The John Report: AEW Dynamite 06/12/24 Review

This week’s AEW Dynamite featured a Will Ospreay-Rey Fenix main event, Mercedes Mone in action and a big six-man tag team match.

I did not review AEW Dynamite last week. I was out of town and didn’t see the show. I’ve only missed two episodes this year and I think about five total in five years, so I hope I’m forgiven for it. I didn’t see the show. A little break from wrestling is okay considering how much I write about it on a weekly basis.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #245 from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means. Excalibur was on commentary with Taz and Tony Schiavone.

Let’s Hear from Swerve Strickland

The AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland started the show wearing a fur coat joined by Prince Nana. Swerve talked about his match at Forbidden Door on June 30th when the AEW International Champion Will Ospreay challenges the AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title in the main event. Swerve claimed they were the biggest stars of this generation colliding. Swerve said that they were two absolute killers and then stopped himself saying that there was one killer. Swerve mentioned telling Ospreay to have a killer mentality over a decade ago. Swerve said he saw Ospreay beat Kenny Omega a year ago and he saw an assassin get the job done. Swerve said that an assassin got the job done over Takeshita. Swerve said that at Dynasty, an assassin got the job done when Ospreay beat Bryan Danielson. Swerve said that at Double or Nothing, Ospreay wasn’t an assassin. Swerve said that his nickname is Killshot because if you don’t pull a trigger, Swerve will. Swerve said that Will is a fighting champion, unlike some EVPs who have yet to defend their titles since they won them.

The Elite group consisting of Kazuchika Okada, The Young Bucks & Jack Perry interrupted the promo. Okada said, “It’s my house, bitch.” Nicholas Jackson said they were there to talk about some business. Nick mentioned how dominant The Elite has been while talking about how they took out Kenny Omega, they broke Eddie Kingston’s damn legend and at Anarchy in the Arena, they destroyed Team AEW. Nick said that half the roster is gone because of them. Nick said that the trolls and bots still doubt us while the wrestlers in the back don’t think they are violent enough. Nick said that they are challenging AEW’s best in the most violent match in AEW – Blood & Guts.

Matthew Jackson said that this is where Swerve comes into the picture. The Elite got into the ring. Matt said that they like Swerve and they think he’s cool. Matt said he’s young and a champion just like them. Matt asked Swerve if he wanted to stand side by side with winners and with champions. Matt asked Swerve if he wanted to change the world. Matt said that Blood & Guts is 5 on 5 while there are four of them, so they asked Swerve if he would be their fifth man? Matt handed Swerve his sneakers to see what he looked like in them.

Swerve said he doesn’t wear size 9’s. Swerve mocked Matt for wearing a pearl necklace. Swerve said he is a businessman who does his own stuff. Nana threw Matt’s shoes into the crowd. Matt said he sees an injury bug that has just landed on Swerve.

The Acclaimed made the save as Max Caster, Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn went into the ring while The Elite retreated.

Christopher Daniels, the interim EVP, arrived on the stage. Daniels said that they have two title matches tonight. Daniels told all the wrestlers to get out of the ring and go to the back. Daniels said that’s for everybody except Jack Perry, who is wrestling against this man right now. It’s Dustin Rhodes.

Analysis: There was a lot to take in there as The Young Bucks announced the Blood & Guts match. They didn’t say the date, but we should find that out soon (we did later in the show). I wonder if the fifth guy on The Elite team will be “Hangman” Adam Page making his return from whatever is keeping him away from AEW in recent months. It makes sense to bring back Page as a heel and in a spot like that. Swerve did a good job of disrespecting The Elite with his comments.

TNT Ladder Match Qualifier: Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry

Dustin got some offense going with a clothesline. Jack pulled a turnbuckle pad off and elbowed Dustin to knock him back. They left the ring where Jack sent Dustin into the ring post. Jack rammed Dustin into the steel steps. Jack pulled off a mat at ringside. Jack tried a move on the exposed floor, but Dustin hit a back body drop on Jack on the floor. Dustin was bleeding from the forehead, so he probably did a blade job after hitting the ring post.

(Commercial)

Jack was on offense as he choked Dustin against the middle rope. Jack charged right into a powerslam by Dustin. Jack delivered some forearms, Dustin no sold those, Dustin hit a kick to the head and a running bulldog. Dustin set up Jack against the ropes, the referee took the chair away that was in the ring and Dustin hit his running kick to the groin (turnbuckle) that he’s been doing for over 25 years. Dustin did the Dusty punch combo leading to the elbow smash. Dustin hit Cross Rhodes for two. Jack hit Dustin with a knee to the ribs followed by Dustin sending Jack face first into the steel turnbuckle. Jack gave Dustin a DDT on the floor. Dustin got back in the ring right before the ten count. Dustin used the referee Aubrey Edwards to get back up, then Edwards was pushed away and Jack kicked Dustin in the groin. Dustin did a middle finger salute followed by Jack hitting a running knee smash for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Jack Perry

Analysis: *** It was a pretty good match with Dustin doing a terrific job of putting over the heel Perry. Dustin bleeding heavily added to the match to sell the idea that Perry did a lot of damage. That DDT on the floor was a big move too. Perry winning seemed like the obvious result, but at least Dustin got that good nearfall when he hit the Cross Rhodes for a two count.

The win by Jack Perry puts him in the TNT Championship Ladder Match at Forbidden Door with Konosuke Takeshita and Mark Briscoe.

Analysis: Since The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada are all holding titles right now, I think it’s certainly possible that Jack Perry is the next TNT Champion.

The trio of Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly and ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe were interviewed by Renee Paquette. Kyle said that they are professional wrestlers who can fight on Saturday and team up on Wednesday. Orange said that there are a few people who have his back while he knows somebody else has his back – it was Willow Nightingale who walked into the screen. Mark Briscoe ranted about the six-man tag team match they had coming up. Mark was fired up by the end of it and everybody was laughing. That was fun.

Rush vs. Deonn Rusman

The match started with Rush hitting a running forearm. They left the ring where Rush sent Rusman into the barricade a few times. Rush tripped up Rusman by the turnbuckle so that led to Rush hitting the running corner dropkick. Rush covered for the pinfall win in under two minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Rush

Analysis: * A squash match to put over Rush since he’s feuding with MJF.

Rush stood on Rusman’s throat and called him a typical American like all of you: “Weak!” Rush beat up Rusman with strikes again.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman made his entrance to a big pop from the crowd. No scar for MJF. MJF got into the ring as he exchanged punches and forearms with Rush. There was security that went into the ring, so MJF and Rush beat them up. Christopher Daniels tried to stop the fight, but that didn’t work. MJF bit Rush’s head. Rush sent MJF into the barricade. MJF tossed Rush over the barricade. They went fighting into the crowd as referees tried to break it up.

MJF walked Rush to the backstage area. Rush sent MJF into some equipment cases. Rush threw a case at MJF. They were at some table that had water on it and MJF slammed Rush through a table. Rush didn’t sell it much as more people from the locker room emerged to break it up. There’s Glacier! Plus, other people that work for AEW who were there to stop the fight.

It’s official for one week from tonight on Dynamite: MJF vs. Rush kicks off the show and it’s commercial-free.

Analysis: Good brawl. It felt like it was a fight between two guys that hate eachother and it took a lot of people to stop it. That was well done. Their match will be awesome when it happens next week.

(Commercial)

Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong (w/Don Callis, Trent Beretta, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)

Don Callis joined commentary since Fletcher & Takeshita are in Don’s group. Fletcher and O’Reilly had a battle of guys named Kyle as O’Reilly hit a knee to the ribs. Mark tagged in with a forearm that knocked Fletcher down. Takeshita was legal for his team as he eye gouged Mark. Orange tagged in, jumped onto Takeshita and Takeshita slammed Orange off his shoulders. Takeshita hit a running knee strike. Orange hit a double hurricanrana on two guys at the same time. Briscoe dove onto Strong on the floor. Fletcher dove onto Briscoe with an elbow suicida. Orange hit a springboard somersault dive onto the six guys on the floor. Orange confronted Trent on the floor, so Takeshita decked Orange with an elbow to the jaw.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Orange trying to pin Strong and he got a two count. O’Reilly tagged in with strikes on Strong, who tagged out. O’Reilly hit a bunch of strikes on Fletcher. O’Reilly had to face two guys because it’s AEW and guys don’t leave the ring. Briscoe tagged in with a running kick on Fletcher. O’Reilly hit a running kick on Fletcher too. Strong and Briscoe exchanged strikes. Briscoe knocked Fletcher down with a forearm and Fletcher left the ring after being there illegally for about two minutes. Briscoe hit a jumping kick and an uppercut to knock Strong out of the ring. Briscoe hit a neckbreaker off the apron onto Fletcher on the floor. Orange was legal for his team as he hit a DDT off the top for a two count on Fletcher, who I guess was legal. It’s AEW so it’s not like it matters. Fletcher hit a running kick to the face and a half-n-half suplex on Orange. The illegal guys in the match went into the ring to hit moves and then bailed to the floor. Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Mark. Orange hit a spinning DDT on Takeshita. Orange hit Stundog Millionaire on Fletcher, O’Reilly hit some strikes on Fletcher even though O’Reilly was illegal. Orange went up top, Fletcher went after him and hit a brainbuster on the turnbuckle. Briscoe made the tag and hit a Froggy Bow on Fletcher for two because Strong broke it up. Takeshita was in illegally (the referee never saw it) with a forearm and running knee. Fletcher capitalized with a piledriver on Briscoe for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong

Analysis: ***1/2 A very good match that was also chaotic with a lot of random, illegal offense throughout the match. I know some AEW fans don’t care about it, but I think when there are a few minutes that go by where somebody is in the ring for way too long so they can do double or triple teams, it just looks silly. With that said, I’m still rating it highly because it was fun to watch. I just think matches like this could be even better if it was better organized. Anyway, it was a win for the Don Callis Family and Strong, which is fine. This one could have gone either way.

After the match, the heels attacked the babyfaces on the floor. Willow Nightingale’s music was playing, but she was attacked by Kris Statlander on the stage. Stokely Hathaway told Willow to wake up. Hathaway warned Willow that the next time she tries to get in their way, they won’t drag her to the stage because they’ll drag her to the ER aka emergency room.

Analysis: It continues the Kris-Willow story after they were best friends and Kris turned heel on her friend. The beatdown from the heels on the faces seemed like it was immediately forgotten as soon as the women were on the stage. It just stopped awkwardly.

There was another tag team match after the break as Samoa Joe teams with Hook.

(Commercial)

Renee Paquette was in the locker room with Rey Fenix where she spoke about how accomplished Fenix was as a former champion.

Shingo Takagi did a promo about being in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament.

Christopher Daniels spoke about how Tony Khan has ruled that next week on Dynamite, The Young Bucks will be in a match and Kazuchika Okada will be in a match as well. He didn’t name who their opponents were.

Samoa Joe and Hook were shown backstage ahead of their match. We saw them make their entrance and then they attacked the Premier Athletes on the stage. They went down to the ring to have the match.

Samoa Joe & Hook (w/Katsuyori Shibata) vs. Premier Athletes – Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari (w/Mark Sterling)

Joe worked over Nese with repeated punches. Katsuyori Shibata was with Joe and Hook too. Joe hit a running clothesline while Hook tagged in with a leaping clothesline of his own. Daivari tagged in as the heels worked over Hook with repeated stomps. Daivari jumped off the top with a dive, but Hook stepped away to avoid it and Joe was impressed since that’s a Joe move. Hook hit a lifting fallaway slam on Nese. Sterling tripped up Hook. Shibata knocked down Sterling although the camera missed it. Joe choked out Nese with a Coquina Clutch submission by the apron while Hook applied the Red Rum submission to Daivari, who passed out. It went about three minutes. Shibata also choked out Sterling on the floor.

Winners by submission: Samoa Joe & Hook

Analysis: *1/2 Easy win to put over Joe & Hook as a dominant team. The Premier Athletes had no chance here.

A video aired about Stephanie Vaquer as she prepares to face Mercedes Mone at Forbidden Door. Vaquer said she’ll become the first NJPW Strong and TBS Champion.

Analysis: Vaquer is from Peru and I doubt a woman from Peru knows what TBS is, but we’ll just assume she is being told it’s a big prize.

TBS Championship: Mercedes Mone vs. Zeuxis

I have never seen Zeuxis wrestle. I doubt the majority of AEW’s TV audience has seen her wrestle. Zeuxis is from CMLL.

Zeuxis got a flying mare takedown leading to a headlock. Zeuxis got a shoulder tackle takedown. Mone jumped over Zeuxis leading to some dancing. Mone hit a low dropkick. Zeuxis twisted up Mone for a pin attempt for two. Mone tripped up Zeuxis and they left the ring where Mone hit an armdrag. They were on the apron where Zeuxis kicked the leg and Zeuxis dropkicked Mone to the mat. Zeuxis hit a suicide dive that knocked Mone down on the floor.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Mone getting a kick to the ribs to knock Zeuxis down. Zeuxis caught a charging Mone and hit a sitout Powerbomb for two. Mone reversed a move leading to a hurricanrana for two. Mone kicked Zeuxis in the face, but Zeuxis came back with double knees for two. Mone countered a move leading to a bulldog. Mone hit the Meteora double knees two times in a row. Mone hit Meteora double knees off the turnbuckle for a two count. A kid in the crowd: “That was three!” They got that kid with the nearfall at least. Mone hit two vertical suplexes going for Three Amigos, but Zeuxis blocked it and Zeuxis hit a double underhook leading to double knees for a two count. Zeuxis went for a moonsault, but Mone avoided it and Mone caught Zeuxis with the Mone Maker slam off her back for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Mercedes Mone

Analysis: *** A solid match with the obvious result because there was no chance that Mone was going to lose here. It felt like Zeuxis was on offense or about 75% of the match. I thought Zeuxis was given too much offense, but I get why that is to have her show what she can do. Mone was able to put away Zeuxis easily.

A video aired about Mina Shirakawa while Mariah May spoke about how special Mina is. They talked about how much they enjoy hanging out together and May said that Mina is dangerous in the ring. Mina said she came to America to win some gold and she wants everything.

Toni Storm was interviewed with Mariah May and Luther standing beside her. May informed Storm that Mina will be there next week and wants to have a contract signing for Mina’s match with Storm. Renee Paquette also informed Storm that she has a match on Rampage. Storm did some of her usual lines and left.

Chris Jericho’s Learning Tree

Big Bill said it’s never too late to start learning and it’s never too early to start winning. Bill introduced the FTW Champion Chris Jericho to host his talk show segment. Jericho had Bryan Keith with him. The “set” in the ring featured a green rug, a silly tree and a TV screen.

Chris Jericho shilled his new t-shirt that said “Hi Guys!” while continuing his sarcastic comments. Jericho tried to advise Iowa about how their corn “didn’t work for me, brother.” Jericho kept on talking about corn. Keith told the fans if you want to grow corn, you better respect Jericho. Chris said that he respects all of his branches in the Jericho vortex. Jericho introduced Private Party as his guests.

Private Party’s Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen joined Chris Jericho in the ring. Jericho said if you want to do some shots (like the song says) then have a designated driver. Jericho told Private Party they’re a good tag team, but they aren’t winning matches. Jericho said that their trainer wasn’t very good. Jericho said he knows how to do the basics properly. Jericho said that they don’t even climb the top rope properly. Kassidy suggested that Jericho could teach them. Kassidy said Jericho is a legend in the game, an OG and some might call him the Caitlin Clark of AEW. Clark went to Iowa. Jericho showed them how to climb the top rope one foot at a time. Private Party thanked Jericho for the lesson, but then they had a lesson for Jericho and tripped up Jericho on the top rope. Private Party knocked Keith and Bill out of the ring. Private Party dove onto Keith and Bill on the floor. Kassidy hit a Swanton Bomb on Jericho off the top. Quen went up top and hit a 450 Splash on Jericho as well.

Analysis: The way for this Chris Jericho story to work well is if he works with younger talent and makes them into bigger stars, so I don’t mind seeing Private Party in a spot like this. They’ve been in AEW for five years and have never really been elevated. I hope this angle helps them although I don’t know if it will.

A video aired about Jon Moxley defending the IWGP World Champion against Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door. Moxley warned Naito that he’s a dead man.

(Commercial)

The Bang Bang Gang’s Juice Robinson and The Gunns (without Jay White) were in the locker room. They bragged about being Trios Tag Team Champions. They challenged House of Black to a match on Collision.

Daniel Garcia vs. Nick Comoroto

Garcia stomped on Comoroto, who was once an intriguing prospect due to how physically impressive he looks. Garcia countered a press slam attempt and hit a belly-to-back suplex. Garcia applied a guillotine and then he turned it into an Impaler DDT called the Red Cross. It went just over one minute.

Winner by pinfall: Daniel Garcia

Analysis: 1/2* A squash win. I guess they had two minutes of TV time to fill. Good for Garcia to get a win, but this felt like the kind of thing most people would hit fast forward to get through.

Will Ospreay was shown watching on a TV backstage. They showed MJF watching earlier as well. Renee Paquette walked up to Will saying that Garcia wanted to win the AEW International Title. Will said that he’s focused on his match with Rey Fenix and he’s also got a contract to hand over as well.

(Commercial)

Pac did a promo somewhere backstage. Pac said he has been humiliated by his performances. Pac said that he’s supposed to be a bastard, but he has just been a bitch. Pac said he’s angry and he’s at his best when he’s angry. Pac announced that he is going to be in the Owen Hart Cup and he’s going to win the Owen Hart Cup so that he gets an AEW World Title opportunity at Wembley Stadium. Pac said this would be his redemption story. Pac had a warning for the Bang Bang Gang saying that Death Triangle hasn’t forgotten what they did.

Analysis: I like Pac a lot. This was his way of saying that he has lost a lot of matches and he’s done losing. I don’t know who’s going to win the Owen Hart Cup, but I would like to see Pac pick up some big wins in that tournament.

Will Ospreay made his entrance as the AEW International Champion. Ospreay had an envelope in hand, which he handed to Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana at ringside, so it was the contract for his Forbidden Door match against Swerve. The fans love Will and are loud during his entrance. Rey Fenix made his entrance on his own.

The Blood & Guts match will take place on the July 24th edition of AEW Dynamite in Nashville. That was announced during the main event match.

AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix

They are two of the best athletes in AEW. They started with a ballet routine where they did a bunch of flips without connecting on moves. When Fenix went for a Cutter, Will put his hands down and blocked it so Will was back up quickly. Fenix took down Will with a hurricanrana. Will went to the apron, he hit a forearm and Will hit a running kick to the head. Fenix came back with a hurricanrana off the floor. Back in the ring, Fenix hit a Frog Splash off the top for two.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Fenix jumping onto Will’s back leading to an armbar, but Will powered out of it. Will hit a springboard elbow strike. Will bounced off the ropes leading to a backflip kick to the head. Will went to the turnbuckle, Fenix stopped him with an uppercut and they battled on the top a bit. Fenix jumped up top leading to kick to the head. They held eachother by the arm for balance and Rey hit a hurricanrana off the top, but Will did a flip to land on his feet. Will did a Tornado DDT and Fenix did a flip out of that so that he landed on his feet as well. Nice dance moves by both guys. Each guy hit a superkick. Fenix blocked a kick and they each hit a kick right after that. Will had Rey on his back and Will hit a version of an Air Raid Crash for two.

(Commercial)

Fenix was in control with a body scissors while pulling on the arms. Will wiggled out of it, so Fenix hit a crucifix bomb for two. Fenix jumped off the turnbuckle right into a German Suplex for two. Will went for a move, but Fenix countered and rolled through into a pin attempt. Will heat multiple kicks. Fenix blocked an Oscutter, but then Will broke free and Will hit an Oscutter for two. Will charged and Fenix hit a snap hurricanrana for a two count. Fenix superkicked Will. Fenix went for an attack after jumping off the mat and Will blocked it with an elbow smash. Will went up top and hit a Swerve Stomp (double foot stomp) after saying “My House” to Swerve in the first row. Will hit the Hidden Blade elbow for the pinfall win after about 15 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Will Ospreay

Analysis: ***3/4 That was a terrific match. A lot of athleticism by both guys. That one spot they did off the turnbuckle where Will landed on his feet and then Fenix landed on his feet right after was really cool to see. Some traditional wrestling fans are going to hate that stuff and a part of me doesn’t like it, but at some point, you have to listen to how much the crowd loves it. The result was no surprise because Will has been undefeated in singles matches in AEW while Fenix is mostly a tag team guy, so he was there to put over the singles guy. I liked the finish with Will showing he can do the Swerve Stomp effectively although he had to do the Hidden Blade to finish Fenix off.

Post match, the AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland got into the ring with Will Ospreay. Will wanted a handshake, but Swerve didn’t do it. Swerve told Will he wasn’t strong enough to hold both titles. Will took the AEW World Title from Swerve when Swerve put it in Will’s face. Will showed how both titles looked on his shoulders. The fans were cheering. After a few moments, Swerve took his AEW World Title back. Swerve said Will is lucky they are still friends because if anybody else did this, Swerve would put them in the grave. Swerve left the ring as Will had a confident look on his face. Will pointed at the Forbidden Door sign in the arena. Will and Swerve had a staredown from a distance. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: I am probably picking Will Ospreay to win the AEW World Title at Forbidden Door, but I do like Swerve a lot. If Swerve’s title reign continues then I certainly don’t mind that.

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Three Stars of the Show

1. Will Ospreay
2. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong
3. Mercedes Mone

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The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.5 out of 10

Last Week: No review

2024 Average: 7.42

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Final Thoughts on AEW Dynamite

I thought it was a good show because it was a nice mix of some entertaining matches and also advancing key storylines as well. The Will Ospreay-Rey Fenix match was a lot of fun match. Perhaps a bit too gymnastic style for my liking at times, but they also make it look so easy and I admire their athleticism. The six-man tag team match was also very good. A bit chaotic at times with random people in the ring. That’s AEW “style” I guess. Mercedes Mone picked up yet another win after selling for most of the match.

There was a major focus on Swerve Strickland as the AEW World Champion and his upcoming match with Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door. They also had Swerve get involved with The Elite as well while The Elite announced the Blood & Guts match coming next month.

That brawl between MJF and Rush was excellent. It set them up for a Dynamite match next week. It’s smart to advertise MJF for a match a full week before it happens. I like where things are headed going into Forbidden Door.

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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @johnreport