‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Nov 13th 2024)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT. We’ve got Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, and Tony Schiavone on commentary, so let’s get into the review!
Match #1: Christian Cage & “Hangman” Adam Page def. The Bang Bang Gang (Jay White & Juice Robinson)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Jay White and Hangman Page locked up to start the match. Switchblade grabbed a side headlock takeover. Hangman fired back with a big elbow strike and Jay White went down in a heap. Christian Cage tagged himself in and chopped Jay White. Juice Robinson jabbed at Christian, but Christian retaliated with a neck breaker. Nick Wayne kicked Juice in the ribs on the arena floor as Christian distracted the referee. Hangman tagged back in and hit a belly to belly suplex on Juice Robinson. Nick Wayne was sizing up Juice Robinson when HOOK snuck up on Wayne and brawled with him to the back! Juice planted Christian Cage on the arena floor as Christian was shocked by what he saw with Nick Wayne and HOOK! Jay White and Adam Page slugged it out, a sneak peak of what we’ll see in 10 days at Full Gear. “Switchblade” Jay White drilled Page with a DDT and then spiked Christian Cage with a DDT. Juice hit Page with a running cannonball while Jay White followed up with a brain buster on Page. Christian Cage pulled Juice out of the ring by the ankle. Juice decked Christian Cage. Juice climbed the turnbuckles, but Page yanked him down. Hangman gouged Jay White’s eyes and then clobbered him with a lariat. Page planted Juice with a fallaway slam from the turnbuckles. Page nailed Juice with a power bomb for a near fall. Jay White ducked a buckshot lariat from Page. Christian grabbed Jay from behind looking for the kill switch, but Juice was there to make the save. Jay rocked Christian with a Blade Runner into the barricade. Mother Wayne distracted the referee while Kip Sabian smacked Juice with the contract case. Page jammed Juice with the Dead Eye in the center of the ring to steal the victory.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Roderick Strong def. Lance Archer
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Roderick swung a kendo stick at Archer as Archer was brawling with the other teams! Cage clubbed Strong with a forearm. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett ran out to even up the odds for Roddy. Archer rocked Taven with a boot to the head! Archer choke slammed Taven off the barricade down onto security guards. Roddy swept out Archer’s legs and then cracked Archer with a steel chair. Roddy jumped over the barricade and stunned Archer with a knee strike, scoring the pinfall victory!
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #3: Konosuke Takeshita def. Adam Cole
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Cole was looking for the Panama Sunrise, but Takeshita countered with a nasty forearm strike! Adam Cole nailed Takeshita with a neck breaker for a near fall. Takeshita blasted Cole with a blue thunder bomb. Cole cracked Takeshita with a pump kick. Takeshita fired back with a rolling elbow strike. Cole retaliated with a back breaker onto his knee. Takeshita blocked a Panama Sunrise and countered with a piledriver into a suplex. Takeshita knocked off Cole’s block with a lariat, but Cole kicked out of the pin attempt! Cole countered a Takeshita Line with a thrust kick, followed by a Panama Sunrise. Cole went to lower the boom, but Takeshita rolled out of the ring. Takeshita put the Dynamite Diamond Ring onto his finger, which he found under the ring. Takeshita decked Cole with it, unbeknownst to the referee, and pinned Cole!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. def. Penelope Ford
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Penelope tried for a quick rollup at the start of the match. Britt bashed Ford with an elbow strike. Britt nailed Penelope with a neck breaker. Penelope fired back with a double knee strike to Britt. Britt took down Ford with a sling blade clothesline. Ford connected with a back handspring elbow. Penelope stunned Britt with a cutter for a near fall. Britt dodged a moonsault. Britt connected with a thrust kick and then a neck breaker. Penelope dropkicked Britt in the back. Penelope applied the Muta Lock, but Britt countered with the Lock Jaw and Penelope tapped out!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Swerve Strickland def. Lio Rush
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Lio and Swerve went tit for tat at the start, matching one another step for step. Then Lio gouged Swerve’s eyes. Lio knocked Swerve off the top turnbuckles, taking Swerve out of play. Swerve regained momentum with a vertical suplex. Lio jumped off the steel steps and drilled Swerve with a reverse hurracanrana. Lio followed up with a tope suicida. Rush rocked Swerve with a frog splash for a near fall. Swerve blocked a stunner attempt. Lio rolled up Swerve and grabbed the ropes, looking to take a short cut, but the ref spotted it thanks to Prince Nana. Swerve blocked a rana and planted Lio with Big Pressure, picking up the big win!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #6: Kings of the Black Throne (Brody King & Malakai Black) def. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Brody took Dax off his feet with thunderous chops. Cash tagged in but Brody back body dropped Cash! Malakai used an arm drag but Cash decked him. Malakai wiped out FTR with a moonsault! Brody entered the fray and continued to punish FTR. Brody splashed both members of FTR in the corner, sandwiching them before bashing them with a running cannonball senton. FTR regained momentum with a lariat-power bomb combo. But Brody spiked Dax with a Gonzo Bomb. Cash hammered Brody with strikes and took Brody down with a drop toe hold. FTR went for the power and glory combo, but Brody raised his knees to counter. Malakai followed up with a foot stomp on Dax. FTR blocked the Dante’s Inferno and countered with the Shatter Machine! Malakai pulled Dax out of the ring, breaking up the pin attempt. FTR drilled Malakai with a spiked piledriver on the apron, but Brody leveled Dax with a lariat for a near fall! Brody put Dax in a sleeper and Kings of the Black Throne won via ref stoppage!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
A bit of a comedown from last week’s show, this episode of Dynamite was a mixed bag in terms of actual wrestling – the show opened with a good tag match then kind of fell apart for a while, until kicking things back into gear with the Baker/Ford match and that momentum continued all the way to the fantastic main event. All in all, this was a great build for the upcoming pay-per-view Full Gear. And, despite some people decrying the angle, I’m still loving the Death Riders stuff!
