AEW Dynamite Review - March 20, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Willow Nightingale Saved Mercedes Mone From AEW TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue

I didn't think Mone's promo was anything special (it actually sounded like something you'd hear from her in WWE and I don't mean that as a compliment), but at least she started the show for the second straight week. Hart and Blue attacking her was logical as was Nightingale making the save. All of them can face Mone within the next month or so along with Kris Statlander. So far, so good with as far as Mone's presentation in AEW is concerned.

Kazuchika Okada def. ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston to Win the AEW Continental Championship (ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Were Not Defended)

I assumed this would be saved for Revolution, but obviously not. I'd say it looks like they might be saving Pac for the pay-per-view, but that isn't for another month, so perhaps we get that on TV before then, too. This was the great match you'd expect from these two and I have no issue with Okada winning gold so early in his AEW run. I'm not sure why only the Continental title was on the line instead of the AEW Continental Crown Championship. Didn't Tony Khan say all three titles would be unified after Worlds End?Why would they now all of a sudden be defended separately?

FTW Champion Hook def. "Lionheart" Chris Jericho (Non-Title)

I commend Jericho to a certain extent for wanting to put people over, but I can't honestly think of anyone who has beaten him in the last year and benefited from it. The guy just needs to go away for a while, the show definitely does not need him at the moment and it hasn't for a few years. The match was what it was. Hook winning clean was encouraging, but then Jericho said in a backstage segment he's going to have a "proposition" for him on next week's show. Why not leave well enough alone and move on?

Will Ospreay Challenged Katsuyori Shibata

We already heard from Ospreay on Dynamite last week, so there wasn't much in the way of new material in regards to his upcoming clash with Bryan Danielson at Revolution, but him apologizing to Toronto for his heelish antics when he was last there (Forbidden Door 2023 against Kenny Omega) was funny. We also got the setup for a match next week between him and Shibata, who is fresh off a wrestling clinic with Danielson on last Saturday's Collision.

Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo def. AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm and Mariah May

It feels like it's been ages since Rosa has been involved in anything of note in AEW, so it was nice to see her take part in this match and pin Storm to set up a championship clash between them at a later date. Purrazzo showed frustration toward Rosa afterward, so that will be a story worth keeping an eye on. I love that there's been more of a focus on the women's division the past two weeks. The key will be ensuring it's consistent going forward.

Swerve Strickland def. The Butcher

Strickland issued an open challenge during a backstage promo earlier in the episode and the call was answered by... The Butcher. I know Strickland saying he wanted to face a big dude and he was an easy name for Strickland to beat, but that was disappointing. I couldn't care less about Butcher if I tried. The match was decent and thankfully didn't last longer than it needed to. Strickland continues to build momentum ahead of his likely AEW World Championship opportunity at Revolution. The post-match mic work from Strickland, Samoa Joe and Don Callis did an effective job of setting up Strickland vs. Konosuke Takeshita for next week.

Adam Copeland def. Christian Cage in an "I Quit" Match to Win the AEW TNT Championship

Copeland and Christian's last match at Worlds End was one of the best bouts I've seen live. This was an equally entertaining brawl and I'm glad this wasn't one of those "I Quit" matches where the referee constantly threw a mic in their faces asking them if they were going to quit. They went way overtime and I would've fine with them shaving a few minutes off at the end (the finish was especially stupid because that "Spike" weapon Copeland would've realistically killed Christian), but this was a strong piece of business otherwise. Toronto was the perfect place to pay off the program, so fingers crossed this was actually the finale.

Overall Show

This was another excellent edition of Dynamite on the whole. AEW could have simply phoned it in after the eventful Big Business special, but this was a two-thumbs-up episode with more of an emphasis on promos than usual (and they all served a purpose). Hook vs. Jericho was probably the weakest thing on the show, but everything else held my interest and it was a lively atmosphere all evening. Fingers crossed Dynamite sticks to this sort of formula because it significantly enhanced my enjoyment of this episode.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews