AEW Dynamite Review - May 4, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jeff Hardy def. Bobby Fish to Qualify for the Men's Owen Hart Cup

This isn't a match I ever expected to see, and after seeing it, I don't think it's a match we necessarily needed to see. That isn't to say it was bad, but Hardy is significantly slower than he used to be and Fish isn't the most exciting on his own, so their style didn't exactly mesh exceptionally well together. That said, it was a quality contest with the expected outcome. We're getting Hardy against Darby Allin in the official first round next week, which surprises me because I assumed it'd be saved for the finals or at least the semifinals.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta) def. The Andrade Family Office (Angelico, The Butcher and The Blade)

Blackpool Combat Club have been steamrolling through the competition since joining forces two months ago and this was another standard showcase for them. Crowds are into the trio and are hot for almost everything they do, but personally, I'm ready for them to get involved in something more meaningful than beating groups that don't matter (The A.F.O. was dead on arrival). Is it possible AEW is killing time with them until trios titles are introduced at Double or Nothing?

Wardlow def. W. Morrissey

Morrissey being Wardlow's "mystery" opponent was the worst kept secret coming into this show based on how MJF described him in a promo last week. Despite that, it was cool to see Morrissey make an appearance. It was relatively brief for a hoss match, but they kept it short and sweet and I liked how Morrissey dominated a majority of it before losing. He's had a great run in IMPACT over the last year and I'd love to see him get a chance in another big promotion again.

AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page Addressed CM Punk

Page missed last week's show due to testing positive for COVID-19, and Punk missed this show due to filming for a television show. Page definitely took a more heelish and aggressive approach with his promo addressing Punk compared to usual, but I don't think he's turning heel. If he did, I think that'd be premature because people are still very much behind him. This was a strong promo from him and I'm looking forward to their first real verbal exchange one of these weeks.

Chris Jericho def. Santana

As terrific of a team as Santana and Ortiz are, Santana has real potential to be a breakout star at some point based on some of the promos he's cut during his time in AEW. He had a solid showing here and it was a good match, but Jericho winning was logical to keep the heat on the heels. Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz are going to need backup at some point, right? At any rate, this feud continues to do nothing for me.

Death Triangle Saved Varsity Blonds From House of Black

This whole segment was the stupidest thing on the whole show. I really dig House of Black, but this crap with them and Varsity Blonds needs to end. It felt like this was where we'd finally see Julia Hart turn heel, and although that might be where this is headed still, I can't bring myself to care. Death Triangle vs. House of Black apparently isn't over, either. I'm beyond ready for everyone involved in this angle to move on to something new.

Rey Fenix def. Dante Martin to Qualify for the Men's Owen Hart Cup

Given who was involved, you had to know this would be a total spot-fest and that's exactly what it was. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining, even if some of the spots looked a bit too choreographed and ridiculous. It wasn't quite the "dream match" Tony Khan billed it as coming into this show, but it was fun for what it was. In case you missed it, Dante is flying solo again due to Darius Martin getting injured again. It's a bummer for Top Flight, but I'm sure Dante will be just fine.

AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa Called Out Serena Deeb

A common complaint of Rosa's title run so far among fans has been that she's barely received television time. Her first feud being with Nyla Rose didn't help. I appreciated that she had the chance to cut an elongated promo, but it felt like it dragged on a little long before Deeb finally came out. This was a fine verbal exchange to set the stage for their AEW Women's World Championship match at Double or Nothing, which I'm very much looking forward to.

Mercedes Martinez def. Deonna Purrazo to Become the Undisputed ROH Women's World Champion

Purrazzo beat Rok-C (a.k.a. Roxanne Perez in WWE NXT) for the title on an episode of IMPACT! Wrestling earlier this year and defended it fairly regularly in IMPACT. She wasn't able to appear at Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor pay-per-view over WrestleMania weekend in April, so Martinez won an interim title at that event. The whole idea of an interim title in wrestling is dumb to me, but oh well. I was shocked AEW decided to put this on last considering Dynamite has only ever had two women's matches in the main event, and both were Rosa vs. Britt Baker. The crowd sat on their hands for a majority of it and that's a shame, but I hope that doesn't scare AEW from spotlighting the women in the main event more often in the future. It was well wrestled and Martinez winning ensures the title will now be exclusive to AEW/ROH. I hope Purrazzo winds up in IMPACT when her current contract expires now that she's done all she can over there.

Overall Show

Compared to recent editions of Dynamite, this was certainly one of the weaker ones, but I didn't find it to be a bad show. There were no overly important angles or any must-see matches, but the two hours held my attention as always and several storylines were progressed heading into next week. With Double or Nothing fast approaching, I'm curious what the card will end up looking like since nothing is confirmed as of now beyond Page vs. Punk and the Owen Hart Cup finals for the men and the women.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews