AEW Dynamite – 6/28/2023

By / / Television Reviews

In the first AEW Dynamite after Forbidden Door, John Moxley battled Tomohiro Ishii, a trios match featuring Orange Cassidy, Hijo del Vikingo, and Keith Lee taking on the JAS, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara tagging against Sting and Darby Allin, and The Elite versus the Dark Order. NOTE: The promoted match between Britt Baker and Ruby Soho was postponed due to Baker being sent home with the same Flu that sidelined her boyfriend from Forbidden Door.

Highlights:

  • Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii opened the show with exactly the kind of hard-hitting slugfest action you would expect between the two. Eddie Kingston came out halfway through to support Ishii when it looked like Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta might get involved. Clean win for Mox, but with several 1-count kick-outs by both men before the final bell rang. Renee Paquette attempted to play peacemaker between Mox and Kingston when their bickering followed them backstage after the match.
  • Backstage segment with Adam Cole and MJF running into each other in the parking lot with Renee. Fun segment with the unexpected turn of Max attempting to win Cole to his side, suggesting they hang out together, and even presenting new tag merchandise for the pair heading into the blind eliminator tag team tournament.
  • Backstage segment with Hangman Adam Page and the Young Bucks with an open trios challenge is interrupted by the Dark Order picking up the thread of Page walking away from them for The Elite and accepting the challenge not as friends but as opponents. The match featured John Silver, Evil Uno, and Alex Reynolds fighting their conflicted former friend for a bit of respect. While Page was reluctant to battle his former buds, they showed no such restraint to him or the Bucks. Eventually Hangman was dragged into the action and scored the win. After the match the Blackpool Combat Club hit the ring to attack the Elite and the Dark Order left without helping Hangman. Eddie Kingston did attempt a save but only got beaten down with The Elite as the BCC threw out the challenge for Blood & Guts on July 19th.
  • Renee interviewed Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara backstage about their main event tag tonight versus Darby Allin and Sting with Jericho threatening the return of the Painmaker which we saw later in the night in a tornado tag notable for a Darby spot on the barricade, Sting jumping from a ladder in the middle of the ring onto Sammy through a table, a Darby skateboard spot from the top turnbuckle, and both the young stars being taken out for extended time leading to Jericho and Sting alone in the final segment of the match until the Painmaker finally submitted to the Scorpion Deathlock.
  • Promo segment recapping Will Ospreay‘s win over Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door with Omega promising their battle isn’t over just yet.
  • During the intros we got to see how Orange Cassidy put together his trio with Keith Lee and Hijo del Vikingo. Some awkwardness in the presentation with the announcers talking over the recap video making it hard to hear what either of them were saying. The threesome took on JAS members Daniel Garcia and Angelo Parker and Matt Menard. Match was dominated by the JAS underhanded tag-team tactics, some highlight spots from del Vikingo, and Lee manhandling the opposition to eventually get the cover and win.

Less Notable:

  • With Dr. Britt Baker pulled for illness, Ruby Soho took on local talent with Toni Storm and Saraya at ringside. Followed by Soho’s tirade against Baker, the AEW originals, and the the AEW fans. Given the situation about the best AEW could do on short notice building up the match for its rescheduled date next week.
  • Recap of the Acclaimed segment from last week’s Rampage led into a backstage promo with Johnny TV, QT Marshall, and Harley Cameron.
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