Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Grand Slam Mexico with MJF vs. Mistico, Zeuxis vs. Mercedes Mone for the CMLL Women’s Championship, Kazuchika Okada vs. Mark Briscoe in a non-title match

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

AEW Dynamite Hits

MJF vs. Mistico: I’m now convinced that MJF has been El Grande Americano all along! Anyway, Mistico’s sing-along entrance made him look like a bigger star than he did during any of his previous AEW television appearances, and it was fun to see him in front of work in front of his home promotion fans. MJF’s old-school heel spots and getting help from the other Hurt Syndicate members drew good heat from the hot live crowd. The cheap finish was lousy, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the overall segment. MJF stealing Mistico’s mask was good for heat and presumably sets up a rematch. Will it happen at All In Texas?

Jon Moxley, Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, Wheeler Yuta, and The Beast Mortos vs. Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata in a ten-man tag team match: The better of two big tag team matches, both in terms of star power and execution. Moxley winning after a distraction and while holding a handful of tights was another poor finish, but the post-match angle with Hangman Page helped close the show on a high note.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Mark Briscoe in a non-title match: A logical clean win for Okada. In fact, I wondered going in if they might surprise us by having Okada go over quickly and decisively to give him momentum heading into his All In Texas match with Kenny Omega. It was more competitive than it needed to be given the circumstances, but it was still a solid television win for Okada.

Mascara Dorada vs. Ricochet vs. Hologram vs. Lio Rush in a Four Million Pesos four-way match: A crowd-pleasing spot-fest in spite of the silly financial stakes. Tony Khan’s recent fondness for booking matches with a mythical prize money is a groaner, regardless of the currency. It might be different if these matches weren’t so random, and if a wrestler winning the money actually led to something creative from a storytelling standpoint.

AEW Dynamite Misses

Bandido, Adam Cole, Daniel Garcia, Brody King, Templario, Atlantis, and Atlantis Jr. vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer, Hechicero, Dax Harwood, and Volador Jr. in a 14-man tag team match: Good action? Yes. Hot crowd? Absolutely. A 14-man tag match on the same show as a 10-man tag match? It’s just not for me. Furthermore, the inside cradle finish with Harwood being pinned by 62-year-old surely did more for the live crowd that recognizes Atlantis as a legend than it did for most television viewers outside Mexico.

Lack of build for All In Texas, lack of hype for upcoming shows: With only three matches advertised and just a few weeks out from All In Texas, AEW didn’t announce any new matches and did the bare minimum to promote the company’s biggest show of the year. AEW had two-and-a-half hours to work with, yet they couldn’t be bothered to advertise any matches for Collision’s return to Saturday night after a few-week hiatus, nor did they announce any matches for next week’s Dynamite, which is the first show in a month without a theme.

Zeuxis vs. Mercedes Mone for the CMLL Women’s Championship: A minor Miss. Great, Mercedes won another title that most fans outside of the promotion it represents don’t care about. At least Toni Storm’s gumshoe video and post-match attack were fun.

Hangman Page’s promo: A minor Miss. I like the idea of having Page speak to the Arena Mexico fans in Spanish. It was cool for the live crowd and presumably for viewers who are fluent in Spanish, but the way it was executed left me feeling like it should have been brief or even done before the television show started. It would have been better if Excalibur were even half as good as NJPW’s Chris Charlton at delivering concise translations for English-speaking fans. The simple fix would have been for Hangman and the production team to get on the same page before the show so that subtitles could have been displayed while he was delivering his promo.