AEW Dynamite - 8/21/2024: 3 Things We Loved And 3 Things We Hated

By Wrestling Inc. StaffAug. 22, 2024 1:43 am EST

AEW/Lee South

Another edition of "AEW Dynamite" has come and gone, and with just one "Rampage" and one "Collision" left before the big All In event, the Wembley Supercard has been mostly solidified. The taped edition of "Dynamite" had plenty of action, which you can read about on the results page, though the drama was a bit muted considering how close the company is to the big show.

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There were plenty of highs and plenty of lows on Wednesday, from Hangman Page's fiery speech and the unique chemistry of Darby Allin and FTR to the muddled Continental Title picture or the woefully long AEW American Championship segment. Here are the Wrestling Inc. Staff's picks for the best and the worst of this week's "Dynamite."

AEW/Lee South

I have to admit, when Britt Baker got suspended so soon after just coming back following a really serious health scare, I was worried about this feud going in to All In. There are many people, myself included sometimes, that don't think Mercedes Mone is a strong promo, so thankfully, Baker wasn't off TV for too long. Tonight, I felt as though things got back on the rails for their match at Wembley Stadium, and they set things right during the opening segment of tonight's "Dynamite." Tony Schiavone said that both women had agreed to no physicality during their contract signing, but, as every wrestling fan knows, there has to be some kind of brawl during a contract signing segment, so of course, you could have seen the mic shot to the head of Kamille and subsequent short brawl coming a mile away. But, as cliche as it was, I didn't necessarily mind it. I like Kamille a lot, and even as a just bodyguard to Mone, her sheer presence is intimidating. I want to see more of her, so this segment even did a little something there in her favor, as well.

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Baker and Mone got into a little battle of their histories in the women's wrestling sphere, and there were some pretty great lines from both women in this promo. Mone called out Baker for having a "plan B" (of dentistry) when all she knew she wanted from the age of 10 was to be a wrestler. Baker retorted that she didn't have a "plan B," but rather, "two plan As," which I thought was just an excellent response. Baker made fun of Mone for "hobbling in" to All In last year to sit in the crowd while she was on crutches, to watch Baker compete. Baker also hit her with the line, "You were one of four? I've always been one of one," referencing Mone's time as Sasha Banks in WWE in the Four Horsewomen of "WWE NXT" alongside Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Charlotte Flair. I had that line written down, specifically, because it was straight fire. It was these witty lines and responses that made me feel like this feud got back on the rails, albeit at the last possible second, but better late than never, I suppose.

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Back on the rails doesn't mean I think Baker is coming out of this match at All In with Mone's TBS Championship. However, I would like them to face each other again, possibly with a stipulation to spice things up even further, at All Out. AEW has such a short time between the pay-per-views, I think they could build on this promo tonight, as well as their match on Sunday, to build to an even bigger match at All Out. Ending the feud with, what I believe is an inevitable, a Mone retention just doesn't seem like the end of this all after tonight's shots were fired from both champion and challenger.

Written by Daisy Ruth

AEW/Lee South

No, I'm seriously asking. Does this title matter? I get that in roughly 4 months the Continental Classic will start up again and we will all gush about the tournament matches and compare block standings and fantasy book the finals, but once that's all done, does the title really matter? It just kinda exists. It was part of the Triple Crown, remember the Triple Crown? It's not a thing anymore. Then it was won by Okada, and he's just been kinda wandering around, saying "b**ch" a lot, driving cool cars, and not really doing anything. God he's so cool, I wish I was Okada.

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Wanting to be Okada aside, he defended the belt a couple times at the beginning of his reign and then has just been kinda existing. Now we head into the biggest show on AEW's calendar and Okada doesn't have anything to do. Maybe he shows up in the Casino Gauntlet but even that is just gonna be an easy night. The solid, albeit rudimentary 20 minute draw on "Dynamite" suggests that there will be a rematch somewhere down the line. At Wembley? It would be nice, but not likely.

It just feels like the belt has become an afterthought, and in that way Okada too has become an afterthought. Like I said, we will all forget this for the brief time the C2 returns, but I would put solid money on us being right back in this position next August.

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Written by Ross W Berman IV

AEW

Tonight's edition of "AEW Dynamite" may not have made much progress in several of the company's most high-profile storylines, but what advancements they did make were superb, however short they were. Case in point: "Hangman" Adam Page.

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Page's segment was one of the highlights of this week's show. Not only does his storyline progression make sense, with his entrance into the All In Casino Battle Royale a clear way for him to approach long-time arch nemesis Swerve Strickland and the AEW World Championship, but his announcement segment struck the perfect balance between the campiness that I have praised AEW for and the serious grittiness that the company needs to anchor its programming.

Page stormed into his backstage interview with Renee Paquette with a chip on his shoulder and a crazed look in his eyes. Really, look at the footage — Page had an insatiable lust for violence in his gaze, and the unhinged madness behind his look should be considered for an Oscar. Page has dialed into the violence and destruction needed for a high-caliber feud with Strickland, should he come out victorious in the Casino Battle Royale. He is not only a cruel heel like MJF, or an annoying thorn in the side of the roster like The Young Bucks are. Page is a dangerous individual, whose aggressive nature can seriously elevate the stakes of a world title and blood feud. AEW might as well pull the trigger on Page come the Casino Battle Royale; his hand is already holding the gun.

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There is a brief interlude when Evil Uno returned to AEW programming. Uno has been largely occupying the independent circuit and Ring of Honor after taking a loss to the now-dissolved Best Friends on the March 15 episode of "AEW Rampage," and is now expected to enter into the Casino Battle Royale. When Page faded into the background, just to re-emerge with a chair and a target on the back of Uno's head, it was so ridiculous you couldn't help but laugh.

Here, we see a microcosm of the balance that AEW needs to bring to its programming if they want to elevate their product. They are so good at bringing the over-the-top, intense, theatrical presentations of pro wrestling: their match quality is excellent because AEW is not afraid to pull out all of the stops, at the risk of seeming gratuitous. They embody the inherent dramatique and campiness of pro wrestling. Then, you have Page's fiery, bloodlusting character. His intensity is the anchor that reminds us of the stakes in this upcoming Battle Royale, and the implications as he moves closer to Swerve Strickland. AEW has struggled to find a balance between the spectacular and the humble — they are awesome at creating these over-the-top, OMG moments, but they struggle to create complex, believable threats on their roster because of that.

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If AEW can keep up with this balance of grandiosity and subtlety, they will give the industry a run for their money. I'm all in for that.

Written by Angeline Phu

AEW/Lee South

The American Championship match between MJF and Will Ospreay at All In is one of the most high profile on the card and happens to be something that many people are looking forward to watching. However, personally, I have disliked much of the build-up to it, feeling like much of it has been messy, not carefully thought through in the long term, and not the most enjoyable to watch. Their segment tonight did nothing but only cement this feeling for me.

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The idea that the segment itself was trying to get across was interesting, with Ospreay's motivations stemming from the fans and MJF's motivations being purely selfish. While the intensity between MJF and Ospreay felt like it was there, much of the point of it got lost in the verbiage resulting in a convoluted and pointless mess meant to be one last cheap way to create hype for their All In match. When you combine that with the segment going on for way longer than it needed to at about twenty minutes or so, it made for a long watch on a pre-taped show that already felt long enough as is. It was a disappointing last interaction between the pair on the final "Dynamite" before All In, and didn't do much to generate that last little bit of hype and excitement.

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Written by Olivia Quinlan

AEW/Lee South

One thing I hadn't noticed in the many months that Jack Perry and The Young Bucks have been in a stable together is that the three men have tremendous chemistry. I hadn't noticed this because The Young Bucks are seemingly never at work and Perry only wrestles a couple times a month. However, when finally put together in a trios match, the three men shined, so much so that I am actively frustrated with how much I liked it. They could've been doing this all along!

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Their opponents, FTR and Darby Allin were a tidy little team as well, with the closing Power & Glory (and Coffin Drop) combo that secured their victory looking like a clean bit of business. On a show that had a lot of talking and even more time-killing, the match was a breath of fresh air, feeling like the kind of substantive exhibition bout that so many New Japan shows have on their undercard. 

AEW has the roster to have a much more interesting undercard and trios division than they currently do and Wednesday's match was crystal clear evidence. Again, I find myself frustrated at the wasted time that didn't have matches like this, considering the makeup of the roster and the amount of television time the company produces each week. I can only hope this feud extends past Wembley so that more interactions like this can occur.

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Written by Ross W Berman IV

AEW/Lee South

I know I've mentioned how absolutely awful I find title matches on shows prior to pay-per-views or premium live events where big title matches involving the champion have already been set in stone, but tonight's AEW Women's Championship match pitting "Timeless" Toni Storm against Saraya was just beyond egregious to me. I know I wrote about this last week when it came to Mercedes Mone and Hikaru Shida, but I believe this match tonight on "Dynamite" was even worse, due to just how hot the feud between Storm and former protegee Mariah May has been for weeks now. Tony Khan, don't treat me like I'm stupid, even if I didn't read any spoilers ahead of watching this taped show tonight, I would have already known Storm was coming out on top. The fact that this title match was set up on "AEW Rampage" last Friday almost makes it even worse. I don't know too many people who watch "Rampage" to begin with, myself included, so I had to go back and see how this all was even set up.

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It's kind of funny that Saraya wanted a title match in her home country, but got one in Wales, and while I'm no expert in geography, I am an expert in Google, and Cardiff, Wales is around six hours from where Saraya hails from, in Norwich, England. Just a small fact there, but it still kind of made me chuckle. There's a rumor floating around the internet wrestling community that Saraya will have an open challenge at Wembley Stadium, where she won the women's title last year, and now, that has to get set up on "AEW Collision" on Saturday, I would assume.

All of that aside, I can't get over how bad it was to run this match, when any wrestling fan with eyes and even a partially wrestling-minded brain would realize there was no way Storm was losing this ahead of her match with May. It's been such an amazing blood feud, and one of the best built feuds ahead of All In, and one of the best feuds in recent memory in the company, in my humble opinion. There was absolutely no way Khan would have replaced Storm with Saraya, even if the PPV is in England. Storm and May is way too hot to step away from. I know I'm really starting to hate go-home shows (and between "Dynamite" and "Collision," AEW technically has two go-homes before each PPV, "Rampage" not even included), and I feel as though I sound bitter during every single one for all promotions, so I'd say the time this match took up could have be used for something better... But I simply cannot think of what. May smacking Storm with the show following the match was relatively effective, but I was expecting a bigger beatdown. I suppose it doesn't matter, however, because despite this pointless match tonight, May versus Storm is still what I'm looking forward to most at All In.

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Written by Daisy Ruth