Dynamite recap and reactions: Killshot

AEW Dynamite (June 26, 2024) emanated from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. The show featured Swerve Strickland delivering a killshot to Will Ospreay, Mariah May suffering disastrous consequences in a champagne celebration with Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa, and more on the go-home to Forbidden Door.

Catch up on all the details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Killshot

Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay have a date to battle for the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door on June 30. AEW rolled with the ‘can they coexist?’ angle for the go-home, and it ended in a killshot.

Swerve and Ospreay faced off against the Gates of Agony in the main event. They argued over who would start the match, so Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona bum-rushed them. The question was if there would be teamwork issues between Swerve and Ospreay. For the most part, they were on the same page with a goal of victory. Some teamwork tactics worked, while others led to close calls of combustion.

An example of meshing well was Swerve saving Ospreay on the pin from a wicked avalanche jackhammer suplex by Kaun.

Swerve also executed a sweet flying stomp to Liona on the outside. I love the visual of Swerve pumping his legs upon contact to drive the beast down to the floor.

An example of miscommunication was Ospreay superkicking Swerve in the mush when Kaun ducked. A short while later, it appeared that Swerve had payback on his mind, except the movement actually helped instead. Kaun had a waistlock on Ospreay, so Swerve charged for a boot to his partner. Ospreay ducked, and Kaun ate the kick. Swerve shrugged and quickly decided to take advantage of what happened to refocus for the win. Liona showed an awesome moment of strength by blocking a reverse rana from Ospreay. Ospreay encouraged Swerve to lend a helping hand, so Swerve kicked Liona to kick-start the hurricanrana for Ospreay. The Aerial Assassin followed up with a springboard cutter as Swerve cheered for his teammate. One hiccup though. Liona impressively powered out of the pinfall.

Swerve and Ospreay had more work to do. Swerve intercepted Kaun to send a message to Ospreay. Earlier, Ospreay hesitated to execute the Tiger Driver ‘91. At the end, Swerve stared Ospreay in the eyes as he snapped Kaun’s arm without remorse. Ospreay winced in pain for his opponent, then he delivered the Hidden Blade on Liona for victory.

The drama wasn’t done. After the match, Ospreay snatched the world title belt to pose. Swerve responded with a House Call kick to retake his gold and stand tall to end the show.

Swerve and Ospreay worked an interesting dynamic as teammates trying to coexist. That concept is easy to feel played out. AEW doesn’t use it often (even though they did it twice on this same show), so there was a freshness about it. They worked the miscommunication spots creatively. The Gates of Agony were smart choices as opponents, because they have a badass aura to make the heroes pay for their mistakes with force. The result was a strong win for Swerve and Ospreay for high entertainment. -match shenanigans paid service to the overall story. The real takeaway is seeing if Ospreay’s reluctance to go for the killshot will cost him. If that turns out to be the case at Forbidden Door, then I hope AEW constructs a way that feels like Swerve won rather than Ospreay lost. If Ospreay is actually going to lose, then it needs to give Swerve a legitimate rub.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Opportunity for Daniel Garcia. MJF opened the show, and he was immediately interrupted by the hometown hero. Respect was exchanged, so MJF decided to offer Garcia a huge opportunity for a singles bout at All In in Wembley Stadium. Will Ospreay interrupted to offer Garcia another huge opportunity for a shot at the AEW International Championship next week. Garcia accepted the match as MJF stewed in the corner at Ospreay stealing his spotlight. Garcia never got the chance to accept MJF’s offer, because MJF told him to focus on the title match instead.

This scene is clearly setting up bad feelings between MJF and Ospreay, and I’m all in for it. It’s too bad that Garcia will likely be the fall guy to advance their issues. At least, he gets exposure with top stars. Garcia should benefit overall from the experience, especially in perception of his star level.

Also of note, Swerve observed Ospreay including the AEW World Championship in the deal with Garcia. The world champ criticized Ospreay from afar for putting the cart before the horse.

Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated Blackpool Combat Club via disqualification. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta represented BCC in the ring, while Bryan Danielson sat in on commentary. Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, & Titan strut for LIJ. The action was typical chaos for AEW trios bouts. In the end, Takahashi had Yuta set up for a finisher, but Moxley saved his teammate by hitting Time Bomb with a chair. That sparked a melee after the referee waved off the match. Forbidden Door opponents conveniently split off for showdowns. Tetsuya Naito on stage to rip off his clothes and fight Moxley.

Shingo hammered elbows on Yuta as a message to Danielson. The American Dragon confronted him in the ring.

The trios match was a means to an end for PPV hype. The action was rowdy, but the value was all for naught with the DQ finish. I’m glad that AEW rarely utilizes that tactic. This instance seemed to be a case of keeping everyone strong rather than the moment making an impact. Naito arrived in style to feel like a big deal. If AEW uses Shingo’s taunts to Danielson in a video package, then they need to dub it over in a kung fu movie voice to say, “Now, I break you.”

Owen Hart Cup quarterfinal: Jay White defeated Fenix. Referee Rick Knox ejected all family and friends prior to the match. Fenix scored a goal on a rope-walking soccer kick and a frog splash, however, he was too slow on the landing to make an effective cover. White kicked out. Switchblade rallied for a DDT and a brainbuster, but that couldn’t get the job done. During the match, Fenix escaped twice from the Blade Runner. Third time was the charm as White countered Fenix to hit the finisher.

After the match, the Bang Bang Gang celebrated with their leader. The Patriarchy arrived for mind games. Christian Cage led his sons to the ring, then he declined to engage in fisticuffs. The trios champs weren’t backing down.

Sweet little match. The closing sequence was hot. The assumption favored White to win on a Blade Runner, but he executed the move in a surprise manner to garner a reaction. I like how the Bang Bang Gang showed no fear of the Patriarchy. Those hooligans have plenty of experience angering fathers, so they should take delight in making life difficult for Christian. The Bang Bang Gang might be able to seduce Nick Wayne into puffing a cigarette or sipping a beer as bad influences.

Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, & Mariah May defeated Saraya, Harley Cameron, & Anna Jay. Shirakawa pinned Cameron off a Mina Driver.

This match was all about Storm and Mina trying top get along as future opponents at Forbidden Door with Mariah stuck in the middle, and AEW told that story excellently. It started with Mariah entering with Timeless then rushing back to enter with Mina for a dance routine. And, yes, I would like to see Taz and Excalibur doing that dance, as suggested by Taz in the clip.

Mina ignored Storm to tag in Mariah. Storm was jealous of the chemistry between Mina and Mariah as they shimmied their chests. Mariah was put in a position of choosing which mentor to tag, so they both tagged in at the same time. Later, Mina tagged herself on after Storm’s hip attack. In the end, the ladies got in the groove to clear the ring for Mina to finish. The story got spicier after the match. Mariah broke the tension with a champagne toast. Mina was jealous of Mariah dancing with Storm, so she tried to hit Storm with the champagne bottle. Storm ducked, and Mariah took the blow with glass shattering into a million pieces.

Great character work all around. I feel safe to assume with 99.9% certainty that Storm is retaining the women’s championship at the PPV. The Mariah angle adds intrigue to the match to see if she chooses a side. If the goal is to put her against Storm at All In, then this could a turning point in the relationship.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly channeled Mark Briscoe’s style to hype up the Conglomeration.

Grappling match, engage. Sabre and O’Reilly pulled out some nifty transitions and submission. Sabre was able to trap O’Reilly in an armbar for victory. Armbar!

The aftermath was a mass arrival to the ring from AEW and NJPW players. Orange Cassidy checked on O’Reilly, then Roderick Strong shoved him out of the way. Sabre was flanked by TMDK teammates, so Tomohiro Ishii entered to stand alongside Cassidy. Tensions were high.

This was the good and bad of Forbidden Door season. We were treated to a splendid technical showcase from Sabre and O’Reilly. Then, AEW ham-fisted a bunch a NJPW faces on screen. It’s not hard to catch on quickly to the alignments, but I can imagine some viewers could be confused without knowledge of NJPW or memory of past appearances in AEW.

Notes: The Elite hold the tag titles and the continental belt. Jack Perry is on tap to win the TNT Championship. The EVPs declared that they will insert the wild card into the Owen Hart Cup tournament, and the plan is to win all the way to All In for the world championship. Then, the Elite will have all the gold.

The Acclaimed will strategize for the right time to call their shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship. They were interrupted by the Elite with a proposal for a trios match at Forbidden Door. Billy Gunn anticipated this request, so he stepped aside for a new partner, “Scissor Ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Mercedes Moné is going to keep a close eye on Stephanie Vaquer’s match on Collision.

Chris Jericho thought he could enlist Minoru Suzuki as the third partner against Samoa Joe, Hook, & Katsuyori Shibata. Unfortunately, Suzuki wasn’t interested in associating with the soft Learning Tree character. Instead, Suzuki challenged Jericho to a FTW title match. That is a funny swerve.

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Stud of the Show: Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, & Mariah May

Triple winners for their excellence in storytelling.

Match of the Night: Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay vs. Gates of Agony

The teammate dynamic was effective in adding drama. Plus, the action kicked ass.

Grade: B

Dynamite hit the right notes for a go-home show. It wasn’t peak madness to have me amped with A-level energy for Forbidden Door, but it was enough to build a frothy appetite to see how the PPV shakes out.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?