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

Show Highlight—

Opening 8 Man Tag. Hot opener that effectively juggled a couple of balls: gave Cole a win, put Roddy in his first AEW match, and gave Bandido something to do to avoid being in that weird, AEW-weeks-long-unexplained-absence-abyss. Great fire shown by Adam Cole to run right after Jericho to kick his ass. It’s what a babyface is supposed to do, but there’s been a couple weeks of babyfaces being idiots on AEW TV in service of storyline progression.

What Worked—

BCC Promo. Sound issues? No fucking way they’re gonna sell 93,173 tickets to Wembley with that rinky-dink mud-show malarkey! Anywoohoo, I loved that Danielson outright called Wheeler a little shit, just to keep adding on those slights towards Yuta to motivate his inevitable emancipation.
Shida stays face. With wrestling as post-modern as it is today, I’ll still get an endorphin hit when a company makes a point to not do the stupid swerve and let’s you believe the people creating the content aren’t absolute dolts. Shida needed to stay face. Recycling the angle of DDP not joining the nWo was perfect in this scenario, too.
MJF. I’ll never understand how people think he’s not the most entertaining performer in the industry. His explanation and sell of why he drove off without Sammy last week was all-time hilarious.
Briscoe’s Farm. I’m sure the outtakes and unused footage was even better than what they showed on TV.

What Didn’t Work—

Fuck front row fans. We’re going to Dynamite in Detroit next week, and already I’m embarrassed for whatever cheesedicks will be in the front row, standing—because they just can’t ever sit now can they?—like in their own minds they’re really part of the show. MJF’s grandpa wasn’t as bad as some of the recent narcissists but boy do I wish Satnam just stood at ringside for every match and ruined the show for them in retaliation.
Keeping Strong Strong. I wish he had a singles match. And it may be an overwrought reach, but you could humor the optics of asking if Jay White got a featured match the week after his debut, why didn’t Roddy? It isn’t such a leap to wonder if AEW didn’t think he was enough of a draw or a big enough name to carry the Cole/Jericho angle. And if that was the case, why did they sign him? Signings like this are why I’m all for a brand split as guys like Roddy will get their individual shine to have great matches and build younger talent while not having to share a segment with 10 other talents.

Show Cringe—

Nappy poo. I hate what modern wrestling has done to battle royals and this was a stinker, with even more egregious sleeping and lying around than most.

AEW Dynamite 5/3/2023 Match Ratings and Commentary

AEW Rampage 5/5/23 Match Ratings