AEW Dynamite Review - November 20, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Don Callis Family (AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer and ROH World Television Champion Brian Cage) def. Mark Davis, Will Ospreay, Ricochet and Powerhouse Hobbs

This was advertised as an all-star eight-man tag team match. AEW does a lot of "all-star" matches, but this one lived up to the billing. It was all action from start to finish and everyone had a chance to shine. It was smart to have The Don Callis Family go over to establish some credibility. Interestingly, only Ospreay and Fletcher will be wrestling at Full Gear as of now, but it's possible the others could be added to the card in different matches between now and then.

Kyle O'Reilly Confronted Adam Cole

Even as someone who has followed the history between Cole and O'Reilly dating back to their Ring of Honor days and has largely enjoyed it, I can't bring myself to care about their latest drama. I don't think we're getting an Undisputed Era reunion out of it, and even if we did, would the interest be there? The crowd was completely quiet for this segment and didn't seem all that invested. The best part was that this was relatively brief.

Kris Statlander def. Hikaru Shida

Statlander previously told Shida that she'd give her the first shot at the AEW TBS Championship if she won it at Full Gear. That all but guarantees Mercedes Mone is retaining. They had a good match here, but the crowd was as quiet as could be and I can't say I blame them. Statlander going back babyface so soon was the wrong call and this feud with Mone has been super flat. The post-match angle with them, Shida and Kamille especially sucked. Mone has really struggled to find her footing in AEW, even as a heel.

Bobby Lashley def. Joe Keys and Cheeseburger in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Both Keys and Cheeseburger were familiar faces to anyone who has watched Ring of Honor in the last decade. Keys regularly served as a jobber and Cheeseburger was a very popular underdog. In other words, they were the perfect people to sacrifice to Lashley in his AEW in-ring debut. This was exactly what it needed to be. Swerve Strickland's post-match attack on Lashley was well done.

AEW World Trios Champion Claudio Castagnoli def. Darby Allin

This was the perfect clash of styles. Allin can take a hell of a beating and Castagnoli knows how to dish one out. I maintain that Allin is bound to be the one to ultimately dethrone Jon Moxley as AEW World Champion, but that won't be for another few months at the earliest, so I had no issue with him losing here. He can eventually avenge the loss and have a mini-feud with Castagnoli in the meantime. This was fun stuff.

Tony Schiavone Interviewed Roderick Strong

It was a refreshing change of pace for this to happen on the stage as opposed to in the ring. Unfortunately, that's the only compliment I can pay this segment. Strong's promo was fine, but it did nothing to get me excited about his match with MJF at Full Gear. I know MJF cut a promo on this show as well, but it was once again pre-taped. MJF not being in the building for any of the Dynamite episodes heading into Full Gear has killed any buzz he had following his return at WrestleDream.

The Conglomeration Attacked ROH World Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho, Big Bill and Bryan Keith

Man, this was atrocious television. I'm sure there were those that found it funny when Tomohiro Ishii was slowly following Jericho, but I just thought it was painful to watch. No one gave a shit about their contract signing to begin with, but even the execution was awful. I'm shocked so much time has been wasted on this feud when it could've been a quick one-off. Contrary to what some believed, Jericho's television time has not decreased since he won back the ROH World Championship.

Orange Cassidy def. AEW World Trios Champion Wheeler Yuta

These two have had at least one other match (if not more) in AEW (not to mention their extensive history outside of the company), so it's well documented they have quality chemistry together. They had a well-wrestled outing, but it was hardly the hot main event that you'd expect to see on a go-home show. The Death Riders' post-match attack on Cassidy wasn't much better. Cassidy's patented "weak" kicks felt of place considering he's the number one contender to the AEW World Championship on Saturday.

Overall Show

AEW's pay-per-views consistently deliver, but Dynamite definitely does not. The quality of the show has been pretty poor for a while now (by the show's usual standards), but as a go-home show, this edition of Dynamite failed. I am solely looking forward to Full Gear for the match quality alone and not because the build has been anything special. There was some solid stuff on this show and it was a stronger effort than last week, but on the whole, Dynamite is a far cry from what it used to be.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews