AEW Dynamite Review - November 27, 2019

​By Graham "GSM" Matthews

SCU Crashed AEW World Champion Chris Jericho's Thanksgiving Thank-You Celebration for Le Champion

This felt like the Festival of Friendship 2.0, and for that reason alone, it was a win in my book. Everything about it was so over-the-top that it was hard not to love. The Inner Circle were a riot, Jericho's dad making an appearance was a treat, and Jericho himself was hilarious. Not only was it an incredibly entertaining segment, it also advanced Jericho's feud with SCU ahead of Scorpio Sky's AEW World Championship clash with Jericho in the main event.

Best Friends def. The Lucha Brothers

Trent beat Pentagon Jr. on this week's episode of AEW Dark, hence the reason for this match. It had a really fun pace and was enjoyable despite not being given a ton of time, though I could understand why some may not have been as fond of it due to it basically being a spot-fest. Lucha Brothers losing clean to Best Friends shocked me, especially coming off Pentagon's loss to Trent. Best Friends are an awesome act, but I prefer if Lucha Brothers were booked to look stronger.

Emi Sakura and Bea Priestley def. Kris Statlander and Hakura Shida

The women's matches on Dynamite tend to be very hit or miss, and I honestly didn't think this was all that good. No one in particular had a poor showing, but the action on the whole wasn't terribly exciting. Sakura seemed to turn heel by hitting Statlander with her mic stand behind the referee's back for the win. She needed the win following her loss to Riho (where the hell has she been?) at Full Gear, but she does nothing for me, personally. Statlander, on the other hand, is very impressive and I really hope they sign her to a deal if they haven't already.

Cody def. Matt Knicks

This marked the first time Cody has competed since his heinous attack at the hands of MJF at Full Gear. Knicks was some random local loser who Cody beat decisively in under two minutes. The real focus was on what happened afterward with the debuting trio of The Blade, The Butcher and The Bunny. The Bunny was obviously Allie and I found out later that The Blade was Pepper Parks f.k.a. Braxton Sutter in IMPACT (Allie's husband in real life), but I have no idea who The Butcher was. We'll see where this goes, but their debut came across as extremely flat and the gimmick looks about as dumb as The Dark Order's in my opinion.

Kenny Omega def. "The Bastard" Pac

Omega and Pac previously faced off in Chicago at All Out in August. This wasn't quite as excellent as that was, but they kept things exciting throughout and the crowd was invested in the action. Omega beating Pac in clean fashion was a questionable call, though. Pac is fresh off trading wins with Adam Page, so to have him lose to Omega in their rematch was weird. I guess the story is that Omega wants to avenge every loss he's suffered so far in AEW, but Pac already feels directionless.

MJF def. "Hangman" Adam Page to Win the Dynamite Diamond Ring

AEW made such a big deal over the damn diamond ring that I was surprised this was so short. It was well wrestled while it lasted, but considering both of these guys are arguably the future of AEW, they should have been given the chance to go all out. Nevertheless, MJF won with help from Wardlow, which was the right call. MJF and Wardlow then got into it with Diamond Dallas Page afterward. Was that angle supposed to plant the seeds for a match between MJF and DDP? If so, no thanks.

Dustin Rhodes and The Young Bucks Attacked The Inner Circle

Rhodes was put on the shelf by The Inner Circle last month, so he was out for vengeance here. He wanted Jake Hager specifically but instead got Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz) and Sammy Guevara. That led to The Young Bucks making the save and getting the better of the heels. This was a solid segment that successfully furthered the two feuds involved.

AEW World Champion Chris Jericho def. AEW World Tag Team Champion Scorpio Sky

The commentators mentioning that Sky has been on a six-match winning streak was smart as it made him feel like a threat to the title, even if many fans didn't expect him to beat Jericho again. There weren't too many suspenseful nearfalls down the stretch, but it was still a quality main event where Sky held his own. Post-match, Jon Moxley emerged in the audience, which would seem to suggest he's next in line for a shot at the AEW World Championship (as he should be).

Overall Show

You would have never known that this show emanated from Chicago because they weren't that much hotter than most other AEW crowds. Then again, that could be attributed to WWE burning out the audience with Survivor Series weekend mere days earlier. In all honesty, this was probably the weakest edition of Dynamite to date. That's just a testament to how strong all the shows have been up to this point, but I didn't find almost anything about this show to be above-average. There were some enjoyable matches, but the questionable booking decisions can't be overlooked and the lack of energy in the arena was noticeable. Maybe they didn't put in as much of an effort due to it being a holiday week, so here's hoping things are back to normal next week.