3 things that went right on the May 18 episode of AEW: Dynamite

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With Double or Nothing a little more than a week away, this week’s All Elite Wrestling (AEW): Dynamite, which emanated from Houston this week, continued to build to that pay-per-view.

In addition to several angles that set up matches for Double or Nothing and Rampage, the show also featured six matches, including four from the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Invitational Tournament.

Overall, this episode of Dynamite went the same way most of these recent broadcasts have gone: Red hot first hour followed by a somewhat underwhelming second hour. For now, though, let’s focus on the positives of this show.

These are the three things that went right on the May 18 episode of AEW: Dynamite.

“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita, and the continued build to Page vs. CM Punk

After AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page sat at the commentary desk and watched the number one contender to his title, CM Punk, beat his pal John Silver after hitting Page’s Buckshot Lariat, it was Punk’s turn to commentate on Page’s match against Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) ace, Konosuke Takeshita.

Given that Page’s match with Punk is fast approaching, fans expected this to be a Page showcase with Takeshita getting some offense in to maintain his in-ring credibility. Instead, these two delivered 12 minutes of exhilarating action, and Punk enhanced it by putting over both guys, particularly Page.

Of course, we all knew that Page had to hit Takeshita with the GTS after Punk used Page’s finisher last week, and that’s exactly what the world champ did en route to scoring the clean pin. Punk being nonplussed about this was also great, as it presented him as the calm, poised vet who feels he has Page in the exact mindset he wants him in.

AEW has done an excellent job hyping up this world title match without leaning on any last-gasp angles, and that trend continued this week.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rey Fenix

The final men’s Owen Hart Invitational Tournament quarterfinal match was a clash of styles between the technically sound Kyle O’Reilly and high-flying wizard Rey Fenix. The combination led to a great match between the two.

We of course saw plenty of unbelievable highspots from Fenix (well, believable for Fenix), including jumping from his knees and hitting and enzugiri after O’Reilly kneed him in the gut, kipping up and superkicking O’Reilly after eating a solo Ax and Smash from the Undisputed Elite member, and a rope-walk hurricanrana that transcends any description that anyone could come up with, but been little things like the selling of his knee and arm took this from “fun” to “soft MOTY contender”.

MJF whips Wardlow 10 times with his belt

Things reverted back to normal for Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) this week, as the Houston crowd greeted him with boos upon his arrival to the ring. He responded in kind by regurgitating at the utterance of Texas (Kevin Owens would be proud).

Once those pleasantries were out of the way, it was time for Max to supposedly dish out some punishment to Wardlow in the form of lashings from a belt, one of the conditions Warlow had to fulfill in order to receive his match against Friedman at Double or Nothing.

Not the use of the word “supposedly”. It’s there because, as hoped, these whips failed to phase Wardlow in any way; if anything, Wardlow looked tickled by the idea that MJF thought that this would bother him. The only evidence of any damage were the scars left by the strap.

This worked as the perfect counter to the MJF/Cody Rhodes whipping angle from a couple of years ago. In both instances, the idea was to not give Friedman the satisfaction of winning this battle, but while Rhodes’ whipping was an emotional journey centered around withstanding the agony, Wadlow’s was an exercise in gratification and temporary catharsis.

Next. AEW must shift gears in the build to Thunder Rosa vs Serena Deeb. dark

Max low-blowing Wardlow before delivering the final lashing (as he did to Rhodes) and Shawn Spears hitting the C4 and getting a visual pinfall (MJF administered the count) also worked well here, as it gave the heels a bit of heat before Wardlow inevitably destroys Spears in their steel cage match (and possibly Friedman, who will be the guest referee in that match).