AEW Dynamite 2/21/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show where poorly-applied lipstick is the most fearsome form of war paint! We are less than two weeks out from Revolution 2024, a card that has (perhaps surprisingly) been booked well in advance and is slowly coming together into a strong slate of contests. At least, that's how most of WINC's writing and editorial staff feels — but how did we feel about this Wednesday's show, in particular?
If you're new around here, we don't tackle everything single thing that happened in this column — for that, you're going to want to check out our live coverage/results page. This space is for only our strongest opinions, whether those are good or bad. Have we found Daniel Garcia's renewed push heartwarming? Does Ric Flair siding with the Young Bucks actually make sense? And most importantly, should there be a time limit — on the time limit? Here are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 2/21/24 episode of "AEW Dynamite."
Hated: Change the record, Tony
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli fought FTR to a time limit draw on Wednesday night, which is fine in a vacuum, but is a little weird considering we just saw a time limit draw two weeks ago, which also served to set up a match for AEW Revolution. It's also weird that this was the third time limit draw in the last two months — there were only seven before that in AEW history. It's not really a trope you want to overuse, since sooner or later people are just going to be like "Why don't you morons make the time limit longer?" and of course, a result like that is more special and more memorable the fewer of them there are.
This was just one of a number of things that popped up on "Dynamite" this week that made me wonder if we can't get some new ideas in here. Orange Cassidy is still Intercontinental Champion and doing a story about how defending the title is starting to take its toll on him physically, which is the same thing he was doing last year. Christian Cage is still working his way through every member of the roster with a dead dad. Last week, Darby Allin cut a promo where he vaguely alluded to a former top AEW star who now works for WWE; this week, Wardlow did the same thing. It honestly makes "Dynamite" a real slog to get through, because every episode feels overly similar. And they don't feel can't miss — they feel skippable. Does Jen Pepperman start work, like, soon?
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Loved: Adam Copeland staying on the bench so Daniel Garcia can shine
Both Adam Copeland and Daniel Garcia had been pushing for a TNT Championship shot in recent weeks until they collided on "AEW Dynamite" last week. That match was inconclusive due to the involvement of Christian Cage's merry men, as they destroyed Copeland with a con-chair-to. That's something that should be a big deal and ideally would keep Copeland out of action for several weeks, but in the world of wrestling anything is possible and there were fears that the "Rated-R Superstar" would be competing at AEW Revolution.
Thankfully, that's not happening. Now, that isn't because we don't want to see Copeland wrestling, but because his absence is Daniel Garcia's gain. It seemed like AEW was pushing towards a triple threat match between them and Cage for the upcoming PPV, but tonight it was confirmed that Garcia will be dancing his way to arguably the biggest singles match of his career to this point.
AEW has been doing a great job with Garcia lately, as he has quietly been getting the rocket strapped to his back. Having him hit rock bottom in the Continental Classic only to use those losses as fuel to put together a winning run that puts him in this position has been great, and he certainly has the fans behind him now. While AEW could easily have made Garcia a major star long before now, that's a story for another day. He's getting the big singles match while Copeland can sell the injuries to make his eventual return an even bigger deal.
Sadly, we appear to be getting the same Cage storyline angle of "your family member is dead, haha" here, but at the very least it is putting Garcia in the position he rightfully deserves. His in-ring talent has never been questioned, but throughout his dancing gimmick, he has showcased a lot more personality, and his promo Wednesday night was excellent. Fans can now rest easy and look forward to an excellent singles match at Revolution for the TNT Championship while knowing that the unnecessarily long angle between Cage and Copeland will reignite down the road -0 seemingly pleasing everyone.
Written by Matthew Wilkinson
Hated: Wardlow keeps learning on the job
It used to be that when a big, strong wrestler with a weakness on the microphone came to a promotion, the promoter would simply stick him with a manager and let the manager do the talking and let the big man do the big man stuff. It was simple. For some reason, guys like former AEW TNT Champion Wardlow are being forced to learn on the job.
I can understand the idea of getting reps in on the microphone, but that is what smaller audiences and pre-taped shows are for. This sick obsession with trial by fire in the wrestling industry has led to countless promos like Wednesday's debacle, which saw Wardlow ramble on and on about his lack of a push and how management hasn't put him in a position to succeed. Because of Wardlow's reasoning, if he does win the AEW World title, it won't be because he dominated and defeated his opponent; it will be because the aforementioned management finally decided its time, because this isn't real, it's a show. He's admitted he's a puppet, and now we can't help but look at the strings.
If that wasn't egregious enough, Wardlow already has a manager, and a damn good one — Adam Cole. The Undisputed Kingdom leader is currently injured, meaning all he can do right now is talk, so he should probably be talking for Wardlow.
Written by Ross Berman
Loved: AEW does something sensical
I'll be honest, there's not much in AEW that makes sense storyline-wise. Most of the time, matches are strewn together on a week-to-week basis and a short backstage promo may be employed to further a storyline, but that's usually the extent of things. While I think that the same can be for at the very least part of the build for the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tornado Match between Darby Allin and Sting and The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution, there is one thing they did Wednesday night that didn't follow that pattern.
Ric Flair voiced his disappointment with his partnership with Allin and Sting not panning out as he foresaw to Renee Paquette, and subsequently met with The Young Bucks in their dressing room. Yes, it is a bit sudden to have Flair suddenly leave Sting and Allin behind to seemingly propose an alliance with Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, but when you look at it from the perspective of Flair's character, it does start to make sense.
Flair feels as though he's just been left behind, having not been spotted with them when they won the tag team title two weeks ago or during their promo segments. He feels betrayed. He wants both Allin and Sting to feel the same way, and what better way to do that then to go to their opponents in Sting's final match ever? It's an interesting way of furthering the story, and it will certainly be an interesting way to see how things play out next.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Hated: Women's matches take a great storyline backward
There's been a lot to love about Toni Storm's rivalry with Deonna Purrazzo, as it has brought a genuinely detailed story that the women's division has desperately needed. However, tonight's show was a complete bust that genuinely took the angle backward rather than progressing it towards AEW Revolution.
Every week fans (and us) typically complain about the fact there's only one women's match on "AEW Dynamite." This week, Tony Khan booked two, which seems like progress — on paper. The reality is that neither match delivered, and when each match features the two women who are set to compete for the AEW Women's World Championship at the upcoming PPV, that is a problem.
Toni Storm's match was essentially a squash as she took on a local talent, but her opponent was unfortunately not ready to be put in that spot which led to a clunky encounter that was fortunately kept brief. The bigger problems arose when Purrazzo faced Madison Rayne, who is a veteran of the wrestling business. Perhaps it's due to Rayne's lengthy time out of the ring, but Rayne and Purrazzo simply didn't work well together.
The match felt awkward, the fans didn't care, and none of it helped to make Purrazzo look good. It wasn't helped by a genuinely scary spot towards the finish that led to the referee and doctor checking up on Rayne after she was dropped on her head — something AEW would strangely replay and call the "move of the night" just after.
While Storm and Purrazzo tried to rescue the situation at the end by having a brief brawl, the situation was beyond salvaging at that point. Everyone knows Storm and Purrazzo are capable of great work inside the ring, but these matches don't indicate that to any new fan that might be tuning in which is an issue, and hopefully they can get things back on track next week and remind people why this is a storyline to be invested in that has more layers than just post-match run-ins.
Written by Matthew Wilkinson
Loved: RVD and Hook just fit together
All Elite Wrestling is a promotion loaded with father figures, dead fathers, honorary fathers — you name it, this promotion seemingly has a dad for it. This is why it's so refreshing that Hook, who has a father very prominently featured on AEW programming, instead has a Cool Uncle in Rob Van Dam. Hook simply doesn't have the anger and intensity of his father, Taz, but the FTW Champion is a huge fan of tossing people around and his laid-back love of violence seemingly makes him kin for the chill and vicious Van Dam. The two men's vibes were the perfect foil for Hangman Page, who becomes a bit more pathetic each week leading to Revolution.
With Hook's credibility at an all-time low following his major loss to AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, kicking ass and taking names with Van Dam could be a good way to rebuild the young and popular star. In many ways, Hook has been seemingly taking on the legacy of ECW, especially since he won his father's FTW Title, and who better than Van Dam to help pass that torch?
Van Dam is still seemingly a free agent and has not been locked down to any kind of concrete AEW agreement, but he and Hook would still make for a welcome addition to AEW's often misfit tag division. It could be a great way to add one more chapter to RVD's illustrious career, while relighting the fire under the FTW Champion.
Written by Ross Berman