AEW Dynamite Review - October 16, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MJF Denied Adam Cole's Challenge

Cole quickly addressed the Undisputed Kingdom nonsense by saying that he told Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett he has to address this issue with MJF alone. Obviously, that explains very little from a storyline standpoint (why didn't they go after MJF in Cole's absence and why didn't he mention Wardlow?), but at least they (seemingly) put the final nail in the Undisputed Kingdom's coffin. It was a good first promo back for Cole, but it could have been better and slightly shorter. MJF was much more concise in his rebuttal. I assume they'll have their match at Full Gear.

FTR def. Bryan Keith and Big Bill

There really is no reason for Chris Jericho's Learning Tree nonsense to be on television at this point. For example, this match was made because FTR are friends with Mark Briscoe, who beat Jericho at WrestleDream to retain the ROH World Championship. I like FTR, but who cares? It was essentially an excuse to get these guys on the show. The match was well wrestled, but it was rather pointless.

AEW TBS Champion and NJPW Strong Women's Champion Mercedes Mone def. Queen Aminata (NJPW Strong Women's Championship Was Not Defended)

I'm happy we've been seeing more of Aminata on AEW TV as of late and not just on Rampage and Collision. She's had an impressive first year in AEW and has consistently looked credible in defeat. Of course, the next step should be to give her a string of meaningful wins, but there was little chance of her beating Mone and taking the title here. Despite that, they had a quality contest. Kris Statlander has teased going after Mone, but there was no sign of here during the match or afterward.

The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Kyle O'Reilly and Rocky Romero) def. The Elite (AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada and AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks) by Disqualification

This should've have felt like a bigger deal than it was considering The Elite were positioned as AEW's top heel faction a few months ago, but it was your standard six-man tag team affair. What we got was enjoyable before Blackpool Combat Club interfered and attacked The Conglomeration. That resulted in a massive brawl with the BCC laying out a bunch of midcard/undercard babyfaces. I'm still not completely sold on whatever AEW is trying to do with them.

Shelton Benjamin def. Lio Rush

What was interesting about this match (and MVP attempting to recruit Rush) was that Rush used to manage Bobby Lashley in WWE. I was among those who thought that partnership had potential before WWE ruined it. I'd be down for Rush being a part of this reunited Hurt Business/Syndicate, but I don't get the sense they're headed in that direction. This was great stuff and Benjamin had a strong showing. Benjamin vs. Swerve Strickland was later announced for Dynamite in two weeks.

The Don Callis Family Addressed the Audience

Don Callis referred to this as a "press conference" even though no press was actually in attendance. Hilariously, Brian Cage was with them, apparently because he's in the group now without any explanation whatsoever. Konosuke Takeshita said he's taking on all comers as AEW International Champion and Kyle Fletcher kept his promo short and sweet. This was a solid segment to reestablish The Don Callis Family as a threat. The jury is still out on whether Cage and Lance Archer will add anything to the stable, though.

Christian Cage def. Jay White

I was excited for this more than anything else coming into the episode. Unfortunately, it was riddled with interference, especially down the stretch. It was an entertaining main event otherwise, but they watered it down unnecessarily. The fact Kip Sabian gets as much television time as he does is baffling to me. Adam Page cost White the victory and I'm all for that feud continuing.

Overall Show

I feel like I say this quite a bit about AEW, but I was hoping for a hotter show coming out of the newsworthy WrestleDream pay-per-view. The BCC angle at the end of the event got a lot of people talking, and although they were all over this show, what we got was underwhelming at best. The rest of this edition of Dynamite was a mixed bag. Benjamin vs. Rush and the main event were among the highlights, but everything else was questionable. The gaps in logic and lack of buzz with the AEW product right now are very disappointing.

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