AEW Dynamite Review - June 26, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

"Hangman" Adam Page def. Powerhouse Hobbs

As I've said before, Paige is the perfect person to kick off any wrestling show. He just brings an energy to his matches and has a connection with the crowd unlike anyone else on the roster aside from maybe Darby Allin. I definitely feel like All Out is the right time to pull the trigger on him against Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship, and him knocking off the number three ranked wrestler will only help his cause. This was an entertaining opener with strong showings from both men. Hobbs continues to impress any time I see him in action. He hasn't been in the company for a full year and is already making great strides.

FTR Attacked Konnan

I really liked the war of words between Konnan and Tully Blanchard. Konnan definitely got the better of it, so Blanchard and FTR outsmarting and attacking him made sense because it gave the heels their heat. Konnan thinking Santana and Ortiz were under the masks was a bit silly, but otherwise, this was good stuff. On a side note, I loved that Konnan came out to the old LAX entrance music from IMPACT. Awesome!

Matt Sydal def. Dante Martin

These two had a very fun outing on one of the Dark shows recently and it was cool to see the rematch go down on Dynamite. Dante has been thriving as a singles star wile his brother Darius has been on the sidelines with an injury and Sydal's skills are well-documented. This was well-wrestled, but it only seemed to set up Sydal vs. Andrade eventually with Sydal's entrance interrupting Vickie Guerrero's promo with Andrade.

Inner Circle and The Pinnacle Brawled

For a feud that I was done with after Double or Nothing, Inner Circle and Pinnacle have done an excellent job of keeping things interesting over the last few weeks by branching off into separate storylines between the members. This was a solid brawl and an effective way to further the feud as well as build toward MJF vs. Sammy Guevara in the main event of Wednesday's Dynamite. If this continues until All Out (which I'm not sure how they'll be able to pull off), I would've saved MJF vs. Guevara for the first time ever on that show, but it feels like MJF vs. Chris Jericho II will be the endgame.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Bear Bronson

Much like Dante Martin, Bronson has faring quite well for himself on his own while his partner Bear Boulder has been out injured. Speaking of Boulder, he was at ringside for this match and got physical with Scorpio Sky, so maybe he's close to getting back in the ring. This was a pretty standard affair as although Bronson scored some offense, this was mostly about Page and giving him a credibility-boosting win. In a post-match promo, he promised to be "the final nail in Darby Allin's coffin" before challenging him to a Coffin match at Road Rager on July 7th.

Kris Statlander def. The Bunny

Statlander has been on a roll since returning to the ring in the spring. She's been racking up several wins over on the Dark shows and I'm glad she's been beating some contracted talent on Dynamite every now and again. The Bunny has settled in well to her enhancement role, so this was a nice little match. Statlander is clearly being built up for a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship, while The Butcher vs. Orange Cassidy was set up afterward. That feels like a Dark/Dark: Elevation main event to me.

AEW World Champion Kenny Omega def. Jungle Boy

I appreciated that The Good Brothers and Jurassic Express were dismissed from ringside before the bell even rang to ensure that the inevitable interference didn't overshadow the action. They showed up briefly at one point, but that was about it (at least until afterward). The match itself was top-notch with Jungle Boy holding his own against Omega every step of the way and showing true main event potential. He isn't there yet, but he absolutely will be one day. No one delivers in "big fight feel" matches quite like Jungle Boy. The outcome wasn't in doubt, of course, but that hardly mattered. I want to see Omega against these younger guys/fresher faces more often. Omega winning clean would have been a perfectly acceptable way to close the show, but AEW had to do what they always do by booking the post-match chaos. Christian Cage showed up followed by Matt Hardy and Private Party and then The Young Bucks. That wasn't necessary, especially since most people aren't into the Christian vs. Hardy feud. I am looking forward to Christian vs. Omega eventually, though.

Overall Show

This felt like a much livelier edition of Dynamite than we've seen in recent weeks. Yes, part of that was because it was live, but it was also due to it airing at a reasonable time on a Saturday night and not immediately following WWE SmackDown. I know all of the preemptions haven't been AEW's fault, but it did hurt any momentum they had coming out of the pay-per-view. This felt like a one-match show on paper with the world title being defended in the main event, but it ended up being an enjoyable episode on the whole with a nice flow and a ton of setup for the next two shows. Needless to say, the live crowds make a major difference.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews