AEW Dynamite: St. Patrick's Day Slam Review - March 16, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Adam Cole and reDRagon def. AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page and AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express

All six of these stars work wonderfully together, so unsurprisingly, this was a top-notch match with plenty of entertaining action. Was it a spot-fest? Absolutely, but I enjoyed it, personally. Cole basically argued last week that he'd earn himself another opportunity at the AEW World Championship if he won here, and seeing as how he did, that's probably where this is leading. I didn't think we'd see a rematch between Cole and Page, but if it's anything like their main event at Revolution, it should be excellent.

Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley def. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta)

Danielson and Moxley are a tremendous team. I can't stress enough how much I love their alliance with William Regal and I think they can only add to AEW's loaded tag team ranks by continuing to team together. This was a well-wrestled match, but I don't think it needed to last as long as it did. Then again, I'm okay with it because it showcased Yuta's abilities and it looks like he might be the newest member of Regal's new stable.

Jericho Appreciation Society Explained Their Actions

It's been a week but I'm still no fan of this Jericho Appreciation Society nonsense. Maybe they'll change my mind in the weeks and months ahead, but this promo segment didn't do much for me. I will say, I appreciated the effort they put into explaining why they joined forces, but some of it was a bit of a stretch. The fact is that they don't have a ton of chemistry on paper and it feels like a worse version of Inner Circle. I have zero interest in another Stadium Stampede match if that's where this is headed.

AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky def. Wardlow

Sky winning the AEW TNT Championship last week immediately eliminated any chance of Wardlow winning here, but the crowd was behind Wardlow, nonetheless. They had a good match in the time they were allotted, but you could see the interference from MJF and Shawn Spears coming a mile away with them costing him the title. It was the correct finish. The MJF-Wardlow feud is going to be fun to follow, but I'm very curious to see who ultimately goes over.

The Hardys def. Private Party

I was thinking this match would be saved for Double or Nothing, but now I look like a fool because they instead gave it away on Dynamite hours after announcing it on social media. This really should have felt  bigger than it did, but I can understand why most people wouldn't see it as being pay-per-view worthy due to Private Party being booked so badly over the last two years. The Hardys were wildly over and I liked that Private Party were made to look competitive in defeat. This was good stuff and a successful in-ring debut for The Hardys in AEW. They're definitely slower than they were years ago, but they're over enough to where I don't think the audience will mind too much.

Thunder Rosa def. Britt Baker in a Steel Cage Match to Win the AEW Women's World Championship

This was the match we've been waiting almost exactly one year for and I loved that they waited until St. Patrick's Day Slam in Rosa's hometown to pull the trigger on the title change. It made for a much more meaningful moment, especially with it being the main event of the show. The stipulation was logical in eliminating any interference from Rebel and Jamie Hayter and I'm shocked they stayed true to that stipulation (we've seen plenty of people interfere anyway so that was a pleasant surprise). I don't at all mind that they used blood as it only added to the intensity, but some of those hardcore spots were definitely rushed down the stretch, likely because they were short on time. Were the thumbtacks really necessary? All in all, it was a hell of a spectacle with a fantastic finish. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rosa can do in the role of champion.

Overall Show

This was another stacked show from AEW and one I'm glad they took their time with compared to last week, where they did so much within the two-hour period that some of it was forgotten by the end of the night. I actually enjoyed that show more, but this was still a solid effort from AEW. The long-awaited title change capped off the evening on a high note and the rest of the show was what it needed to be. Props to AEW for keeping the momentum going following a hot Revolution pay-per-view and the very newsworthy Dynamite that followed.

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