Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite on August 28.
We are fresh off the All In pay-per-view where several titles changed hands, so the landscape of All Elite Wrestling looks very different than it did a week ago.
Here's a look at what the company advertised for Wednesday's show:
- Bryan Danielson and Mariah May celebrate winning world titles
- Ricochet vs. Kyle Fletcher
- Jamie Hayter vs. Harley Cameron
- The Learning Tree and Roderick Strong vs. The Conglomeration and Hook
- Adam Page vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Let's take a look at what happened on this week's Dynamite.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. 'Hangman' Adam Page
After a quick recap of All In, Jon Moxley made his way through the crowd to his New Japan Pro-Wrestling entrance music.
Tony Schiavone asked how he was, and Mox said he has been thinking about things that need to get done.
He said it was time he and Darby Allin had a talk before saying this was not the same company anymore. He walked away, leaving Schiavone befuddled in the ring.
After a quick interview, Ishii came out to take on Page in the opening match. His Conglomeration teammates opted to stay backstage. The two brawlers immediately started trading heavy shots and went for a long time.
This was in no way a technical exchange. These were two guys who liked to fight and did just that. The vast majority of offense was strike-based and neither man went easy on the other.
This was by no means a five-star clinic, but not every bout needs to be that. Sometimes it's fun to throw two bruisers in the ring and let them do what they do best. This was one of those times.
This match was almost a throwback due to how simple most of the offense was. They fought through two commercial breaks and managed to make this a fun contest because they made up for what they lacked in variety with physicality.
Hangman picked up a hard-fought win, but he was then angered to hear Swerve Strickland's music. They came face-to-face and Swerve said he feels sorry for Page because he has become a petulant child. They agreed to a cage match at All Out.
Result: Page defeated Ishii
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Losing "Wild Thing" may prove to be a mistake.
- Between Page and Moxley, AEW has lost two of its most iconic entrance songs in recent months. Maybe they will return someday.
- Ishii sold a DDT on the apron like he was a goner.
- Page came within inches of having a broken neck from Ishii's version of a Deadeye.
Jamie Hayter vs. Harley Cameron
Surprisingly, Cameron took control early against a returning Hayter, but that didn't last long.
The former AEW women's champion quickly turned the tables and stomped a mudhole in her.
Hayter blocked Cameron's finisher and yanked her off the mat to hit three backbreakers in a row. A Hayterade clothesline scored the win in just a few minutes.
This was short and predictable, but Hayter looked great and Cameron did a good job selling for her.
Result: Hayter defeated Cameron
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Hayter's gear was cool. Whoever made it did good work.
- Saraya's voice carries so much more than most people.
Hook and Conglomeration vs. Strong and Learning Tree
The Learning Tree gave an interview backstage before MJF came out to address his loss to Will Ospreay at All In. He did his usual routine and made excuses for the defeat before promising he would get revenge on the new international champion.
Daniel Garcia attacked MJF from behind and was looking to end his career with a piledriver from the corner, but security intervened.
Garcia yelled at his rival from the ring as he retreated up the ramp and promised to ruin his life.
Up next was the eight-man tag match with Chris Jericho, Big Bill, Bryan Keith and Strong taking on Hook, Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly.
For the most part, this is exactly what you'd expect it to be. AEW matches with six or more competitors always have an extra level of mayhem because the refs play fast and loose with the rules. Sometimes it leads to a fun bout; sometimes it leads to a mess.
This was somewhere in the middle. It had some entertaining moments and addressed a few different feuds at once, but it was also a predictable affair.
Strong ended up tapping out to Hook, but he had his foot on the rope. The ref didn't see it, so Hook's team was declared the winner.
Result: Hook and The Conglomeration won
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The crowd saying "Hi" back to Jericho was hilarious.
- Garcia revealed he pawned MJF's diamond ring.
- Bill's sudden burst in popularity at All In seemed to fade a bit, but a lot of fans were still cheering for him more than other members of his team.
- The big brawl spot seemed more organic than it usually does in big matches like this.
Ricochet vs. Kyle Fletcher
May celebrated winning the world title from Toni Storm with a quick promo that seemed shorter than it should have been.
The next match featured Ricochet's Dynamite debut and first AEW singles bout against Fletcher.
This was a highly physical contest from the moment the bell rang. Fletcher did a fantastic job of looking like a young talent who did not want to be upstaged by an incoming veteran.
The AEW newcomer did not hold back and hit plenty of the high-flying moves everyone loves, but he also did a tremendous job selling for Fletcher and making him look like a real threat.
Instead of using an aerial maneuver, Ricochet picked up a win with a modified reverse DDT called Vertigo.
AEW needs to run this back because the two men had crazy-good chemistry.
Result: Ricochet defeated Fletcher
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The running boot Fletcher hit at ringside looked awesome.
- Ricochet does so many things perfectly. Even a springboard clothesline looks easy when he does it.
- Fletcher has some of the best strikes in AEW.
- Ricochet looked genuinely exhausted, and rightfully so.
Bryan Danielson Speaks and the Final Word
As Ospreay was preparing to confront Ricochet, PAC attacked him from behind and left him lying on the stage.
It looks like we will have to wait for The Bastard and The Aerial Assassin to finish their feud before we get Ospreay vs. Ricochet.
We also saw Marina Shafir attack a bunch of people as Moxley watched on. They appear to have formed an alliance of some kind.
The show ended with Bryan Danielson giving a promo to celebrate his victory at All In to become the new world champion. The crowd at the State Farm Center in Champagne, Illinois was hyped to see The American Dragon looking so happy.
He mentioned not being under contract, needing neck surgery soon and how his family is ready for him to come home.
Jack Perry appeared on the big screen and touted all of his recent accomplishments, including beating Danielson once. Then Perry blindsided him in the ring, revealing it was a taped speech we were watching.
He leveled the new champion with a running knee and posed with the TNT and world titles to end the show.
This week's Dynamite was a solid follow-up to All In. It did a good job addressing most of the big developments from the PPV while continuing the buildup for All Out in 10 days.
Having two PPVs so close together means the next few shows have some heavy lifting to do, but if AEW can manage it, All Out can be a great show even with a short build.
Ricochet vs. Fletcher was easily the best match we saw on Wednesday, but none of them were bad. Even Hayter's short bout with Cameron was entertaining.
Grade: B
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