The first stop is in Philadelphia, with the kickoff to a three-week residency in the vaunted 2300 Arena with Episode 307 of Wednesday Night “Dynamite.”
With both Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland on the shelf for the foreseeable future, this week’s installment felt like a veritable proving ground: highlighting young stars like Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, and the return of Hook.
We also learned that FTR has earned their long-awaited dream match against Adam Copeland & Christian Cage, at “All Out.”
Elsewhere, the Don Callis Family have emerged as the new antagonists of AEW. Last night, they tested their mettle against the newly crowned tag team champions, Brodido, and JetSpeed, in an all-star eight-man tag match. The stable’s titular leader didn’t stop there though, choosing to stake his faction’s claim at the AEW Men’s World Championship.
While Lance Archer, Hechicero, Josh Alexander, and Rocky Romero quickly overwhelmed “Hangman” Adam Page, the champion found an unlikely ally in Kenny Omega — reuniting the former AEW World Tag Team Champions.
The Death Riders continued to wreak havoc on AEW. Jon Moxley managed to defeat Daniel Garcia in the evening’s opening contest, but Darby Allin managed to settle the score in the main event — defeating Claudio Castangoli in an instant classic.
MJF and Mark Briscoe have mutually agreed to settle their score, but first — Briscoe would like to answer Kyle Fletcher’s open challenge for the TNT Championship. Meanwhile, the Opps successfully defended their AEW World Trios Championships against Ricochet & Gates of Agony, while Kris Statlander & Harley Cameron defeated Megan Bayne & Penelope in tag team action.
From top to bottom, this was an outstanding episode of “Dynamite,” amplified by the fans and the building itself. The 2300 Arena is one of the most atmospheric venues in pro-wrestling history and AEW managed to maximize its luster—channeling the essence of ECW and paying homage to its extraordinary history.
Rating: ****
Matches
Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia
Over the past three months, Jon Moxley has completely flipped the script—operating at a level that is seldom seen from heels. This was no different.
Credit to Daniel Garcia, who seems on the verge of collapse. Not physically, but spiritually. Garcia has endured failure after failure, since losing his TNT Championship to Adam Cole. Here, he was as technically sublime as ever, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the size and savvy of the former world champion. Afterwards, the Death Riders didn’t engulf Garcia, like they did Will Ospreay. Instead, they let the pain and heart ache wash over him.
Rating: ***¾
Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander & Penelope Ford
This was a haphazard effort from bell to bell, designed to progress Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale’s fractured relationship. I’m still not impressed by the team of Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford, despite liking them both as singles performers.
The saving grace was Statlander’s dynamism, generating some inventive offense with Harley Cameron.
Rating: **½
Don Callis Family vs. Brodido & JetSpeed
AEW have seemingly cracked the code with these eight-man tag matches, because this was a genuine delight. At the crux of this contest was the acrimonious relationship between the Don Callis Family’s aces, Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Both men breathe rarified air, but Don Callis has extolled the “Rainmaker” as the best “big match” wrestler of all time. Naturally, the titans harbor some animosity towards each other. And, that friction ultimately doomed the Don Callis Family.
Rating: ***¾
The Opps [c] vs. Ricochet & The Gates of Agony
The Opps staged their second title defense in four days, repelling the advances of Ricochet & The Gates of Agony.
There was a lot to like about this match. In a promotion government by its openweight philosophy, The Gates of Agony are true heavyweights. Fortunately for the Opps, so are Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs. The addition of Ricochet and Katsuyori Shibata only added more depth. The downfall here was the shmozz ending, with MVP interrupting to sabotage Ricochet. Afterwards, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley descended on the ring, attacking the Gates of Agony.
Rating: ***
Match of the Night: Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli
This match f***ing ruled.
Darby Allin and Claudio Castagnoli had the unenviable task of stepping into the house that ECW built and having a falls count anywhere match, only days removed from their violent “light’s out” steel cage match at “Forbidden Door.” Not only did they capture the essence of extremism, but they delivered a match that will be canonized in the pantheon of 2300 Arena performances. Allin’s performance was superhuman, absorbing one cataclysmic bump after another. In the end, he persisted—driven by his obsession to bury the Death Riders — delivering a pair of emphatic Coffin Drops to score the pinfall.
Rating: ****½
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