Dynasty 2024 kicked off with Okada vs. PAC. The crowd was a bit quieter for this than I expected, though they did get "liver" as the match wore on. The finish was never really in question as Okada is going to need some signature wins to establish himself and PAC is a great opponent for that aim because of his top-shelf execution and the respect he's earned from the AEW audience. The lack of real heat hurt this match more than anything they did or didn't do. A good match that didn't reach the level of "great" that people probably hoped for despite getting plenty of time to get there. (3/5)
A six-man followed as Mark Briscoe, Adam Copeland, and Eddie Kingston took on The House of Black (Malachi Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews). After the match went 20+ minutes, I was shocked that this match got so much time. There were some cool spots, but this match felt like it "peaked" a couple 4-5 minutes before we actually got to the finish and the crowd seemed to be bored with it by the end. It also goes to show that the wrestling that we see on TV every week is at such a high level that a match like this - which, again, had some really cool moments (all three of the babyfaces hitting spears at the same time, a cool front-flip splash from Briscoe) - comes across as just kinda average. (2.5/5)
The TBS Championship was on the line next as Julia Hart defended against Willow Nightingale. I liked this match, though will readily admit it wasn't some all-time great or, as the kids would say, a "banger." Julia Hart has improved over the years and, along with Brody King, makes up the better and more interesting half of House of Black. I really hope that if/when Black and Buddy Murphy make their departure, Hart and Brody are pushed strongly because they have both been doing great work. Good action here and I'm glad they didn't go overboard with multiple false finishes and kickouts. They didn't need to. I wasn't intrigued with the post-match, though, as Mercedes Monee came out and stole Willow's thunder. Didn't we just see this with Danielson and Eddie Kingston a couple months back on Collision? I read after-the-fact that Hart was injured coming into this match, but she didn't half-ass it one bit and really gave her all to give Nightingale a big win despite their feud taking a backseat behind Monee's debut since the former Sasha Banks showed up. (2/5)
Roderick Strong defended his International Championship next against former stablemate Kyle O'Reilly. Compared to Strong's feud with Orange Cassidy building up to his title win, this felt really cold and the crowd was not super into any of it, even the finishing stretch. Kinda like the six-man tag, this one felt like it ran a good 3-5 minutes too long and "peaked" long before it ended. I like O'Reilly, but he needed more high-profile wins to make him seem like a true contender, while Strong could've used a few more high-profile defenses to give the title the same credibility that Orange Cassidy gave it. The action and work was good - with these two, the chemistry is obviously not an issue and they are not at all afraid to hit each other hard (even with KOR coming off an injury) - but this might've had the littlest amount of "heat" of any match on the card. The finish was also confusing as Wardlow made his way out to the ring, didn't really do much, but, on commentary, was referenced as the key factor in Strong's victory. How so? (2.5/5)
I was expecting to loathe the next match: HOOK vs. Jericho for the FTW Championship (because AEW seemingly doesn't have enough singles titles for guys to fight over) in a match fought under "FTW Rules" (no DQ, falls count anywhere). Their match on Dynamite (or was it Collision?) a few weeks back was interesting because HOOK essentially dominated Jericho. Still, this whole storyline has reeked off re-heated leftovers as we've seen Jericho serve as the mentor or tag partner to any number of guys over the years and, in none of the cases, have we really seen the chemistry that Jericho showed in the WWE with guys like Kevin Owens, Big Show, and others. In AEW, we've seen Jericho have extended storylines with MJF, Sammy Guevara, Daniel Garcia, Action Andretti, Adam Cole...and while they have produced some good moments, it's essentially been the same story over and over as Jericho plays the mentor/Superstar and the young up-and-comer has to prove he can hang with the Ocho. The biggest issue, though, is just that Jericho hasn't taken more than a couple weeks or months off here or there since debuting in AEW and the audience, as we heard in this match, is clearly just sick of the guy. Jericho put on one of the best performance he's had in months...and the crowd still basically shit on him, breaking into chants of "Fozzy Sucks!" and "Go Home, Jericho, Go Home" at various points in the match. But, sadly, it wasn't like they were actively cheering HOOK either, who is still noticeably green. I don't like trash can spots - they sound better than they look - but the suplex through the table on the outside was nasty and, at one point, Jericho looked like he might've had his head cracked open when he took a German Suplex on the floor. This match didn't necessarily need 17 minutes, but it didn't feel overlong like the other matches because, even if he has been overexposed and desperately needs to step out of the spotlight, Jericho still has aura and knows how to build a match's suspense. He's a pro's pro in a company with many guys who haven't worked at his level and it shows. I've read a number of reviews that want to shit on this match because of how tired they are of Jericho, which isn't really speaking about the quality of the match itself, which was compelling and had more heat - "go away" or not - than any of the matches that came before it (despite those matches featuring much better technical wrestling and high-flying and high spots and all those things that wrestling fans love). I wouldn't call this a "must see" match, but it was an interesting one to watch unfold and exceeded my expectations due to Jericho's effort and ability. (3/5)
Toni Storm vs. Thunder Rosa for Storm's AEW Women's Championship followed. I'm a big fan of Storm, but have seen less of Rosa's "high end" work. I thought Toni looked great when she's on offense while Rosa looked a little sloppy at times. Toni Storm reminds me of Goldust in 96' at times - a brilliant gimmick that is over and gets great reactions, but when the bell rings, you don't get that same level of "holy cow." Rosa, meanwhile, is someone I want to root for, especially coming off an injury, but I never got the sense that the live crowd - or the fans online - were really behind her. A decent match and one that was better than what you usually get in a TV match, but the AEW Women's division is clearly not at the same level as the WWE's if one would consider this the best they could offer in the spring of 2024. (2/5)
Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay was next up. The crowd was absolutely hype for this and these two did not disappoint, delivering one of the best matches of the year. I'm not sure I'd go as far as Dave Meltzer, who called this one of the best matches in US history, but in terms of modern wrestling, this was as good as anything that has ever been done in that style. Ospreay is an incredible athlete and is able to bust out moves that regularly blow my mind (at one point, he did a backwards flip off of Danielson's chest), but I won't deny that it was the American Dragon who wowed me even more. Danielson's execution of every move, counter, dodge, strike, and bump was not just flawless, it was spirited and emotional. There's no doubt that a guy like Roderick Strong or PAC has the athletic ability to do every move that Danielson can do and more, but Danielson's brilliance is that he does the little things that make these moves pop and feel like he is inflicting serious pain on his opponent. I loved the variety of submissions. I loved the back-and-forth action early and the way both guys made us wait for their big impact moves through cut-offs and counters. Ospreay's Shining Wizard on the outside was gnarly. The final 10 minutes kicked this match up to an even higher degree as we saw insane counters and cut-offs, including Danielson hitting a Busaiku Knee to prevent Ospreay from hitting an off-the-ropes Wizard. I loved the finish too - and, personally, from what I saw (without the benefit of replay), it looked like Danielson took the Tiger Driver 98' perfectly (natch) - as they had built up to it over the course of the match. I wrote a few weeks/months back somewhere that I did not want to see Danielson attempt to take the move and it still made me gasp watching it, especially after 35?+ minutes in the ring, but, man, what else could've put this one to bed? Tremendous match and easily among the top 50-100 I've ever seen, but I'm not sure I'd put it in the top 20. (4.5/5)
The vacant AEW World Tag Team Championships were up for grabs (literally) in a ladder match between FTR and The Young Bucks. These teams were fighting an uphill battle to start as they had to follow an easy MOTY candidate. The Bucks have also become even more controversial as workers and characters over the past 3 months than ever before as many fans have turned on them in the wake of their new EVP storyline. Fortunately, they have great chemistry with FTR and also had the benefit of being able to work this as a wild TLC match, filling it up with a whole bunch of great spots. I'm as tired of convoluted, PG-rated ladder matches as anyone, but this was not that. We got blood. We got big table spots. We got Cash Wheeler dropping groin-first on a ladder. It is in these types of matches that AEW really differentiates itself from the much tamer hardcore matches that the WWE puts on. The Bucks and FTR didn't reinvent the TLC concept here, but they absolutely delivered the goods and made this feel as violent and personal as it needed to be. The finish, which saw the return of Jack Perry, got a huge reaction and didn't feel like too much of a letdown as both teams got to shine and it protected FTR in the loss. Great, great match. (4/5)
Main event time - Swerve Strickland challenging Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship. Swerve was mega-over with this crowd. Like FTR and the Bucks before them, Joe and Swerve had a tough task. Yes, the crowd was red hot and did not seem fatigued at all by witnessing two back-to-back excellent matches, but anything short of "really good" was likely to be viewed as an underwhelming close to the show. Of course, Samoa Joe can be counted on in these sort of situations, his batting average near 1.000 since joining AEW (honestly, I can't recall him having a bad match, though I'm sure there was at least one at his age). Joe controlled the early going, which is never a bad thing because he is so good at pacing a match and that layout - while nothing revolutionary - added gravitas and made this feel like a real Big Fight Title Bout. Strickland did a good job selling and fighting from underneath, but I do kinda wish he had found a way to integrate some of his heelishness into this match rather than wrestling it as a straight-up underdog babyface against Joe The Monster. While not as good as either of the matches before it, the red hot crowd and spirited, crowd-pleasing finishing stretch pushed this one very close to "must see" territory. (3.5/5)
Earning a strong 3-out-of-5 on the Kwang Meter, the first ever Dynasty PPV was an above-average show featuring at least two potential Top 10 Matches of the Year in the unbelievable Ospreay/Danielson match and the ridiculously fun Tag Team Championship Ladder bout. Though I haven't seen many AEW pay-per-views, I thought this show was a little bit of a step down from Revolution (which earned a 3.17 rating), but still largely entertaining with only a few matches really not clicking, specifically the Women's Championship bouts, the somewhat pedestrian 6-tag, and the undercooked and overlong O'Reilly/Strong matches.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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