AEW Dynamite Review - May 29, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Skye Blue Crashed Mercedes Mone's AEW TBS Championship Celebration

I'm still confused as to whether Mone is a babyface or a heel. She acted incredibly unlikable in the buildup to Double or Nothing (not to mention that her character is unlikable by nature), but she was back in babyface mode here. The mystery of Mone's attacker hasn't been mentioned in a while, so although Blue being revealed as the assailant was underwhelming, at least they finally paid off the angle to set up a championship clash between the two.

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland def. Killswitch (Non-Title)

Again, I have no idea what the difference is between doing an Eliminator match and a non-title match. They're essentially the same thing. This was an extension of Strickland's feud with The Patriarchy following his successful title defense against Christian Cage at Double or Nothing. It was a well-worked match, but any momentum Killswitch had from teasing tension with Christian last year is completely gone. Strickland took of a lock of Killswitch's afterward, but the camerawork made it clear it was hair from the mask and not his actual hair. Oops.

Hook Interrupted FTW Champion Chris Jericho, Big Bill and "Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith on TV Time

Yes, TV Time is Jericho's latest talk show segment and there was a cutout of a tree in the background. Ugh. I know it's supposed to be stupid, but it's channel-changing material more than anything else. I guess Keith is officially a member of Jericho's new faction after he helped him retain the FTW Championship at Double or Nothing? Other than that, I have no idea why this segment existed. A waste of TV time is what this was.

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley def. Rocky Romero in an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator Match

Moxley is one of AEW's biggest and best booked stars, but I don't understand why the AEW audience should care about Eliminators for a New Japan Pro-Wrestling title. I enjoyed Moxley's match with Konosuke Takeshita at Double or Nothing, but Takeshita was much more of a threat to Moxley than Romero was here. Sure, it was well wrestled, but it felt like it existed for no other reason than to get Moxley on the show. This was pretty pointless otherwise.

Trent Beretta Attacked Orange Cassidy and Joined The Don Callis Family

It's been obvious for weeks that Beretta would end up with Callis despite Callis showing interest toward Cassidy, but no one came away from this segment looking good. Callis wanted Cassidy but settled for Beretta when Cassidy turned him down, and Beretta looks like a total loser after being beaten clean by Cassidy twice. Maybe Beretta will finally win in the third match, but I'm officially over this feud.

AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone def. Skye Blue

I'm surprised they didn't save this match for next week to advertise Mone's Dynamite in-ring debut in advance. That said, doing this sort of thing once in a while gives Dynamite more of a must-see feel like anything can happen. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this and it didn't last long, but it was a nice match for what it was. NJPW Strong Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer, who got the video package treatment earlier in the episode, showed up afterward to stare down Mone, teasing that they'll collide at Forbidden Door.

Christopher Daniels Interrupted The Elite

Adam Copeland was unfortunately injured during the Barbed Wire Steel Cage match (off that stupid spot off the top) at Double or Nothing, so the AEW TNT Championship had to be vacated. The Elite were ready to give it to Jack Perry before Daniels emerged and announced that Tony Khan has named him an interim EVP and that there will be a Ladder match at Forbidden Door to crown a new champ. This was a solid segment and I'm glad Daniels will be the on-screen surrogate for Khan, who should not a regular character on the show.

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay Won an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Casino Gauntlet Match (Non-Title)

AEW literally did their first Casino Gauntlet match earlier this month on Dynamite, which was also won by Ospreay. Apparently this is his specialty. I wish they would've waited longer to run the concept again, but I can't complain too much because this was better than the original. It was exciting, exceptionally executed, and featured a ton of fun surprise entrants from NJPW and CMLL. AEW could have a new money match on their hands assuming they don't run it into the ground. Speaking of money matches, I didn't think we'd get Strickland defending against Ospreay as soon as Forbidden Door. I figured that was the All In main event, but I wouldn't mind Strickland beating Ospreay in their first matchup so Ospreay can avenge the loss to become champ at All In or somewhere else.

Overall Show

Man, this show featured a ton of talking, and while that would normally be a refreshing change of pace for Dynamite, the promos we got were neither entertaining nor engaging (though I really liked Kris Statlander's first heel promo that she cut backstage). It was an eventual episode with Mone wrestling her first Dynamite match, a TNT title announcement being made, Beretta joining The Don Callis Family (for whatever the hell that's worth) and a number one contender to the AEW World title being determined, but I still didn't think it was a strong show on the whole outside of the above-average main event.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews