Can’t Knock The Hustle: AEW Dynasty Review

Another AEW pay-per-view, and another loaded card on paper.

I know that wrestling isn’t played out on paper, but one thing that this company excels at is delivering a high quality pay-per-view, so I’m very excited for this. There are multiple matches here that could very well end up on Match Of The Year lists when 2024 comes to an end. We’ll see if they live up to the hype.

I’m ready.

Let’s rock.

Pac vs Kazuchika Okada – AEW Continental Title Match

On the pre-show, it was announced that Jim Ross will be on the call for this opening match. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like a huge waste of money to have JR show up to pay-per-views to call one match. I’ve listened to the man’s podcasts. I get that his voice probably can’t handle four-plus hours of play-by-play work anymore, but surely, they could shuffle him in and out so that he could handle more than just one match, right?

Loud “holy shit” chants at the opening bell. The crowd in St. Louis, Missouri is hyped up for this first-time-ever singles match, and frankly, they should be. This could be special.

It’s not quite “Bizarro Land” territory, but Okada is getting most of the face pops, even though he’s a heel. Adding to that is Pac’s working style being more of a heel-like offense, and it’s a fun twist to things so far.

To follow up on something I just mentioned, Pac’s offense is perfect for matches like this. He is listed as being seven inches shorter than Okada, but his hard-hitting and aggressive offense is the perfect type of neutralizer to make up for that size difference.

The crowd certainly began on Okada’s side, but to his credit, he started doing a bunch of heel things to turn them against him. Gouging the eyes of Pac, grabbing the Referee’s leg to prevent Pac from attempting offense, flipping the bird to the crowd when they expected the Rainmaker pose… little things went a long way.

This was a ton of fun. Both men were more than willing to beat the hell out of their opponent, and it made for some very entertaining stretches. 4.25 Stars. Great match, and a great way to get things started on the show.

Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston & Mark Briscoe vs The House Of Black – Trios Match

As someone who has followed their careers for a long time, I can’t even begin to describe how strange it is to see Copeland, Kingston, and Briscoe teaming up. What a weird team. I dig it, though.

Tony Schiavone is in for Jim Ross here, but Excalibur mentioned that JR would be back later in the show. Good. Maybe don’t make a point on the pre-show to point out that he’ll be calling one specific match next time.

This crowd seems to be enjoying the heels. After their love for Okada, they’ve already cheered and chanted for HOB here, and there were even some boos for Eddie Kingston when he went on offense.

I’ve said this so many times in the past, but AEW really shines with these Trios matches. The pacing is done to absolute perfection, and you almost always get non-stop action from start to finish.

If you see Rick Knox as the Referee for a match, expect some sort of screwy finish where he ends up looking completely incompetent and misses something super obvious. That’s what we got here. He turns his back on the action for a ridiculous amount of time to put on gloves, allowing Malakai to spray mist in Copeland’s face. Then, Knox counts the pin, totally oblivious to the fact that Copeland has black goo all over him, even though they’re literally inches away from each other.

Good match. Really good, actually. Like I said, tons of action, and everyone looked like a star. Of course, to keep up the running gag, nobody looks like a bigger star than Malakai Black, who is contractually obligated to never lose a match. 3.75 Stars

Julia Hart vs Willow Nightingale – House Rules Match for the AEW TBS Title

I wasn’t keeping track of the time, but that match didn’t seem like it went any longer than five minutes. It probably did… I hope it did… but it just felt like it was over almost immediately.

Willow is the new TBS Champion, and after the match, Mercedes Moné came to the ring to challenge the new champ to a match at next month’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view. The post-match stuff seemed to be longer than the match itself. Is Julia Hart injured or something? I apologize if I missed the news that she is. Jeez. I don’t even know how to rate the match. I’m going to be diplomatic and put it squarely in the “average” range… 2.5 Stars

Roderick Strong vs Kyle O’Reilly – AEW International Title Match

Based on everything we’ve already seen, I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise, but this is easily the quietest that the crowd has been all night so far.

I dig the story being told here. It’s the easy story, but it’s also the effective one. Roddy knows KOR like the back of his hand, and KOR is still freshly returned from what was thought to be a career-ending injury. The champion is one step ahead of the challenger at almost every turn.

This was good. It never quite reached “great” status, but that’s fine. Roddy set a target on KOR, and he kept working that target. KOR looked really tough in taking a beating and continuing to fight back every single time. In the end, the champion retained his title. 3.25 Stars

After the match, we get the return of Adam Cole, who stands up out of his wheelchair and walks to the ring. It looks like he’s doing just fine now. The Undisputed Kingdom celebrate in the ring, but it’s worth noting that we caught Cole staring daggers into the back of Wardlow’s head on multiple occasions. Interesting. Very interesting.

Hook vs Chris Jericho – FTW Rules Match for the FTW Title

Jericho is getting major heel heat here. It’s great. Loud “Fozzy sucks” chants right off the bat.

Shit, this match almost ended right after it started. Hook hit Jericho with a German Suplex on the outside of the ring, and Jericho’s head was mere inches away from hitting the corner of the ring steps. That could’ve been ugly.

“Go home, Jericho, go home” chants breaking out. Shortly thereafter, it sounded like “you’re a piece of shit” chants were breaking out, but I may have misheard that.

This match isn’t bad, necessarily, but I think it’s going on for too long. We’re now getting “please retire” chants for Jericho.

Jericho gave Hook everything, and Hook kept kicking out time and time again. Eventually, Jericho was able to put Hook down with a baseball bat shot, and it was enough for the win. We have a new FTW Champion, for whatever that’s worth.

Again, it wasn’t a bad match. It just went on too long, and it featured a finish that deflated the crowd. At some point, Tony Khan is gonna have to read the room when it comes to Jericho. 3 Stars

Toni Storm vs Thunder Rosa – AEW Women’s Title Match

Thanks to an insane amount of makeup on her face, Toni’s hair, face, and ring gear are almost the same shade of white.

This has been a pretty slow match, but that isn’t a knock. The pacing hasn’t allowed them to go nuts, but it has given them the time to throw bombs at each other.

Attempted interference from Mariah May was countered by Deonna Purrazzo, but in the end, it didn’t matter much. Bryce Remsburg got to play the role of Rick Knox here, looking like a complete moron as he was distracted and missed a low blow from the champion, leading to her retaining the title.

3.5 Stars. I enjoyed it. There just wasn’t enough for it to reach a higher grade. That’s all. I mentioned the slow pacing, and that wasn’t a negative, but there were stretches that seemed to be too slow for too long.

Will Ospreay vs Bryan Danielson

Here we go. If this doesn’t end up being a great match, I’m going to kick an old woman down a flight of stairs.

As expected, loud “holy shit” chants before the bell even sounds, as both men are having a staredown in the center of the ring. “A-E-Dub” chants to start things off, followed by “both these guys” chants. This crowd is HOT.

A few minutes deep, and the crowd has pretty much been chanting and singing non-stop.

“Fuck Don Callis” chants. Even as both wrestlers are starting slow and cautiously, the crowd continues to be red hot and appreciative of everything that is happening.

Danielson has a legit case at being the best in-ring performer in the history of the business. Ospreay has a legit case at being the best in-ring performer in the business over the last few years. We’re very blessed to be getting a chance to see this match.

The pacing has been fantastic here so far. They started off slowly, in a bit of a “feeling out” process, but things are building now, going from gear to gear.

A TIGER SUPLEX OFF THE TOP TURNBUCKLE. Good Lord.

You know, I think every old woman in my vicinity is now safe from the fear of being booted down the stairs tonight. This has been phenomenal, and it’s not over yet.

“We’re not worthy” chants. Brilliant.

We’ve reached the stage of the match where Ospreay wants to pick the pace up and kick things into overdrive, while Danielson wants to slow it down with submissions. I love it.

What an absolute piece of art. Jesus Herbert Christ, what a match. 5 Stars. Easily. If I wanted to “break” my own ratings scale, Meltzer-style, this wouldn’t gotten an even higher scale. Speaking of Meltzer, he just tweeted that you should consider yourselves blessed if you get to witness one match that good in your life as a fan. He’s absolutely going to give this 7 Stars, isn’t he?

Ospreay picks up the win, and because of his work on Danielson’s head and neck, we’re having a post-match injury angle for Danielson. Normally, this would be quickly viewed as a work, but with Danielson’s history, there’s always that “what if” thought in the back of your head that it might be legit. After we came back from a video package for the next match, we’re told that Danielson got up and was helped to the back by the AEW medical staff.

Seriously, though, folks… this match was a beautiful thing to witness. Kudos to both men.

FTR vs The Young Bucks – Ladder Match for the AEW Tag Team Titles

I’m not sure how you follow what we just watched, but… good luck, I guess.

Relatively early on, Dax Harwood is busted open and is bleeding all over the place. I guess that’s how they’re going to try and top the previous match.

It’s almost surreal to witness a quiet crowd in a match involving FTR, the Bucks, and ladders, but here we are. The match hasn’t been bad. These folks are just exhausted after Ospreay vs Danielson.

All four men are trying their best to get the crowd back into things, and they’re only getting mild responses, at most.

The crowd is slowly starting to wake up, and they’re reacting to some wild spots. In back-to-back moments, we got a 450 Splash off the top rope and through a table at ringside, followed by a Piledriver through a bridged ladder at ringside. This match was definitely set up and planned before they found out they would be following Ospreay and Danielson.

A “fan” runs in and pushes a ladder over, knocking Dax down. Security runs in and pulls the mask off of the person, and it was none other than Jack Perry. This interference allows the Bucks to pick up the win and become the new Tag Team Champions. The match was really good. If it happened in almost any other instance, we’d be talking about how great it was. Unfortunately, it won’t be remembered the way it could’ve been, through no fault of anyone involved here. 4.25 Stars

Samoa Joe vs Swerve Strickland – AEW World Title Match

Swerve in full body Black Panther themed gear for his entrance. He looks like a badass.

Jim Ross is back on the call for this one. If you’re a listener of his podcast, you know he was really hoping to be on the call for Ospreay vs Danielson. I guess he’ll have to deal with the “consolation prize” of calling the main event World Title match.

The crowd is alive again. They’re red hot for the challenger here.

Another simple-yet-effective story being told here. Swerve wants to wrestle a fast paced match, but Joe is looking to slow it down. Actually, it might be more accurate to say that Joe is trying to end things early with some heavy shots.

Fun stuff here. The ending was a bit clunky after Swerve and Joe battled on the top rope, but it wasn’t enough to derail the entire match. Swerve Strickland is the brand new AEW World Champion, and the crowd is thrilled to see it. 3.75 Stars

After the match, Swerve makes a couple victory laps at ringside and appears to be getting emotional as he soaks everything in. A very well-deserved victory for one of the hottest acts in the business over the last several months.

Only one match below the 3 Star mark for me, and that only got a low score because it didn’t last very long at all. Throw in a couple of great matches, and then an all-time classic, and you have a very, very good show. This was a big night for AEW, and they capitalized on it. As always, it’s about the follow up with them, but this was a special pay-per-view. Definitely worth checking out if you didn’t already do so.