Just a month after the very polarizing AEW Revolution event, the company was back on pay-per-view for the Dynasty presentation in Philadelphia, and truth be told, I wasn’t expecting much from this show, mostly because I find the ongoing storylines within the promotion to be rudderless. However, Dynasty, as is the case with almost every All Elite pay-per-view, highlighted some of the bright spots of the organization, which might actually make the whole situation more frustrating because the brand undoubtedly has the assets to be much bigger than it is right now.
The show opened with Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight in the first round of the Owen Hart memorial tournament. First and most importantly, it should be noted that regardless of any of the rightful criticism of the All Elite product, it’s truly wonderful that Owen Hart is being honored by the current generation of the industry. It’s understandable that Martha Hart wouldn’t want to associate with WWE, as she acknowledged that Owen’s tragic death was an accident, but she didn’t want the same company to profit from his legacy. So, if AEW is a platform where she’s comfortable with the use of his name, and as a way to raise more awareness for the Owen Hart foundation charity then it’s great that there’s a tournament to recognize the accomplishments of one of the best in-ring performers in the history of the business that was gone way too soon.
That being said, much like the case with most of these types of matches in AEW, in a vacuum there was a very impressive amount of athleticism, but within the context of a nearly four and a half hour PPV, this bout was a microcosm of many of the mishaps of the promotion as a whole. Kevin Knight has only been on the roster for a week, and while he has a background in New Japan Pro Wrestling, he wasn’t a major star in the company, and more importantly, the vast majority of the All Elite audience has no idea who he is. That’s not a knock on his talent, but rather a misstep from the office for putting him in this position. Ospreay is talented enough to be the franchise guy for All Elite in many of the same ways that AJ Styes was the franchise star for TNA as far as the performer most representative of the brand, and if this run in the Owen tournament culminates with him winning the championship then it’s a wise decision. For whatever reason, Ospreay was detoured more often than not in his AEW career so far for the five-star classics instead of a storyline that could draw bigger money. I’m not sure if his start in the tournament really sets up for a peak moment at the All In Texas pay-per-view in July.
As I said, this match represented a lot of what’s wrong with the AEW philosophy or lack thereof. This was the first match on the card and it was a 15-minute fire works show. Within the first three minutes of the match, Ospreay did a dive to the floor, there were bumps on the floor, and of course, Knight had to kick out of many of Ospreay’s signature moves. In fact, these two traded so many high spots and maneuvers throughout the segment that viewers more or less have seen everything during the first match on the show so what’s the rest of the card supposed to do? Furthermore, besides the fact that Knight is a relative unknown to the AEW audience, he went 50/50 with Ospreay, which certainly doesn’t make the British grappler look like someone that is ready to win the world championship. I understand that the counterpoint to this might be that they wanted to make Knight look strong, but sometimes the bigger picture should be the priority. Ospreay challenging for the world title in Texas is going to draw more money than making Knight look like a contender during his first week in the company. Aside from that, there’s a 50/50 chance that Knight gets forgotten about as soon as Tony Khan signs someone else to the roster. Ospreay got the victory, and it was a very athletic match, but I think it’s fair to say that its placement as the opener hindered the rest of the show.
Surprisingly, the tag title match was next as a way to wisely pace the show, and the 10-minute segment was exactly what it was supposed to be, it showcased The Hurt Syndicate. Big Bill had his moments to shine too, which was smart, as he’s done remarkably better than anyone probably would’ve guessed when he started in the company. It’s a credit to Big Bill as a performer that he cleaned up his life and has done as well as he has, especially after it looked like his career might’ve been over several years ago. The Hurt Syndicate retrained.
Mercedes Mone/Julia Hart in the first round of the women’s division of the Owen tournament was decent, there were a few small miscues, but overall, they each showcased their skills. That being said, I don’t think there was much drama and the crowd was relatively quiet for a portion of the segment because they knew Mone wasn’t going to be eliminated, and that it’s simply difficult to follow the opener. As expected, Mone won to advance to the next round. The trios title match was in the same category, the audience knew that the death riders weren’t dropping the title, and a heel turn was hinted at for the past few weeks so the crowd wasn’t too invested into the actual contest so they were waiting to see what would happen during the post-match heel turn. It was clever that initially it was booked to make it look as though Dax went rouge, only to reveal that Cash was in on it as well. Truthfully, the way that FTR were underutilized, specifically when they played second fiddle to The Young Bucks, most of their All Elite career it makes sense for a heel turn since it gives them a chance for a fresh chapter. That being said, I don’t know if another Copeland injury angle was the most effective way to turn them heel. There was already a Copeland injury angle previously, as well as a legitimate injury when he broke his leg in a cage match last year so it won’t have the same level of heat since it’s repetitive. Furthermore, I’d say that Copeland’s stint in All Elite has been rather underwhelming, especially after the snooze fest of a main event that he had with Moxley last month so the draw for what he does next might be minimal.
Toni Storm vs. Megan Bayne was very well done, as she made the less experienced Bayne look like a contender and still protected her as to not expose the inexperience at this level. Toni made her opponent look good, still got her own gimmick over, and the roll up finish leaves the door open for a potential rematch in the future. Toni retained the belt and remains one of the few consistent characters in the organization.
Kyle Fletcher/Mark Briscoe was a really solid match that proved how underutilized Mark Briscoe still is, and how Fletcher continues to develop as a very entertaining heel. This match more or less avoided the bad habits on the opener, while still working the style that the audience expects from an All Elite pay-per-view. The brain buster on the apron and then the brain buster on the turnbuckle gave a context and purpose to the moves throughout the contest. Fletcher got the win after Briscoe took one of the more brutal bumps of the match so the conclusion made sense, especially because he didn’t kick out of everything before the finish.
The Ring Of Honor title match was where the show started to get long. Jericho is in a league of his own in terms of a unique legacy, but at 54, it’s understandable that he isn’t going to keep up with the luchador that’s 25 years younger than him. The nearly 20-minute bout should’ve been given about half that time because the longer the match went on, the more that it became obvious that Bandido had to slow down his routine for Jericho. The power bomb from the apron to the floor was brutal. The finish was convoluted, as the refs wouldn’t restart the match based on simply finding the bat at ringside, but given that there’s zero cache for the ROH title, the argument is moot. Bandido won the championship, but that will probably be irreverent in the grand scheme of things.
In a similar way, the TNT title match just dragged throughout the time it was given on the card, not because of any subpar performance, but rather that it was two hours and 40 minutes into the show by the time the bell rang. The match was fine, but it was nothing “must see” at almost 11 PM and it more or less got lost in the shuffle of the rest of the pay-per-view. Adam Cole won the title, but does that really accomplish anything? Is Daniel Garcia more over because he had a reign as TNT champion? Are the fans suddenly going to be more invested into Adam Cole as a performer because he won the TNT title?
The final two matches can be put in the same category because they were both thirty minutes, and aside from being completely unnecessary, it made for a very, very tedious viewing experience. Did either of this matches need a half an hour? The three-way match seemed like Tony just wanted to shoehorn another name on the card, and the segment didn’t have a solid storyline behind it so why did it need thirty minutes? Omega retained the title, but this wasn’t a scenario where there was an anticipation for the winner, but rather for the match to be over to get closer to the end of the show.
The main event was almost a retread of the bland Moxley/Edge match from last month, it had a very deliberate and clunky pace that made it a chore to watch after the event stretched past midnight. It had the same tiresome NWO-type ending that eventually destroyed the momentum that WCW had during its peak, and it’s getting to the point that Moxley matches aren’t worth watch because the viewers know that a scenario can’t be the finish until there’s a run-in from the best of the stable. Speaking of a tiresome shtick, The Young Bucks returned to help Moxley retain the championship, which doesn’t make sense, considering the Moxley “takeover” was originally portrayed as a threat to their EVP status in the company. Sure, The Young Bucks were gone for about six months, but was anyone looking forward to when they returned?
This was another bland and boring Moxley main event. Maybe there’s a major plan that propels Will Ospreay into the position as the top guy at All In in July, but even if that’s the case, will the fans still care when it happens? I’ve written before that Moxley was the MVP of the company when the office needed someone to count on during the CM Punk/Elite debacle a few years ago, but the drek of the current run as champion is tarnishing his AEW career.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
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