AEW Dynamite Review - May 19, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Christian Cage def. Matt Sydal

It's amazing to me that in the many years Christian and Sydal spent in WWE together, they never had a one-on-one match. They were both in the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 26, but that might be the most interaction they've had. This was Cage's third match since signing to AEW and, unsurprisingly, he delivered again. This was an excellent choice for the opener as they had quality chemistry together and it also set the stage for the post-match angle with Team Taz laying out Cage, Sydal and Adam Page. Page and Brian Cage are having their rematch at Double or Nothing, but I can see a six-man tag team match happening at some point down the road once Ricky Starks is cleared to compete.

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston def. The Acclaimed

Although "Wild Thing" (the Major League version) is a cool song, I hope it's only used for Moxley and Kingston as a team because I actually really like Moxley's AEW entrance theme. At any rate, this was a lot of fun. Max Caster's pre-match rap was a riot per usual and the match itself was equally entertaining. There was no doubt surrounding the outcome, but I really like both teams and thus this was a treat. It was also necessary in allowing Moxley and Kingston to climb in the tag team rankings.

Darby Allin and Sting Attacked "All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky

Sky and Page both cut solid promos here. I appreciate AEW trying to make them a threat to Sting and Allin, but I'm just not buying it. In fact, they feel like less of a threat than Team Taz did when they took on Sting and Allin at Revolution. I thought Page and Sky wanted the AEW TNT Championship, so I'm not sure why they're so obsessed with the babyfaces despite Allin not longer having the TNT title. Allin and Sting getting the better of the heels was logical after what happened last week and The Dark Order coming out as well sets them up to face Page and Sky before the pay-per-view. For the record, the newly-announced tag team match at Double or Nothing will he held in the ring and won't be cinematic, as the commentators clarified later on.

AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida def. Rebel (Non-Title)

With Shida defending her title against Britt Baker at Double or Nothing, this served as a fine tune-up for her before then, doing battle with Baker's right-hand woman. Rebel is not very good in the ring, so I was glad this was kept on the shorter side. She almost won after blasting Shida in the back with the crutch, so that was a nice nearfall. Baker stood tall to end the segment. Needless to say, she must walk out of Double or Nothing as the new champion.

Inner Circle Accepted The Pinnacle's Stadium Stampede Challenge at Double or Nothing

Obviously, everyone expected Inner Circle to say yes to The Pinnacle's Stadium Stampede challenge (and they did), so while I can see some people thinking this was a waste of time, I thought it was an effective way of furthering the feud ahead of the pay-per-view. Plus, most of the promos from Inner Circle here were very good, specifically Jericho. He brought the intensity and made Stadium Stampede 2 feel like a big deal. All signs point to them winning at Double or Nothing, but personally, I think it'd be refreshing if they lost and went their separate ways.

NWA World Women's Champion Serena Deeb def. Red Velvet

What Velvet did to earn a shot at the NWA title, I have no idea, but the important thing is that Deeb is back and better than ever. Because she was out of action for a few months, I think there was a portion of fans who forgot how talented she really is and how she's one of the best in that division. Velvet, to her credit, has improved in the time she's been with AEW and has been having some standout matches. She looked credible in defeat and I was glad they were given a decent amount of time for this. I just wish AEW had given Deeb's win more time to breathe instead of moving on to the next thing so quickly.

Anthony Ogogo def. Austin Gunn by Referee Stoppage

We haven't seen much of Ogogo in the ring yet, so I was interested to see how this would play out. Well, it wasn't much longer than his last outing. Gunn got some offense in early on, but Ogogo quickly leveled him with his patented punch to the gut. A few more strikes put Gunn out, causing the referee to call for the bell. He pretty much has to beat Cody Rhodes at Double or Nothing, right? There's no way AEW puts him over this strong only to lose in his first major match in the company.

Lance Archer Interrupted AEW TNT Champion Miro

As I've said before, this is the Miro I had been waiting to see for a long time. He should have been booked this way from the get-go, but I guess they didn't have a spot for him in the midcard at that point. Hey, it's better late than never. I really liked the verbal exchange here between Miro and Archer and I liked how Archer acknowledged how he went for the TNT title last year at Double or Nothing. There were zero teases for this match prior to last week, so considering it was put together on such short notice, I'm looking forward to it.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. Varsity Blonds

As far as I know, Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison are not under full-time deals to AEW, so it's damn cool that they had the chance to compete in the main event here and they made the most of it. They cut great promos backstage earlier in the evening and put up a hell of a fight against Young Bucks in what was an enjoyable match. Last week, I was wondering why Young Bucks would defend the titles again so close to Double or Nothing, but it made sense for them to knock off Varsity Blonds so Moxley and Kingston could ascend in the rankings. Speaking of Moxley and Kingston, they stole Young Bucks' very expensive shoes afterward, which was hilarious because Young Bucks have been showing them off quite a bit in recent weeks. It was officially announced as the show went off the air that Young Bucks will defend against Moxley and Kingston at Double or Nothing.

Overall Show

AEW has done a terrific job in such a short span of time of building up a compelling card for Double or Nothing. Even the three-way for the AEW World Championship, which I wasn't high on a week ago, I liked what they did on this show with Kenny Omega trying to convince Orange Cassidy to give up his title shot because he got banged up against Pac. That was well done. There was more talking on this edition of Dynamite than usual, but that's what I thought made it so strong. We need more of that type of character development and storyline progression on these shows and this was a fine example of that. This was another top-notch show. In case you missed it, Dynamite will be airing next Friday night at 10 p.m. eastern time ahead of the pay-per-view that Sunday.