AEW Dynamite Review - June 8, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kyle O'Reilly Won the Casino Battle Royale to Advance to the Main Event to Face Jon Moxley in the Interim AEW World Championship Eliminator Series

Despite featuring some notable names, this was far from a memorable Casino Battle Royale. Most of it just seemed to exist up until the final few minutes. There weren't any surprise entrants and Andrade El Idolo ended up being the joker. I fully expected Wheeler Yuta to win the whole thing, but I'm glad they went with O'Reilly instead. Granted, no one actually thought O'Reilly would win in the main event, but it's better than going to back to Jon Moxley vs. Yuta so soon.

Pac def. Buddy Matthews to Qualify for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship Four-Way Match at Forbidden Door

I hope we're done with the House of Black vs. Death Triangle feud, but I have no issue with Pac vs. Matthews and Penta Oscuro vs. Malakai Black happening as qualifiers for this new All-Atlantic title. Speaking of which, what the hell is the point of it? It's cool, I guess, and I realize the roster is only getting bigger, but do we really need another singles title when we still don't have trios titles? At any rate, Pac vs. Matthews was a blast as expected.

United Empire Attacked Trent Beretta and ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR

Beretta started out the segment on his own and I thought he was going to announce the end of Best Friends (on National Best Friends Day, no less), but no such luck. Instead, he challenged FTR to a rematch for the ROH World Tag Team Championship after FTR vs. Roppongi Vice was interrupted two weeks ago, but they were interrupted and attacked by Will Ospreay and other members of his United Empire faction. Ospreay is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, so him making his AEW debut was a cool moment. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in action on Friday's Rampage.

"Hangman" Adam Page def. David Finlay

I'm familiar with Finlay from the time he spent in Ring of Honor years ago and from his recent tag team with Juice Robinson. They were actually Impact World Tag Team Champions together just last year. From what I understand, he's been impressive on his own over in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and I'm glad he had this chance to shine. He and Page had a quality contest, but the focus was on his post-match promo where he challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. Sign me the hell up!

Wardlow Challenged AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky

Wardlow told Tony Schiavone that he didn't want to be a part of the Casino Battle Royale earlier because he'd rather beat the champion straight up instead of winning an interim title, so I appreciated that they explained that plot hole. He also said he wants the AEW TNT Championship after MJF cost him the belt three months ago. That title has been the worst part of the program for months now, so Wardlow winning it would certainly be a step in the right direction. Before then, though, Wardlow will have to face 20 security guards on next week's show, which is completely ridiculous.

AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa def. Marina Shafir

The setup for this bout was completely random. First of all, Rosa wasn't even mentioned on AEW TV last week, and then she issued an open challenge backstage (which wasn't even televised until later) that was answered by Shafir, who hasn't been seen on TV since she failed to beat Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship two months ago. Shafir bores me to tears, so I can't say I cared about this despite Rosa's best efforts. Shafir attacked Rosa afterward and Toni Storm made the save, hinting at that being Rosa's next title defense. That should be exceptional if given time.

Jon Moxley def. Kyle O'Reilly to Advance to Forbidden Door in the Interim AEW World Championship Eliminator Series

There wasn't much uncertainty surrounding the outcome, but I'd be damned if this wasn't an excellent main event. William Regal mentioned on commentary that O'Reilly was one of his favorites and I have to agree. The guy is just fantastic and I'm happy he had this opportunity to take Moxley to the limit in a high-profile main event. They beat the holy hell out of each other and the crowd ate it all up. It's looking like Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi will be the main event of Forbidden Door for the Interim AEW World Championship and you won't get any complaints out of me.

Overall Show

The two biggest drawing points of this show going in were the kickoff to the Interim AEW World Championship Eliminator Series and what the fallout would be to MJF's thrilling promo last week. Unfortunately, MJF wasn't seen or even mentioned, but I guess that makes sense if they're dragging this storyline out and pretending like he's been suspended. The Eliminator Series stuff played out the way we thought it would, but the main event was enjoyable and Ospreay making a surprise appearance in the middle of the show was fun. There were some other Forbidden Door developments on this show, so at least we're finally getting some build for that pay-per-view.

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