AEW Dynamite Review - November 16, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson) def. Jericho Appreciation Society (ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara)

I still have no idea why Guevara is going to be in the ROH World Championship four-way at Full Gear instead of Daniel Garcia, but oh well. Given the great chemistry all four of these guys have, I wasn't surprised this was an entertaining affair with plenty of time. The idea was that Castagnoli making Jericho submit was supposed to make him feel like more of a threat to the title, but Jericho remains my pick to win that match.

Swerve Strickland def. AEW World Tag Team Champion Anthony Bowens

It's been a while since The Acclaimed' last music video and I didn't think their latest one was all that entertaining. I don't think there was any doubt about who was winning this one, but they had a well-worked match, nonetheless. Bowens has really improved over the last year and Strickland continues to do exceptional work as a heel. Strickland won here as he should have, but I assume The Acclaimed will retain their tag titles comes Full Gear.

AEW TNT Champion Wardlow, ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs Brawled

Joe is so beloved that it's going to take a lot for him to be fully booed by the audience, even with how over Wardlow still is. The delivery of his promo was terrific, but I don't know if the logic added up. His brawl with Hobbs and Wardlow was well done and successfully set up the three-way for the TNT title at Full Gear. The build feels completely rushed, but at least we're getting a TNT title defense on pay-per-view for a change.

AEW World Trios Champions Death Triangle (Pac and The Lucha Brothers) def. AR Fox and Top Flight

I was super excited when I saw this match announced last week knowing what all six stars are capable of. Sure enough, they delivered a very fun spot-fest. It's awesome to see Top Flight back together and I wouldn't at all be opposed to them teaming with Fox more in the future. This solely existed so The Elite's return could be announced afterward for Full Gear, where they'll challenge for the Trios titles (and likely win them back).

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Bandido in an AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semifinal Match

As much as I enjoy Bandido, this was a pretty predictable match with Page making it to the finals being telegraphed from the beginning. That isn't to say this wasn't a quality contest, though. It was an interesting clash of styles and I thought it was a good matchup for the time they were allotted. I have no idea what's going on with the rest of the tournament since Ricky Starks vs. Lance Archer in the quarterfinals has yet to happen and the finals typically take place at Full Gear.

AEW Interim Women's World Championship Toni Storm def. Anna Jay A.S. in an Eliminator Match

Storm was originally scheduled to face The Bunny before The Bunny had to pull out due to an illness I believe. Jay has done absolutely nothing since turning heel, so she was a fine filler opponent for Storm. The crowd had no reason to believe Jay would beat Storm days before Storm defends her title against Jamie Hayter at the pay-per-view, but for what it was, this was a solid match. I'm very much looking forward to Storm vs. Hayter, but I wish there was more bad blood between the two.

MJF Saved AEW World Champion Jon Moxley From The Firm

Moxley's promo to start the segment was excellent as usual. He did a wonderful job of hyping up the Full Gear main event before MJF made his first in-person appearance in three weeks and helped Moxley take out The Firm. I'm all for MJF going back to being a heel at Full Gear by winning the AEW title with the help of William Regal, but I have zero desire to see him link up with The Firm again. MJF and Moxley's exchange didn't hit the level I thought it would, but it was mostly strong stuff. 

Overall Show

I've seen a lot of complaints online about how horrible the live crowd was in Bridgeport, but my bigger takeaway was how subpar the final hype for Full Gear was on the whole. The entire build has been lackluster and there wasn't much on this show that made me more excited for the event than I was previously other than The Elite vs. Death Triangle being made official. That said, I have hope it will be worthwhile like most AEW pay-per-views and exceed expectations. This wasn't the hottest go-home show, but it had its moments.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews