AEW Dynamite 3/29/2023 Match Ratings and Commentary
(Credit-AEW)
Here’s how we rated this week’s Dynamite from St. Louis. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Dynamite - 3/29/2023
“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry def. Matt Hardy: ★★
BCC def. Dalton Castle and The Boys: ★
Kenny Omega def. Jeff Cobb to retain the IWGP U.S. Championship: ★★★★
Orange Cassidy def. The Butcher to retain the AEW International Championship: ★★
Ruby Soho def. Willow Nightingale: ★★
Adam Cole def. Daniel Garcia: ★★★
The Acclaimed w/ JAS (Credit-AEW)
Show Highlight—
Omega vs. Cobb. Fresh, logical storytelling device of Schiavone interrupting Omega before his entrance. Love me some Jeff Cobb, he’s like a more athletic Rhyno and glad that he got a shot here to presumably set up a rematch of Omega and Ospreay for Forbidden Door 2. Cobb took those V-Triggers like a fucking man.
Post match, Danielson executed a perfect heel turn. I loved how they positioned themselves initially where you thought Danielson could hit the psycho-knee, only to change up positions to let the crowd feel the dread even more when he did do it. Extra points for kicking Omega’s kayfabe-wounded ribs.
What Worked—
MJF/Jungle Boy promo duel. The Devil played devil’s advocate perfectly, appealing to Jungle Boy and speaking to his vulnerabilities as a character. Interesting and effective route for MJF’s character to take on the route to wrestling the 4 pillars as opposed to the gauntlet trope. Even better, unlike the last time Jungle Boy cut a promo in-ring, he didn’t come off like a whiner. And MJF took a great bump off that clothesline, good God.
JAS seduces The Acclaimed. Fun video package of The Acclaimed and 2.0 out on the town in St. Louis. Simple and effective. I like when AEW is able to show themselves being in the city so it’s not just some generic backstage segment that could have been filmed anywhere.
BCC as Heels. Great, character-enhancing enhancement match. Establishes them as classic heels and not tweeners or cool heels.
Hangman/Callis segment. Nice touch with Hangman leaving the door open that it might not have been the BCC that attacked the Bucks. Better yet, I appreciate our intelligence wasn’t insulted where we’re made to believe that Kenny didn’t watch the replay of Callis and Hangman from last week.
The Gunns. You know what, they did a damn good job with that promo. Do I want the belts on them? Absolutely not. But they’re freshening the air from the wafting fart of the Ass Boys and past silliness with these bitting lines.
No QTV! Hey, what a shock! Who predicted that? I would rather watch Hobbs cutting a pre-tape than the unsuccessful juggling of trying to accomplish so much at once with QTV. Plus, could they be trusted to not alienate and tease the audience with a Punk reference after his post this week? Hopefully cooler heads prevail for Rampage.
Cole vs. Garcia. Adam Cole gave Garcia a lot in the match, which was to be expected, as Cole is a babyface for the first time on a national platform. The streamers were a nice touch, but boy are there gonna be hot takes aplenty on podcasts about Jericho being a succubus.
What Didn’t Work—
Women’s match death slot. There’s great storylines with The Pillars and the Elite vs. The BCC and they’re telling said stories in ways that haven’t been a repeat from earlier AEW tropes, so with a division-wide angle with The Outcasts, put the damn match earlier in the show to make the audience think its as innovative and different as the other angles going on. AEW was eating shit about the superiority of WWE’s women’s division and now that they’re clearly not a WWE priority right now, be the alternative in the wrestling war.
On the positive for this segment, notice the intensity that Jamie Hayter had and how fast she moved in the ring. She just is heads and shoulders above the rest of women’s wrestling right now.
Show Cringe—
Nothing—great show!
Celebrating Adam Cole (Credit-AEW)
Follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/WrestleElitists
