#LAWTAKE - AEW DYNAMITE 4/24/24
A legendary Dynamite on the horizons tonight, right? Here we go folks, it’s another Law Take review via your boy Chad Law of the Almighty RSC. Enjoy the laughs and takes I will be providing below.
The show starts with Pockets getting knocked down the ramp-way via Trent. Absolutely no offense from Cassidy, who I thought was bleeding, but was just the red stripes on his shirt.
Chuck came out delayed as can be as Trent cut the best promo he’s ever cut in this company by asking for Chuck to side with him in his war against Pockets. What do you think Chuck T did? Fight back.
Trent and Chuck are running parallel to Ciampa and Johnny Sameface in terms of their appearance, the exhausted betrayals, the unnecessary betrayals, and them not winning Tag Titles anytime soon (DIY in current time).
Jon Moxley cut a longer-than-usual backstage promo, going full baldy bad-ass as he prepares to give Will Hobbs the biggest match of his career thus far for the IWGP World Title. The sound being off tonight was just another funny mis-cue in AEW LaLa Land.
Every AEW World Champion got some sort of celebration post-win. Tonight, Swerve got to defend his belt against a guy who wasn’t even featured prominently at the last PPV (if at all off the top of my head), pushed to the limit, and then moved on over.
Swerve’s reign will parallel Eddie Guerrero’s 2004 WWE Title run (and only run). Just watch the same story that started as, went through and ended with. Bookmark this.'
Why is Kyle Fletcher getting announced in second after Swerve’s entrance, as the jobber contender? I would have been fine with the “already in the ring” announcement to be real honest. That was already glaring. It’s like watching Smackdown and Otis gets a random full entrance in a tune-up match against Roman Reigns… AFTER Roman Reigns’ entrance.
I didn’t like Swerve being pushed to the absolute limit by Kyle Fletcher, although Flecther is ROH TV Champion (whatever that’s supposed to mean). That belt is cooked but at least it’s been featured on actual TV.
When was the last time Kyle won a match that mattered? The last ROH PPV? Don Callis Family really are jobbers.
Swerve’s reign is going to be background noise for this Summer I feel. How do we know? A bevy of things were promoted amongst this extensive, PICTURE-IN-PICTURE, Eliminator match; such as a Casino Battle Royal for an INTERNATIONAL TITLE shot?? Oh and Kenny Omega is back next week.
Who is Swerve’s first real opponent going to be? Who knows, tune into Collision Saturday or Dynamite next Wednesday and hopefully we will have answers.
On a positive note, Swerve/Fletcher was actually pretty solid until that ending Kyle goes under the ring to get a table at the shouting of Don Callis, decides not to, puts the beats on Swerve, gets caught up in a Tree Of Woe and hit with a Swerve Stomp, KICKS OUT, then gets hit with the House Call.
I am not a fan of kicking out of finishers which seems to be the motif in AEW. Samoa Joe took one Swerve Stomp on Sunday and his reign was over. Kyle takes one and he kicks out to only get beat by Swerve’s set-up finisher. Ho-hum.
Thunder Rosa and Deonna attempted to have a verbal joisting backstage but the sound again goes heel. I predicted a 3-Way at Double Or Nothing for the Women’s Title and instead I don’t even see them asking it to Zero Hour since their feud should fizzle out on Collision in the next few weeks leading up to.
More Ana Jay. More Ana Jay. More Ana Jay. She is getting better and better with each match but just can’t seem to buy a win at any chance. Mina Shirakawa rolled Ana Jay up with Mariah May watching from ringside. Before they could do their celebration with the champagne and kisses post-match, Ana Jay spazzed out and started choking Mariah. Ana is becoming a hidden gem in this division, truly.
Toni Storm showed up to run down Ana Jay and check on Mariah May. I believe Mariah May is the number one contender, but Serena Deeb is calling her shot and she wants next. Another victim of a women’s promo being bogged down by bad sound tonight, Serena chose to sit on the ramp and talk into the camera for the “viewers at home." She should have just got the mic.
I enjoy watching goofy babyface women wrestlers go heel then get hotter in appearance gradually. CC: Julia Hart, and now Kris Statlander.
After a pretty cheesy appreciation promo from Stat, the ROH General Manager Stokely Hathaway introduces a Caprice Coleman rap at commentary that would make Jamie Kennedy cringe. All to introduce the brand new TBS Champion - Willow Nightingale.
Willow’s theme will never not feel like a British 80’s game show song and I just wanna bang my head against my MacBook when I hear it.
I’m going out on a limb to say Mercedes will spend the next 32 days stepping on whatever moments Willow will attempt to have. When Mercedes says “32 days” out loud, I genuinely hope it’s not a spoiler countdown to the end of Willow’s reign. Yes, I want Willow to win at Double Or Nothing.
This promo was clunky to me, with the shouting over each other and Mercedes with the cheeseball accusations of “was it you that attacked me in the dark the other week?” to Stat and Willow. The obvious choice of attacker, Statlander, will reveal her true colors within the next 32 DAYS as Mercedes reminded us.
The Casino Gauntlet match for the #1 Contendership to Roddy Strong’s International Title is next up and damnit those Unified Trios Titles aren’t going anywhere. AO’s wife made comment to him about why everyone in AEW has a title and tonight really put the spotlight on that.
This Gauntlet match was a safe way to put everyone on the card, from the Ass Boys, Top Flight, Penta, Jay White, Will O’Spreay, Lance Archer, Jay Lethal, Kommander. You know, a lot of credible names that would make predicting the winner of this match a toughie.
Spoiler - if Lance Archer and Kommander are involved in a match, you can guarantee neither man will win AND you can guarantee one of them will take the pin. Which is what Kommander did.
Kyle O’Reilly finally cleans his act up and goes back to the NXT KOR we know and love. Seeing as he already took an L at Dynasty in the ROH Throwback Match of the Night against Strong, he’s only going to get pushed further back down the card. See you on Rampage, Kyle.
Ospreay won the overall match, but my favorite takeaway was we got a Jay WHHHite sighting tonight to mix along with Ospreay. I am going to have to just follow AO’s lead and appreciate White as a Trios guy and forego the complaining I do about why he does not get pushed as a serious contender. Hopefully he won’t be the Zero Hour Guardian for Double Or Nothing and he has a meaningful match, hell even a title defense against a team that is not The Acclaimed.
I am going to enjoy watching Will Ospreay single-handedly defeat the whole Undisputed Coledem faction every week leading up to Double Or Nothing in May. I say single-handedly because the faction he is currently aligned with have just as bad of a losing streak as the faction he will be feuding with. Ospreay is taking that belt off Roddy and is going to have a helluva run this Summer.
I am going to assume with the emphasis on the International Title, of all titles, we will get the actual TNT Champion Adam Copeland this Saturday on Collision with another Cope Open or a straight up challenge from Malakai Bleh.
Meanwhile, I don’t see Okada having to even think of defending his Continental Breakfast Championship for another two weeks. Who’s who when it comes to the next challenger unless we run back Kingston, PAC, or a 3-Way defense.
Everyone on the internet is in an uproar about this new Jericho revamp gimmick and I for one am on board more than I was three weeks ago. Jericho playing the delusional OG and really playing into it is FUN. He’s taking everything the IWC is saying and really playing it up. The new FTW Champion declares the F-The-World moniker is now going to be For-The-World. I am eating this shit up,
Big Bill, in somewhat of a callback to their 2016 stare down from Jericho’s Highlight Reel segment in WWE, lets it be known he wants to sit under Chris Jericho’s new Learning Tree faction.
I was genuinely intrigued who Jericho would align himself with next in regard to a faction. Would it be some complete jobbers, newbies, established guys who don’t have a push or direction? Shit Big Bill is a start as he is a former AEW Tag Champion and has since been in catering. Big Bill a real New Yorker though cause son is gonna stay with some Timbs or J’s on deck.
Ricky Starks is either out with injury, next to join Jericho, or on his way to NXT. Where is that guy because I miss him dearly at a time like this.
I am not going to be satisfied until Ospreay leaves this Don Callis Family. Why is he even aligned with them? What benefit does this have for Ospreay? They don’t win nor do they even help him win! A Mark Davis’ return is around the corner so we can get a true United Empire reunion and put an end to this Don Callis jobber BS.
AEW decided to treat the IWGP World Title defense from Jon Moxley as the main event of tonights show vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (another Don Callis Family jobber). Yes, this was advertised on last weeks show. Swerve also just won the actual AEW World Title and had a third segment, picture-in-picture underdog Eliminator match. Things aren’t bolding well for Strickland’s reign, week one.
Absolutely WAY too much Don Callis tonight. Jesus Christ you'd think dude was the General Manager of Dynamite.
A 20-count, falls count anywhere, hoss fight, train wreck for the IWGP World Title was just there. I am sure the NJPW fanatics are frothing at this match being a main event of Dynamite but I ain’t buying it.
Hobbs is just as much of a jobber as Fletcher, Moxley is here so he doesn’t get fined, and NOOOOOOBODY believed Hobbs (who never won a qualifier, contenders match, hell even a match in recent memory) would make history by being the second Black man to hold the IWGP World Title. I am not buying it folks and I know you at home weren’t either.
It’s no telling what will come next between either of these two, as BCC and Don Callis Family seem intertwined. Perhaps Hobbs gets to lose to Claudio, then Danielson for the next 32 days until Double Or Nothing.
After tapping Hobbs out, Takeshita let it be known he wants next with Moxley. Takeshita really could be a promising IWGP World Champion, as he is the last of the Don Callis Family that still has some credibility left in the tank.
Oh would you look at that? Promo for The Bullet Club Gold defending the Trios Title against… Top Flight. As predicted. Deonna and Thunder Rosa and Trent and Chuck don’t have to wait for Zero Hour at Double Or Nothing to get busy, they have Rampage this Saturday all to themselves.
Shibata has truly gotten over with the translator gimmick. With ease at that. What a strange highlight, weekly. I’m rolling, it’s unique.
Bully Ray laid out a very clever idea on his Wise Choices collaboration podcast with Eric Bischoff this afternoon before Dynamite that really seemed believable; have Jack Perry come out to end Dynamite and give the “WE ARE ALL ELITE” speech and really show his allegiance to the brand while subtly burying CM Punk.
When Jack Perry came out, then Tony Khan, I had a feeling we’d see a variation of said storyline and voila! It’s almost like Bully Ray can see the future. Someone get this man a job within the creative team over there.
Jack Perry’s “stare into the camera/4th wall” face is going to be the new meme for AEW this summer.
After Jack laid TK out with a gut punch, Matty, Nicky, and Okody ran down to talk sense into Jack only to aid in the beatdown of Tony Khan by hitting him with the Tony Khan Driver. Intriguing ending to Dynamite and will for sure make people come back next week. Tony is trying to keep these rating afloat and he knew putting himself on camera and in the line of fire was best for business.
With Kenny Omega returning next week, mixed with his “firing” from the Elite faction, combined with his comments about being a “Terrible EVP”.. I am sensing an authority figure role coming soon until Kenny gets cleared again.
The crowd didn’t seem to really be against The Evil Elite at all. Which isn’t surprising. Tony Khan fired the biggest star in the company publicly and has seldom made appearances on camera, so naturally the audience wouldn’t mind seeing the boss get his ass kicked. The Bucks and Perry are every worker at their job who really can’t wait to Tombstone Piledrive their supervisor.
The Jacksonville crowd ended the show by chanting “Whoop That Trick” emphatically while a who’s-who of jobbers ran down to the ring as delayed as can be to help check on Tony Khan who sold both moves like he had just fell from the top of the Hell In A Cell Mic Foley style. Either way, this brought out Shad Khan for the first time in AEW history with the meme’d up “Tony where is my money?” face.
7/10 Dynamite overall. Too much Don Callis, sound issues, and confusing placements of the Gauntlet match mixed with your NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION’S match. Not the worst Dynamite I’ve ever seen, we sat through that. But just not that worthy of a 8-10 out of 10 given the factors I listed.
What say you? Reach out to me on Twitter to talk more grappling and comedy at The Ringside Club.