AEW Dynamite: St. Patrick's Day Slam Review - March 17, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cody Rhodes def. Penta El Zero Miedo

I am all in a singles push for Penta if that's where this is going, though I'm not exactly sure considering he lost here. He seemed to be protected in defeat, but Cody no-selling the arm injury and then rolling him up was a dumb finish. The match itself was enjoyable, though I expected more given the level of talent involved. Afterward, The Nightmare Family came out and QT Marshall continued his heel turn by showing up late and failing to save Cody from Penta. The fact this Marshall storyline is getting as much airtime as it has is baffling to me given how bland the guy is.

Jade Cargill def. Dani Jordyn

I didn't think Cargill had a blow-away performance the same way many other people did in her debut earlier this month, but she certainly has a presence about her that helps her stand out. As seen here, she's putting the pieces together and is coming along nicely in the ring. Keeping this short and sweet and establishing her as dominant was absolutely the right call. She needs to continue building momentum in this manner while also improving in the ring.

The Pinnacle Announced Their Intentions

I have no doubt that MJF can carry a faction with his mic work, but I'm not as intrigued by The Pinnacle as I should be. It comes across like the latest attempt to recreate The Four Horsemen, and that's fine, but AEW already has a ton of stables and this newest one doesn't give me a ton of confidence that it will be much different than the rest. Tully Blanchard's promo was the highlight of his segment, but I can't shake the feeling that the sole purpose of The Pinnacle is to put over Inner Circle.

"Big Money" Matt Hardy, Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt) and Bear Country

I loved the original trio of Hardy and Private Party, but AEW had to ruin it by adding Butcher and Blade to the mix. I'm sorry but they do nothing for me. Sure, they're talented wrestlers, but that isn't enough to make me care about them. I also hate the constant multi-man matches AEW does to get everyone on the show. This was one giant mess. Less is more with this sort of stuff.

Lance Archer and Team Taz Interrupted Sting and AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin

These Sting interviews have gotten to the point of complete ridiculousness. Schiavone will ask him one question, and then after only speaking for a minute or less, he'll get interrupted by someone. It's comical. Allin took exception to how few TNT title defenses he's had since November, so next week, he's facing John Silver of The Dark Order. Archer coming out was no different than what happened last week, and I have no idea why Team Taz is still so obsessed with Sting and Allin. Them teasing tension is terrible, too.

Rey Fenix def. Angelico

This gave me Lucha Underground vibes, but that's about the best thing I can say about. Don't get me wrong, it was a well-wrestled affair while it lasted, but it served no purpose other than keeping Fenix rolling. Fenix and Matt Jackson had a hell of a match last week, so why would anyone think that Angelico had a shot in hell of beating Fenix here? This felt like filler and I would have rather seen the Young Bucks vs. Death Triangle feud be furthered some other way.

Thunder Rosa def. Britt Baker in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match

I don't think it's a stretch to say that this was the best women's match AEW has ever done, and maybe the best Dynamite main event to date. What I enjoyed most about it was that all of the brutality was worth it because the feud has built up for so long and has been entertaining. You can tell they went out there with something to prove and they definitely did. It can be argued that they went a little overboard with the blood, but that's about it. This was a spectacle and all of the praise it's gotten has been well-earned. Now the question is if Rosa will be next in line to challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW World Women's Championship or if Baker will still work her way into the title picture somehow because this loss technically didn't count on her record.

Overall Show

I'm a sucker for the themed shows and I appreciated that this had a St. Patrick's Day theme, but outside of that outstanding main event, this was a below-average episode by Dynamite standards. Rosa vs. Baker truly salvaged the show, because without it, this is an easy thumbs-up. Cody vs. Penta was mildly underwhelming and the finish sucked, while everything else was decent but not exactly exciting. They saved their best for last, but Dynamite has to pick up the pace a bit in order to maintain fans' interest level seeing as how Double or Nothing isn't for another two months.