Matches:

  1. CM Punk vs Max **3/4
  2. Moxley vs Lethal ***1/2
  3. FTR vs Gunn Club **
  4. Danielson vs YUTA ***3/4
  5. Storm vs Bunny **1/4
  6. Darby vs Andrade ***1/4

Thoughts:

Hey, I had time to watch this week's Dynamite and wanted to quickly drop a review. I hope you don't mind.

The opener was okay, Caster looked decent once more (and his rap was pretty sweet), and Punk picked up another victory on his way to the strap. Note that I had heard from one source that he was signed only to a one year deal, but I am still seeing if I can get more info on that. He isn't going anywhere other than perhaps taking a short break, either way.

Mox and Jay's match was pretty good shit. They used their time well and it truly felt like it put the "professional" in professional wrestling. Just two dudes working their shit for ten minutes and entertaining us all. Lethal is getting used more which suggests to me he might be a big part of the new era of Ring of Honor.

FTR and Gunn's kids had an okay match but the highlight of the entire thing was what happened outside of the ring with Wardlow's run in shit making for entertaining television. I am not big on breaking from a match to air other shit, but AEW basically never does it and it was honestly fine here.

JSA brawled with Eddie, Santana, and Ortiz next. I really liked the segment. It feels like we might be getting some buddies coming in to help the face side pretty soon...

My MOTN was easily Dragon versus YUTA. I've been saying for a while now that Wheeler is far better a worker than he's shown in AEW. We've only seen glimpses. I know that if he can show his full potential AND continue to grow that he can be a far bigger name than most thought he'd ever be. This match was further proof supporting my stance. Bryan, of course, was awesome in his role, too. The action, fighting spirit, and general storytelling made for compelling television and a great contest. Give them even more time next go around and we'll have something that easily breaks past 4 stars. This almost did it for me, to be clear.

Next, we had some drama with Undisputed Elite and Page (who arrived in a rather interesting vehicle) and Jurassic Express. The faces got their belts back in the end.

Thunder and Nyla are due for a title match.

FTR challenged the Bucks for a rematch.

Toni Storm debuted and bested Bunny to enter the upcoming women's side of The Owen. It was an emotional entrance and it was great to see her in a ring again where she can be respected. I think the dead crowd reaction to the match itself, after a pop during her music hitting, was thanks to fans expecting a squash. The match was okay and admittedly a bit below my expectations considering how talented both she, and Bunny (who has grown over the past few years), are. 

Toni will be a big deal.

We closed with Andrade beating Darby in a good main event matchup. El Idolo has been on a nice roll lately and I am excited to see where it goes. Not great, but still strong enough action etc. to make it land just outside of the recommendation levels.

Post-match, Andrade and crew beat down the face side before Matt and Jeff helped to even things out a bit.

I am rather busy right now but I made time to give this episode a watch. I was rewarded for doing so. We had the debut of Toni Storm, some great matches, and some solid storytelling throughout. There was very little to complain about and, in all, I consider this to be a very strong two-hour edition of Dynamite. One of the best of the year, in fact.

Give this one some attention if you missed it.

Overall Rating: 80/100%