AEW Winter Is Coming 2022 Match Ratings and Commentary
Wonder If They’ll Make A Shirt Out Of This… (Credit-AEW)
Here’s where we landed with this year’s Winter Is Coming from a hotter than hell suburban Dallas crowd. Curious how we rank matches? We’ve got a rubric for that.
AEW Dynamite - 12/14/2022
The Elite def. Death Triangle: ★★★
“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry def. Brian Cage: ★★
The House of Black def. The Factory: ★
Action Andretti def. Chris Jericho: ★★★
Ruby Soho def. Tay Melo: ★★
MJF def. Ricky Starks to retain the AEW World Championship: ★★★
Jericho and Andretti (Credit-AEW)
Show Highlight—
Action Andretti vs. Chris Jericho. What a perfectly executed moment of television! Jericho made Andretti an overnight star and the trigger was pulled at precisely the right time. It’s like the sequencing and segments of the show itself was set up to facilitate this big surprise. Multiple times throughout the match you thought they would or wouldn’t pull off the upset and they rode that wonderful tension to this euphoric ending. The crowd was hot, chanting, “Let’s go, Jobber!” throughout but doing it without irony. After some of the spite—rightfully accrued—regarding the length of the endless JAS vs. BCC saga, it made this surprise even more of a shock that it was timed with this much genius. Another career highlight for Jericho that he was able to facilitate such a moment. In a lot of ways, this made me think of Bret Hart’s bout against Tom Magee where Bret expertly sequenced the very best of Magee to make him look like the next Hogan, the only difference is, Andretti is leaps and bounds more charismatic and will be able to develop into a star on his own merit.
What Worked—
The crowd. What a fucking amazing atmosphere that must have been! That joy of wrestling translated through the television and that’s just what AEW needs. Texas crowds have been killing it. As much as one can armchair criticize how AEW seemingly goes to the same arenas all to frequently, Texas feels like their new Chicago.
Nick Jackson losing. This show was trope heavy, arguably consciously or unconsciously to service the Andretti angle, but I got the fear that they were going to have The Elite win with Nick’s early exit in storyline to serve a heroic, Roman Reigns in-the-Rumble-return-to-the-match blather that made Nick Jackson a sometimes derided seller in the past. But they didn’t, and Nick logically and simply lost with the ol’ hammer to the ankle finish to set up the series of gimmick matches to spruce up the back half of the best of seven series. Even though these matches have all been awesome, I still kinda wish they would finish it off early for another surprise and subversion of the expected, but with the thought of a trios ladder match dangling in front of the audience, it would be hard to withhold that from the fans now.
Hook + Jungle Boy. I love this.
House of Black. Beyond the Cody-verse derailment, maybe what snubbed the heat from Malakai Black in this first run with AEW was the fact he was more often than not presented as a heel. If he got to be a face in the vein of say, what the Undertaker was in 1992, holy shit could that be a future PPV main event must-see against MJF.
Main event pre-tape promos. This doesn’t need to happen every week, but when there’s a themed Dynamite such as this, devoting just a little time to each competitor for the main event creates drama and makes it feel like we’re watching a special match. TV time is precious with such a loaded roster, but let’s not act like Austin, Vince, and The Rock weren’t in multiple segments at the zenith of the Attitude Era. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t point out the difference Starks is pre-taped. It wasn’t shitty by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just noticeable still how much he comes alive when he’s feeling the audience live in the moment.
MJF vs. Starks. You didn’t really think they’d put Starks over MJF yet, did you? Maybe the surprise win earlier in the show created some misdirection, but Starks still looked great in his loss. And although it apparently didn’t work for everyone, I loved the finish itself. By virtue of a kick to the ol’ Starks-sack, MJF got to throw that cheap heat back into Starks’s face nuts as a shitty rebuttal for what Starks said about him in his legendary promo the week prior.
What Didn’t Work—
Jericho Appreciation Society backstage promo. Again, maybe, just maybe, this was all done just to set up the 1-2-3 Kid moment. I can’t imagine how they think there’s juice left to squeeze from this fucking rivalry. And Garcia is now reverting back to a mope with the same storyline as Spears mentoring Wardlow earlier this year? “I like this hat” is as grating as “Bye, Felicia.”
Show Cringe—
Jeff Jarrett vs. The Acclaimed. If Tony can get his hands on the IP for “Rap is Crap” like he did for The Hardyz and NBA themes, then maybe this won’t die a horrible death. Otherwise it’s gonna be like Jurassic Park without dinosaurs. Speaking of which, it’s not hyperbolic to simply, flatly state Jeff Jarrett wrestling on television appeals to nobody. I get it in real life, you don't wanna overexpose Satnam Singh, but there has to be a kayfabe explanation for why Jay Lethal doesn’t tag with Singh but chooses Cosplay Crocodile Dundee. If irritant, change-the-channel-heat is all they’re summoning, pair Double J with Sammy.
The New Mega Powers! (Credit-AEW)
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