Review: ‘AEW: Dynamite’ shapes immediate future with Inner Circle

All Elite Wrestling’s weekly television show “Dynamite” enjoyed a hot debut last week that sparked widespread acclaim and the attention of 1.4 million viewers. Wednesday, AEW looked to continue stoking the flames of success by using Chris Jericho’s staple unveiling and future match set ups as kindling to eventually burn the bigger houses down.

The Bucks started here. Cornerstone tag team The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) wrestled the similarly styled Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) in the first round of a tag tournament. Though the high-Paced match was no deviation from typical Young Bucks performances, fans had a special appreciation for the contest, demonstrated by chants of “Tag team wrestling” echoing through Agganis Arena. Though Boston is known for passionate support of successful teams, tag wrestling often just tags along in a wrestling show, so the reception was a welcome detour from the oft-traveled road to paired apathy.

The upstart Private Party upended the veteran Young Bucks with a rollup that advanced them to the next round. The booking decision was a wise move to established lesser-known commodities as a legitimate force unfamiliar fans should keep  excited eyes on.

The Young Bucks preceded the old Lionheart. Two Americans, two Mexians and a Canadian strutting into an arena was not a punchline, rather the premise of the next scene. Jericho unveiled his new stable The Inner Circle during a scintillating soliloquy expertly delivered to the audience’s delight and World Wrestling Entertainment’s behest. Jericho introduced the group, jabbed WWE’s “stupid idea” of giving Jack Swagger (now Inner Circle henchman Jake Hager) a stereotypical patriot gimmick and  lit up censors by threatening to kick the s— out of Cody Rhodes at the next pay-per-view Full Gear.

Once Jericho dropped the mic, Darby Allin and Jimmy Havoc worked to in kayfabe establish a number one contender for the world title next week and in reality to prove they are both more than a pestilent face. The two expanded upon their hardcore repitoire with uncharacterisitcally technical means of brutality. A Sleeper suplex onto the arena floor, Death Valley Drivers and a Tiger Driver 98 reverted the mood to All Japan Pro Wrestling’s heyday. Allin  ultimately laid Havoc’s title aspiration to rest with a Coffin Drop.

After a forgettable time-filling women’s tag match, Jon “Don’t Call Me Dean” Moxley made his AEW televised match debut against “The Chairman” Shawn Spears, accompanied by underrated legend Tully Blanchard. Fellow disgruntled WWE alumnus Pac (Neville in WWE) called the action. “Calling the action” is a generous term, given Pac complained about being snubbed for title contention despite compiling a nearly undefeated record the last two years.

While Pac’s perturbed nature recalls King Neville, Moxley donning trunks instead of ratty jeans required an adjustment. The former Lunatic Fringe selected snapmares over snapping during the contest until his hand was victoriously raised. 

After the match, rival Kenny Omega brought the vicious visual aids of a barbed wire broom and baseball bat to remind Moxley of his chaotic comfort zone. Moxley graciously accepted Omega’s baseball bat offering not for sport, but for bloodlust. Before the canvas could be bathed in blood, Pac stroked Omega’s head with a steel chair. Dumbfounded commentators interpreted the visual with more shock than a Fransisco Goya painting,  wondering aloud if Pac and Moxley have formed an unlikely alliance.  

This segment presented positives and negatives. Delivering the bad news first: Moxley in trunks looks generic and is an underdog that needs to show bite rather than restraint at every turn. As such, his development slightly regressed from the callous crash through glass last week.

On the bright side, AEW’s immediate acknowledgement that Pac has ample verbal skills and a vicious side supplementing his aerial displays is a promising indicator that Pac won’t suffer the pigeonholing WWE inflicted. The chair shot heard around the interweb provides a solid foundation to build an eventual Pac/Moxley feud, which of course features substantial name recognition. 

The main event of Jericho and Guevara against Hangman Page and Dustin Rhodes acted as another pawn in AEW’s quest to promote future kings of wrestling.  The match itself was a solid blend of showmanship, flash and fundamentals. However, the aftermath got the crowd and social media buzzing. In typical heel stable fashion, the new Inner Circle demonstrated Herculean strength in numbers, battering Rhodes and Page with fists and weapons until the lights unexpectedly went out. Fans roared in approval when Cody Rhodes appeared from the darkness to stealthily hit Cross Roads on Guevara and confront Jericho. His advance was interrupted by remaining Inner Circle members evened the odds. Allin skated to the ring and with the physical ferocity of an avid hipster’s verbal assault on modernism, attacked Jericho to conclude the show. Although a fun idea, this wild segment felt too Ring of Honor/late WCW-esque to maximize intended effects.

Wednesday’s show contained some hitches and considerably less burst than last week’s full-sprint spectacle. Regardless, week two got critical components off to a running start. 

Rating: 6.5/10

One element not aforementioned is the typical commentary team. Venerable veteran Tony Schiavone leads arguably the all-time greatest commentator Jim Ross and retired wrestler Excalibur. Excalibur chimes in with intelligent insight and Schiavone has clearly not lost an ounce of passion or ability in his decade-plus absence from commentating wrestling. Unfortunately, decline has derailed Ross. Once the embodiment of vocal excitement, “Good Ol’ JR” has devolved into “Grumpy Old Jim Ross.” He treats Excalibur coldly and usually seems as interested in AEW’s product as Al Bundy is in his wife’s promiscuity. 

Fortunately for fans, AEW’s outlook appears far sexier.