AEW Dynamite 11/23/2022 Match Ratings and Commentary
(Credit: AEW)
Here’s where we landed with this week’s live Dynamite from a ferocious Chicago crowd. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Dynamite - 11/23/2022
Orange Cassidy def. Jake Hager: ★
Ricky Starks def. Ethan Page: ★★
Death Triangle def. The Elite: ★★★★1/4
Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. def. Tay Melo and Anna Jay and Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue: ★★
Chris Jericho def. Tomohiro Ishii to retain the ROH World Championship: ★★★★
(Credit: AEW)
Show Highlight—
Chicago. I went to college in Chicago and so—lame play on words aside—the Second City is my second city. At a time when AEW fans can be rightly critical of the touring schedule hitting the same regions (and not yours ever enough) Chicago reacted so enthusiastically as if they haven’t had a show in years. Alex on the podcast brought up a good point, that perhaps the show quality was perhaps what deserved the most ire as opposed to Bridgeport, CT. This was a very solid show, but dammit did that crowd elevate it. They didn’t even tire themselves out after what should have exhausted them in the best of seven trios match with the pro CM Punk, fuck CM Punk, pro The Elite, Fuck The Elite, revelry. I get annoyed typically when the crowd thinks they’re being cute and chanting smart mart shit, but dammit wasn’t showering Jeff Jarrett in, “TNA Sucks!” chants just music to your ears? It was a party atmosphere that was as lively as any legitimate sporting contest with playoff implications.
What Worked—
That dumbass bucket cap. Orange Cassidy’s face was priceless when Hager’s beloved hat came off. Straight up cartoon.
Swerve in our seclusion. That was a great backstage confrontation. Not just for the fact Swerve acknowledged the camera, but in how he thinks he can play Keith Lee off and still manipulate their partnership. This is what could have been with Lio Rush and Dante Martin, and Swerve can pull his character off to perfection.
House of Black return. Cool return and beatdown, The Best Friends will be the perfect means for HOB to be reheated.
Kiera Hogan is separated. Nothing beats the comedy of casual cruelty. Smart Mark Sterling delivering the news in that speedy, heartless delivery was hilarious. Couple that with how AEW never lets anything breathe when they cut emotionlessly to the next segment, that made it even funnier. And fuck yes, Red Velvet!
Best of Seven Series. MOTN and a shockingly good follow-up that didn’t feel like a drunken uncle cover version. Involving the hammer again was great. Abrahantes not so much, I thought Wrestling Elitists were drivers of change for a moment…It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Death Triangle sweep The Elite. It’s a fresh way to do a best of seven series and you don’t have to run the risk of running the matches and rivalry into the ground with seven matches. Of course, if there were any six wrestlers capable of not repeating themselves, it’s these guys. Oh, and that whole CM Punk thing will be addressed elsewhere on the site and podcast.
Interim champ no more. Was the crowd chanting for Thunder Rosa to be stripped or were they just happy to have the interim lineage washed from history? Guessing Thunder Rosa.
TNA sucks chant. Worth mentioning again. Let that be his legacy. I’m shocked that AEW isn’t more intentionally mean-spirited toward TNA in general (not Impact, TNA specifically) to differentiate themselves as the superior second promotion. Not that that’s a valiant move, but we saw WWE beat WCW’s horse corpse for 15 years after its demise.
Jericho vs. Ishii. I didn't think they’d be able to pull off such a great main event after the crowd was so hype for the trios match. I love, love Ishii, but he’s taken so many loses this year that it’s been hard to suspend the disbelief that he’ll lose. They got those chops and strikes over so incredibly, and speaking of incredible, show me a better DDT than the one Ishii took. I popped and woke the whole house up, fantastic spot.
What Didn’t Work—
Explanation promo. MJF being unavailable due to filming is fine, but there could have been some semblance of an explanation beyond, “what he did was bad and we’ve all done bad things.” I get that they wanna stretch this out but it left me wanting something, anything, more. Mox’s delivery of telling Regal to run was awesome, though.
Show Cringe—
CM Punk. Remember last year when we got our panties in a wad because Cody casually teased using a pedigree? More will be said about this on the website and on the podcast, but if you going to tease it, pay it off, but everyone involved has got to be a grown-ass adult and I don’t know if that’s possible.
Happier Times… (Credit: AEW)
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