The John Report: AEW Dynamite 02/28/24 Review
This week’s AEW Dynamite was Sting’s last night on Dynamite as an active wrestler.
This was AEW Dynamite episode #230 from the Propst Arena at Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
It’s Wednesday and you know what that means. The commentary team was Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and Taz.
Let’s Hear from “Hangman” Adam Page
The show started with “Hangman” Adam Page walking out with a crutch supporting his right leg. They showed the end of Dynamite last week when Page appeared to turn his right ankle. It’s a storyline apparently rather than a legit injury.
Page when All Elite Wrestling started, it was a goal for him and to rise to people’s expectations. Page said that he thinks he has done that while mentioning his World Title win in 2021 as the biggest accomplishment of his career. Page said it hurts him to have that opportunity again and have this injury. Page said it was “horseshit” when AEW decided to have a three way match at Revolution and he wanted a singles match, but it turns out it’s going to be the wrong two people.
Hangman Page announced that he will not be able to compete for the AEW World Championship at Revolution, which likely means the match is Samoa Joe defending the AEW World Title against Swerve Strickland.
That led to Swerve Strickland making his entrance with Prince Nana joining him. Swerve joined Page in the ring talking about how they have been to war in the past six months, they’ve been to war and he might have crossed the line. Swerve said he didn’t expect this to happen. Swerve said he targeted Page because he respected him. Swerve told Page he suffered this unfortunate fate and said you can’t stop destiny while Swerve’s destiny is becoming AEW World Champion this Sunday at Revolution.
Samoa Joe walked out with the AEW World Title and he stood on the ramp to start his promo. Joe said it looked like two bitter enemies trying to hug it out while Joe said he had truths for the audience. Joe reminded them he was the real man around here. Joe called Page “Hopalong” to mock the injury. Joe said they are battle-tested, hungry and accomplished wrestlers. Joe said that he is starving their ass. Joe reminded them who he is while saying whether it was one of them or both of them, he will whip both their asses.
Swerve said that he went from being unemployed to headlining pay-per-views. Swerve talked about doing whatever it would take to win like beating up an 18-year-old and threatening a child. Swerve ripped on Joe for doing commentary wearing a poncho. Swerve said that he will make history and he will become AEW World Champion at Revolution. Page hit Swerve in the back with a crutch to the back. Page hit Swerve with another crutch shot to the back. Page shouted that he would be the World Champion. It’s still a three way match because Page isn’t really hurt.
Analysis: That was a really good angle to further the story of Hangman being more of a heel of late. The fans cheer him a lot of the time, but that was a heelish act. You could say Swerve deserves it considering the history with Page, but the fans also like Swerve more than Page these days. There were some good lines from Joe and Swerve in that promo exchange. I thought it was well done.
They showed The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) arriving earlier in the day wearing suits. Renee Paquette interviewed them when they got into the building. Nick said their meeting with Ric Flair went great. Matt said they wanted to thank Sting for his contributions to this company. The Young Bucks had metal baseball bats and were looking for Sting.
(Commercial)
Eddie Kingston and FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli
This should be great. At Revolution, it’s FTR against Moxley & Claudio while Kingston faces Danielson, so this is a nice way to preview those matches.
The fans were cheering for Eddie, so Bryan tagged out. Claudio hit an uppercut, but Eddie hit a shoulder tackle. Dax battled Bryan as they exchanged mat wrestling holds leading to a staredown, which led to cheers. Moxley tagged in against Cash leading to the two men exchanging strikes. They each connected with headbutts. All six guys went into the ring, so it turned into a brawl. They went to a picture-in-picture break.
(Commercial)
Bryan was in control of Cash with a surfboard leading to Moxley tagging in with a punch to the face for two. Moxley had Cash grounded with a submission, so Cash broke that up to save his partner. Cash came back with a hurricanrana on Moxley. Dax was on fire with strikes along with a neckbreaker and Dax got an inside cradle for two. Dax hit a cross body block off the middle rope for two. Dax hit a Tiger Driver on Moxley for two because Bryan broke up the pin attempt. Claudio clotheslined Dax while the referee was looking at Eddie. Moxley sent Dax shoulder-first into the steel ring post. Bryan wrenched on Dax’s left arm Moxley slammed Dax groin-first onto the top of the barricade. Bryan threw Eddie hard into another part of the barricade followed by a running dropkick. It was Claudio as the legal man with a clothesline on Dax for two. They went to another PIP break.
(Commercial)
The BCC remained in control as Moxley tagged in for a Hart Attack clothesline on Dax. Bryan went up top and hit a diving headbutt to Dax’s left arm/shoulder leading to Mox getting a two count. Dax hit a back body drop to break free. Bryan tagged in and Eddie tagged in leading to a chop fest. Bryan did an eye poke, so Eddie hit an Exploder Suplex. Eddie hit an Exploder Suplex on Claudio as well. Moxley with a clothesline on Eddie, who no sold it as if he was 1993 Undertaker and they exchanged strikes. Bryan hit a running dropkick on Eddie, which led to Claudio’s Giant Swing and Bryan hitting the dropkick. Moxley hit a piledriver on Eddie as Bryan covered for two and Dax broke up the pin. The four illegal guys were all in the ring until FTR cleared the ring with clotheslines. Eddie hit a backfist on Bryan followed by FTR doing a top rope bulldog on Bryan for two by Kingston, but it was broken up by the rest of BCC. All six guys were down selling. They got back up around the same time leading to all of them exchanging strikes. The Three BCC guys were in control with elbow smashes leading to choke submissions. The referee didn’t seem to care that the ring was full of wrestlers who were not legal. FTR and Eddie all broke free at the same time. There were rapid fire chops by FTR and Eddie. The BCC guys took control with their own strikes. There were a bunch of moves where guys hit a move and rolled out of the ring. Bryan hit an Exploder suplex and a Busaiko knee. Bryan stomped on Eddie’s head repeatedly. Bryan applied the Triangle Choke sleeper and Eddie was passed out, so the referee called for the bell. It went 22 minutes.
Winners by submission: Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli
Analysis: ***3/4 It was an excellent match for most of it and I’m a fan of everybody involved in it. I would have gone even higher with my rating of the match, but it’s hard for me to ignore all the sloppiness involved when a referee allows all six guys to be in the ring for a long time. In the last part of the match, there were probably three minutes where all six guys were in the ring where the referee did nothing to try to stop it. Anyway, I did enjoy a lot of the match and I like how it had a decisive finish with Bryan choking Kingston out to show that Bryan can do it.
Chris Jericho did an interview with Renee Paquette talking about his history wrestling a legendary Mexican wrestler Atlantis. Jericho spoke about when AEW started working with CMLL, he wanted to have this match. Jericho said that he was going to give Atlantis Jr. a lesson in violence.
Analysis: It was Jericho’s way of trying to explain why he was going to have a match that he was obviously going to win. At least there is a bit of a story to it.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay was introduced by Tony Schiavone for an in-ring interview. The fans gave Ospreay a big ovation since Will is officially a part of AEW full-time starting now. Ospreay said he wanted to thank the fans for their support. Ospreay spoke about how in November, he said he was coming to AEW and he had to finish his New Japan obligations. Those obligations are now done. Ospreay talked about being in Barbados, how his luggage was lost and now he’s in some Kermit the Frog green outfit. Ospreay said he’s here for full time work. Ospreay said that in his first AEW PPV match, he beat Orange Cassidy. He also beat Kenny Omega in Canada. Ospreay talked about how he beat the first ever AEW World Champion Chris Jericho at Wembley Stadium. Ospreay said that he is ready to keep it going, he’s rolling with the Callis Family…and here’s the interruption.
Don Callis made his entrance joined by Konosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs. They joined Ospreay in the ring. Callis was booed heavily saying there’s nothing he liked more than a Don Callis Family reunion. Callis spoke about the talent saying it was an embarrassment of riches. Callis bragged about Ospreay beating Omega and Jericho. The fans chanted “you suck” at Callis. Don said they’ll have the Match of the Decade between Konosuke Takeshita and Will Ospreay. Callis talked about how it was like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen going hard at practice, but then coming together to win championships. Callis said that the real winner will be the Don Callis Family. Callis wanted them to shake hands. Ospreay and Takeshita shook hands leading to a staredown. The fans chanted “Ospreay” so Callis chanted the names of both guys. Ospreay was the last to leave the ring.
Analysis: I don’t think Will Ospreay is going to be in the Don Callis Family group for very long. The fans love Will and want to cheer him, so it will be important for AEW to push Will as a babyface. I think Will is going to get a massive push in AEW since it probably cost them a lot of money to sign him, so they are going to want to utilize him. It should be an awesome match between Ospreay and Takeshita at Revolution.
Eddie Kingston was interviewed by Renee Paquette about being disrespected. The Young Bucks interrupted it saying they were looking for Sting. They mocked Kingston’s attire saying maybe they should implement a dress code. Eddie didn’t know how to react to this, and it just ended.
Analysis: There was only one match in hour one. That’s rare for an AEW show. It was a long match, though.
As Orange Cassidy made his entrance, Tony Schiavone mentioned the deaths of Ole Anderson and “Virgil” Mike Jones this week. Tony had a long history with Ole especially.
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Nick Wayne (w/Christian Cage, Killswitch & Shayna Wayne)
This was an open challenge, so that’s why it’s a title match. Wayne wore a shirt that said: “Christian is my father.”
Wayne got a step up hurricanrana, then a kick to the head and Orange avoided a leaping attack. Wayne hit a diving uppercut. They left the ring where Wayne sent a charging Orange into the steel steps. Wayne went up top and hit a moonsault onto a standing Orange on the floor. Orange was back in the ring, then he rolled out of the ring and Wayne hit a somersault dive over the top onto Orange. They battled by the turnbuckle, Christian grabbed Orange’s leg to trip him up and the referee realized that it was Christian who did it. Wayne knocked Orange off the turnbuckle to the floor. The referee Bryce Remsburg ejected Christian, Killswitch and Shayna from ringside. They went to a PIP break.
(Commercial)
Orange was on fire with a jumping cross body block off the top rope followed by Tornado DDT for two. Wayne hit a Fisherman’s Suplex for a two count. Wayne did some light kicks so Orange came back with a superkick. Orange hit a running kick to the chest. Wayne hit a German Suplex that Orange no sold leading to Orange hitting a Beach Break slam for two. Selling is optional in AEW sometimes. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett of Undisputed Kingdom were at ringside to distract Orange, so that led to Wayne hitting a German Suplex for two. Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero fought with Bennett and Taven on the floor. Wayne took the turnbuckle pad off, Daniel Garcia was talking to him from ringside and Orange hit Wayne with an Orange Punch for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Orange Cassidy
Analysis: *** The match was good although I thought the finish was lame. That was more of a heel match ending because Orange benefitted from Wayne looking at Garcia and it took one move for Orange to get the win. It wasn’t the right way to end a match like that. Orange should beat Wayne decisively rather than winning because of a babyface distraction on the floor.
After the match, Roderick Strong did a sneak attack on Orange with a jumping knee to the face. Trent & Romero went into the ring, so the heels ran away. Orange was selling a lower back injury.
Analysis: Strong may beat Cassidy for the International Title at Revolution. Strong is the master of the backbreaker and Orange has a sore back now. It would help the Undisputed Kingdom group, but if Orange retains that’s fine too. I don’t have any emotional attachment to any AEW titles, nor do any title changes upset me.
(Commercial)
The Bang Bang Scissor Gang group of old man Billy Gunn, Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, Jay White and The Gunns were interviewed by Renee Paquette. Jay said that they have shown how good they are together. Austin suggested a match with himself and The Acclaimed on Collision, so Bowens phrased it another way saying The Acclaimed and Austin. They agreed to it. Jay White did The Acclaimed line at the end.
Analysis: I still don’t understand the point of this group with six guys in it. They were supposed to be allies due to getting attacked by the Undisputed Kingdom, yet they aren’t in any storylines with that group. Jay White was in the AEW World Title picture. Now he’s holding an ROH Trios Tag Team Title and not even on the Revolution PPV as of this writing. Weak booking.
Kris Statlander (w/Willow Nightingale & Stokely Hathaway) vs. Skye Blue (w/Julia Hart)
Blue attacked with strikes, but Kris tossed her across the ring and hit some strikes of her own. Blue did a hair pull, so Kris popped back up and did a somersault senton onto Blue. When Blue went for a headscissors, Kris caught her and tossed her down. Blue hit a jumping knee to knock Kris off the apron to the floor. Kris tossed Blue over the barricade onto some dudes in the front row. I assume those were indy wrestlers.
(Commercial)
Blue delivered a kick and Kris came back with an elbow smash off the middle turnbuckle. Kris hit a running uppercut on Blue and a running knee followed by a powerslam for two. Blue delivered a kick followed by a neckbreaker and a superkick. Blue’s leg slapping on her superkicks is very loud, so that’s good if you’re into that leg slapping sort of thing. They were standing on the apron where they delivered kicks followed by Kris hitting a German Suplex on the apron. Kris took way too long to follow up, so Blue tripped her into the steel steps. Blue hit a Destroyer and a superkick followed by an inside cradle for two. Kris slammed Blue off the middle ropes followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Kris was against the ropes, Stokely wanted her to use a chain, the referee was distracted by that instead of watching the match and after Kris kicked Blue, Julia Hart went into the ring with a TBS Title shot on Kris. The referee never saw it. Why would the referee care about what’s happening on the floor in that spot? Anyway, Blue hit her Code Blue finisher for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Skye Blue
Analysis: **1/2 It felt like an average match. Kris used to be booked strongly as a dominant TBS Champion and now she loses matches. The finish sucked, which tends to happen when AEW books interference finishes. Why would the referee care that much about what Stokely and Willow were doing on the floor? If you are going to distract the referee, it needs to be done in a better way. Throw the chain into the ring or something more than what they did. It makes the referee Rick Knox look more inept than he usually is. Anyway, it does give the heel Blue something to brag about even though it was a cheap win.
The Young Bucks and their camera crew were backstage in a locker room that said “Sting” on it. They went into the room that had baseball bats in it along with a mirror. No sign of Sting.
(Commercial)
Chris Jericho made his entrance to his “Lionheart” song so the fans didn’t sing along with it. It’s because Jericho wrestled Atlantis as Lionheart, so he’s going with that look again here.
Chris Jericho vs. Atlantis Jr. (w/Atlantis)
Atlantis Jr. is a masked wrestler from CMLL and is making his AEW debut. Atlantis is also a masked wrestler. Atlantis hit a dropkick, an enziguri kick and a cross body block off the top rope. Atlantis did a monkey flip across the ring two times in a row. Jericho shoved Atlantis down and went for the Walls of Jericho, but Atlantis got to the ropes. Jericho tried taking the mask off, so Atlantis fought back and Sr. choked Jericho with a towel a bit on the floor. Atlantis hit a suicide dive onto Jericho on the floor. Atlantis did a catapult to send Jericho into the ring post. Atlantis teased a move onto the steel steps, but Jericho reversed with a hurricanrana into the steel steps. They went to a PIP break.
(Commercial)
The match continued with Atlantis hitting a chop and Jericho came back with a shoulder tackle. Atlantis hit an arm drag off the ropes. Atlantis hit a wheelbarrow German Suplex for two. Atlantis went up top and Jericho gave him a facebuster off the top for a two count. Jericho charged into Atlantis, who hit a powerslam for two. Jericho went for a springboard move on the apron, but Atlantis ducked it and Jericho hit the floor. Atlantis hit a somersault dive over the top onto Jericho on the floor. They got back into the ring where they battled on the turnbuckle and Jericho hit a top rope hurricanrana on Atlantis. Jericho went for Judas Effect, Atlantis avoided it and Atlantis went for a backbreaker submission, but Jericho countered it. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho and Atlantis Sr. threw the towel in to end the match. It went 12 minutes.
Winner by submission: Chris Jericho
Analysis: **3/4 It was okay with an obvious result. Jericho sold a lot and Atlantis got to show what he could do with some good moves during the match. I like Chris Jericho as one of my favorite wrestlers ever, but he’s showing his age at 53 years old and moving a bit slower out there. It’s life. It happens to everybody. It’s been a long time since Jericho has had a meaningful feud in AEW. This was just a match. If it were me, I’d use this TV time to further some of the stories for the Revolution PPV instead of giving Jericho the time to wrestle the son of a man that he faced earlier in his career.
After the match, Jericho showed respect to Atlantis Jr. and Atlantis Sr. with hugs for both of them.
It was announced that there will be an All-Star 8-Man Scramble match at Revolution on Sunday. The winner will receive an AEW World Title match. There was a rundown of upcoming AEW matches. The AEW Revolution PPV lineup is at the bottom of this review.
The Young Bucks Search For Sting & Darby Allin
The Young Bucks duo of Matthew & Nicholas Jackson walked out in dress clothes with baseball bats looking for Sting. Lots of fans had Sting masks on in the crowd. Darby Allin was in the crowd, so he fought with both Bucks by himself and that didn’t go well for Allin. Matt held Allin on the floor and Nick hit a running kick on Allin. They went into the ring where Nick hit Allin with a bat to the ribs and Matt choked Allin with the bat. The Bucks hit their EVP Trigger knee attack on Allin.
Ric Flair joined the Young Bucks in the ring and instead of fighting with them, Flair did an eye poke to Nick along with punches for Matt. Nick Jackson hit a low blow uppercut on Flair. The Bucks stomped on Flar repeatedly…very gently. This looked like it was in slow motion because Ric Flair is 75 years old and the Bucks had to be gentle with him.
Analysis: Please stop doing the Ric Flair physicality segments. I respect his legacy, but it’s sad watching a 75-year-old man trying to throw punches and watching wrestlers have to gently stomp him. Be smarter and avoid doing it.
Sting’s music hit so The Young Bucks went by the entrance area. Instead, Sting was lowered from above the ring and to the ringside area like he did in his WCW days many times. Sting used a baseball bat to hit The Young Bucks. Allin hit a Coffin Drop off the top rope onto both Bucks on the floor. Back in the ring, Sting hit a Scorpion Death Drop on Nicholas. Sting celebrated with Allin and Flair to end the show.
Analysis: It was cool seeing Sting repel down from the rafters like he did many times in WCW. It was a good throwback to those days. I don’t think I’d call the entire segment a big hit, but it ended okay when Sting was out there.
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Three Stars of the Show
- Sting since it was his last AEW Dynamite as an active wrestler
- Blackpool Combat Club – Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
- FTR & Eddie Kingston
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The Scoreboard
This Week: 7 out of 10
Last Week: 7.75
2024 Average: 7.42
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Final Thoughts on AEW Dynamite
I thought it was just an okay episode of Dynamite. A rare Dynamite with only one match in the first hour. They promoted some Revolution matches well while others were ignored completely. The Sting segment in the main event was nostalgic because he came down from the rafters like he did in WCW over 25 years ago. The Young Bucks are doing a good job as heels. I think AEW needs to stop having Ric Flair do physicality segments. They just aren’t necessary and it looks bad.
The best match was easily the BCC against FTR & Kingston. Great stuff there for the most part although I had some issues that I explained in my review. There were two matches with distraction finishes and I thought both of them were poorly executed. I assume these things are practiced, yet I wasn’t impressed with either of them. Jericho beating Atlantis Jr. felt like a nothing match where Jericho got to beat a guy in a match just because he wrestled the guy’s dad over 30 years ago. Fine, I guess, but this is a worldwide television show just days before the Revolution PPV. Is it really that interesting to a global audience? I don’t think so.
That opening segment with “Hangman” Adam Page faking an injury got him some heat at least. It makes Swerve Strickland like a face, but I don’t know if AEW cares that much about face-heel dynamics that much. I think they really need to work on building babyfaces in general. While I wouldn’t say this was a home run episode of Dynamite, I like the Revolution card a lot. That’s going to be an awesome show and I look forward to it on Sunday night.
Here is what has been announced for AEW Revolution on Sunday, March 3rd.
* AEW Tag Team Championships in a Tornado Tag Team Match: Sting & Darby Allin (c) vs. The Young Bucks – Matthew & Nicholas Jackson
* AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland
* AEW Continental Crown Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Bryan Danielson
* TNT Championship: Christian Cage (c) vs. Daniel Garcia
* AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
* International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Roderick Strong
* FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
* Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
* All-Star Scramble Match: Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Lance Archer vs. Hook vs. Brian Cage vs. TBA vs. TBA
There could be more matches added before the show.
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter/X: @johnreport