AEW Dynamite Review - November 1, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy def. Claudio Castagnoli

I know the International title has changed hands a lot lately, but I was hoping Castagnoli would win it because he's the perfect fit as champ right now. Unfortunately, no such luck. It's clear they're keeping the belt on Cassidy until his rematch with Jon Moxley, but is Moxley going to beat him for it again? What would that accomplish? At any rate, this was the very good match you'd expect from them. Where were Best Friends to save Cassidy from the post-match Blackpool Combat Club beatdown?

Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. The Elite ("Hangman" Adam Page and The Young Bucks) to Win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship

I've largely enjoyed the Page vs. Swerve Strickland feud, but the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship have been a pointless prop during the whole thing. In fact, The Elite reigned as the champs for just under six weeks and never made a single appearance on ROH TV. That would explain why they lose the belts back to Mogul Embassy here, but the entire title run was a waste of time. The match itself was solid, but the focus was on furthering the feud between Page and Strickland. The post-match meltdown from the Bucks was bizarre.

Sting and Darby Allin Saved Adam Copeland From AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne

AEW was wise to dial back on the interactions between Copeland and Christian in recent weeks so they'll mean more once it comes time for them to go one-on-one. I'm also glad we're not getting that one-on-one match as soon as Full Gear and that it'll be a six-man tag team match instead. This was simple stuff with Sting and Allin making the save for Copeland, but it was effective. I was surprised Copeland actually hit Christian with the Spear. You'd think they'd want to save that for later down the road. On a side note, there was no Ric Flair sighting this week and I consider that a positive.

Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega def. "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker

I totally forgot Jericho was aligned with Menard and Parker until the match got underway despite them being in the same stable for so long. I guess that's my memory trying to tell me to forget about Jericho Appreciation Society because it sucked from the start. Nonetheless, this was perfectly fine for what it was. It essentially served as a showcase for Jericho and Omega and to set up their post-match exchange with The Don Callis Family as well as officially announce Paul Wight in that eight-man tag team Street Fight in two weeks on Dynamite in Canada.

AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida def. Willow Nightingale

Shida having regular title defenses has been refreshing and most of her matches have delivered, but I wish there was more of an explanation for why this happened (and no, calling it an open challenge doesn't count). Nightingale's popular, but from a storyline standpoint, she hasn't done anything recently to earn this opportunity. It was a quality contest, though. Post-match, Shida brawled with Toni Storm to the back while Skye Blue helped Nightingale fend off Julia Hart.

Bullet Club Gold (Jay White, Juice Robinson and The Gunns) def. AEW World Champion MJF and AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn

I loved how MJF struggling to find partners to team with him was the story thread of the show. Obviously, he ended up settling for The Acclaimed and Gunn. It made sense I suppose, but I was disappointed he didn't pick Samoa Joe, Wardlow or almost anyone else. The match was well worked, but it didn't pack a punch for me personally, especially after that killer Collision main event mere days ago between MJF and Omega. On the bright side, White pinning MJF ahead of Full Gear to send the message that he's a legitimate threat to the AEW World Championship was the correct call. Per the stipulation, by virtue of his victory, White gets to hold onto the physical belt until at least Full Gear.

Overall Show

For those wondering, Tony Khan's "important announcement" was that tickets for next year's All In event in London will go on sale next month. No, I'm not kidding. The man is a wrestling fan. How can he be so dense to think hyping that up ahead of time was a smart idea? That aside, this was a middle-of-the-road edition of Dynamite. Nothing too great but nothing too bad, either. What's key is that they've already confirmed six matches for Full Gear, which is much earlier than usual. If they're going to be doing monthly pay-per-views going forward, they would benefit from having smaller cards so the shows don't last a full four hours (excluding the pre-show).

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews