AEW Dynamite Review - September 14, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jon Moxley def. Sammy Guevara in a Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Semifinal Match

Even if Moxley was advancing regardless, I would have much preferred Darby Allin being in the semifinals over Guevara, who has channel-changing heat with me at this point. Maybe I'm in the minority, but he's been unbearable as a character this year and not in a good way. That said, this was the good match you'd expect from these two despite the predictable outcome. The shenanigans with Tay Conti and Anna Jay at the end were intended to make people think Guevara could win, but their interference has been overplayed.

MJF, Stokley Hathaway and The Firm Addressed the Audience

MJF tried his hardest to turn this Albany crowd against him but to no avail. They cheered every insult he threw their way. He effectively hyped the finals of the AEW World Championship tournament and put the potential winners on notice. Meanwhile, Hathaway's promo attempted to establish why The Firm is a thing, but I can't say I quite understood all of it. He said they could soon go their separate ways, and it appears they're not actually aligned exclusively with MJF (which is a positive). Every member has their sights set on gold, but none of them have any chemistry with each other. It just feels like another undercard heel faction.

Jungle Boy def. Jay Lethal

This was basically an open challenge from Jungle Boy that was accepted by Lethal earlier in the day. It's pretty clear that Tony Khan sees Lethal as a stepping stone, but honestly, it's hard to complain considering he was barely featured on TV when he first signed with AEW. This was very well wrestled and gave Jungle Boy a win to get back on track. By the way, why is he not "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry anymore? Why was that short-lived? That was actually a significant step in the right direction for his character.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. Matt DiMartino

I'm happy that Hobbs isn't being forgotten about coming off his win over Ricky Starks at All Out, and I'm even happier Starks isn't being forgotten about, either. Their feud should continue and it's encouraging that it is as seen here. Hobbs squashed DiMartino in under 30 seconds and cut a promo that drew out Starks, leading to a brawl between them. Nothing was announced, but I could certainly see them having their rematch on the Grand Slam edition of Rampage.

AEW World Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory def. AEW World Trios Champions The Lucha Brothers

I really wish they took the time to explain why this match was happening. I mean, it was already announced that Swerve In Our Glory will defend against The Acclaimed next week at Grand Slam, not to mention that Lucha Brothers are fresh off becoming trios champs. Don't get me wrong, this was an enjoyable, fast-paced outing, but I didn't believe for a second Lucha Brothers had a legitimate shot at winning the titles. Max Caster taking a more serious approach with his post-match promo was appreciated.

Serena Deeb and Britt Baker def. AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Athena

Hikaru Shida was originally scheduled to team with Storm before she was attacked backstage on Tuesday's Dark (yes, that show only a portion of the Dynamite audience bothers to watch). This had above-average action, which was unsurprising given the talent involved. It was also unsurprising that they were relegated tot the "death spot" as they say. This sets up a four-way for the interim title next week at Grand Slam. As entertaining as that should be, it feels lazy since we just had a four-way for the belt less than two weeks ago at All Out. Jamie Hayter attacking Storm doesn't mean much since I wouldn't expect her to be best friends with her. The official split from Baker is still coming, I assure you.

Bryan Danielson def. Chris Jericho in a Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Semifinal Match

The crowd was definitely livelier for this match than Chicago was for their original encounter at All Out. Much like Moxley vs. Guevara, this suffered from having an outcome you could see coming from a mile away, but it was a really nice effort from both men and a better bout with stronger storytelling. This is the version of Jericho I'd like to see more often. Bryan vs. Moxley in the finals should be terrific regardless of who goes over.

Overall Show

It's clear AEW is still in reset mode following All Out and the suspensions to several top stars. This wasn't the hottest Dynamite in recent months by any means, but it was all about building up the Grand Slam shows next week and I thought it was a success in that respect. The wrestling was this episode's greatest strength and kept me interested throughout, but I'm hoping the storylines will start to pick up with next week's special installment.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews