Maki Itoh and John Hennigan worked well as the Owen Hart Cup Jokers

Heading into AEW Dynamite there was a lot of anticipation around who the jokers would be for the men’s and women’s Owen Hart tournaments. The answers turned out to be Johnny Elite, also known as John Hennigan and Maki Itoh. They both put on fun matches but were unable to defeat Samoa Joe and Britt Baker, respectively. These two were perfect names to slot into these spots as enjoyable surprises that didn’t let the fanbase down.

Of course, fans were hoping for new signings to All Elite Wrestling. This is the organization that has surprised fans with names like Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Ruby Soho, and many others walking through the curtain. The second that joker entrants were announced for the tourney, speculation ran wild as to who they could be.

With free agents on the market like Cesaro, Johnny Gargano, Athena, and others – its understandable that fans wanted to see a big name. Especially when “Johnny” flashed during Hennigan’s entrance, only to reveal that it was Johnny Elite and not Johnny Wrestling.

Hennigan gave Joe a very good match. It’s a reminder that even at 42 years of age, he’s somehow found the fountain of youth that has him performing as well now, as he was almost two decades ago during his initial run in the WWE. Itoh is a fan favorite that can the perfect mix of comedy and seriousness in her match with Baker, even calling back to the “Finger poke of doom,” and their time tagging together last year. Since neither of these individuals is signed to AEW, they were the right choices to go with at this time.

Are there “fans” that will be upset with the decision to use Hennigan and Itoh? Better believe it. Needless criticism is the entry point to becoming a hardcore wrestling fan for some. But there was also a narrative growing that AEW President and CEO, Tony Khan should pull back on the number of surprises and signings. In three years AEW has given fans a lot to cheer about, such as dream matches, buying Ring of Honor, and much more. So much, in fact, some say that there isn’t enough time to come down from the high of one surprise before another is rolled out. Does that lessen the impact? Perhaps, but it’s a minor point of contention at this time.

With six months left in 2022, fans can expect more major surprises along the way. AEW gives fans what they want, which makes them a breath of fresh air in North American wrestling. Maki Itoh and John Hennigan may not have been high on everyone’s draft boards for the Owen Hart Cup, but they performed well in the roles and that should not be overlooked.