AEW Dynamite Review - September 2, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Santana and Ortiz def. Best Friends

I liked how Best Friends wasted no time in going after Santana and Ortiz by attacking them during their entrance. It made their bad blood for them feel real and added to the energy of the match, which was very good. It was wisely slotted as the opener and perfectly paced. My only gripe with it was the botched finish, which looked terrible. Best Friends are entertaining but can absorb the loss. It was way more important for Santana and Ortiz to pick up the victory, especially considering they lost their first encounter against Best Friends.

The Young Bucks and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) def. Private Party and SCU (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian)

These are four of the top tag teams in AEW today, and as entertaining as the action was, the outcome was never in doubt in my mind. That didn't hinder my enjoyment of it, but I will say that less is more when it comes to these mulit-man matches. They feel less special when they're done so frequently. This was fun for what it was, though, and now it will be Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express at All Out with a shot at the AEW World 

FTR Confronted AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page

Babyface Omega hasn't cut any memorable promos to my memory in AEW, which is why I hope a heel turn is the endgame for him. That said, this storyline with him, Page and FTR has been the best thing going in AEW for weeks. This was a strong segment with FTR presenting quite the case for why they'll walk out of All Out the new AEW World Tag Team Champions. Omega and Page have had an awesome run together, but it's high time they branched back out on their own.

Chris Jericho def. Joey Janela

Janela has been such an afterthought in AEW that you had to know coming into this contest that Janela didn't have a chance of winning. In fact, I was slightly surprised this lasted as long as it did. It essentially served as a warm-up for Jericho before he faces Orange Cassidy again at All Out. It was a fairly basic bout, though that mid-air Codebreaker out of nowhere to Janela was fantastic.

FTW Champion Brian Cage, Lance Archer and Darby Allin and More AEW Stars Broke Out Into a Brawl

This whole segment was one giant advertisement for the 21-man Casino Battle Royale at All Out. I'm sorry but this was a mess. Feuds were furthered (Allin vs. Ricky Starks, Archer vs. Cage if that counts, Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends), but I hate the idea of another multi-match match at the pay-per-view after just getting one at Double or Nothing. Yes, a world title shot is on the line, but you know whoever wins isn't winning the title. I'd much rather see Allin vs. Starks straight up because another Battle Royale feels like filler.

NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa def. Serena Deeb (Non-Title)

Rosa probably should have dominated in her debut, but it was cool to see Serena Deeb make her AEW debut. She was released from her position as a coach in NXT earlier this year due to the pandemic and I figured she'd be hired back eventually. She still could be, but I'd be all for her joining AEW's women's division as well because they could certainly use her. She and Rosa had a well-wrestled match that was slightly more competitive than it arguably should have been. Rosa looked impressive ahead of her anticipated clash with Hikaru Shida at the pay-per-view.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. Mark Sterling (Non-Title)

No one thought this would be an instant classic, but I'm glad AEW saved it for the main event spot as it illustrates how important Moxley vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship will be at All Out. This was all about Moxley giving Sterling the beating he's had coming for weeks and in that respect it was satisfying. I also appreciated that it didn't overstay its welcome. It wasn't the hottest final angle ahead of the pay-per-view, but it was harmless and that's what MJF and Wardlow's vicious post-match attack on Moxley was for. Moxley showing more of an aggressive edge than usual was desperately needed.

Overall Show

News broke shortly before the show that Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens had passed away, which is terrible news. He was one of the biggest proponents of women's wrestling anywhere and will be missed. As for this go-home edition of Dynamite, it was solid. I can't say anything that was done made me any more excited for All Out than I was before, but that's probably because I was already amped for it. Rosa's in-ring debut and FTR's promo were the highlights for me, but nothing underwhelmed outside of the segment hyping the Casino Battle Royal. It was a quality two hours that left me looking forward on Saturday night.