‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Apr 17th 2024)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN. We’ve got Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz on commentary this week, so let’s get into the review!
Match #1: Brody King & Julia Hart def. Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Willow had been attacked backstage. Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander were checking on her. The lights went on in the arena! The lights came back on and Brody King blindsided Adam Copeland in the ring! Brody whipped Copeland into the barricade and chopped him. Brody clobbered Copeland with forearms while Julia laughed. Brody charged at Copeland and splashed him against the barricade. Copeland headbutted Brody and knocked him off the top turnbuckle. Copeland followed up with a flying clothesline. They traded forearms and chops in the center of the ring. Copeland staggered Brody with a clubbing lariat. Copeland ran in with a high boot to Brody’s jaw. Copeland landed the Impaler, but Brody kicked out at the two-count! Adam Copeland nailed Brody King with a flipping neck breaker. Copeland attempted a spear, but Brody countered with a lariat. Brody went for a flipping cannonball in the corner, but Copeland dodged it. Willow Nightingale made her way to the ring! Willow tagged herself in and connected with a cross body press to Brody. Willow went for Julia, but Julia backed off! Copeland rocked Brody with a spear! Willow cannonballed Brody in the corner! Julia dropped Willow with a knockout punch, her fist wrapped in a steel chain! Julia locked in Heartless on Willow and Julia won via ref stoppage!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) def. Daniel Garcia and Death Triangle (PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Pac was in the ring, staring down Okada, ahead of their match at Dynasty. The Young Bucks ambushed Pac from behind and stomped on him. Pac got back to his feet and cracked Nicholas with kicks. Penta and Pac used tandem offense on Nicholas. Garcia tagged in and dropped Nicholas with a butterfly suplex and a lariat. Okada tripped up Garcia from the apron. Nicholas blindsided Garcia with a running kick from the apron. Matthew had a microphone and commentated during the match, telling Garcia to “show me something!” Garcia hit Matthew with a suplex and tagged Pac. “The Bastard” walloped Matthew with a German Suplex! Pac took down the Bucks with a double dropkick from the top rope! Pac followed up with a moonsault to the Bucks on the floor. Pac invited Okada into the ring, but Matthew hit Pac from behind. Okada and the Bucks triple teamed Pac in the corner. Okada planted Pac with a neck breaker and went for the pin, but Penta ran in to break up the cover. Penta tagged in and served up Sling Blades to the Bucks. Penta smashed Okada with the Made in Japan for a near fall. Pac came over the top rope with a cutter on Matthew! Pac plastered Okada with a thrust kick! Pac climbed to the top rope, but Matthew Jackson swept out Pac’s leg, and Pac crashed onto the mat. Garcia tagged in and smacked Okada with chops, but Okada connected with a beautiful dropkick. After help from the Bucks, Okada stuffed Garcia with a tombstone piledriver. Okada ducked a sling blade from Penta and spiked Penta with a tombstone. The Bucks blasted Garcia with a superkick party, and then Okada finished off Garcia with the Rainmaker clothesline for the pin!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #3: Deonna Purrazzo def. Mariah May
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Deonna grappled Mariah to the mat and went for an arm bar, but Mariah rolled out of the ring. Mariah avoided a sliding dropkick and whipped Deonna into the barricade. Deonna pulled Mariah into the ring with a DDT for a near fall. Mariah rallied back with a wicked forearm. Mariah shoved Deonna out of the ring. Deonna answered with heavy chops back in the ring. Deonna blasted Mariah with a pump kick for a near fall. Mariah escaped a power bomb attempt and rocked Deonna with a head butt. Mariah landed a hip attack and then spiked Deonna with a DDT off the ropes for a two-count. Deonna countered the May Day attempt, rolled up Mariah and pinned her!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Orange Cassidy def. Shane Taylor
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Cassidy cracked Taylor with two consecutive dropkicks. Taylor countered a DDT with a stunner. Moriarty stomped Cassidy outside the ring as the ref was distracted by Shane Taylor. Shane smashed Orange with a thunderous chop in the corner. Orange rallied back with a Stun Dog Millionaire and then tope suicidas to Lee and Anthony. Taylor avoided an Orange Punch and pulped Orange with a lariat! Orange tried a second time and connected with the Orange Punch. Orange used another Orange Punch, flattened Taylor and pinned him!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Will Ospreay def. Claudio Castagnoli
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Claudio charged Will at the start of the match! Claudio dropped Ospreay with a European Uppercut! Ospreay fired back with a running boot. Will followed Claudio outside the ring and chopped him. Claudio rammed Will into the barricade. Will hit a flying forearm off the barricade. Claudio came back with a double stomp to Will’s ribs. They traded forearms and elbow strikes in the center of the ring. Ospreay rallied back with the Déjà vu! Will jumped over the top rope to Claudio outside the ring, but Claudio caught Will and countered with a back breaker to the apron. “The Aerial Assassin” cracked Claudio with a springboard forearm. Claudio hit a European Uppercut. Will stayed on the attack and applied a sharpshooter on Claudio. Claudio escaped and applied a sharpshooter of his own! Claudio transitioned to a cross face submission, but Ospreay countered with a rollup for a near fall. Ospreay planted Claudio with a Tiger Driver for a two-count! Claudio poked Will in the eyes and hammered Will with forearms. Will reversed a Ricola Bomb with a hurracanrana for a two-count! Will went for the Os-Cutter, but Claudio caught him and planted Will on the mat for a near fall! Claudio charged at Will, but Will countered with a Spanish Fly! Will went for the Hidden Blade, but Claudio countered with a pop up European Uppercut! Claudio signaled for the Giant Swing! Claudio put Will in the Giant Swing, but Will countered with a DDT! Ospreay hit the Cancun Tornado on Claudio, but Claudio kicked out at two! Ospreay smashed Claudio with the hidden blade and finally scored the pin!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Let’s be honest, it wouldn’t take much to beat last week’s Dynamite but it looks like AEW tried their damndest to not only improve on recent weeks of their flagship show but also wipe any memory of last week’s fiasco out of fan’s memories. And how did they do that? By having consistently good matches and a focus on building towards the forthcoming PPV, Dynasty. Oh, and by having a fantastic trios match and an even better main event. Honestly, Ospreay has been worth every penny so far and he’s only been with the company full-time for a short while!