Welcome or welcome back to our weekly AEW Dynamite hits and misses series where we recap some of the biggest highlights (and underwhelming moments) from the show.
Last night’s Dynamite: Winter Is Coming special continued the build towards Worlds End. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley and PAC) took on Orange Cassidy and Jay White in the opening match. The Women’s World Title match closed the show.
Here’s what went down on the December 11 episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite.
Miss – Opening match on AEW Dynamite
This match underdelivered despite the hype it got from AEW social media team. Adam Page’s run-in made things a little exciting. Mox now has not one, not two but three opponents to take care of at Worlds End. The post-match promo looked weird. Mox really needs to stop talking in riddles because his promos are only making The Death Riders storyline complicated that is already is.
Hit – Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Another weekly classic from Ospreay against the muscle of The Death Riders. Claudio’s strength is just other worldly. His upper cuts can take the head off of a normal human being. The steel steps spot could’ve been avoided. AEW needs to tone down the use of foreign objects in no DQ matches. All the nearfalls post these spots really affect the believability element. Ospreay’s surprise pinfall win protected Castagnoli from a clean finish.
Miss – MJF arrives only to get superkicked on AEW Dynamite
They should’ve pulled the trigger on MJF versus Cole at Full Gear. The current direction makes it seem AEW is just trying to drag the storyline. Fans in attendance didn’t care enough for Cole versus O’Reilly despite it being a solid match. Max’s run-in lasted for about a second as he got superkicked right in the cranium and then ran away, again. Let’s see if he’s able to retain his AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring at Worlds End.
Hit – Brody King vs. Ricochet
The crowd turned on Ricochet as soon as he went for the exposed turnbuckle. He may get similar treatment on future AEW shows. AEW needs to see if they can continue with Ricochet as a babyface because they can’t solely rely on his in-ring skills. He needs a mouthpiece. As for the match, Body King works the tweener part really well, and is one of the most believable big men between the ropes.
Miss – Chris Jericho segment on AEW Dynamite
Man, what are they thinking with these Chris Jericho segments on television. It has gotten to the point that it’s annoying. I guess that’s the point, but it’s not working in a positive way. Y2J seems to be stuck in the nineties with the type of comedy, if that what he calls it, he’s giving AEW fans week in and out. Jericho and Cardona will sign their contract for the ROH World Title on ROH TV this week.
Hit – Mariah May vs. Mina Shirakawa
Arguably, Mariah’s best title defense to date. Mina really brought out the best in her former tag team partner and best friend. The nearfalls made for some convincing storytelling. Post-match, we got the return of Toni Storm making this writer think we might be in store for a multi-woman world title match.
Check out everything that went down on AEW Dynamite here.
How would you rate AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming on a scale of 1 to 10? Let us know in the comments!
