Reviews

The John Report: AEW Dynamite 11/08/23 Review

By John Canton • Published 8th November 2023
aew dynamite november 8

This week’s AEW Dynamite saw MJF defend the AEW World Title against Daniel Garcia and Jay White facing Mark Briscoe.

Please Note: I am going on vacation for 7 days starting this Friday, November 10th, which means no review of Smackdown that night. That also means no review of Raw on November 13, NXT on November 14 and AEW Dynamite on November 15. I will do condensed reviews of those four shows and I will post them after I return. I’ll be back in action on Friday, November 17th for Smackdown that night. It’s my second week off this year. I don’t have a sunny vacation planned or anything like that, but I have some stuff to do around my part of the world, some friends/family to visit, a couple of sporting events and most importantly a break from all the writing that I do. Our TJRWrestling.net news team will continue to cover the business as best we can. I’m really proud of the team we have.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #214 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, the AEW World Champion, was interviewed by Tony Schiavone backstage. MJF called Tony a “fat, old prick” as usual. MJF talked about getting pinned by Jay White in a tag team match last week and said that three seconds is all it takes. Adam Cole called MJF leading to a video call with Cole, who suggested that MJF team up with Samoa Joe to defend the ROH Tag Team Championships. Daniel Garcia and friends walked up with MJF wondering if he would be getting Garcia the sports entertainer or the professional wrestler. Garcia said it would be the professional wrestler. Roderick Strong rolled up in a wheelchair and MJF quickly dismissed what he was saying so MJF could go have his match. Strong bitched to Cole about how MJF was The Devil. Cole hung up. Strong said it was time for him to remind everybody just who he is.

Analysis: There was a lot going on there very quickly. AEW loves these backstage segments with interruptions.

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

Daniel Garcia made his entrance with Matt Menard and Angelo Parker. Garcia challenged MJF after winning a match on Rampage and challenging MJF to a World Title match. MJF accepted that. MJF was up next as the AEW World Champion that doesn’t have possession of the title. The fans popped for MJF, who has a 10-0-1 singles record this year.

AEW World Championship: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) vs. Daniel Garcia (w/Matt Menard & Angelo Parker)

MJF took down Garcia and then told Garcia to show the fans why he’s the future. Garcia took down MJF followed by a slap to the ass and Garcia didn’t do his dance routine because his friends told him to stop it. MJF wanted a handshake leading to a “sportsmanship” chant, but Garcia slapped the hand away, so MJF did a thumb to the eye. MJF did a hammerlock body slam. MJF wrapped up the left arm of Garcia leading to a sitout slam for a two count. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Garcia was aggressive with forearm strikes followed by a German Suplex. Garcia did a dance with one arm leading to a double knee attack and a brainbuster for two. Garcia got a backslide pin attempt for a two count. Garcia slapped MJF followed by a Saito Suplex. Garcia charged in the corner, MJF avoided it and MJF did a double stomp on the left arm. MJF hit a double underhook shoulderbreaker and a superkick. MJF hit an impressive Hammerlock DDT for a two count. MJF tried a Heatseeker by the ropes, but Garcia avoided it. MJF hit a superkick by the turnbuckle. Garcia kicked the left knee and a dropkick to the right knee. Garcia tried a lift and then he was selling his left arm injury. Garcia hit a piledriver without using his left arm for a two count. Garcia applied the Dragontamer submission, but MJF got out of it a leading to the Salt of the Earth armbar on the injured left arm. Garcia tapped out. It went about 10 minutes.

Winner by submission: Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Analysis: ***1/4 A decisive win by the champion MJF, who worked on the left arm throughout the match and did the Salt of the Earth armbar for the tapout win. Garcia is very technically sound while his dancing routine is over with the fans, so that’s a great thing for him. I thought this would be a match that goes 18-20 minutes, but it wasn’t close to that long. Instead, it was a clean win for the champion to make MJF look strong, which is perfectly fine. I like seeing champions win decisively.

After the match, MJF wanted a handshake while the fans were chanting “sportsmanship.” Menard and Parker stopped Garcia. MJF said that this is about our future and you’d rather listen to them? Garcia wanted to handshake, but he was stopped by Menard and Parker again. MJF celebrated his win.

Analysis: They have teased Garcia being a babyface in the past and didn’t run with it, so it’s back to that again with Garcia still in a heel role.

The announcers, mainly Excalibur, pushed the idea that if Mark Briscoe beats Jay White in the main event then Briscoe gets White’s spot at Full Gear as the challenger for MJF’s World Title. I don’t think anybody watching this show thinks that Mark Briscoe has a shot.

(Commercial)

A promo aired from Mark Briscoe talking about how he’s wrestled Jay White before, but not in a singles match. Briscoe said that he’s ready for him.

Sting & Darby Allin vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)

I wonder who will win. That’s sarcasm. The Outrunners look like they are from 1988. Allin was worked over by Magnum and Floyd for about a minute. Allin countered a Floyd move and Sting tagged in with a clothesline that sent Floyd out of the ring. Magnum pulled Allin out of the ring and sent him into the barricade. The Outrunners hit gentle elbows to Sting (very gentle), who no sold them and hit them with clotheslines. Sting & Allin hit running splashes. Sting with a punch followed by the Scorpion Deathlock submission for the tapout win. It was under three minutes. The fans popped for Sting as usual.

Winners by pinfall: Sting & Darby Allin

Analysis: *1/2 Easy win for Sting & Darby Allin as if it was a WCW Worldwide tag team match. I don’t think Sting even had to take a bump, so it was a simple match for the old guy.

AEW Women’s Title Contract Signing

There was a sitdown contract signing with AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm along with Lutha while Tony Schiavone was there too. It was for the Shida-Storm match at AEW Full Gear. It was in black & white at the request of Toni Storm. Shida wondered what happened to Storm, who ranted about how she couldn’t make history as a three-time history so she became history. Storm signed the contract and Shida signed the contract. Shida said she’ll beat Storm at Full Gear. Storm: “Chin up, tits out and watch for the shoe.” They had a staredown.

Analysis: I will pick Toni Storm to beat Shida in that match. Storm is one of the rare women in AEW that actually has a gimmick so that allows her to stand out. Storm is likely going to be a three-time AEW Women’s Champion.

Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (w/Alex Abrahantes)

They said “Hangman” Adam Page was banned from ringside to prevent him from attacking Swerve. They ran the ropes leading to Swerve getting a headscissors takedown. Swerve jumped off the middle turnbuckle with a forearm to the back. Swerve bent back Swerve’s fingers to cause more pain. Swerve and Penta exchanged chops, Swerve kicked him in the gut and a stomp on the hand. Penta came back with a Backstabber double knees to the back. Penta ran the ropes leading to Swerve hitting an uppercut. Swerve tried an attack on the floor, Penta avoided it and hit a superkick. Penta went back into the ring leading to a somersault dive over the top onto Swerve on the floor. They went to a PIP break.

(Commercial)

Swerve chopped Penta a few times, but Penta came back with chops of his own. Penta went for a lifting move, but Swerve got out of it and Penta hit an arm drag. They each hit roundhouse kicks followed by a double clothesline to knock them both down, so the fans cheered. Swerve hit a boot to the face, but Penta hit a Slingblade two times in a row. Penta had Swerve on his shoulders leading to a slam off the shoulders for a two count. Penta gave Swerve a back body drop over the top to the floor. Penta jumped to the apron leading to a Destroyer on the apron. The fans chanted “holy shit” for that. Penta jumped off the top with a double foot stomp for two. Swerve countered a move near the ropes leading to Swerve flipping Penta over leading to Penta bumping against the turnbuckle. Swerve tripped up Penta, who had his feet up against the ropes and Swerve hit a double foot stomp onto Penta on the floor. Back in the ring, Swerve went for a 450 Splash, but Penta avoided it and Penta snapped back on Swerve’s right arm. Penta hit his Made in Japan sitout slam for two. Swerve came back with a Death Valley Driver slam off the shoulders. Swerve stomped on the right arm of Penta. Swerve went up top and hit a Swerve Stomp on Penta for the pinfall win after 14 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Swerve Strickland

Analysis: ***3/4 Great match that was very competitive and even throughout the match meaning they both got a lot of offense in the match. Swerve winning was the logical move since he’s in the big match with Hangman Page at Full Gear, but you know Penta is always going to have an entertaining singles match. Penta also has credibility where he could always pick up the win in a match like this and it would be believable. I thought the finish was really well done with Swerve going after the right arm in a violent way and the Swerve Stomp finish.

After the match, Swerve tried to take Penta’s mask off. That’s when “Hangman” Adam Page ran out to ringside with a steel chair. Swerve tried to get away, but Page chased him and Page hit Swerve in the back with a steel chair. Page hit Swerve two times in the back with the steel chair. Two security guys went out to try to stomp Page, so Page hit them with chair shots. Page picked up Swerve and gave him a Deadeye slam off the apron through a table on the floor. Page was shouting “you’re a deadman” as referees made Page back away.

Analysis: That was a terrific angle that worked very well with Hangman getting some revenge after Swerve broke into his house a few weeks ago.

Jay White was with the Bullet Club Gold guys with Alex Marvez bending over to try to look shorter. It looked awkward watching Marvez stand like that. White said he will always be better than MJF. White said he’ll show he’s truly elite when he defeats Mark Briscoe later in the show.

A video package aired about the Don Callis Family said that this match will not be one of the video games where you can do what you want. Kenny Omega spoke saying he’s been beaten and broken. They showed some video game highlights along with AEW action. Omega talked about how they would end this in a Street Fight.

Analysis: There is some SEGA sponsorship for that tag team match next week. I’m sure AEW will shill it heavily in the future.

(Commercial)

Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho were interviewed by Renee Paquette for a match called the Final Boss Battle. Jericho said they had some good friends referencing Kota Ibushi & Paul Wight. The Young Bucks walked in saying that this was a sweet promo, they complained about having no room in their locker room because of Omega & Jericho. Matt mentioned Chris & Kenny had a cool new name – The Golden Jets. Matt Jackson remembers a cool name called The Elite. Matt talked about having Omega’s back while Jericho said that The Young Bucks didn’t have Omega’s back against Powerhouse Hobbs. Matt spoke about how The Young Bucks & Omega started this company, so Jericho said it was the four of them that started AEW. Matt said that Jericho just walked in and cashed another big check. Jericho credited The Young Bucks for being a great tag team, but Jericho said that he thinks Jericho & Omega can beat them. Matt Jackson pitched Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho facing The Young Bucks at Full Gear in Los Angeles. Jericho mentioned that guaranteed title shot that The Young Bucks have and Jericho said if his team wins then the title shot goes to The Golden Jets. Matt seemed to be okay with it and said if they win then The Golden Jets can’t team together again. Omega said that The Young Bucks are the greatest tag team of all time and he didn’t want to fight them. Omega spoke about how he’s beaten The Young Bucks before while saying he’s done it with Hangman and Ibushi in the past. Omega said if you really want to face them then they’ll do it and then maybe The Young Bucks will act like adults instead of acting like bitchy, whiny children. Omega left. Jericho said he’ll be happy to beat their spoiled asses. Jericho said by the way, he has his own dressing room.

Analysis: There’s a huge tag team match for AEW Full Gear. It was nice of AEW to remember that The Young Bucks had a title shot and that will come into play for the match. The lineup for Full Gear is very strong right now.

ROH TV Championship: Samoa Joe vs. Keith Lee

It’s nice of AEW to remember Keith Lee works there since he barely gets TV time. Samoa Joe has been ROH TV Champion for 574 days. This should be a meat slapping match. Joe did an eye rake followed by a running shoulder tackle. Lee came back with his own running shoulder tackle. Lee did some eye-gouging along with some choking using the ropes. Joe worked over Lee with repeated punches while Lee was up against the turnbuckle. Lee came back with a leapfrog over Joe followed by a running cross body block. Joe went to the floor as the show went to break.

(Commercial)

Joe was in control with a kneebreaker showing off his power. Lee with punches, then he went for a kick and Joe caught the leg leading to a dragon screw leg whip on the left leg of Lee. Joe knocked Lee down with a high boot. Joe went for a senton splash, but Lee caught him and hit a German Suplex. Joe charged, Lee caught him and Lee hit a Popup Powerbomb leading to a one-armed cover for a two count. Joe trapped Lee in the Coquina Clutch submission move. Lee was fading and Lee passed out so the referee called for the bell. It went 12 minutes.

Winner by submission/referee stoppage: Samoa Joe

Analysis: ***1/4 They had a very physical match as expected by two of the most powerful guys in AEW. I didn’t expect Lee to pass out in a submission hold, but that kind of ending also makes Joe look dominant.

Samoa Joe did a promo saying he was the greatest ROH TV Champion of all-time. Joe said he was not just there to merely be your television champion. Joe said that he is officially hungry because as of tonight, he vacates the ROH Television Championship. Joe said “the next gold that is going to be on my shoulder will be the AEW World Championship, whether you like it or not, Max.” Joe left without the ROH TV Title.

Analysis: That’s it for Joe’s run as the ROH TV Champion because he wants to be AEW World Champion.

Orange Cassidy was backstage with his AEW International Championship with his buddy Hook standing by. Orange talked about how Moxley beat Orange at All Out and Orange has wanted revenge ever since. Orange said that he needs to beat Jon Moxley and he has to beat Moxley to be the International Champion that Orange knows he is. Orange took his shades off to say that at Full Gear, he will beat Moxley.

The Gunns – Austin & Colten Gunn (w/Juice Robinson) vs. The Bollywood Boyz

The Gunns knocked one of the Boyz off the apron and hit the 310 to Yuma on the other one of the Boyz for the pinfall win. This was under one minute.

Winners by pinfall: The Gunns – Austin & Colten Gunn

Analysis: 1/4* It was another squash tag team match on this show. The Bollywood Boyz are talented, but they weren’t given much of a shot here.

After the match, The Gunns and Juice were in the ring for a promo. Colten Gunn complained about MJF thinking he was a generational talent. Colten said they were former AEW Tag Team Champions who are about to be ROH Tag Team Champions because they are generational talents. Austin said that MJF has only defended those ROH Tag Team Titles one time in three months. Austin wishes that MJF picked a fan to be his partner at Full Gear. Austin said that those ROH Tag Team Titles will go back in the hands of a real tag team. They said “Gunns Up” to end it.

MJF was shown watching the promo backstage. Samoa Joe walked up to him and MJF stared at Joe, but MJF left without saying anything.

Analysis: The promo was longer than the match. It was fine. It was also a reminder about how rarely the ROH Tag Team Titles are defended. There are too many titles between AEW and ROH these days.

Jon Moxley was backstage somewhere with Wheeler Yuta. Moxley was talking about Orange Cassidy saying he didn’t even deserve to make it to Full Gear. Moxley said that the minute they land in LA, it’s Gang Warfare. Moxley issued a warning to Hook to please take notes if his fingers still work. Yuta issued a warning to Hook saying he had come across the wrong crew and Yuta said he’d see him in Cali, pretty boy.

(Commercial)

Wardlow was featured in a video package talking about how his potential was wasted for three years in AEW because of MJF. Wardlow made it clear he was going after MJF. Wardlow said that he won’t know when and he won’t know where but when you find out, it will be too late. Wardlow said that the days of The Devil running AEW are coming to an end.

Analysis: They can give Daniel Garcia a title match, yet Wardlow barely gets TV time. It’s obviously being saved for something in the future.

Julia Hart vs. Red Velvet

Happy birthday to Julia Hart, who turned 22 years old on Wednesday. She recently got married to Lee Johnson as well. I don’t really remember being 22, but I had fun at that age. Red Velvet is back after nine months out of action due to injury.

Velvet hit an arm drag takedown. Hart and Velvet each did the splits to show how athletic they were. Hart tripped over by diving at her legs. Velvet worked over Hart with punches to the body. Velvet with corner punches, but Hart slipped out and knocked Velvet down. They went to a PIP break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Velvet hit a running kick followed by two clotheslines. Velvet hit a bulldog. Velvet hit a running knee attack to the back. Velvet hit a standing moonsault for a two count. Velvet grabbed Hart by the arms leading to a flipping slam for a two count. Hart came back with a superkick. Hart went up top and hit a moonsault for the pinfall win after eight minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Julia Hart

Analysis: **1/4 It was just an average match to give Hart a win against somebody who isn’t pushed much. The action after the break was Velvet on offense until Hart hit one kick followed by the finisher.

After the match, Julia Hart applied her Hartless submission move. Sky Blue went into the ring with face paint. Willow Nightingale and TBS Champion Kris Statlander walked into the ring. Kris stared at Hart, who backed out of the ring. Kris stared at Blue as well. Nightingale helped Velvet to the back. Excalibur called it a “very interesting situation” here.

Analysis: I don’t think I would call it very interesting. At least it’s AEW trying to have a women’s storyline, which is not something they do often.

Mariah May walked into the screen with RJ City announcing her as the newest AEW signing. May talked about how she just came from Stardom in Japan and now she’s excited to be in the AEW women’s division. May said that she was a fan of City’s since he knows Toni Storm and City said that he could introduce her net week. May was excited and kissed City on the cheek.

Analysis: Mariah May is a talented wrestler and the outfit she had on will make her very popular with a lot of fans as well. Just saying. It sounds like they are doing a story where May is a fan of Toni Storm, which should lead to some interesting interactions.

The Jay White-Mark Briscoe main event was up next.

(Commercial)

Jay White made his entrance with the AEW World Championship along with his Bullet Club Gold buddies. White stole the AEW World Title from MJF and has had it for over one month at this point. Mark Briscoe was up next as the opponent.

Next Wednesday on AEW Dynamite is Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Orange Cassidy & Hook.

Jay White (w/Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) vs. Mark Briscoe

Mark has a 9-0 record in AEW. White got a side headlock takedown. Mark got some offense going. Mark set up White on the top rope and Mark hit a hard slap knocking White down to the floor. Mark hit a running kick to knock Jay down followed by the elbow drop off the apron to the floor. Juice distracted the referee, so The Gunns went after Mark, who missed a leap off the top. White hit a DDT. White teased a knee injury, the referee checked on White and Bullet Club Gold stomped on Mark on the floor. They went to break there.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Mark hitting a missile dropkick off the middle rope to knock White down. White and Mark exchanged chops, then Mark hit some elbow strikes and White hit a back elbow. Mark hit a forearm along with a running elbow strike. Mark hit a neckbreaker for two. White went for a lifting move, Mark got out of it and Mark hit a Fisherman’s Buster for a two count. Mark with a lift, White with an eye gouge and Jay wrenched on Mark’s right knee against the middle rope. Mark slammed White leading to Mark going up and hitting the Froggy Bow elbow drop for a two count. White came back with a uranage slam. White hit the Kiwi Crusher slam for a two count. White did chop block to the back of the right knee. Mark countered a move leading to an Exploder Suplex. Mark charged, elbow by White and Mark hit a huge clothesline. Mark went for the Jay Driller, but White got out of it and White wrenched on the right leg. White hit a Sleeper Suplex. White hit a brainbuster for two. Mark blocked a Bladerunner attempt, Mark with strikes and White hit a Sleeper Suplex again. White hit a lifting DDT. White hit the Bladerunner for the pinfall win after about 14 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Jay White

Analysis: ***1/2 It was a very good main event. Mark Briscoe got a lot of offense and the fans were behind him, but he really had no shot here. I thought White might cheat more during the match. Instead, it was a clean win with White hitting some big moves including his finisher for the win.

It is official: Jay White is still challenging MJF for the AEW World Title at Full Gear in ten days.

Analysis: As I said earlier, I don’t think anybody was doubting that AEW was going to continue with that match.

After the match, MJF’s music hit and MJF appeared from behind Bullet Club Gold in the ring. MJF punched both Gunns and Robinson leading to those three guys bumping to the floor. MJF went after White, who bailed to the floor with the AEW World Title.

MJF said that he hopes Jay White has had fun playing dressup as a top guy. MJF said that White will have to get into the ring with a generational talent – MJF. Max said that White would have to kill him to beat him. MJF said that he fighting for everybody who has been with him on this journey from day one. MJF is fighting for Adam Cole, the fans at home and the fans in the arena. MJF said he is their scumbag. MJF asked Jay if he was going to be the first man to pull the trigger? MJF dropped the microphone. The lights went out.

They went backstage where The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn were getting attacked by masked assailants. Anthony Bowens was tossed through some glass window. The camera faded out and somebody was shown in The Devil mask. MJF ran to the backstage area. MJF checked on The Acclaimed and Gunn laying on the floor. Samoa Joe walked in saying that it looked like MJF is running out of friends. Joe laughed about it and walked away. MJF looked around at the carnage. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: The story is that people who get close to MJF as friends end up getting beat up. That’s what happened to The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn since they teamed up with MJF recently. This could lead to MJF agreeing to have Samoa Joe help him. It’s a solid storyline that’s a mystery angle because we don’t know who The Devil is in this situation.

===

Three Stars of the Show

  1. Swerve Strickland
  2. MJF
  3. Samoa Joe, Jay White & Mark Briscoe

===

The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.5 out of 10

Last Week: 6.75

2023 Average: 7.34

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Final Thoughts

I thought it was a very good show for the most part. A definite improvement over last week. That’s because there was a nice mix of storyline advancement along with some entertaining matches too. I thought Swerve Strickland had a great match with Penta and I liked Hangman Page’s attack on Swerve after the match as well because it’s what he should have done based on that story.

There was a lot of MJF on the show as he defended the World Title against Daniel Garcia and got a decisive win. MJF was also present at the end of the night after Jay White beat Mark Briscoe. While MJF was in the ring, The Acclaimed were beaten up and somebody was wearing The Devil mask again. I like mystery angles. I also like how Jay White, Samoa Joe and Wardlow are all coming after MJF at the same time.

The Full Gear lineup looks very strong too. I think adding The Young Bucks against Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega is an interesting matchup just based on all the history. I liked their backstage segment a lot. Sometimes Dynamite can be hit or miss these days. This week was definitely one of their better shows.

The next AEW pay-per-view is Full Gear from Los Angeles on November 18th. Here’s the lineup so far:

* AEW World Championship: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) (c) vs. Jay White

* Sting, Darby Allin & Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne

* AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Jon Moxley

* AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Toni Storm

* “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland

* The Young Bucks – Matt & Nick Jackson vs. The Golden Jets – Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho

* ROH Tag Team Championships: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) vs. The Gunns – Colten & Austin Gunn (Pre-Show)

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Thanks for reading. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors & Toronto Maple Leafs. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @johnreport