AEW Dynamite 3/15/2023

AEW Dynamite 3/15/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/aew-dynamite-382023.html

I got sick again this week and because of it, I missed out on some of the shows. 2023 has not been kind to me or this website at all and I just hope the issues are over so things can get back to normal around here.

I watched the show in full, but I wasn't able to get to posting this until a few days later, so some details are missing.

MJF's Re-Bar Mitzvah Celebration

I wasn't a fan of this segment at all. They formally introduced the four pillars here, which they maybe only ever mentioned one other time on TV, so a lot of people wouldn't know about it. I hate the concept of the four pillars as it's a direct rip off of All Japan, and they will never be able to compare to those guys no matter what. Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy all came into the ring to whine about how they have been mistreated in AEW and why they deserve title shots. They buried the company, making it look like a total mess backstage and they buried AEW Dark, by treating it as it is - a show nobody watches, where nothing matters. If these guys really are the four pillars of AEW, the pillars are built out of sand near giant waves at the beach. Sammy's been little but a sidekick for most of his AEW run. Everyone likes Darby, but he's never on TV for some reason and while they have done a decent job with Jungle Boy, he doesn't have it personality wise. I don't have a lot of issues with MJF, as he is far above these three.

The Blackpool Combat Club vs The Dark Order

Much like last week, it's hard to take The Dark Order seriously. They've been treated like jobbers for years and them taking it to the BCC just makes the BCC look bad. I really don't get the Stu Grayson thing. They let him go for whatever reason a while back and I'm not real sure what's going to be different this time. He's still the same exact wrestler and he'll be back on Dark and Elevation in no time. This went too long and was used to further push the BCC heel turn or tweener turn, which isn't going to work.

Jade Cargill vs Nicole Matthews

Jade won in a quick squash here and then they brought out Taya Valkyrie after. Taya was briefly on NXT and I didn't think this was a good way to debut her. She's not going to beat Jade and losing on your first big match in isn't a great way to get started. And while some of the locals may have known her, the vast majority of people don't due to her not really being much of a name. A couple of video packages and some other work could have gone a long way to introduce her, but they didn't bother as usual.

They had QT Marshall doing QTV, basically acting like he's from TMZ. As I've said many times, QT's presence on TV was a mystery to people who were watching ROH in the early 2010's and it's still a mystery today. I don't want QT on TV and I don't think anyone else does either. It's not going to work or help out anyone and all it shows is how far having friends backstage can get you.

Orange Cassidy vs Jeff Jarrett

This is another one of those AEW feuds that just never ends. It was what you'd expect with OC goofing off and all kinds of shenanigans going on. Please end this feud.

AEW Trios Titles - The House of Black vs The Jericho Appreciation Society vs The Elite

I would have bet all my money on this being a Toryumon tribute match with corner lariat trains, multi-man suplexes and multi-man submission holds. It didn't happen here though, which I was shocked by. The match also only had two people in at a time instead of three, which was unusual and hurt some of the creativity that this kind of match offers. I was really surprised that happened since The Elite love to do various spots yet made it so they couldn't do as many spots as they could have.

Beyond that, it was what you would expect and was typical of other three and four way matches. People hit a spot or took a move, then someone else came in. The rules were totally disregarded about halfway through and they spent a lot of time on Jericho vs Kenny since they are from Canada and the show was in Canada. The match devolved into a spotfest as expected and we even had a cut to the back during this as the Dark Order and the BCC got into it.

The House of Black got the win here. Jake Hager decided to jump them by himself 1v3 after and got beaten up for it, but the JAS eventually helped him out. The BCC and Dark Order then fought down to the ring and we had another "Whose side is Adam Page on? thing with The Elite as The Elite were behind Page when the BCC was going to go after him.

It's also worth noting here that Power Slap was not on after this as it was cancelled. I liked Power Slap and I'm sad to see it go. I think the criticisms and concerns about it are legitimate, but I am disappointed.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a big fan of this one and that's almost guaranteed any time an AEW show has both OC and The Elite on it.