continue, but I see no reason for it to with Statlander having won clean here. Consistency will be key with Statlander as far as making her a regular on Dynamite and not letting her fall by the wayside.

Blackpool Combat Club Attacked Eddie Kingston; Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada Went Face-to-Face

You could tell they were pressed for time because this whole segment was super rushed. After Kingston announced that Tomohiro Ishii will be his and The Elite's partner at Forbidden Door against Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino, a brawl broke out, and the face-off between Danielson and Okada had to be cut short. What we got was cool and left me looking forward to their match, but I wish the segment had more time to breathe.

Overall Show

This was another wild edition of Dynamite, but unlike last week, it was chaotic in the wrong way. The fact they announced so many damn matches at the end of the show for Rampage, Collision and Forbidden Door was ridiculous and it was hard to remember most of them by the time the episode was over. This Chicago crowd was lively throughout and it was a thumbs-up effort on the whole, but as a go-home show for Sunday's pay-per-view, it wasn't as effective as it could have been. Tony Khan really needs to stop waiting until the last minute to confirm the full pay-per-view cards because it hurts the flow of these shows.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews