AEW Dynamite 02/24/21 Quick Takes

Jon Moxley vs. Ryan Nemeth

This was a return to form regarding Dynamite opening matches. It was quick. It was high octane. It helped set the tone for the rest of the episode. Ryan Nemeth seems to be finding his footing, getting another chance to make an impression on the AEW flagship show. His cocky mannerisms and smarmy attitude made it all the more satisfying when Moxley smacked the heck out of him. The outcome was never in any doubt. Moxley wins with an emphatic Paradigm Shift. After the match, Mox cuts a promo hyping his upcoming match with Kenny Omega at Revolution, highlighting what it’s going to take to put him down at the Pay Per View.

The Varsity Blonds vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks

I thought this was a lot of fun. The Varsity Blonds continue to grow on me as a team, especially Griff Garrison. Griff and Pillman have established themselves as an entry-level team to beat and this helps make the other team seem to be a stronger threat. As for Cage and Starks, I love this pairing and I’d like to see them go deep in the tag division. Ricky plays his role as the instigator so well. Having the much larger Cage finish the job shows the team’s dynamic and I like it. Brian Cage gets the win for his team after spiking Garrison with a Drill Claw. Once the match is over, a video plays on the big screen that looks like something out of Death Proof. Sting pops up on the entranceway dragging a body bag that has Hook zipped inside. Darby Allin zip-lines down from the upper deck with skateboard in hand. The two beat up Team Taz with Sting hitting a Stinger Splash and gets Cage with a Scorpion Death Drop. This was fun. Sting looked great here and I liked the image of Darby zipping down to the ring. Yes, they are pushing him to be the next Sting but that’s OK.

Jake Hager vs. Brandon Cutler

There wasn’t much to this one. Hager outmuscles Cutler for the entirety of the match. I think Brandon gets a couple of strikes in but ends up nearly getting decapitated with a brutal clothesline as Hager gets the pinfall. Afterward, the rest of the Inner Circle come and beat down Cutler. The Young Bucks are out to make the save and say that they are ready to fight Chris Jericho and MJF right now. They don’t want to wait until Revolution. Jericho’s music plays for a while until a camera backstage shows that the number one contenders have beaten up the Buck’s dad to a “bloody” pulp. The Jackson brothers try to catch the assailants but Jericho and MJF speed off almost cartoonishly. The Young Bucks and The Good Brothers help load Papa Buck into an ambulance. Look, I’m not saying that the Buck patriarch needed to get bleed Dusty Rhodes style but perhaps invest in some higher quality stage blood. It looked like ketchup and just came off as very “student film”. This did help the heels get some heat before the match which is a good thing but it didn’t do much to make me more invested in the match.

Isaiah Kassidy vs. Adam Page

On paper, this shouldn’t have been as good as it was but I thought this was great. There were a lot of little details that made the match make sense. Isaiah Kassidy doesn’t have too much experience in singles matches so he made small mistakes. I loved that Excalibur mentions that due to this inexperience, Kassidy doesn’t quite apply a submission correctly. Between the shenanigans of Kassidy and Matt Hardy, Page sold an arm injury that prevented him from using the Buckshot Lariat. We had some interactions with The Dark Order out to help even the odds for Page. Their involvement even led to Hardy being ejected from the match. Due to the limb work, Page had to result to using his old finisher, the Dead-Eye to put away Kassidy. This was a really nice touch. Post-match, Matt Hardy says that he will hurt Page and The Dark Order, throwing Alan Angels from the stage through a table to prove the point.

Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose

This may have been my match of the night and I was not thinking that was going to be the case going into this one. Heel vs. heel matches are not my favorite and I wasn’t sure how the implications of this match would affect the rest of the Women’s Eliminator Tournament. Baker used all of her usual antics to try and weasel a win with the help of Rebel, which included a nice call back to her match with Thunder Rosa. What stuck out to me was Nyla’s potential as a monster babyface. When the switch gets flipped, I expect great things. Rose gets a big win with a big powerbomb and advances to the next round.

Lance Archer vs. Rey Fenix

Tonight’s main event is a qualifier for the ladder match at Revolution. Fenix and Archer have an odd chemistry that somehow fits nicely. The size differential between the two men becomes less of a factor when Fenix goes all out with his fearless offense. Lance is one of those guys that have been doing this for so long, that it is easy to forget how good he is. His rope walking spot is becoming a consistent highlight for me. Archer gets the win and a spot at Revolution with a Blackout. Fenix and Archer have a quick show of mutual respect as Dynamite goes off the air. One thing that I appreciated with this one was that it was just a wrestling match. There was nothing too fancy. There was no chicanery. This was wrestler A against wrestler B to see who was the better competitor. Sometimes, that’s all a wrestling show needs.

Final Thoughts

1. It was announced that Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor will take on Miro and Kip at Revolution…yay, I guess.

2. They are really hyping next week’s show. Tonight felt like a go-home edition for the go-home edition.

3. Revolution is starting to pique my interest. This was not the case a few weeks ago so I guess AEW is doing their job.

#prowrestling #JonMoxley #AEWRevolution #AEWDynamite #wrestling #AEW #KennyOmega