‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (July 6th 2022)

Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast live from the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial in Rochester, NY! We’ve Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, and Taz on commentary and an eagerly awaited main event… That was overshadowed, IMHO, by one of Ricky Starks’ best promos EVER! Let’s get into it.

Match #1: TNT Championship Street Fight – Wardlow def. Scorpio Sky

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Sky evaded Wardlow and blasted Wardlow with body shots. Wardlow fired back with a massive shoulder tackle, taking the champion off his feet. Scorpio Sky connected with a low blow on Wardlow. An angered Wardlow hurled Scorpio Sky across the ring! Wardlow followed Scorpio Sky outside the ring. Lambert placed a hand on the back of Wardlow. Wardlow turned around but members of American Top Team were there to block him from getting to Lambert. Wardlow was rammed into the steel ring steps. Wardlow took to the skies with a swanton bomb onto Scorpio Sky! Wardlow was about to powerbomb Scorpio Sky when Lambert ordered the members of ATT to jump into the ring and stop Wardlow. Wardlow quickly dispatched of the ATT members. As Wardlow was busy with ATT, Scorpio Sky nailed Wardlow with the TNT title. Wardlow retaliated with a spinebuster. Wardlow powerbombed Scorpio Sky! Wardlow powerbombed the champion again, and then again! Wardlow placed his foot on Scorpio Sky and pinned him!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #2: Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland def. The Butcher and The Blade

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Keith Lee and the Blade began the match for their respective teams. The Blade slapped Keith Lee but Lee headbutted Blade. Butcher tagged in and Keith Lee sent the Butcher crashing off the top rope to the mat! The Butcher tried to grab a chair to use but the Blade talked him out of it, knowing they need this win to advance up the tag team division ranks. Swerve tripped up the Blade. Keith Lee tagged in and he and Swerve used tandem offense on Blade. Things broke down outside the ring as Swerve’s leg was swept out by Blade, as Swerve was pursuing the Butcher. Strickland flatlined the Butcher. Keith Lee hoisted up the Butcher for combination offense. Keith Lee went to shoulder block the Blade but inadvertently connected with Swerve. The Butcher and the Blade took advantage of the miscue with double maneuvers of their own! Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland managed to pull things together, as Lee held Blade and then Swerve jumped, landing on top of Blade and pinning him!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #3: RUSH def. Penta Oscuro

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Rush and Penta Oscuro traded chops with one another. Penta blasted Rush with a thrust kick! Outside the ring, Penta Oscuro used an arm drag to take down Rush. Back in the ring, Rush nailed Penta Oscuro with an elbow strike. Rush tried to rip off Penta Oscuro’s mask, but Penta countered with a sling blade clothesline! Penta Oscuro followed up with a tope con hiro! Alex Abrahantes speared Jose to prevent Jose from hitting Penta Oscuro with the tablet. Rush ducked a forearm from Penta Oscuro and followed up with a German Suplex and then a powerslam for a near fall! Penta Oscuro fired back with a backstabber for a two-count! Rush and Penta Oscuro smacked each other with headbutts! Rush hit Penta with a leaping knee strike and both men went down. Rush climbed to the top turnbuckle and connected with a missile dropkick! Rush splashed Penta with a senton from the top. Penta came back with a cutter to Rush! Penta Oscuro drilled Rush with the Fear Factor. Andrade El Idolo grabbed Rush’s foot and put it on the ropes to stop the pin. As the ref was distracted by Andrade, La Faccion Ingobernable’s Rush used a cheap low blow on Penta Oscuro and then pinned Penta!

My Score: 3 out of 5

Match #4: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & the Gunn Club (Austin & Colten Gunn) def. Fuego Del Sol & Ruffin It (Leon Ruffin, Bear Bronson, & Bear Boulder)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Colten stomped a mudhole into Fuego in the corner. Bowens tagged himself in. Fuego rocked Bowens with a DDT. Bear Bronson ran through the Gunn Club! Bear planted Austin for a near fall. Max hit the mic drop but Austin tagged himself in and stole the pin on Bear. The Gunn Club and the Acclaimed began to argue. The Gunn Club traded hands with the Acclaimed. Billy Gunn blindsided Caster and Bowens!

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #5: Thunderstorm (Thunder Rosa & Toni Storm) def. Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Marina and Nyla went after Thunderstorm before the bell rang! Toni took down Marina with a drop toehold. Thunder Rosa tagged in and connected with body shots to Marina. Toni assisted Thunder Rosa with a dropkick on Marina Shafir for a near fall. Toni Storm suplexed Marina Shafir, as Thunderstorm singled out Shafir. Thunder Rosa and Marina Shafir began to chain wrestle. Toni tagged back in and used a hip attack on Marina. Toni Storm ran into the ropes but Nyla nailed her with an umbrella in the back while ref Rick Knox was dealing with Thunder Rosa. Thunder Rosa was able to get the tag and she used a drop toehold on Nyla, baiting her in. Thunder Rosa blasted Nyla in the jaw with a running dropkick. She tried again but Nyla blocked it and then tagged in Marina. Marina sent Thunder Rosa for a ride with a pump handle slam. Toni Storm came in and rammed Marina with the running hip attack! Thunderstorm spiked Marina with a piledriver combo for the pin!

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #6: AEW Interim World Championship Match – Jon Moxley def. Brody King

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

William Regal joined the commentary team for the main event. Brody King backed Moxley into the corner and chopped him, a single strike sending Mox to his knees. Moxley got right back up and fired off forearms to Brody King’s face. Brody King pursued Moxley on the arena floor. Brody King charged at Moxley but Moxley dodged him. King crashed into the steel ring steps. Brody King backdropped Moxley onto the ramp. Back in the ring, Moxley took the challenger off his feet with a dragon screw leg whip. Moxley continued to work over Brody King’s leg. King finally got back on his feet and used the Bossman Slam on Moxley. Brody King picked up Moxley but Moxley escaped. Brody King charged at Moxley with a cannonball senton into the corner but Moxley moved out of the way! Moxley hoisted King onto the top rope and then clawed his fingernails into King. Mox superplexed Brody King and then applied the bulldog choke but Brody powered out. Moxley stomped on Brody King’s head. Mox ate a lariat from Brody King and then the challenger followed up with a piledriver for a near fall! Brody, standing on the turnbuckles, pulled Moxley right off the mat with a choke. Brody followed up with a cannon ball senton in the corner and this time it met its target! Mox avoided a splash in the corner. Moxley blasted Brody with the Paradigm Shift! Moxley dropped hammer and anvil elbows on Brody King! Moxley put a chokehold on Brody but Brody sat back and smashed all his weight on Moxley! Moxley held on with his bulldog choke and ref Paul Turner had no choice but to stop the match as Brody King could not continue!

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

This was an interesting episode of Dynamite, one where promos seemed to outshine *most* of the matches on the card! Of course we got Wardlow winning the TNT Title, which was well-timed given his story (and it was GREAT to see him get a title!) but kind of felt like an insult to Scorpio Sky, as his reign seemed to short to have any impact. RUSH and Penta Oscuro delivered a great mid-show match and I hope RUSH gets a full contract and not the apparent pay-to-play/limited appearance one he’s reportedly on. But then we got the main event, a drag out, knock down FIGHT. One where King gave as good as he got, with some great “can Moxley overcome this monster of a man” storytelling. But ultimately, this week’s episode of Dynamite will go down as being THAT episode with THAT promo from Ricky Starks. Man’s a legend!