This is it. This is the big Queens, New York Arthur Ashe Stadium event. Easily, this show is AEW’s current largest event and one of the biggest non-WWE shows since 1999 when WCW was putting on shows. Quite honestly, I think they should have done this venue for a PPV instead but they attempted to stack both Dynamite and Rampage up to near PPV like qualities. For myself, I was very curious how they would go about handling this show. Would there be special guests? Would we see anyone major debut? Would this be another all endless talking show?
Kenny Omega Vs. Bryan Danielson
This pretty much was the main event for the entire show (not just Dynamite but Rampage as well) in terms of the match I think most people wanted to see it. Originally, I remember reading that Bryan Danielson was supposed to debut here rather than at All Out but due to the uncertainty of the Pandemic, AEW opted to push his AEW debut to the PPV and make his first match here.
Regardless, I think they were attempting to grab eyes for TV rather than thinking of a 5 hour show on a whole. But I’ll get into that issue later. What matters here is the atmosphere because if you take out everything else, this match was pretty damn electric.
This was a non-title, singles bout and they announced it being allowed a 30 minute TV time limit (compared to their 20 minute TV time limits). Some people on reddit were talking about how this match needed to be a draw. While I could see the argument being made here, I think it was the wrong decision based on the last match on Dynamite. That said, they had a pretty darn good 30 minute bout, leading to a draw which neither stopped going towards the end. Pretty much that draw might be foreshadowing in the future for a 1 hour Broadway match.
Match was decently paced and not as nutty for a Kenny Omega match. The initial lock up got a huge pop, which is amazing. JR was pretty much on fire here and you could tell he was extra motivated by the crowd. Lots of back and forth chops where Bryan’s chest turned a sickening purple as well as Kenny. I did hear on a media event how Bryan said people should expect a far more violent version of him so I’m guessing this is what he meant.
There were a few cringeworthy spots where I feared for Bryan’s health, given his neck injuries in the past. They did a crazy Dragon Suplex from the top but Bryan flipped onto his stomach so it wasn’t as bad as the suplex on the ramp he took. One major spot had Kenny do a somersault plancha onto the floor and the announcers mentioned Bryan might’ve hurt his knee.
Either way, the match was what a lot of people had wanted and I think it delivered except for the finish. Bryan tried to put his LaBell Lock on Kenny after the match where the referee called for help. The Elite came out to try and clear Bryan off then eventually the Bucks and Cole gave Bryan a triple super kick. Shortly thereafter, Christian Cage, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy came out for the save and to help promote their match later on for Rampage.
CM Punk Interview
Pretty much CM Punk is the unofficial spokesperson for AEW now. The pop isn’t as deafening as his re-debut but his focus is on Team Taz and Hobbs. He hints at seeing “Mad Punk” so I’m sure he’s reading Reddit and other spots but you can tell he’s having fun and enjoying things for the moment.
My main comment here is that they are using CM Punk to get back viewers. However, they also might be risking overexposing him. At least for now, he’s working the lower parts of the card with the younger talent so it’s not too bad yet.
MJF Vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
This is refreshing seeing MJF not having to deal with Chris Jericho. These two are the young dogs and really work well together. It’s a natural babyface vs heel pairing and MJF does such a great job in the old school heel type while Pillman Jr fits very well in a babyface role the way his father did.
Ending was kinda cool seeing MJF catch Pillman and put him into that armbreaker. Julia Hart got involved a bit as a distraction but I don’t think this feud is over just yet. Someone suggested on Reddit that with the upcoming Owen Hart Foundation joint venture, we’ll see a tournament where it might boil down to MJF and Pillman with Pillman coming out on top. I could easily see that.
Jericho and Hager Backstage Segment
Alex Marvez is with Jericho and Hager and believe it or not there’s no attack! They actually manage to have a civilized backstage interview. But I guess the “civilized” part doesn’t last long as Hager repeats Jericho’s stupid “shit face” whatever line about Dan Lambert. Either way, this was for the later Rampage. Didn’t midn this too much.
Cody Rhodes Vs. Malakai Black
Easily, Malakai Black has the best entrance in pro-wrestling right now. But I will say I was super impressed by Cody’s as well, even though he didn’t receive the reaction he probably wanted. Both Arn Anderson and Brandy Rhodes accompanied him but everyone in New York preferred Malakai by a mile. Even Cody was mouthing off, “Okay,” as if admitting that he might not be as popular as he hoped.
Match was longer than their initial encounter. Malakai at one point did a moonsault onto his feet off the 2nd rope to show off to Cody for a major pop. Then Brandy entered to sit down with him and tell him “fuck you” with the middle finger to a chorus of boos.
There was a strange spot where Arn was on the ring apron then fell off clumsily. Cody went to check up on Arn and eventually bumped Arn off. He went outside to check on Arn but Arn got mad and told Cody to focus on Malakai. He walked around the ring to pick Malakai back up and when the referee got distracted, Malakai spat black mist into Cody’s fast for a quick roll up and 1-2-3. Major pop for Malakai.
Let me say this about Malakai. He’s basically the Undertaker 2.0 because of his gothic entrance and his cult-like following. I like that Cody put Malakai over here but Cody is in such a weird spot in AEW. Hopefully, this match ends their feud so Malakai can focus on other opponents for a while. I would love to see this guy against Pac for instance.
Sting / Darby Allin Vs. FTR
Surprisingly, good match. FTR are fantastic. Sting didn’t remind me he is 62 here. You could tell Sting was extra motivated because of the 21k fans in attendance put on his working shoes here. Yes, Darby had his moments but this was Sting’s night in this match. I wish FTR could have gotten the much needed win here, but they seemed to be having a ball with Sting and putting him over. Tully took a small bump on the apron too from a punch by Sting. Crowd ate this up.
Britt Baker Vs. Ruby Soho
This was for the women’s world title. Hot lock up. Dueling Ruby Soho/DMD chants in the beginning. Started slow and I think both women might’ve been a bit nervous. Tony Schiavone caught on that Britt Baker didn’t seem as confident but I interpret that as just nerves.
There was a crazy top rope Air Raid Crush by Britt onto Ruby. I once told Mariko Yoshida to do that as a finisher but she said that she was too afraid of killing someone with it. So I screamed loud when I saw Britt doing that move. Really wish that was the finish because it looked great.
Instead, they did some outside interference with Jamie Hayter doing a neckbreaker on the top rope on Ruby allowing Britt to put on her Lockjaw for Ruby to tap out. Pretty decent match but I felt that the top rope Air Raid Crash should have been the finisher and this is where the inexperience of Britt in laying out a match shows.
Final Thoughts
On it’s own, I thought Dynamite looked fantastic. There was almost no comedy, the crowd was beyond fantastic and many matches delivered. My problem was the ordering of the matches and several finishes.
First, Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson on free TV, while great for the casual viewer, was really a main event type of match. I think it was too good for where on the card it needed to be and the rest of Dynamite felt a little flat afterwards. Also, I did NOT like the time limit draw. I see what they were trying to say here but there was no last minute desperation pinfalls so the drama was lacking. More importantly, because there was no title match change on the main event, this match should have gone for Bryan Danielson. I think it was the perfect place for Bryan to pin Kenny Omega, it would’ve been perfectly acceptable and it could lead towards a world title match at Full Gear without Bryan having to do smaller matches leading up to the PPV. I think the draw, while the match was good, was wrong because it hurt the rest of the card for the night.
That leads to my next major issue which was Ruby not beating Britt Baker. While the match was decent (despite not being built as well as it could have been), the finish sucked. Yes, Britt is supremely over but they needed to change the scenery. Since this was the only title match on this major event in front of the largest crowd, they needed a title match or a go home moment for the fans. The title change would have been perfect. The interference at the end left me feeling that they’re just going to move forward with Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker so that Thunder Rosa might win. But what happens to Ruby Soho after this? She had a fantastic interview segment and some good momentum coming in. That might be lost because the finish was a clean submission (despite the outside interference).
The rest of the show for Dynamite was fine for me. They kept the talking segments to a minimum and the only long talking segment came from the one person who can deliver. The interruptions for talking segments for once were non-existent. This should be the standard for their shows but I feel it’s the exception unfortunately.
However, the problem with this show was that it also was hooked with Elevation and Rampage. I get that they booked a 5 hour show to make the massive attendance worth it on paper. But I think when you have a match like Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson on free TV, you’re hurting the rest of the card. So Rampage might not come off as well on Friday as it should.
Finally, I was surprised that no one else made their debut on this show. I did here that Homicide helped out on Rampage but that’s not a huge deal. I was partly expecting Ric Flair here except that the Dark Side of the Ring practically killed his wrestling career from here on out. But I’m guessing that they wanted the show to stand on its own for once and they already had stacked it up to the point where a debut wouldn’t have mattered. Also, what can top CM Punk and Bryan Danielson at this point?
Not a perfect show by any means, but I will say that this is the best Dynamite I’ve seen thus far. Quite honestly, I think they could have just put Omega vs Danielson on Rampage and make that match a whole hour rather than having the other drek. But that’s just me in terms of how I would envision a long card from top-to-bottom.