Here’s how we rated this week’s Dynamite from Milwaukee. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.

Darby Allin def. Swerve Strickland: ★★★
Powerhouse Hobbs def. Silas Young to retain the AEW TNT Championship: ★
Orange Cassidy def. Buddy Matthews to retain the AEW International Championship: ★★★★
The Blackpool Combat Club def. Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa: ★
The Outcasts def. Riho and Skye Blue: ★★
Chris Jericho def. Keith Lee: ★★

Show Highlight—

Orange Cassidy vs. Buddy Matthews. The best thing you can ask for in wrestling is to not know what the outcome will be while also being happy with whomever wins. Great false finishes where I genuinely believed at points either guy was going over. Glad to see that Buddy got the singles opportunity he deserves. The upside is so high for him. He can easily fill the same role of a PAC where he’s a believable, uber-athlete that makes everyone look better by virtue of wrestling him. And Orange Cassidy? Please. He’s made the International Title more important than the TNT Title. In the annals of legendary AEW International Title-holders, by gum, I’ll venture to say he’s chief amongst them all.

What Worked—

Darby vs. Swerve. Like OC and Buddy, these two are a perfect pair where they always have damn good matches whenever they wrestle. I’d love to see them get more of a program and a lengthy PPV outing down the line to see how far they can push each other. And that rana was bonkers.
Darby/MJF promo. I love how MJF—as much as MJF can—respects Darby. It gives their promo duels a different flair while also pushing the larger narrative arch of MJF gently massaging the egos of the other Pillars in the run to their inevitable four-way. Darby is the stand out between the other, non-MJF Pillars. He didn’t whine, he didn’t talk about what he should have had, he just spoke like Darby, in his own cadence and manner that wasn’t anyone but him. And maybe I’m just fantasy booking, but having Sting interrupt and annoy MJF could lead to Sting’s retirement match at say, Wembley?

What Didn’t Work—

Destroying cars. God, it’s been done to death and just seems like a waste of money to fuck with someone’s car. Does anyone get invested in these angles? Please note that even while I live in the Motor City, I have no appreciation or knowledge of cars at all. I really did think my Chevy Cruze was the finest demonstration of automotive ingenuity.
Babyface beatdown with a very late save. Did the agents not talk to one another? Why was that how practically every damn segment end? With the Firm and Hardys, with the BCC and Elite, and with the Outcasts. What shitty friends these people are.
The indulgence of Cutler and Nakazawa. I know I’m kinda making the same point twice but c’mon, this was horrid. Like, I get that Cutler and Nakazawa are The Elite’s equivalent of Patterson and Brisco, but even if The Elite were not at the arena, why would they allow them to wrestle the BCC knowing they were going to get massacred? But The Elite were there, and they didn’t do shit until so far after the fact. What kind of babyfaces allows them to be used like bait? It would be digestible if this was the method of ridding Cutler and Nakazawa from the picture, but we know that won’t happen. And why did both guys get comebacks during the match itself? For fucks sake. What squash match is booked to make someone look strong? This feud is still great, but what an oddly written detour this was.

Show Cringe—

Jeff Hardy. I don’t need to see Jeff Hardy wrestle again. The entertainment value of watching Jeff is so small compared to thinking of if and when he’ll fall off the wagon.

AEW Dynamite 4/12/2023 Match Ratings and Commentary

The Problem with Jeff Hardy