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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

It’s WrestleDream week and a three-plus-hour go-home show was on tap to get fans ready for this Saturday night’s PPV event. There are some intriguing matchups as well as some rematches scheduled for this weekend, so let’s see how they did to get viewers ready.

HITS

MOXLEY-DARBY FACE-TO-FACE

This was a great segment. They just sat two guys down in chairs across from each other and had them talk. They had a conversation that did not come across as scripted. Viewers could hear both wrestlers explain their reasons for doing what they’ve been doing for the past few months. This was well constructed and well delivered by both. This is clearly the most anticipated match of the PPV for many fans and Tony Khan should really think about making it the main event.

The sequel to this later in the show was fine and the images of Darby crawling through all the abuse to get to Moxley was well done, but it wasn’t necessary to add any more anticipation in my mind. Needless to say, this is the match that has the most long-term emotional build and should be wild come Saturday night.

JURASSIC EXPRESS AND KENNY OMEGA

Early in the show, Jack Perry gave us a little more clarity, but he was still too vague in his explanation of his motives. If he is going to be a babyface again, he needs to show remorse over what he did in the past. The six-man tag match an hour later did a better job in that regard. The match was not only fun to watch and a hard-hitting affair, but there was a lot of narrative that made it more clear the role that the new Jurassic Express will play.

Perry sacrificed himself for Omega, which was the clear babyface decision I was hoping for as they eventually came out on top and got a much better fan reaction after the match than they did at the start. Omega coming to their aid when The Young Bucks arrived was another step forward for Omega to build some allies, since most of his friends are no longer available to help.

QUICK HITS

– The Toni Storm-Kris Statlander opening interview and short fight was weird, but strangely, it made me anticipate the match on Saturday a little bit more than I did previously, so I suppose that was the purpose of the segment!

– Jamie Hayter vs. Skye Blue was a very good match. Blue has continued to improve every week. Thekla did a great job in her promo setting up her match with Hayter for WrestleDream and it was nice that they didn’t have another beatdown to lead into the PPV. The match and words were all that was needed. I like Thekla and I think she should be built into a title contender sooner rather than later.

– The Claudio Castagnoli vs. Roderick Strong match was a lot of fun and very hard-hitting. It was a nice reminder what a force Claudio can be.

– The Opps vs. LFI match was more solid wrestling, but what stood out was “Hangman” Adam Page and his interaction with Bryan Danielson on commentary. They had some great insight on the World Title match at WrestleDream and the post-match angle did enough to make this another one I’m looking forward to watching on Saturday. I have really liked the build to this despite how quickly they had to pivot to this storyline.

– Once again, the six-man tag match to end the show was good and gave you more Don Callis and Bryan Danielson on commentary and set up the Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher TNT Title match for WrestleDream as well as set up the Tag Title match with Brodido vs. Kazuchika Okada & Konsuke Takeshita. All are intriguing matchups that should deliver at the PPV.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch†on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

MISSES

HURT SYNDICATE/DEMAND OUT OF ORDER?

Why are getting a six-man tornado tag match with The Hurt Syndicate and The Demand at WrestleDream when we just got a street fight between them a week ago? This is an example of a match that certainly could have been left off the PPV, especially since we got another tag match between the two teams on Dynamite It’s just too much and makes it hard to get excited about what’s to come this weekend, even if they made it a tornado tag. I like both teams, but they need to move on from each other. The street fight should have been the blowoff.

TOO MANY MULTI-PERSON MATCHES

That sure was a lot of multi-person matches on a three-hour broadcast. While I understand their need to get as many wrestlers on the show and preview WrestleDream this weekend without any of the main participants taking falls, this could have been better executed. Why not have some singles matches to determine opponents for the PPV matches lower on the card? Why not have a tag match that gives the winner a spot in the show or have a match for a stipulation. There were no stakes in 90 percent of the matches on Dynamite this week and that is a problem that should be fixed immediately.

OUR AEW PODCAST!

Don’t forget to check out the weekly free podcast I’m part of, “The All Elite Conversation Club” that typically drops on Fridays on the PWTorch Dailycast lineup. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW and we will have a WrestleDream preview this week, so please check us out! Search “pwtorch” on your podcast app to subscribe. Send questions and comments to allelitecc@gmail.com.

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