Dynamite recap & reactions: Samoa Joe’s punching bag

AEW Dynamite (Apr. 17, 2024) emanated from Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN. The show featured Samoa Joe treating Swerve Strickland like a punching bag, beef heating up between the Blackpool Combat Club and the Don Callis Family, Mercedes Moné with revenge on her mind, Trent Beretta turning his back on Orange Cassidy, and more on the go-home to Dynasty.

Catch up on all the details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Samoa Joe’s punching bag

Contracts have been signed, and it’s only a matter of time until Samoa Joe defends the AEW World Championship against Swerve Strickland at Dynasty on April 21. There was still room for trash-talk and violence though.

Joe chatted with Renee Paquette about the upcoming contest. The champ doesn’t view the challenger as a worthy adversary anymore. Swerve has become more of a nuisance. Joe keeps knocking him down, and he keeps standing up. Joe views Swerve as a punching bag and a choke artist.

Later in the show, Swerve responded to Joe’s insults. Swerve stumbled throughout his career, but he always falls forward into success. Swerve will never give up on his goal of winning the world title. He decided to tell Joe straight to his face.

Those promos led to the show closing scene. Swerve did as he said and called out Joe for a confrontation. He claimed to see fear in Joe’s eyes at the prospect of losing the world title. Joe answered the call. He was surrounded by security, so Swerve flew through the air to stomp on the pile knocking them down like dominoes. Words were exchanged, and fisticuffs exploded. Joe stood tall by crushing Swerve with a musclebuster. Punching bag, indeed.

Hmm, that was a fine finish to the broadcast, but I thought it was building to more. Joe and Swerve used terminology that made me think a Last Man Standing match was in the works, then Swerve just laid there after the musclebuster. I was waiting for him to rise up once again, and it never happened. On the flip side, Joe was firmly established as a badass after last week’s unnecessary shortcut to beat Dustin Rhodes. This will add even more emotion to the moment should Swerve be able to defeat Joe for the world title at Dynasty.

BCC vs. DCF

The Blackpool Combat Club is beefing with the Don Callis Family. Bryan Danielson is set to wrestler Will Ospreay in a dream match at Dynasty, and now the athletic contest is turning into a heated feud between factions.

Jon Moxley returned on screen for AEW with the WWE Divas butterfly belt. Oh wait, that’s the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from NJPW. Moxley put over the value of his new prize and established motivation moving forward. He had been chasing that title for five years. Mox was told it couldn’t be done, and those doubters can kiss his ass.

The champ turned his attention to the Callis Family. They put a hit out on Danielson. As far as Mox is concerned, that means they put a hit on him too. He challenged the biggest, baddest, meanest member to a fight. AEW booked Moxley versus Will Hobbs for next week.

The main event belonged to Will Ospreay versus Claudio Castagnoli. AEW’s current tagline is where the best wrestlers wrestle the best, or some similar phrasing. This match was exactly that. Ospreay and Claudio put on a show of athleticism, style, and strategy. Down the stretch, Claudio countered the Hidden Blade into a brutal pop-up uppercut. Giant swing time! Claudio whipped one rotation before Ospreay countered for a guillotine grip into a DDT. Claudio was dazed, so Ospreay landed a flying attack.

Claudio was ripe for the picking to be cut down with the Hidden Blade. Ospreay continues his streak of great matches and impressive wins.

The Callis Family swarmed on Claudio after the match. Moxley ran out to fight off the goons. The notable part of that moment was Ospreay visibly upset at the Callis Family attacking respected opponents like vultures. It wasn’t outright hostility on his behalf, but seeds are planted for a split.

The interactions between the BCC and the Callis Family did a good job feeding into the present for a rowdy match on Dynamite and feeding into the future with Moxley’s match against Hobbs. It also doesn’t shade one way or another tipping the result of Danielson versus Ospreay. Both outcomes can lead to justified reactions from Ospreay. He could be upset with the Callis Family for attempts at cheating, thus driving a wedge. Or he loses at the PPV, and that causes him to embrace Callis’ wily ways once again.

We won’t have to wait long for another round of faction warfare. AEW announced Danielson & Claudio versus Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher in a Bunkhouse Brawl on Collision. This is odd booking to put Danielson in such a dangerous situation one night before Dynasty. Get Scoopz Marvez to see if Callis made a sizeable donation to the booking committee.

Mercedes Moné and the mystery attacker

Last week, Mercedes Moné was attacked when the lights were down. This week, another attack took place.

Mercedes warned this mystery person that payback is coming. There is a price to pay when messing with Moné.

Willow Nightingale was scheduled for a tag match alongside Adam Copeland against Julia Hart and Brody King, however, Willow was found backstage on the receiving end of an attack. Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander urged the Babe with the Power to relax in preparation for the TBS Championship challenge at Dynasty.

Copeland had to cope with rolling solo for the tag match after the House of Black duo attacked him with the lights out trick. King pummeled the TNT titleholder, while Hart added physical interference. Mixed tag rules were in effect, so I was hoping King would tag to Hart just to see how the rules would play out in that situation considering Copeland had no partner at that particular time. We never got to find out, because Willow made a heroic return to compete in the match.

Hot tag to Willow running wild on King as Hart refused to enter the ring. She hit a flying crossbody onto the big man. Copeland added a spear, then Willow barked before delivering a running cannonball in the corner.

As the referee tried to restore order. Hart cracked Willow with a chain. The TBS champ slapped on the Hartless Lock to win, even though, Willow was already out cold.

Afterward, Mercedes stomped to the ring with a chair in hand. The House of Black scattered. Mercedes appeared to be plotting an attack on Willow, but she released hold of the weapon in an act of peace in the presence of Copeland. Mercedes didn’t outright tease payback on Willow, but it was more her reaction to getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She dropped the chair like a guilty child.

This drama was a roller coaster ride. Willow provided the fun pop creaming King. I appreciate that it was done in a way that King didn’t look weak. She caught him by surprise, and Copeland helped with a spear. The mystery attacker remains at large. Hart and Willow, plus associates, were the initial suspects. I’m throwing Britt Baker’s name into the mix, since she has access to all of Adam Cole’s trickery from the masked devil storyline. Also, what if Mercedes faked the original attack? She’s not squeaky clean in this anymore after the teased chairshot on Willow. You got to a love a mystery in professional wrestling.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Young Bucks & Okada defeated PAC, Pentagon, & Daniel Garcia. The Jacksons hyped the match by using their EVP powers to cut off a video about FTR in anticipation of the AEW World Tag Team Championship ladder match at Dynasty.

Even though the Elite were given a competitive match, they handled business in the end. Okada and PAC exchanged blows, but the Bucks shoved the Bastard off the turnbuckles. Okada planted Garcia and Pentagon with a pair of piledrivers. The Bucks added a superkick party to Garcia, then Okada closed with the Rainmaker ripcord lariat to pin the dancer.

Afterward, the Elite piled on ladder violence to Garcia until PAC made the save with a hammer. All these antics lead to AEW booking the Elite versus PAC & FTR on Collision.

This match had a lot of personality. Garcia thrust his hips into Nicholas Jackson’s face, so Nicholas did the same back. Matthew Jackson provided live commentary during the match daring Garcia to show why he is in AEW. Garcia responded with a suplex. Those were just a few examples.

The action offered a decent tease for Okada versus PAC. The flow made it seem like PAC had the upper hand to draw confidence in a potential title change at Dynasty. Okada turned up the heat on PAC’s teammates to show why the Rainmaker is a star. One small detail that stood out was Okada ducking low to use Garcia as a shield for the superkick party. That is genius level intelligence for a professional wrestler. Okada protected himself in the case of an accidental errant kick. Even if Garcia escaped, Okada was still safe out of the line of fire.

Chris Jericho ran his mouth. Taz brokered a meeting between Jericho and Hook to clear the air. Jericho went full heel mode by calling Shibata collateral damage, being upset that Hook isn’t listening to his wisdom, and even insulting Taz. Jericho laid it on thick with praise for himself while also running down Taz’s guidance of his own son. Hook heard enough and defiantly declined to continue this mentor relationship. One thing led to another, and Jericho shoved Taz. Hook protected his papa by ordering Jericho to leave his ring. AEW announced an FTW Championship bout between Hook and Jericho at Dynasty.

This was a pretty amusing session from Jericho. His cockiness as a legend was so over the top that it felt slimy. Shoving Taz without concern was a nice touch to provoke Hook into a mood. That wasn’t Jericho’s plan. He was just so self-absorbed that only his desires mattered. It was as if Jericho funneled the criticism of latching onto future stars like a bloodsucking tick to stay in the spotlight.

Deonna Purrazzo defeated Mariah May. Competitive clash with May rising toward the finish. Purrazzo was too slick when countering the May Day into a roll-up for victory.

Afterward, Toni Storm stomped Purrazzo. Thunder Rosa ran out to punch Storm. As Purrazzo and Thunder bickered, Storm and May went back on the attack. Purrazzo and May brawled to the side, and Thunder rebounded to smear makeup on Storm’s face.

Purrazzo versus May was a good under-card story for the go-home show. It’s not PPV material, but it’s still an interesting beef to demand interest. They went out and kicked ass. That match tied in to the world title story to create options for the near future. May was on the verge of victory, so a rematch has value. The competitive edge between Purrazzo and Thunder is turning cold, and that needs resolution in the ring with fists.

Orange Cassidy defeated Shane Taylor. Cassidy had no friends by his side, while Taylor was flanked by Lee Moriarty and Anthony Ogogo. Cassidy could have used help when Taylor’s comrades caused a ruckus in the match. Nevertheless, Cassidy rallied for two superman punches to win.

Afterward, Cassidy was victim to a three-on-one beating. Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal ran out for the save, however, a hooded Trent Beretta walloped them with chairs. Trent gave his blessing to Taylor to continue the attack on Cassidy unimpeded.

Damn, that was ruthless from Trent. It’s one thing not to help Cassidy. It is plain wicked to physically attack anyone trying to help. That method was orchestrated with style. I didn’t even see Trent creeping on the down low. His pop up was a complete surprise. The former Best Friends have my full attention to see this feud blossom.

Notes: Bullet Club Gold challenged the AEW trios champs to winner-take-all at Dynasty.

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn accepted the challenge for the ROH six-man straps. The Acclaimed want an early start, so they challenged the Ass Boys to a match on Collision.

Stud of the Show: Willow Nightingale

Beating up Brody King was so much fun.

Match of the Night: Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli

The best wrestlers delivered as advertised.

Grade: B+

Rowdy go-home to Dynasty. The vibe was chaotic while still delivering quality action. I liked how the promos often fed into the next segment, such as a match or a response. That helped prime the pump. In contrast, the segments with Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland were spaced out enough for a logical flow. Overall, the pieces came together nicely to create story interest now and into the future.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?