AEW Dynamite Review - November 29, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jon Moxley def. Jay Lethal in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

I can't imagine anyone actually thought Moxley would lose to Lethal, even though I'm sure we're going to get an upset or two during this tournament. Despite the obvious outcome, these two had an enjoyable opener. Lethal's matches not being watered down by relentless interference is a refreshing change of pace. I'd love for him to branch back out on his own after this thing is over, but I doubt that'll be the case.

Rush def. Mark Briscoe in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

Both of these guys lost their tournament matches last week, so this was a must-win situation for them. Rush going over made more sense, but I hope Briscoe gets to win at least one match at some point. They had a quality, hard-hitting matchup and the crowd was into the action. Neither Briscoe nor Rush will win the Continental Classic, but I'm looking forward to them having some good matches along the way.

Samoa Joe Saved AEW World Champion and ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF From Four Masked Men

MJF apparently has a whole bunch of injuries right now, but the torn labrum that was reported earlier this week might be serious enough to cut his reign short. If that means Joe beating him for the belt at Worlds End, then that's fine by me. MJF cut a strong promo on Joe here by praising him, something he doesn't ordinarily do for his opponents. Joe saving MJF from the masked men set up a tag team match for next week, and if MJF is actually injured, I assume he'll be fairly limited in what he can do.

Wardlow def. AR Fox

Needless to say, this was the longest match Wardlow has had since returning to television last month. I'm glad Fox scored more offense than your average enhancement talent, but the outcome was never in doubt. It's a bummer Fox's heel push was abandoned right before All In, but at least Wardlow is rolling again. It'd be interesting if it's ultimately revealed that he's among the masked men, which would mean he had to unmask and get changed quickly from the previous segment for this match.

Top Flight and Action Andretti def. Brother Zay and The Hardys

Dante Martin suffered that gruesome ankle injury at ROH Supercard of Honor back in April and had been sidelined ever since. This marked his return to action and the timing was perfect with this show emanating from his home state of Minnesota. This was the fun match you'd expect from these two trios and Top Flight and Andretti going over was the right call, but I really wish AEW would find something more meaningful for The Hardys to do since I can't say I see their reunion lasting much longer.

AEW TBS Champion Julia Hart def. Emi Sakura in a House Rules Match

I tweeted about this earlier, but it's pretty laughable that Sakura would be getting a title shot considering she lost five title matches in AEW prior to this and hasn't won a televised match in almost exactly four years. I know she's skilled in the ring and Hart will benefit from being in the ring with women as experienced as her, but these open challenges have officially jumped the shark. This was decent, at least what we got to see of it before and after the commercial break. Hart's moonsault finisher didn't look as smooth as usual.

Adam Copeland Attacked AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage

With Copeland challenging Christian to an AEW TNT Championship match next week in Montréal, I liked how Christian faked having a change of heart by agreeing to team with Copeland. Of course, Copeland saw through his bullshit, hit him with a low blow and left him with an F-bomb, no different than what Christian did to him last week (except Copeland's F-bomb was actually not censored because apparently they were late to hit the button). This was another strong segment from them that left me looking forward to their championship clash next week.

Swerve Strickland def. Jay White in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

Even with the heel vs. heel dynamic, the crowd was hot for this main event as they should have been, and that's because both men are such stars. This is the spot they both belong in and they shined with an excellent, back-and-forth bout. It would've been easy to book a time-limit draw, but I appreciated that we got a clean finish. Strickland should be in the world title mix, not defending the Continental Classic Championship and the other titles that come with it, but I wouldn't be opposed to him winning the whole thing. Either way, it should be onward and upward for him.

Overall Show

As I mentioned last week, the wrestling in the Continental Classic will be carrying Dynamite and Collision heading into Worlds End and that was once again the case this week, but I did think this was a slightly stronger show than last week. The storyline developments with MJF, Joe, Christian and Copeland were well done and Top Flight being back in action was cool. It was a thumbs-up episode. While a few of the top matches seem obvious for Worlds End, I'm curious what the rest of the card will end up looking like.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews