AEW Dynamite Review - June 3, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam PAge def. Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc

As a television title match, this was exactly what it needed to be. It was well wrestled and fun, yet it never felt like the tag titles were ever truly in jeopardy. Sabian and Havoc are a fine pairing, but it is odd that they received a shot at the straps at a time when there are better teams in the division. If nothing else, it was great to see Page and Omega back in action as a tandem for the first time in months. They're money together.

Brian Cage def. Shawn Dean

Cage is already off to a strong start in AEW as the last two squash matches he's had have been practically perfect. He's completely dominated his opponents and been made to look like a total beast. Better yet, Taz is a terrific mouthpiece for him and cut a gem of a promo here. Jon Moxley also delivered the goods on the mic and made me want to see them clash for the AEW World Championship that much more. This was fantastic all around.

Chris Jericho def. Colt Cabana

I couldn't believe it when the commentators said that this was Jericho's third singles match of 2020. Maybe they want to keep him more special, but I wish he'd be in action on the show a bit more often than that. Cabana, on the other hand, had a strong showing here and I was glad he scored as much offense as he did before eating defeating. Jericho called out Mike Tyson afterward but got Orange Cassidy instead. I like that as an interim feud for Inner Circle before Jericho likely faces Tyson at All Out.

Nyla Rose def. Big Swole

These two teased tension months ago shortly after Rose won the AEW Women's Championship, but nothing ever came of it. Swole is a skilled competitor, but we know very little about her at this point and thus it's difficult to care about her character. On the bright side, this was a quality contest and Swole, like Cabana, looked credible in defeat. This was a nice rebound win for Rose following her loss of the title at Double or Nothing. As for what happened post-match with Britt Baker antagonizing Swole, it was fine and it's cool that Baker continues to be featured on the show despite being injured at the moment.

Tony Schiavone hosted a Sit-Down Interview with FTR

For the record, "FTR" doesn't really stand for any one thing; Dax Hardwood and Cash Wheeler said it could mean anything from "Follow the Rules" to "For the Revolution" and so on. This was a solid sit-down interview with the former Revival albeit not as special as it probably should have been. They didn't take any overt shots at WWE, which was appreciated, but they did allude to how they've been looking to battle the best tag team wrestling has to offer for a year and a half now (when they initially requested their releases from WWE). They're clearly planting the seeds for a future match with The Young Bucks and I like that they're not immediately blowing it off. They'll first take on The Butcher and The Blade next week on Dynamite.

AEW TNT Champion Cody def. Jungle Boy

This was Jungle Boy's chance to shine against a top talent and he did not disappoint. The outcome was never in doubt, mind you, but it was more a matter of whether Jungle Boy would rise to the occasion. I'm not shocked at all that he did considering he and MJF stole the show from an in-ring standpoint at Double or Nothing. I could have done without Cody bleeding or the table spot as I didn't find either of those things necessary, but this was an awesome main event on the whole and left me looking forward to the rest of Cody's reign as AEW TNT Champion.

Overall Show

It was announced that Fyter Fest will be a two-week television event starting July 1. It's an excellent idea as I think another formal pay-per-view between now and All Out would be too much. As for this episode, there were a bit more backstage segments and vignettes than usual (involving Lance Archer, "Broken" Matt Hardy and others), which helped add some variety to the show. The two title matches made it a noteworthy night, even if few fans actually expected either of those championships to change hands. The wrestling delivered and the atmosphere was fun as always, so I have no complaints.