AEW Dynamite Review - October 26, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) def. Jericho Appreciation Society (ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia)

It feels like a waste to have Garcia go back to being Jericho's lackey when he had so much momentum as a breakout babyface, but I understand there's a longer story at play and they want to keep the gimmick going of Jericho facing former ROH World Champions for a little longer, which is fine by me. Castagnoli has taken a bit of a backseat since losing the title last month, so I was happy to see him back in the spotlight here in what was an enjoyable opener. Him pinning Jericho should set him up for a rematch one of these days, possibly at Full Gear. I know Jericho is advertised to face a ROH World Champion next week, but if it was Castagnoli, I assume they would have just said that.

Swerve In Our Glory def. ROH/IWGP/AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR in an AEW World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match (Non-Title)

It's about damn time FTR got involved in the AEW World Tag Team Championship picture. Granted, they didn't win here, but I didn't think they would considering they currently have issues with Gunn Club (ugh) and it was teased we hadn't seen the end of The Acclaimed vs. Swerve In Our Glory. As much as I want Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee to break up already, I'm fine with them doing a third match, presumably at Full Gear. The turn shouldn't come long after that, if not at the event itself.

Renee Paquette Interviewed MJF

Making MJF promos a weekly staple of Dynamite is a smart call, especially since the company doesn't have many other "must-see" stars at the moment or other storylines that are currently lighting the world on fire. While this wasn't on the level of what we got from him and William Regal last week, it was still a strong promo that once again leaned babyface. More on that later. On a side note, Paquette has done exceptionally well in her various roles in the few short weeks she's been with the company.

Bryan Danielson def. Sammy Guevara

As much as Guevara's character annoys the hell out of me these days (and not in a good way), this is one of those matches I've been looking forward to since Danielson joined AEW last year and it delivered. Say what you will about Guevara (and a lot can be said), but the guy can go in the ring and he came away from this looking like he was on Danielson's level. It was a cool clash of styles that resulted in a much-needed victory for Danielson.

Jamie Hayter def. Riho

Rio returned last week and it appeared she'd be next in line for a shot at Toni Storm's AEW Interim Women's World Championship at Full Gear. Thus, I fully expected her to beat Hayter here before facing Storm. Thankfully, that was not the case. I'd much rather see Hayter take on Storm at the event. It made sense for this to be a competitive contest with Riho being the inaugural AEW Women's champ and they worked well together, but I was happy with the result. Hopefully Britt Baker will cost Hayter the win in some way to further that story.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. AEW World Trios Champion Penta El Zero Miedo

This was an entertaining main event, but it suffered from a few things. For starters, I don't believe it was ever explained why Penta was getting a title shot. Moxley vs. MJF was made official for Full Gear last week, so there was zero chance of him taking the title here. That's why I don't blame the crowd for being quiet at several points, but from an in-ring standpoint, it was fun. The focus was really on the post-match angle that saw MJF fire The Firm and them attacking him, seemingly solidifying his status as a babyface. Like most people, however, I don't believe for a second we're actually getting the turn right now. It'll likely end up being a swerve. All roads should lead to MJF winning the title at Full Gear, though. It's long overdue.

Overall Show

The most interesting thing on this edition of Dynamite for me was the brief vignette that depicted Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks being erased from various shots of them from over the years in AEW. I'm curious where that will lead. We haven't seen them on AEW TV since the events of All Out weekend, nor have they been mentioned much at all. The MJF angle was intriguing as well with MJF and Moxley continuing to carry these shows. Nothing else was overly eventful, but there was plenty of top-notch wrestling throughout the two hours.

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