AEW Dynamite Review - May 11, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Adam Cole def. ROH World Tag Team Champion and AAA World Tag Team Champion Dax Harwood in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

FTR can do no wrong right now, and this was another standout performance from the phenomenal Harwood. Of course, having an excellent opponent in Cole didn't hurt. I don't think there was any uncertainty surrounding the outcome, but I appreciated that they got as much time as they did and the crowd was into the action. Cole advancing was the right call. On a side note, Martha Hart being shown in the audience was a nice touch.

CM Punk def. John Silver

If you can recall, Punk turned the Long Island crowd against him the last time AEW was there for Dynamite late last year by crapping all over their sports teams, so I loved how he kept it consistent by playing up the boos here as well. He was in total heel mode and it was a blast. There wasn't much to the match, but I'm glad Silver got another chance to hang with one of AEW's top talents. The post-match promo from Punk toward Adam Page was well done, but why didn't we get a response from Page other than him flipping Punk the bird? Are they saving their first real verbal exchange for next week or the go-home show?

Tony Nese def. Danhausen

I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I was disappointed by the booking of the match. Okay, so I wasn't expecting an instant classic by any means, but I wish the AEW audience got to see more of what Danhausen could do in the ring before eating defeat. I mean, this literally lasted 30 seconds, and I can't say I care any more about Nese than I did before. This felt like a waste, but it did set up Danhausen and Hook against Nese and Mark Sterling for Double or Nothing.

MJF and Wardlow's Contract Signing Ended in Calamity

That Dark Side of the Ring parody for MJF was fantastic. AEW has done that sort of stuff in the past, mostly for Chris Jericho, so I thought that was extremely well done. The segment itself was also great. They knew MJF would get cheered in his hometown over Wardlow, so it was probably for the best to not have Wardlow speak this week. Instead, he killed the entire security team as well as Mark Sterling and the crowd was hot for it. I realize Wardlow having to endure 10 lashings from MJF as well as face Shawn Spears in a Steel Cage match is supposed to mirror Cody Rhodes' rivalry with MJF from two years ago, but it almost feels like a lazy formula they're following because they're not sure what more to do between now and the pay-per-view, so they're simply recycling stuff they've done in the past. Just my two cents.

FTW Champion Ricky Starks def. AEW World Tag Team Champion Jungle Boy

It's almost comical how many titles AEW has at the moment if count the championships from Ring of Honor, making the FTW Championship even more of a prop. I know it has ties to Taz, but it really doesn't serve much of a purpose at this point and doesn't mean anything whenever it's defended. That said, this was a very entertaining affair. Starks and Jungle Boy are two pillars of AEW's future and they worked very well together here. Hopefully we see them facing off in even higher-profile matches down the road. The post-match angle seems to set up a three-way tag title match at Double or Nothing with Jurassic Express, Team Taz and the duo of Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, but I'm more excited for Christian Cage's heel turn than anything else.

Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz and Blackpool Combat Club Attacked Jericho Appreciation Society

It feels like a segment with Jericho talking has been advertised for Dynamite every other week for the last two years. Seriously, enough already. The Jericho Appreciation Society stuff has sucked and I haven't at all cared about their rivalry with Kingston, Santana and Ortiz. Blackpool Combat Club getting involved to even the odds is certainly random, but at least it makes it marginally more interesting, if nothing else. Blackpool Combat Club competing in a Stadium Stampede match would be very uncharacteristic of them, so I hope a standard 10-man tag team match is where this is headed instead.

Toni Storm def. Jamie Hayter in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

This has been building for a while, almost too long because all they've been done is exchanging words backstage for the better part of the past month. Thankfully, they delivered a hell of a hard-hitting affair here. I wish it lasted longer and wasn't a victim of a commercial break, but it was a treat, nonetheless. I'm a Hayter fan, but she pretty much had to advance. She'll face either Britt Baker or the "joker" entrant in the next round.

Jeff Hardy def. Darby Allin in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Anything Goes Match

The Anything Goes stipulation was added earlier in the evening. I maintain this first-time-ever encounter should have been saved for a bigger show down the road (not to mention they had to rush to get everything in before the night was over), but hey, at least it was positioned as the main event. This was every bit as wild as you'd expect. They really went all out and produced some memorable spots. That dive off the ladder onto Hardy laying on the chairs was insanely stupid and dangerous, but that's just my take. The rest of this was pure chaos and I found it fun. Hardy winning genuinely surprised me, though. Allin has lost a lot of steam as a singles star in the last six months and I don't know that I would've had him lose, but hopefully he can avenge that loss at some point. Hardy is still super popular, but he's been moving around very slow lately and I don't know he needs to be making it past the semifinals.

Overall Show

I didn't have too much to complain about myself, but last week's edition of Dynamite was largely panned online (at least by usual Dynamite standards). This episode was a noticeable improvement, however, with a lively Long Island crowd, several strong matches and segments, and build for Double or Nothing. It's weird only a handful of matches are official for the event and it's mere weeks away, but at least we have a decent idea of what the card will consist of. All in all, this was an enjoyable edition of Dynamite and next week's installments looks loaded as well on paper.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews