AEW ‘Dynasty’ review: Best match, close second, surprises from April 12 PPV

Sunday’s “Dynasty” was the cleanest, curtain-jerker to end-of-the-main-event, AEW pay-per-view maybe in the company’s entire seven-year history.

Let me count the ways:

• Nobody drank an opponent’s blood.
• No matches with music playing start to finish in the background.
• No syringes, thumbtacks.
• Minimal run-ins and ref bumps.
• Minimal blatant stupidity.

That last one is my nod to The Young Bucks working a tag match that, by and large, went by the rules, more than it was a tornado match.

And then: Tony Khan dared to send the fans home unhappy, with the heel – literally billed as “The Devil” – winning in the main event.

Best match: MJF defeats Kenny Omega (38:56)

---

Kenny Omega was the embodiment of the Toby Keith song “As Good As I Once Was” in this one.

Omega can’t work night-in, night-out like he did in his New Japan heyday in the mid to late 2010s, but for one night, he had lightning in a bottle for this one with Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who is the world champ because he can talk fans into the building, and because he knows, when the bell rings, how to wrestle like a world champ.

Cagematch rating: 8.52

Close second: Jon Moxley defeats Will Ospreay (18:13)

---

Another one where TK put the heel over the face, and in this case, the face – Will Ospreay – had all the momentum going in.

This one was supposed to be about Ospreay getting revenge for the storyline injury put on him last summer by Jon Moxley and The Death Riders.

It also would make logical sense to put Ospreay over, with a lot of us assuming that Ospreay is going to be booked into the main event with a world title shot at the “All In” show in London in August.

I like the way AEW is using the 20-minute time limit in Continental Title matches; they’ve given us enough time-limit draws to make us wonder, when we hear Justin Roberts call out the time, if this one is going to the time limit.

CageMatch rating: 8.59

Shocker: FTR defeats Adam Copeland and Christian Cage (21:00)

---

I had this one going to Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, with the story for the match being, like the Ospreay match, about the babyfaces getting revenge, and the cherry on top being, the show was in Canada.

What I like here: the series between these two teams is now tied at 1-1.

Khan needs to keep this one simmering, with a final blow-off – a cage match, perhaps, though dog collars would also work – this summer, maybe at “All In.”

CageMatch rating: 7.62

TimeDrain: Casino Gauntlet Match for the vacant TNT title (22:36)

---

I know that this one was necessitated by the injury to the reigning champ, Kyle Fletcher, but, even so.

The stips have it that the match can end at any time, so, you’d better watch! Because you never know!

We know.

They’re going to get everybody in that they can.

These kinds of matches are better when there’s a surprise entrant, which we didn’t have with this one.

For all the hubbub about having matches to determine the #1 and #2 entrants, given the stip – it can end at any time! – Tommaso Ciampa and Rush got screwed being #1 and #2.

I like Kevin Knight getting the surprise win; I’ll like that even better if he turns heel, which his mic skills seem to suggest he should do.

CageMatch rating: 7.62