AEW Dynamite Review - May 13, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cody and Lance Archer Brawled

Other than Cody driving the truck into the guardrail (which was lame), this was a strong segment to start the show. Roberts' comments about Brandi Rhodes are to sure to piss people off, but hey, he's a heel. What do you expect? The brawl between Cody and Archer was well done and I liked how it ended in Cody getting the upper hand with Archer and Roberts retreating. Needless to say, I'm more excited for their match than any other at Double or Nothing.

Best Friends def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus)

I'd argue these are two of the more popular teams in AEW's tag tam division, yet neither of them are remotely close to AEW World Tag Team Championship contention according to the current rankings. Despite that, this was a very enjoyable match. Fenix attacking Orange Cassidy served as hype for the Casino Ladder matchup at Double or Nothing (as they'll both be participating) and Wardlow attacking Marko Stunt afterward served as hype for MJF vs. Jungle Boy, so this managed to accomplish quite a bit.

Hikaru Shida def. Penelope Ford, Britt Baker and Kris Statlander in a Four-Way Match

It dawned on me while watching this match that after almost a year, AEW's women's division finally seems to be hitting a stride. Plenty of women are building momentum at the moment, and although any one of these ladies could have scored the victory, Shida made the most sense as she prepares to vie for Nyla Rose's AEW Women's Championship at Double or Nothing. This certainly had its fair share of sloppy moments, but on the whole, they kept the pace exciting throughout and put together a fun four-way.

"Broken" Matt Hardy and AEW World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega def. Santana and Ortiz

Hardy is probably the perfect partner for Omega right now while Adam Page is in quarantine due to his experience with tag teams and how he's feuding with Inner Circle, anyway. I felt that the outcome was a foregone conclusion after Omega and Hardy lost last week to Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, but this was a great match, nonetheless. AEW needs to do more to make Santana and Ortiz a threat again as opposed to the lackeys for Inner Circle. On a side note, I hope AEW still plans on doing something with Hardy and Jericho and/or Guevara on The Hardy Compound at some point, preferably at the pay-per-view.

MJF def. Lee Johnson

At long last, MJF has recovered from his grueling hangnail and has been cleared for competition again (surely you can sense my sarcasm).  He made quick work of Johnson, but even better was his post-match promo. It sucks that he doesn't have an actual audience to play off of for now, but his mic work was still top-notch. Next week, MJF will face off against Jurassic Express' Marko Stunt ahead of his outing with Jungle Boy at Double or Nothing.

Chris Jericho def. Pineapple Pete

Pineapple Pete has been appearing on AEW TV for a while now under his actual ring name Suge D, but the Pineapple Pete name stuck after Jericho referred to him as such on commentary. He didn't stand out at all with his pre-match promo or with his performance, so I'm glad they kept it short and sweet. Even more memorable was what happened afterward with Jericho destroying Vanguard 1 with a baseball bat. First Mitch the potted plant, now Vanguard 1 the drone. Jericho is a monster and you can't tell me otherwise.

Brodie Lee def. Christopher Daniels

The bad blood between these two has been brewing for many months, dating back to when The Dark Order first started feuding with SCU. It wasn't a marquee main event by any means, but it made sense and was enjoyable enough to justify it going on last. Plus, Lee will be challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing and needed this win to establish his credibility. Speaking of Moxley, I really dug his promo and thought it did an effective job of hyping up their championship clash for Double or Nothing. It's all happening way too soon, but I applaud their efforts for making the most of it.

Overall Show

It's hard to believe that Double or Nothing is coming up next week, and considering it's supposed to be their biggest pay-per-view of the year, I can't help but feel underwhelmed by the build so far. They're doing what they can to put together a compelling card, but most matches outside of Cody vs. Archer have been rushed beyond belief. Hopefully they can still deliver a special show with what's on tap. As for this edition of Dynamite, I was once again thoroughly entertained for the better part of the two hours. There was a healthy mix of quality wrestling, storyline advancement, and hype for Double or Nothing. The lack of filler was appreciated as well.