AEW Dynamite Review - October 12, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Luchasaurus def. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry

The debuting of Renee Paquette interviewed Christian Cage beforehand, which was fitting given that they're both Canadian. Paquette will be a very valuable asset to AEW in a number of ways. The match itself between Perry and Luchasaurus was terrific and could have easily taken place on a pay-per-view. In fact, I assume Luchasaurus went over so they can build toward a rematch at Full Gear, which I'm in full favor of.

AEW TNT Champion Wardlow and ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. The Factory (QT Marshall and Aaron Solo)

Wardlow and Joe first teamed on the Grand Slam edition of Rampage last month and have been allies since then. They obviously have great chemistry together as a dominant duo as seen in this short-and-sweet squash, but I really wish they were doing more on their own. A feud with The Embassy doesn't interest me at all considering they haven't done anything all year. It was nice to see Shawn Spears return afterward as a babyface in his native Canada, though.

Swerve Strickland def. Billy Gunn

As I've said several times in the past, I have no desire to see Billy Gunn wrestling in 2022, but to give credit where it's due, he always holds his own and doesn't look bad for his age whatsoever. This was a fun little match while it lasted with the crowd very much behind Gunn throughout. I don't think Strickland needed to cheat to beat Gunn, but at least he won. He continues to be a fantastic foil for The Acclaimed and I'm looking forward to him eventually turning on Keith Lee.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and "Hangman" Adam Page Exchanged Words

This was the final push the AEW World Championship match on next Tuesday's Dynamite needed. Moxley delivered on the mic per usual, but Page's promo stood out to me because he hasn't shown that level of intensity in a while. He ran down why he has to win, and I'd honestly buy into the idea of him becoming champion if Moxley didn't just regain the gold a few weeks ago. MJF was perfect watching this segment and reacting from the stands.

ROH World Champion "Lionheart" Chris Jericho def. Bryan Danielson

This was the third match these two have had since All Out. It was as entertaining as their other encounters, but I don't think it was a necessary one. Not every feud has to go to a rubber match, especially since Danielson shouldn't be losing as much as he has been. I also wasn't a fan of the finish with Daniel Garcia betraying Danielson and costing him the win. Garcia rejoining Jericho Appreciation Society is such a stupid way of dragging out the storyline. Garcia will break away eventually, but it doesn't appear to be any time soon. Ugh.

AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida def. Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter

Is it just me or does it feel like Storm competes in tag team/multi-woman matches on Dynamite more often than not? On the bright side, I'm happy that she's been in action a lot since winning the title at All Out and has been a regular on the show. All four women had strong showings and the crowd was into it despite it being later in the night. Shida pinning Baker sets her up to challenge Storm for the AEW Interim Women's World Championship next week on Dynamite.

Orange Cassidy def. AEW World Trios Champion Pac to Win the AEW All-Atlantic Championship

The All-Atlantic title would normally never be defended in the main event of Dynamite due to being a lower-level title (it has primarily been defended on Dark up to this point), but it made sense in this case given the result. Cassidy has gotten an absurd amount of title shots in AEW and hasn't won a single one, so him finally getting gold here made for a cool moment. You don't have to like his shtick, but there's no denying he's over with the audience. This was the usual enjoyable affair from them. We'll see if Cassidy can make the title any more relevant than it was with Pac.

Overall Show

AEW gave their Toronto debut an excellent effort and delivered a thumbs-up show on the whole. There was plenty of quality wrestling throughout the two hours and it felt like there was a hotter energy compared to other episodes in recent weeks. Of course, the rowdy crowd in Toronto had a lot to do with that and I appreciate them adding so much to the atmosphere. AEW needs all the positive momentum it can get right now and this show was a step in the right direction.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews