AEW Dynamite 7/19/2023 Match Ratings and Commentary
‘87 Bash Inspired (Credit-AEW)
Here’s how we rated last week’s AEW Dynamite from Boston. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Dynamite - 7/19/2023
Jack Perry def. Hook to win the FTW Championship: ★★★
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. def. Kayla Sparks: ★
MJF and Adam Cole def. Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia: ★★
The Golden Elite def. BCC and Konosuke Takeshita and PAC in Blood & Guts: ★★★
MJF Doing Highspots (Credit-AEW)
Show Highlight—
Blood & Guts. The story of the match worked great and had the appropriate sendoff: the bond between The Golden Elite is stronger than the hatred and violence of the BCC and BCC’s mercenaries abandon them because they’re dicks. Great. Not so great were the litany of little things which complied took me out of the match: why does every modern War Games match have to have plunder; why does ever modern War Games match have the epic standoff spot; how can you walk out and quit on the team (twice!) but that not be a surrender; why do wrestlers escape the cage every time AEW runs B&G; why did Nick Jackson have to enter the match like he’s fucking Road Warrior Hawk; why does the camera crew cut to the worst possible angles they can capture throughout the match and make this match, something brewing for 9 months, inarguably worse shot than Anarchy in the Arena which was not contained whatsoever; how does the camera crew manage to show so much napping/resting before their cue like it’s a modern Royal Rumble; how does a bed of nails become another mid-match accessory that doesn’t play into the finish?…You get it. I’d love to see the next Blood & Guts match on PPV before they run another on TV again, just to see how that would land differently.
But holy fuck that poster is great.
What Worked—
Jack Perry vs. Hook. If there was ever a (seemingly) demarcation between Dynamite and Collision it was their promoted title matches, with this being the opposite of the 2/3 falls match with every booking smoke and mirrors trick to make Hook look strong in defeat.
With Nick Wayne on the roster as the token young kid, Hook has an opportunity to tweak himself a little bit as the undefeated rookie bit always meanders into a narrative that runs its course.
(Beyond one thing I’ll point out later) Jack Perry has a new look and schtick that feels like it’s going to be more successful. They made a point to have his character make a point to ditch “Tarzan Boy” as his entrance, which I’ll greatly miss and rightfully so—it was the 9th best cut from the soundtrack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. I was hit or miss on how effective Perry’s turn was until he smiled as hooked Hook for the pin. That gleam was the first time Jack Perry has looked entirely comfortable on television all throughout 2023.
MJF is still a genius—still. Remember when the thought was MJF was to blame for the predication the buyrates would plummet for Double or Nothing and that he wasn’t a draw? Motherfucker got louder pops for a cheesy remix, cheesy dance off, cheesy dive, and cheesiest double clothesline spot than arguably anything in the Blood & Guts match that had been building for nearly a year. Remember his deleted tweet about saving your body and not doing dangerous moves? Guess who was right? Even if MJF and Cole turn on each other and run that for one of the main events of All In, and yes, that will upset fans that want to see MJF as a babyface, but at the very least, you’d have to say this was one of the better builds to a PPV main event this year.
What Didn’t Work—
Jack Perry’s booties. In Perry’s bad cover version of Darby Allin’s home movies, he drags “Jungle Boy” to his Casino-esque death but the last shot we see are the Peter Pan boots, so why was he wearing black fringy, feathery clodhoppers?
Show Cringe—
Justin Roberts. Nothing says brace yourself for unwatchable acts of violence then his radiant, beaming mugging introducing the start of the match. Jesus, just work a deal out with Trips for Regal to do it for no reason other than not seeing this cheesedick. He manages to be tonally wrong for damn near entirely every scenario.
Sports Entertainment (Credit-AEW)
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