AEW Dynamite Review - October 27, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk def. Bobby Fish

Kicking off any show with CM Punk is never a bad thing. As he has been everywhere he's been since signing with AEW, he was mega over in Boston. Fish was a perfectly capable opponent for him and he was on offense much more than I thought he would be. I wouldn't put this on the same level of other matches Punk has had so far in AEW, but this was technically sound and solid. It was unfortunately marred by a bizarre finish. It looked like from where I was sitting that Fish kicked out of the GTS at two (why, I don't know), but the referee counted three, anyway. Maybe they'll go back to it, but the crowd was confused.

MJF def. Bryce Donovan

I have no clue who Donovan is. Being fairly familiar with the northeast independent wrestling scene, I was hoping it'd be someone I was familiar with, but no such luck. Well, it didn't end up mattering because MJF won in under 30 seconds. This was more about the post-match angle with Darby Allin and Sting returning to take out MJF, Shawn Spears and Wardlow. They also officially set up Allin vs. MJF at Full Gear, which we all knew was coming.

AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara def. "All Ego" Ethan Page

The stipulations attached to this were incredibly stupid. Not only would Guevara lose the TNT title if he lost, he'd also have to leave Inner Circle. Did anyone honestly expect that to be the case? That hurt the drama, but this was a well-wrestled affair, nonetheless. Page is decent, but I was far more impressed with Guevara. I just didn't like how he hit a million awe-inspiring spots only to win with a damn roll-up or whatever. Chris Jericho and the rest of Inner Circle received a huge pop for making the save and officially announced that it will be all of Inner Circle against five members of American Top Team at Full Gear in a Minneapolis Street Fight.

Hikaru Shida def. Serena Deeb AEW TBS Championship Tournament First-Round Match

Being in the building, it was sad seeing a noticeable amount of people get up and leave for their seats for the first half of their match. This was terrific stuff, so why not stay and support the division so many people argue isn't being featured enough? It's mind-boggling to me. At any rate, this was one of the best women's matches in AEW that I can remember. They work wonderfully together and the crowd was into it by the end. Shida finally scored her 50th win and advanced to the next round but was immediately attacked by Deeb afterward. I'm all for a rubber match because these two have strong chemistry and it's refreshing to have a meaningful secondary storyline in the women's division for a change.

Jon Moxley def. Preston "10" Vance in an AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I realize Vance wins most of his matches on the Dark shows, but he had no business being in this tournament if this was how he was going to be booked. It's the not the same situation as Kenny Omega vs. Sonny Kiss from the first round last year because Vance actually has potential. This was a complete waste of a match, but on the bright side, Moxley came across like a badass. It sure looks like he's turning heel soon based on his recent mannerisms.

Pac Saved Cody Rhodes From Andrade El Idolo and Malaki Black

Wow, that Cody promo was something else. Seriously, what the hell was that? He talked about almost using the Pedigree but resisting. He talked about his family for some strange reason (like to elicit a positive reaction). He even outright said, "I will not turn," which is insanely stupid. The whole thing was a mess and I feel like nothing of note was actually said. The segment was salvaged by Black, Andrade and Pac coming out, but them being involved in the Cody storyline seems an attempt to ease the boos for Cody for a bit. After that runs its course, likely at Full Gear, then what?

The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Colt Cabana) def. The Elite (AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks)

I love Halloween. I love the Ghostbusters. I like Dark Order and The Elite. I hated this match. I'm well aware it was the Halloween episode and I was expecting to see some silly shenanigans, but my problem is that they went way overboard with it in this match and did quite a few dumb spots that left me shaking my head. I don't blame anyone for enjoying this, but is there not such a thing as having too much fun? The worst part is that Omega vs. Adam Page is coming up quick and we haven't gotten a true serious interaction between them yet. This was pure comedy crap that didn't belong in the main event, but that's just me. It's going to polarizing, and I typically don't mind the Elite spot-fests, but this was one step too far for my liking and thought it was one giant joke.

Overall Show

This was my first time back at a Dynamite since the second show in Boston two years ago this month and it was a fun night. There was plenty of quality wrestling, and that's not even including what we got during the Rampage taping afterward. I wasn't a fan of the main event, but I enjoyed mostly everything else on the episode and liked that we got more match announcements for Full Gear. Above all else, the crowd was hot all night long, which definitely enhances the AEW experience and makes it one of the hottest tickets in wrestling.

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