Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 6.8.22

AEW Dynamite

June 8th, 2022 | Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri

Does anyone else read “Dahmer” in the same voice that Letty uses to shout “DAHM” in Fast and the Furious movies?

Casino Battle Royal

Winner gets Jon Moxley later and that winner faces Hiroshi Tanahashi (you know Hirooki Goto isn’t beating him at Dominion) at Forbidden Door. We start with the Clubs: Eddie Kingston, Tony Nese, Lance Archer, Daniel Garcia, and Darby Allin. That meant we got some more Kingston/Garcia brawling which I am all about and we got a rare Kingston/Allin face-off. This was a fun little segment of the match. Diamonds were next: Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Rey Fénix, and Swerve in Our Glory. This stretch was alright and had a weird moment where the countdown clock ended and DARK ORDER appeared on the tron but nobody came out and they did the clock again a minute or so later. Hearts: John Silver, Konosuke Takeshita, Max Caster, and the Ass Boys. Thankfully, we got a complete Caster rap. However, you have to wonder how legitimate this match is in the Gunn Club can qualify for a World Title shot. We got a commercial break during this segment. Spades: Powerhouse Hobbs, reDRagon, Dante Martin, and the returning Wheeler Yuta to a pop. Our joker was the returning Andrade El Idolo. We had some fun moments in here and I liked Hager dumping Kingston as it continues that feud. There were some things that didn’t work either as the ring was too full at points, making for lame battle royal tropes. It came down to Andrade, KOR, Fénix, and Yuta. I liked NXT teaming up on Yuta and Fénix for a bit. In the end, KOR threw out Yuta to win in 24:53, preventing an all BCC match later. This was entertaining though not among the best Casino Battle Royals. [***]

Jon Moxley cut a promo in the back about how he set the stage for the forbidden door and that the title and match against New Japan is his. He ended with a nice, “Love you, mom.”

Commentary informed us that CM Punk had successful surgery.

AEW is introducing the All-Atlantic Championship, meant to represent AEW’s fans around the world. There is a tournament featuring PAC vs. Buddy Matthews, Miro vs. Ethan Page, Malakai Black vs. Pentagon, and a New Japan match. The four winners meet at the PPV. If there’s one thing AEW doesn’t need, it’s another singles title, especially when the TNT Title is in the shitter. Maybe this means more time that won’t go to the women.

AEW All Atlantic Title Tournament First Round: Buddy Matthews (6-0 in trios) vs. PAC (35-18-2)

Whatever issues I have with this title can be cast aside because this is legitimately a dream match of mine. 205 LIVE FANS REJOICE. They wrestled on an even playing field to start. I liked PAC having Matthews scouted, avoiding a move he hit at the PPV. They worked through the commercial break and even then, didn’t really let up in terms of intensity or hard hitting stuff. The closing few minutes of this were really good, with Matthews’ near fall on a Liger Bomb being the highlight. These guys do things that others do but always add extra snap to it. PAC came back with a poison rana that led to a standing ovation. A running boot and Black Arrow followed, giving Pac the win in 10:42. That was a hell of a fight that could’ve become something truly great with a few more minutes. [***¾]

The respective stables of the guys came out, giving us a stare down between Penta Oscuro and Malakai Black, which is another tourney match.

Eddie Kingston cut an angry promo in the back about who he wants Jake Hager on Rampage because he cost him a chance to be World Champion. He also pointed out how much he hates the rest of the JAS.

Trent Beretta cut a promo in the ring about how his friends weren’t around on National Best Friend Day. He then called out FTR because he feels Roppongi Vice deserves another shot since they didn’t lose. FTR met him in the ring to agree that they like the match but not Will Ospreay’s bitch boys. That triggered The United Empire theme and out came Will Ospreay himself. We do not support Will Ospreay in this house. Remember when people got BIG MAD that I’d call out Willy while reviewing his G1 matches? Anyway, Aaron Henare and Aussie Open arrived to trigger a beatdown on FTR and Trent. The United Empire has several guys I like in Aussie Open, Henare, Cobb, and Akira, but it also has Willy and TJP, so it’s a hard pass on the stable.

Backstage, Tony Schiavone spoke with William Regal who addressed the Undisputed Elite who were with them. Regal said he might want to think about his family because Moxley will hurt him tonight. After Regal left, Kyle got passionate about how his family means everything.

David Finlay (0-0) vs. Hangman Page (52-18-1)

Adam Cole did commentary for this match for…reasons. Why wasn’t he in the battle royal earlier? He’s not in the All Atlantic Tournament and he’s ranked #3. Man, I haven’t seen David Finlay in a while. He looks different but it’s a great look. We got some entertaining back and forth between these guys and following the commercial break, things picked up a bit more. Both are so much better than when I first saw them a few years back. I liked that Page would get something going but some of the damage from the PPV caused him to miss some things. He couldn’t capitalize on a fallaway slam and though he landed on his feet on a German, he stumbled a bit. Still, he won with the Buckshot Lariat in 10:22. Good, quality wrestling with no BS. [***¼]

Hangman cut a promo that he was upset he didn’t get into the battle royal (MAKE IT MAKE SENSE) and so he issued a challenge to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Cole interrupted to say Jay White might be champion and if anyone should get a shot, it should be him since he’s a champion (yeah, okay) and that he’s on a roll. I mean, he’s 0-2 against Hangman but go off, short king. Please, no more Page/Cole.

Earlier today, Thunder Rosa issued an open challenge and Marina Shafir accepted.

Tony Schiavone brought out Wardlow for some promo time. He said he didn’t want the interim title and only wanted the World Title if he beats CM Punk. That’s an odd thing to say because it makes the interim stuff feel less important. His current target is the TNT Title that he had won but has since been diminished (he’s not wrong). Scorpio Sky tried to answer the challenge but Dan Lambert and Ethan Page held him back. Meanwhile, Mark Sterling offered Wardlow a chance to face him in court or compete in a 20-on-1 match next week.

The Young Bucks talked about wanting a Tag Team Title shot (ugh) only for the Hardys to show up and remind them that they beat them at the PPV. Jurassic Express arrived and decided on a triple threat ladder match next week. Ugh. AEW is really running these triple threat tags into the ground. And #1 ranked FTR have been in none of them.

AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa [c] (55-8) vs. Marina Shafir (8-1)

Shafir’s only loss came against Jade Cargill. Thunder Rosa is reportedly upset with her lack of TV time and honestly, she’s 100% right. She continues to be third fiddle at best to Tony Khan’s favorite Britt Baker and Jade Cargill. I’ve had issues with Shafir matches in the past and they mostly continued here. Her style is interesting and unique but she still feels awkward with some of her movements and the little things that wrestlers need to nail. After a commercial break, they traded bigger moves like a suplex and Death Valley Driver before Rosa retained with a rollup in 8:10. It was largely fine. [**½]

Shafir attacked after the match until Toni Storm made the save. They laid Shafir out and Toni stared at the title before giving it to Rosa.

The Baddies were interviewed in the back about Red Velvet facing Kris Statlander on Friday. Stokely stole the show here, calling her Kristen Highlander and making a Keith Sweat reference. Also, Jade told Tony to cut the shit.

RAMPAGE

· Red Velvet vs. Kris Statlander

· FTR and Trent Beretta vs. Will Ospreay and Aussie Open

· Santnam Singh and Jay Lethal in a tag match

· HookHausen speaks

· Jake Hager vs. Eddie Kingston

DYNAMITE ROAD RAGER

· Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho in a Hair vs. Hair match

· Jurassic Express defend the Tag Titles against The Hardys and The Young Bucks in a ladder match

· Wardlow vs. 20 dudes

· Ethan Page vs. Miro in the All Atlantic Title Tournament

AEW Interim World Championship Qualifying Match: Kyle O’Reilly (9-3) vs. Jon Moxley (48-4-1)

Not exactly a dream match but two guys I really like. William Regal joined commentary for this. The early stages saw them feel each other out, with Moxley busting out some Pete Dunne joint manipulation. After a commercial break, there were about seven minutes left on the show and the guys put that time to great use. KOR fought through fatigue but Moxley remained a step ahead. Kyle did the old Shibata gimmick of not having hands to break a submission so he bit the rope, only for Moxley to kick at the rope. That always looks great. KOR continued to fight, countering Moxley into a triangle sleeper at one point. It’s interesting to see Kyle kind of play the underdog despite being the heel. After another strong closing stretch, Moxley won with Paradigm Shift in 14:10. Great stuff here, though the outcome was never really in doubt which hurt some of the drama. [***¾]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

AEW can deliver quality TV when they want to. This show had consistently strong matches as even the worst thing was pretty good. Throw in a couple of good angles and hype for upcoming shows and you’ve got good TV.