AEW Dynamite: Booms and duds for Feb. 19, 2020, including Cody vs. Wardlow

What segments worked, and what didn’t? How were stories built and developed? Let’s take a look at what hit (“boom”) and what missed (“dud”) from AEW Dynamite.

We’re going to try something a bit different for DailyDDT.

We already have our “3 winners” pieces, as well as handing out grades for PPVs. This will be some sort of amalgamation of the two as we identify hits and misses from AEW’s weekly Dynamite show. In line with the show’s name, let’s call the hits “booms” and the misses “duds.”

I’m not going to run through each match/segment. Rather, I will identify a couple of segments that either worked (“boom”) or didn’t for whatever reason (“dud”).

My criteria includes quality of match/segment and how it starts and/or builds stories. After all, we watch partly to be caught up in the stories. If a great work-rate match happens with no context or bearing on the stories, it’s going to be a miss.

By the way, if you have a better name for the booms and duds, message me.

We had an action-packed show for this first booms and duds column. There was a #1 contender’s tag team battle royal; a tag team title match with Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Page defending against the Lucha Bros.; and the anticipated cage match between Cody and Wardlow, which was also Wardlow’s in-ring debut. Did you know this was the first ever cage match in AEW history???

Boom: Tag Team wrestling

Sure, the opening match was a battle royal, but it not only determined the next challengers for the Tag Team Championships, it also set up and/or maintained tag feuds moving forward.

We have the continued saga with The Dark Order and SCU (where was Christopher Daniels tonight?). Best Friends face The Butcher and The Blade next week. Santana & Ortiz maintain their feud with the Young Bucks by being eliminated last with this not being the first time the Bucks have prevented the ascension of The Inner Circle members.

Speaking of the Bucks, they will face the champions Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Page at Revolution after a successful defense against the Lucha Bros.

This was a fantastic, fast-paced, hard-hitting match that is still teasing the breakup of the champs with at least one miscue a match. That V-Trigger/Buckshot Lariat combo (which I call the “V-Lariat”) is a thing of beauty. The simmering tension between the two, and between them and the Bucks, should make for a wonderfully-told story come Revolution.

Boom: the resurgent women’s division

Possibly the biggest critique of AEW the first four months of Dynamite has been the lack of in-ring quality in their women’s division. This hit a nadir with the Brandi Rhods & Mel vs. Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander tag match on the Jan. 15, 2020 episode.

Well, last week’s Riho vs. Nyla Rose championship match was well received and set a new standard for what fans should expect from women’s matches in AEW. I believe many fans were so jaded with the matches that last week’s match stood out even more. It was going to be hard to follow last week’s match.

This week, however, maintained the higher match quality we have been clamoring for. Shanna, always a favorite when wearing her Goku-inspired gear, and Statlander had a nice back-and-forth match with the simple story of Statlander just being too strong.

Then, Rose gave her best promo to date as a fiery heel who (rightfully) is extremely confident in her abilities. AEW also planted the seed for future matches by having both Statlander and Big Swole interrupt Rose (don’t forget about personal favorite Shida).

The only “dud” about any of this is there was only one women’s match; baby steps, right?

Dud: the “lights out” gimmick and reveal of Darby Allin

First, the “lights out” gimmick has always been dumb and only works for a certain Deadman, so can we please stop using it for dramatic effect?

Second, I am a big Darby Allin fan. He is one of their “homegrown” wrestlers who is already building a star-like following. While I do worry about his longevity because of the punishment his body endures, he has a unique charisma and mysteriousness about him that intrigues viewers.

Still, Allin skating down the ramp to confront four people just didn’t work for me. Even with a skateboard, I have to put aside way too much logic to make that segment work. It didn’t help that Sammy Guevara looked like he saw the walking dead (which, I guess, kind of works with Allin’s face paint).

Story-wise, it makes sense. Allin’s had issues with Jericho and started challenging Guevara to matches last week. I think there was a way to continue the Guevara feud without having him be the big reveal here.

This also points to the need for AEW to sign some larger wrestlers for some body diversity. I would take someone like an Arik Royal much more seriously one-on-four than Allin.

Allin will be fine, but this was the one segment that took away from a great show.

Boom: when a cage is just a cage

What a main event, huh? Wardlow acquitted himself well considering his first match was the main event of a high profile feud; did you know it was the first-ever cage match in company history?!

Aiding this match is the unique look of a cage for those of us who are used to the WWE cage. This cage was taller and a little wider (leaving space between the ring and cage), creating a different viewing experience.

Best yet, the cage didn’t come into play too much. Sure, Cody and Wardlow both had their bodies thrown into the cage. Sure, “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson slammed the cage door in MJF’s face (and everyone popped for that). Sure, the cage caused Cody to don the proverbial “crimson mask.” However, the cage didn’t become the focal point of the match as we so often see in WWE.

Instead, the wrestling became the focal point. Wardlow used his size and strength to oppose Cody’s nimbleness and technique. Cody hit Wardlow with everything before even thinking about scaling the cage. “Holy moonsault!” is all I could think when he leaped off the top.

Better yet, the moonsault ended the match! A personal “dud” for me would be the excessive number of near-falls on maneuvers that should end matches, like a Canadian Destroyer or Avalanche Poisonrana. I expected Wardlow to kick out, and when he didn’t I was shocked yet pleased. This is just a small thing I know I have to get over as this is wrestling in 2020.

All in all, this was a great show 10 days out from Revolution. What did you think of the show, and what do you think of this new format? Be sure to leave us comments and let us know.

See you next week!