AEW Dynamite Review - March 3, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Shaquille O'Neal and Jade Cargill def. Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet

I had no idea what to expect from this match, and honestly my expectations were low because of how subpar the program has been, but this ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would. Cargill wasn't totally terrible, Velvet was impressive, Rhodes played his role well, and O'Neal came off as well as he possibly could have. It gave me flashbacks to Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34 in that it was more a spectacle with smoke and mirrors than a true match, but that's why it worked. It opened the night on a high note, but I have no idea why it wasn't saved for the main event slot. As for Shaq disappearing from the ambulance afterward, that was dumb.

Pac and Rey Fenix def. John Skyler and D3

Pentagon Jr. was written off the show with a storyline injury over a month ago (though I believe his absence is actually due to visa issues or something along those lines), but he'll be back at Revolution in the Face of Revolution Ladder match. That's why Death Triangle hasn't been appearing all together lately. It feels like Pac and Fenix have been treading water until he returns, as this was a pretty straightforward squash with not much else to it.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks Attacked Chris Jericho and MJF

Jericho and MJF taking questions from the "wrestling media" made for a funny segment and Eric Bischoff continuing his "feud" with Jericho was a nice touch. This was also the best the Bucks have looked in AEW as babyfaces in my opinion. The promo work was strong and this did more to get me excited for their upcoming AEW World Tag Team Championship clash than anything else they've done up to this point. I'm curious if The Good Brothers will inadvertently cost the Bucks the belts at Revolution considering they helped them get the better of Inner Circle here.

Tully Blanchard and FTR def. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurs, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt)

As a one-week thing, Blanchard being back in the ring for the first time in many years was fine. He did well and was wisely kept limited. I thought him pinning Luchasaurus instead of Stunt was stupid, but the rest of the match was exactly what it needed to be with everyone playing their roles well. Shawn Spears made his "grand" return by dressing up as a cameraman at ringside and aiding his manager to victory. I can't say I've missed Spears, but him being aligned with FTR is better than him flying solo as he bored me to tears. JJ Dillion being at ringside for FTR and Blanchard was a cool cameo as well as Arn Anderson showing up afterward to flash them the Four Horsemen hand gesture.

Paul Wight Promised a Huge Signing at Revolution

Most will find it clever, but I thought the "No More BS" show that Wight was wearing was dumb. But hey, if he makes money off it, more power to him. At any rate, this was a nice debut for him on Dynamite. I still prefer to see his role limited and we'll see how he does on commentary for Elevation in a few weeks, but I sincerely hope he isn't in the ring often. He also mentioned that there will be a "huge, Hall of Fame-worthy signing" announced at Revolution. Let the speculation begin. I don't have any guesses myself aside from possibly Kurt Angle, but that honestly would be a bit of a letdown in my opinion.

Ryo Mizunami def. Nyla Rose in the Finals of the AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament

Mizunami has impressed me with her work throughout this tournament and I don't mind her getting the title shot against Hikaru Shida at Revolution. The problem is that the outcome isn't in doubt and there's not a strong story there for U.S. viewers to get invested in. It should be a terrific match, but are we really supposed to believe someone who isn't under an AEW contract is going to capture the championship? On the bright side, this was another above-average match from Rose, who had her best matches in AEW to date in this tourney. That said, I had no interest in seeing her challenge Shida again.

Sting and AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin Attacked Team Taz

I feel like we've been seeing the same segment with these guys for months where the heels will interrupt the babyfaces or vice versa and leave them laying. The only difference in the past two or three weeks is that Sting has gotten physical. Was it worth the wait? Maybe, maybe not, but they really should have held off on Sting's debut at least another month in retrospect or not him have on the show every single week. This was a solid segment, but I can't wait for Sunday so we can finally move forward.

Max Caster def. Preston "10" Vance to Qualify for the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match at Revolution

I was wondering where Anthony Bowens was for this and why he wasn't at ringside, but I later read that he's currently out injured with a knee injury. That's a shame. Hopefully he isn't out of action for too long because The Acclaimed have quickly turned into one of my favorite acts in AEW. That said, Caster is fine on his own for now. He and Vance had a perfectly competent albeit paint-by-numbers match. Jack Evans' interference cost Vance the match, which was logical because of Evans' association with Matt Hardy and Hardy's hatred for The Dark Order. Caster won't win on Sunday, but we'll see how strong of a showing he has.

"Hangman" Adam Page and John Silver def. Matt Hardy and Marq Quen

Was there a reason why this was positioned as the main event? I hoped there was something big planned for this final segment, but that big brawl was not what I had in mind. In retrospect, the mixed tag team match really should have gone on last. Don't get me wrong, this was decent, but it felt rushed and had no business being the main event as there was nothing overly special about it. I typically hate when big brawls end the night and this was no exception. I realize it was meant to hype the Tag Team Casino Battle Royale, but it felt like one giant mess.

Overall Show

I wasn't looking forward to Revolution a week or two ago because of how lame some of the undercard matches felt, and I still feel that way about a few of them, but I came away from this edition of Dynamite more excited for the event than I was before thanks to the tease of a huge signing, the video package for Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley (I'm curious to see how far they'll go with this Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch experiment), and the build for the tag title match. The brawl at the end was unnecessary, but that was perhaps my biggest nitpick of the show. Again, that opener was a pleasant surprise for what it ended up being. That isn't to say it was an instant classic by any means, but they did as well as they could and left me satisfied, so I can't complain too much.