What did you think of AEW Dynamite?
Join us for Rewind-A-Dynamite LIVE at YouTube.com/POSTwrestling. Starting at 10:05pm ET.
Jake from The Windy City
For a Dynamite card that didn’t look like much on paper going in, it over-delivered as an all-timer episode and gave me RAW after Mania vibes. After going through exhaustion for days from a very long Double or Nothing, my energy is revitalized as they literally fired all cylinders and the pace didn’t give me whiplash this time.
Incredible build up for Forbidden Door, insane promo by MJF (though there was some aspects where I was left scratching my head), Miro is back, Blood & Guts confirmed, a MACAULAY CULKIN cameo, and an absolute killer of a main event. Moxley has been so amazing to watch, I hope he’ll get back to the main event scene sooner than later. Bit surprised to not see Danielson tonight, but he’s probably still selling the outcome from Sunday.
The one negative I’ll say is that I thought it was a complete step backwards for Wardlow tonight. I thought the thing with Marc Sterling and the security guys was done. He should be moving higher up on the card instead of being involved in mid-card comedy angles.
Again, solid all-time Dynamite and has re-energized my excitement for attending Forbidden Door live at the United Center. 9.5/10
Noah from Vaughan
Where do I even begin, as someone thats watched every dynamite episode, I think that this was honestly the best episode theyve ever done by far, and that says alot cause theyve had lot of damn near perfect episodes. Im just so happy right now after watching it, every segment was awesome, every match ruled! 100/10 show
Cody from Maine
How often do we say “that was an all time great Dynamite?” Feels like we go a few weeks between at the most. Phenomenal crowd, ring work, mic work. I can’t wait until next week. And I love that I feel that way.
Thanks as always for the show. Keep up the great work.
Hey guys, great coverage of the behemoth of a PPV on Sunday!
Thought this has to be in contention for being one of the best wrestling tv episodes ever, from any company, with everything hitting and the pacing being impeccable.
FTR & Punk are a great trio, and seeing Takahashi come out as Punk’s challenger for Forbidden Door was surreal. MJF dropped an all-time promo, and I don’t think that’s hyperbole. Whether he stays or goes, this is a promo that will live forever.
Baker/Hayter vs Storm/Soho was really great, probably one of the best women’s matches in AEW
The Athena, Jade, Stokely promo was really solid as well, with Stokely feeling like a much better fit than Mark. Athena sounded way more confident than she ever did in WWE, and the crowd reacted great for her & Jade, as well as the trios stare down.
If AEW can deliver more matches like Baker & Hayter vs Storm & Ruby, and more segments like the Athena & Jade’s, the women’s division will be in a great place.
Jason from Vancouver
I loved the MJF promo but I think AEW has sort of boxed themselves in when it comes to the reactions crowds are going to give MJF. If they thought audiences will boo MJF for perceived petulance in real life or previous crowds playing into his heel character I think they are going to be sadly mistaken. I think it will be very difficult to pull off his character as either a heel or a face and I’m just not sure where they go with him as a “tweener”. While I think this was an intriguing first chapter in this new story, I’m far more interested with how they handle his character moving forward.
Tanahashi versus Punk is as good a title match as you can make. Tanahashi is still one of the greatest, and even though we all know he’ll lose, no one does an epic like him. Do you foresee an Okada defence, and if so, who do you think makes sense? Do they go with a Danielson or Moxley for the biggest possible match, or do you give the match to someone like PAC or Christian Cage, guys who are still legitimately great but can afford a loss to Okada.
I want MJF to bring up why people like Stu Grayson don’t get picked up but they had to make room for Tony Nese. Big approve on the promo, as if that needed to be said,
To somewhat disagree with my fellow Vancouverite, I feel like anything’s possibly with MJF at this point. He could walk, he could stay, he could double-down as a heel, he could become an anti-authority babyface. The latter is what’s really interesting to me, as all of the pieces are in place for a “Summer of MJF” title reign at some point, with Punk now in the Cena role. But that’s getting ahead of things - this was a great show in terms of angles, mic work, and in-ring. Tana/Punk should be a great pairing, and that was a fantastic women’s tag.
Any predictions as to who might be the IWGP Jr champ heading out of Dominion and how they might figure into Forbidden Door? Either Darby/Hiromu or Desperado/Garcia would be fantastic IMO.
Robbie from London, Ontario
What a great show! It felt big, and it delivered. Not only for the shocker appearance from the Ace, but the Pipebomb type promo from MJF, the great reintroduction of Miro, great matches and just lots of fun. I can’t wait to see where this goes on Rampage, and who from NJPW shows up next! 9/10 show
While I’m sure that the MJF segment will be the part of this show that’s remembered most, it really says something that it didn’t make everything else on the show feel insignificant . This whole episode felt wild in the most enjoyable way. There were a lot of details that elevated it from a very good show to an excellent one, like following MJF’s promo with a match featuring two ex-WWE guys, bringing out Regal to say “Blood and Guts”, and I liked just having Punk ask for his Forbidden Door opponent to be revealed, rather than trying to contrive a story. (I think that there are areas where stories could come into play, but since Punk needs a big name to face and doesn’t have any recent history with the top NJPW guys, this just struck me as efficient. It’s a match I want to see with no other embellishment necessary.)
The women’s segments tonight- both the match and the Athena/ Jade promo- felt like a step forward for the division. The rapid-fire additions of Toni and Athena, along with giving Ruby a more prominent role, brings some star power and experience that can help a lot.
Jesse from the 6
Let me be a Negative Nigel on what was objectively a great episode of Dynamite and express my disappointment at Hangman’s loss on Sunday and my skepticism that he will ever be a main event star again.
There was no Hangman promo on this show, no appearance at all, barely any mention of him. Hangman, the AEW original, has been jettisoned for a love-in with the much older, ex-WWE guy CM Punk. I fear this sets a bad precedent in AEW that their own babyfaces will get shortshrift going forward.
If Hangman is The Guy again in 1-2 years time, then we can agree my worries today are misplaced. But I am not hopeful.
Glad Miro’s back, though, and that I’ll get to see Blood & Guts live in Detroit, so it’s not all bad.
Take Care
Best Dynamite of the year? It could very well be. Strong wrestling from start to finish. The Friedman/Khan dissension has a “shit-is-real” type of vibe and when the scarf came off, the promo grabbed me. the JAS/BCC feud getting capped off in Blood and Guts is the right call. Not gonna lie, Regal bellowing the match didn’t have the same effect as “WarGames!”
Did anyone catch the error of Road Rager’s date? Is it before or after Blood and Guts?
P.S. No mention of Thunder Rosa is such an egregious oversight.
Mannie from Pacoima
Great show, was amazing live. The crowd was really behind mjf and when he finished punk and matt Jackson came out to confront him only for him to leave through the crowd. Tanhashi was a great surprise and the return of the redeemer as well! Excited for blood and guts and the build to the forbidden door
Can I ask what exactly they have done, for you to not be hopeful? The guy had a 2 year story where he failed at every turn, only to finally go on to win the big one. They’ve proved already they can tell this story. The “much older ex-WWE guy” is exactly that…much older. If there is ever a time to get a run out of him, it is as early as possible and now Hangman lost his potentially biggest title match, we see where he goes from here and how he handles it. It isnt out of the realm of possibility that he would want to take a break to collect his thoughts after a big loss. Not everything needs to be rushed.