Here’s where we landed with this week’s Dynamite from San Antonio. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.

The Elite def. Death Triangle: ★★★
Hook def. Exodus Prime: ★
Jon Moxley def. Darius Martin: ★
The Gunns def. FTR: ★★
Jamie Hayter def. Hikaru Shida to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship: ★★★★1/2

Show Highlight—

Hayter vs. Shida. That wasn’t merely a great women’s match, that was a great match in general. Jamie Hayter hits as hard as anyone of any gender. This is the type of performance she needed to cement her status as the top women in AEW and, could be, the top women’s wrestler in North America. This match felt important with its production, getting two commercial breaks to tell the audience subtly that this was a big deal. Both wrestlers held nothing back and spent the first act of the match striking the shit out of one another. The third act had incredible false finishes, especially the powerbomb sequence. Yes, the interference took a little momentum away—it’s getting too template-y to have the same interference spots that are used for Britt for Jamie, especially when her character doesn’t need it—but that finish was strong and felt like any big New Japan G1 finish.
We didn’t get the face turn for MJF, and fine, if he truly feels he’d be more creative and impactful as a heel, knock yourself out, but AEW does need a face they can get behind, and with so many heels and heels in stables, it would be a perfect change of pace to let Hayter hold her own and wrestle solo more. The audience is dying to get behind a women’s wrestler, it’s been one of the most common, collective gripes online, but now AEW has the best women’s wrestler wrestling her ass off as the top star—keep running with it.

What Worked—

Ricky Starks/Jericho promo duel. Starks needed a good heel to go up against to maintain his momentum, so it was wise to use Jericho here who will elevate Ricky to (hopefully) main or near-main event status. Ricky’s fat shaming jokes were delicious, as was his bold choices in menswear that he impossibly pulls off without being douchey.
The Elite vs. Death Triangle. My personal bias towards hardcore, ECW-ish brawls notwithstanding, this was a different match style for their series and they kept the storyline progressing via the Death Triangle going all Hammer Bros in their loss.
Fireball. Haven’t seen one of those in a while from Jericho. Perfectly executed and shot to look brutal.
San Antonio sign. “There’s no basement in the Alamo.” The well placed Pee-Wee reference I was looking for.

What Didn’t Work—

Bryan’s sick burns. That was teetering toward Ronnie Garvin territory, grow some hair? Interested to see what Danielson can get out of All Ego nonetheless.
Sonjay’s rap. I get it, it was supposed to be bad, but yeesh…change the channel heat. This whole thing is at the expensive of other guys backstage, and the most harmed by this will be The Acclaimed should they not wrap this program up very soon.

Show Cringe—

Rick Ross/Swerve Segment. Was that just me or was that just trashy as hell? Rick Ross seemed like he was missing cues from being in an (I presume) altered state and was more obnoxious than edgy. Not like I give a shit about f-bombs on TV, but that combined with Parker Boudreaux doing the lamest jumping from behind beatdown, and whomever the fuck that offspring was of Umaga, Post Malone and Juggalo marinade, made the product seem lowbrow. Pushing Swerve is fine, but doing a crime/gang style crew is going to pale in comparison to The Bloodline. Let Swerve be too slimy to be trusted by anyone else; have him manipulate others without throwing screen time and a roster slot at another stable of faceless, monster heels that are set up to lose their value.

AEW Dynamite 12/21/2022 Match Ratings and Commentary

AEW Rampage 12/23/2022 Match Ratings and Commentary