AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming Review - December 13, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

"Hangman" Adam Page Confronted Samoa Joe; Page def. Roderick Strong

Joe and Page did a really nice job of furthering the Devil storyline with Joe accusing Page of being The Devil (before that was debunked at the end of the show). Strong was obnoxious in his role and has been for a while, but his shtick has reached a point where it's tiresome and he's just treading water. The subsequent match between Strong and Page was really good as you'd expect. I'm glad Page has (seemingly) found direction now that his feud with Swerve Strickland has finished.

Andrade El Idolo def. Brody King in a Continental Classic Blue League Match

This marked the first Blue League match to take place on Dynamite since the Continental Classic got underway a few weeks ago as it's been entirely relegated to Collision up to this point. Both of these guys have been having excellent outings week after week and this was no exception. It makes you wonder why Malakai Black didn't get that spot instead. Andrade takes the lead in the Blue League with this win, so perhaps there's a chance he'll make it to the finals after all.

The Golden Jets and AEW World Tag Team Champions Ricky Starks and Big Bill Exchanged Words

Man, what an awful exchange. Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho work well together in the ring as partners, but these talking segments are terrible television. Jericho's promos in particular have been abysmal for some time now and he shouldn't be dragging Jericho down with him. Starks did what he could on his end, but not even he could salvage this segment. If this was designed to leave viewers looking forward to their AEW World Tag Team Championship match at Worlds End, it failed miserably.

Riho def. Ruby Soho

As I've established before, I'm no Riho fan, and that's not because I think she's bad, but rather because she's been around since the start of AEW and shows up so infrequently that it's difficult to get invested in anything she does. She'll be a fine challenger of the month for Storm to beat, though. This was a well-wrestled match and it gets Riho another step closer to contending for the title, despite a win over Soho meaning nothing at this point.

Rush def. Jay Lethal in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

Man, Lethal has been such a loser in the Continental Classic. Granted, so has Mark Briscoe, but at least Briscoe is a lovable babyface and he's looked credible in defeat. There's no doubt that Lethal is talented, but even without all of the outside interference and shenanigans from his group, the crowds can't bring themselves to care about him. It doesn't help that he lost to Rush here in a matter of minutes, but at least Rush continues to roll.

Jay White def. Mark Briscoe in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

See what I said above about Briscoe. He hasn't won a single match in the Continental Classic, but he's had standout performances every time. It makes me that much more frustrated that he isn't taking part in the Survival of the Fittest match at ROH Final Battle this Friday to crown a new ROH World Television Champion. That belt belongs to him. Anyway, this was fun. I could certainly see White making it to the finals of this thing depending on what happens with Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland next week.

Jon Moxley def. Swerve Strickland  in a Continental Classic Gold League Match

The crowd was hotter for this than they probably would have been a few month ago, and that's a testament to over Strickland has gotten in recent months. That's why I wanted him to win here (I can't remember the last time he was pinned), but the loss won't kill his credibility, provided he bounces right back. He did a wonderful job of selling the loss and it left me thinking they could have a rematch at Worlds End if neither of them advance to the finals of the Continental Classic (or perhaps they feud after the pay-per-view). This was a kickass main event.

Overall Show

This wasn't nearly as eventful as other installments of Winter Is Coming that we've gotten dating back to 2020, but I still thought it was a thumbs-up show thanks to all of the top-notch wrestling. The Continental Classic has really been carrying Dynamite and Collision as of late, but they've simultaneously done a poor job of building the rest of the Worlds End card. And it's in a little over two weeks! I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of Dynamite, but I'm curious what this show is going to look like once this tournament is over and what storylines we're left with. No, the Devil mystery is not enough in my opinion.

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