AEW Dynamite Review - June 5, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rush Interrupted MJF

MJF sported the same look he did at Double or Nothing, so I guess that's the vibe he'll be going for going forward. I applaud the effort to switch things up, even though he comes off as 2000 Triple H, right down to some of the insults he was spewing in this segment. The crowd ate up everything he said. Personally, I didn't love the promo, but they effectively set up an eventual match between him and Rush that I'm looking forward to.

Rey Fenix def. Jay Lethal, Kyle O'Reilly and Orange Cassidy in an AEW International Championship No. 1 Contender's Four-Way Match

WWE and AEW really need to tone it down with all of the multi-person matches they've been doing lately to crown new contenders. It's better than not doing number one contender's matches at all, but this felt lazy seeing as how Lethal didn't belong in there from a storyline standpoint and O'Reilly just lost to Will Ospreay on last Saturday's Collision. Plus, Daniel Garcia said in a video package later on in the episode that he wanted a shot. Why wasn't he involved? Nonetheless, it was a fun four-way and Fenix will get his title opportunity next week on Dynamite. Post-match, Willow Nightingale helped Cassidy fend off Beretta and Kris Statlander, so the mixed tag team match is clearly coming.

ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe def. Brian Cage in an AEW TNT Championship Eliminator Match

Is AEW already done referring to these Ladder match qualifiers as "Eliminators"? That's a relief if so. Calling them "Eliminators" was too confusing and didn't make sense. At any rate, this was a good match from these two. Cage is featured consistently yet never wins when it matters most, so there was zero uncertainty surrounding the outcome, but Briscoe being as over as he is got the crowd invested in the action.

The Elite Interrupted The Acclaimed

The Bucks turned babyface with me as soon as they put a stop to The Acclaimed's tired rapping shtick while they were making their entrance. In all seriousness, it looks like we're headed toward the Bucks against The Acclaimed soon. They actually have history from a few years ago and that'll give The Acclaimed some direction after not doing anything since losing the AEW World Trios Championship. By the way, why couldn't Tony Khan overrule The Elite cutting a segment from the show since it's been established he's backstage?

Blackpool Combat Club (ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli) def. Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion Esfinge, Magnus, Rugido and Volador Jr.

There was a string of shows earlier this year where the CMLL crew was featured on almost every episode of Dynamite, Collision and/or Rampage. Most of the matches were solid, but it was impossible to care because they meant nothing and a majority of the audience knew nothing about the wrestlers. To be fair, I believe this matchup was supposed to happen on an CMLL-sanctioned show earlier this year before Yuta got hurt, so it's fine if they wanted to get it out of the way here. At least it was well wrestled and Yuta picked up the pinfall win for his team.

Saraya def. Mariah May

This was originally advertised for last week before being bumped to this week. Toni Storm and May have been feuding with The Outcasts for weeks, I assume to keep them busy in between pay-per-views. I actually had no issue with Saraya winning here if the idea is that she'll face Storm (who she previously beat at Grand Slam) for the AEW Women's World Championship on Dynamite. The match was decent. We also found out that Storm will be defending her title against Mina Shirakawa at Forbidden Door and I like how the story that's been told with them and May over the last two months.

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland def. Roderick Strong

I hated how Strong demanded Tony Khan for a title shot on last week's Collision and just had it granted, but there was no doubt the match itself would deliver and it did. Strong is excellent and he looked like he belonged in there, despite it being obvious he wasn't winning. Strickland needed to be the focal point of Dynamite again going into his title defense against Ospreay at Forbidden Door and they're accomplishing that.

Overall Show

Much like last week, I wasn't a fan of this show. It wasn't terrible, but the biggest highlights felt like they came in the opening segment and in the main event. It was made worse but those atrocious backstage skits with The Learning Tree, and there were at least three of them. I understand what Chris Jericho is going for with this new character, but it's channel-changing material for me. At least they're doing a better job of building toward Forbidden Door this year, which isn't until the end of the month.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews