AEW Dynamite Review - May 15, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson) def. ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher and Jeff Cobb

As I've said before, I have no idea why Fletcher is still ROH World Television Champion if he continues to eat as many losses as he does on AEW TV. It's practically a prop at this point. At any rate, this was an enjoyable opener. They tried to make it Anarchy in the Arena-esque with the chaotic start, which I'm not a fan of personally, but the rest of this was well wrestled. It was cool to see Cobb on AEW TV again, too. Post-match, Konosuke Takeshita attempted to attack Danielson and Moxley before Claudio Castagnoli made the save.

House of Black Attacked AEW TNT Champion Adam Copeland and Kyle O'Reilly

Copeland was out in the ring to address his upcoming Barbed Wire Steel Cage match with Malakai Black at Double or Nothing when House of Black attacked him from behind. O'Reilly attempted to make the save but was attacked as well. This was simple stuff to further the feud between Black and Copeland and put more heat on the heels. That Barbed Wire Steel Cage match should be quite the spectacle, to say the least.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal in an AEW World Tag Team Championship Eliminator Match

Did anyone honestly think Daniels and Sydal had a chance of beating the Bucks here? Of course not, especially since I can't recall the last match they won as a team. Daniels might be in the twilight of his career, but the guy can still go. That said, this was a fun sprint while it lasted. The Bucks abusing their power as EVPs by "firing" Daniels afterward was a nice touch, along with Jack Perry pouring a drink on Tony Schiavone's head on commentary.

Hook def. Sebastian Wolfe

This marked Hook's first appearance since losing the FTW Championship to Chris Jericho at Dynasty. Having him beat a local loser in under a minute was the way to go. Jericho and Big Bill confronted Hook afterward and informed him that he can get a rematch for the title by winning a number one contender's match on Saturday's Collision. As I've said before, this storyline does absolutely nothing for me.

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland def. Brian Cage in an AEW World Championship Eliminator Match

Cage means very little these days and thus the outcome to this clash was never in doubt, but that's to take nothing away from his talent. He and Strickland had a very good match and they were given an ample amount of time. The Patriarchy laid out Strickland afterward and Christian Cage wiped Strickland's blood on a picture of his family, so they're doing what they can ahead to make Christian feel like a threat to the title heading into their Double or Nothing.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Harley Cameron (Non-Title)

This wasn't an AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator match but rather just a "grudge" match. Also, apparently Cameron's loss to Mariah May last week was enough to earn her a non-title opportunity against the champ. Okay, then. Cameron exceeded my expectations with her performance last week and she held her own again here, but it was a weird dynamic with both women being heels. They had a fine match, but Storm was the clear fan favorite and you don't want her getting cheered over Serena Deeb at the pay-per-view.

AEW TBS Champion Willow Nightingale Attacked Mercedes Mone During the AEW TBS Championship Contract Signing

A majority of Mone's promos so far in AEW have been underwhelming, but this was easily her strongest one yet. Obviously, she's in her element as a heel, so I hope that's the role she stays in coming out of Double or Nothing. These two had an excellent exchange and the boos for Mone were audible. I'm convinced Mone is winning the AEW TBS Championship at the event with Nightingale putting her through a table here.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Dax Harwood

It's been a while since we got a string of singles matches from Harwood, but we've been treated to two great singles matches from them in the last week between this and his outing against Tommy Billington last Saturday on Collision. They saved the best for last, even if Okada retaining was predictable. It was announced at the start of the show that Eddie Kingston suffered an injury and had to be pulled from Anarchy in the Arena, so he was replaced here by the returning Darby Allin. Allin was last seen being attacked by Bang Bang Gang in March, but he did beat The Young Bucks with Sting at Revolution, so he's a logical choice.

Overall Show

This was the longest overrun Dynamite has had to date, and it has me worried that AEW/Warner might be considering making it a three-hour show eventually. Yeah, I'll pass. On the bright side, this was a thumbs-up show. Dynamite's quality has been inconsistent for a while now, but this was one of AEW's better efforts in recent weeks as it did an effective job of building toward Double or Nothing next weekend. The card isn't bloated as of now, but unfortunately, I'm sure more matches will be added before then.

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