AEW Dynamite 9/4/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

The last "AEW Dynamite" before All Out was not short on drama. From arson to assault, a number of crimes were committed on Wednesday night's show, some of them even entertaining.

If you're wondering what happened on this week's show, let me direct you to our fastidious results page. Now it's time to get into the messy matters of opinion. "Good" and "Bad," we shall define these terms quite clear, no doubt. From glorious house fires to nonsense storytelling, this will be an account of what the Wrestling Inc. Staff loved, and what they didn't.

Without further ado, the best and the worst of this week's "AEW Dynamite."

For the most part, whether it's a match or a promo, the opening segment of "Dynamite" typically consists of something that is forgettable, random, or not overly relevant to any particular segment. The heated verbal exchange turned physical confrontation between Daniel Garcia and MJF broke that pattern tonight, furthering the storyline between the two men, increasing the stakes, and creating hype for the match between them.

With the two-week turnaround between All In and All Out, there wasn't a ton of time to build a full storyline around the two men. While half the task had already been completed with MJF's betrayal of Garcia several weeks ago and Garcia's return on August 25, AEW still had to generate interest before the payoff in the form of the match. The words exchanged between the two men and the character work that they both did just that, being exciting for fans to watch play out and be on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what would happen next. Furthermore, by having Garcia in the ring and MJF seated in the crowd exaggerated the idea that Garcia is motivated by fans while MJF will speak until his heart's content and avoid physical confrontation at all cost, highlighted by his use of security guards to protect himself from an attack at the hands of Garcia (despite it being an unsuccessful tactic).

Written by Olivia Quinlan

There have been two prevalent notions since Jon Moxley made his return during last week's "AEW Dynamite" to tell the wrong Tony it wasn't his company anymore. On one hand, there are questions being raised, supposedly building intrigue as to what is going on with the effective face of AEW. On the other, and one more aligned with this writer's opinion, there has been absolutely nothing intriguing about the lapse of all sense between the characters involved in the storyline, the consistent lack of insight as to what is actually supposed to be happening, and the ignorance of vital situational context within the promotion's ongoing tales.

Tonight was an opportunity to answer some questions rather than raise them. Moxley shared a brief interaction with The Elite, called Jack Perry a sweet kid, and sauntered off with Marina Shafir to make his entrance. At least, to be fair, there was a little more emphasis on the fact this was a feud with Darby Allin in the making. Which was something I had raised last week as a seemingly random call out. In any case, what he said in the ring was seemingly held in its own vacuum, and somewhat of a theme developing in this admittedly new angle is that his words, his actions, and his motives have no bearing on the wider AEW canon.

Jack Perry is challenging Bryan Danielson, after Danielson had outlined that his full-time wrestling career will only last as long as his current title reign. Ergo, "The Scapegoat" is trying to end Danielson's career, and no one in the BCC has stopped to ask what Moxley's part in this is? Is it not suspect that a founding BCC member is off on his own in this perilous time? In two years, the very foundation of the collective has been consistently ignored. But it's worth revising that Danielson pitched an academy of sadists led by both he and Moxley, to which Mox laid out that they would first have to bleed as opponents before they could bleed together as allies, culminating in their match at Revolution 2022 which saw the group formed, thanks to a slap from William Regal.

At no point has Danielson, his founding partner, nor Wheeler Yuta, the young blood he initiated, questioned whether he is still a member of the group. Just in January was Moxley talking about his plans for the BCC, also referring to Marina Shafir as an honorary member, and now they're both doing their own thing seemingly opposite the BCC and there has been nothing to suggest that any of the characters are concerned over it. Compound that, and the fact this story is dragging its knuckles in getting to its crescendo – which will likely just be a Darby Allin feud via The Elite – and it's closer to jarring than intriguing.

Written by Max Everett

Kazuchika Okada had a small problem when he first joined AEW. His matches were still being paced for the 20-30min epics he was having in NJPW, but within the confines of TV, that meant a match would feel like it was just getting started and Okada would hit his Rainmaker and get the win, like a scratched DVD skipping to the next scene. Enter The Ripcord Low Blow.

Okada has created a hilariously economical move that suddenly acts as a way to obfuscate the pacing issues by which his TV and undercard matches have been plagued. Nothing stops a match short like a swift kick in the beanbag, and Kyle Fletcher went down in a surprisingly protected fashion. Clearly the almost-Will Ospreay is a big 

Some have been disappointed in Okada's role in AEW, seemingly a Bart Simpson-esque prankster who is mainly there to cash checks and say "B**ch." I'm nowhere near as cold on his role and frankly won't be holding his time in AEW to account until he's competed in a Continental Classic. Until then, I am enjoying watching the once-fierce warrior finding ways to finally take it easy after many punishing years.

Written by Ross W Berman IV

There's a storm on the horizon, threatening skies, seas raging against the rocks, possible reruns coming. 

Orange Cassidy has to get through "The Bad Apple" Bryan Keith to get to the four-way AEW Continental Championship Match and, with Jericho promising Keith will get revenge for the infamous Mimosa Mayhem match from some years back, I got a bad feeling that Cassidy could be sucked into another extended embarrassment with AEW's prince of perversions.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope this is all just a small build for a quick match and then Cassidy will be free of Jericho, but as long as Wrestling Inc. is paying me for me to share the fears that AEW programming can stoke, then I'll say it: I have a bad feeling about this. With Cassidy, would likely come the Conglomeration, and there's not a single member who I want to see pulled into the utter dreck Jericho's merry band of players comes up with every week.

Written by Ross W Berman IV

Despite this being a "hate" portion of our article, I have to start out by saying there are currently two matches I'm excited for at All Out. Those matches are Swerve Strickland versus "Hangman" Adam Page and PAC vs. Will Ospreay. Both feuds are great, and probably not a coincidence that they have been the feuds building for much longer than some of the other things we have on the card right now. I feel like I'm a broken record sometimes about go-home shows not getting me excited for upcoming big events, and tonight's "Dynamite" was no different, which now leads me to the negative portion of my story. To begin, I thought we would be getting more match announcements for All Out. Tonight, all we found out was that Kazuchika Okada will be the one to defend the Continental Championship against three other men, to be determined on Friday's "AEW Collision," and also a thrown-together last-minute AEW Tag Team Championship match pitting the Young Bucks against Claudio Castagnoli (though, I will admit, that's necessary, even if thrown together, the Bucks need to be defending those belts). So we currently have just eight matches on the All Out card, which is excellent, but unusual, knowing AEW President Tony Khan loves his 12-match cards.

I really enjoyed the intensity of the MJF and Daniel Garcia promo that kicked off the show. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that it fits quite well here in my "hated" segment, because I think that feud could really benefit from another week or two to just simmer to the point of a full-own explosion. Yes, MJF battered Garcia with a bottle tonight, but I think it could just go so much farther from what I heard tonight.

Secondly, where the heck is new AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May on this card? Yes, she beat Nyla Rose in a pretty excellent match tonight, but as we all know, Khan doesn't have the greatest track record with booking his women's division, and could honestly use all the women's matches he could get on the All Out card. May is a star coming off a huge championship victory at All In, she should at least be featured, like some of the other guys in thrown-together matches, at the very least.

Finally, for whatever reason, I'm just not interested in Jack Perry versus Bryan Danielson, despite the beatdown at the end of the trios match tonight. It didn't do anything for me, especially before the fiery (literally) contract signing between Strickland and Page. I also don't believe Perry is going to be the one to win the championship and retire Danielson, so the match overall isn't believable to me.

While much of this is very negative, I will be watching All Out for what I am excited for. As we all know, AEW always comes through at its PPVs, and especially on a Saturday, I'm sure I'll end up enjoying it in the moment.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Last week, we loved the fact that Swerve Strickland cooked on the microphone during his promo segment with Hangman Page, and I get the sense that Page may have taken that personally, literally, or both, as he proceeded to cook on an entirely new level.

Everyone knows that Hangman and Swerve have become AEW's quintessential 'something tells me we are going to do this forever' rivalry thanks to Swerve breaking into Hangman's house, Hangman drinking Swerve's blood, and the two men openly despising each other and everything the other does, but this, this right here, this might have taken their feud to a level even they didn't know existed.

The visual of Hangman Page, the man who AEW fans around the world wished, and prayed, and hoped would be the face of the company. The man who people hung their preverbal cowboy hats on and said 'That's our guy, that's our world champion, that is AEW in a nutshell,' embracing his madness, and his hate is both haunting and incredible at the same time. Each second as the flames engulf Swerve's childhood home, while Hangman sits in an armchair enjoying a drink under the night sky, brings both men closer to their inevitable showdown and the viewer closer to seeing it, and if you couldn't already tell, I am ready to see it.

I honestly don't know how the Steel Cage match at All Out will play out, the depths that each man will be willing to go to, so much so that it could actually be the first match in AEW history where people actually don't want anyone to win, they just want both men to stop before they kill the other, or themselves trying.

This was already a highly anticipated match, even after the news broke that it was going to be the main event of All Out. But after seeing Hangman, sitting there knowing that he is more likely to be nurtured by the fiery depths of the hell he has created behind him than getting to the heavens above him, it's got me thinking that this could be one of the best main events in company history, because this could very well be the best go-home angle AEW has ever done, and that's in a year where Mariah May made Toni Storm cry a river of blood with her own shoe.

Hangman Page is at peace with the fact that he is in hell, it's up to Swerve to join him there, and we will be seated for it, no matter how bloody, barbaric, or uncomfortable it may be.

Written by Sam Palmer