Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!
Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite will be the five year anniversary edition and will feature a few noteworthy matches as Will Ospreay puts his International Championship on the line against Ricochet, and Bryan Danielson battles it out with Kazuchika Okada with both of their belts on the line.
My question for you today is “What are your predictions for the 5-year anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite?”
Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.
As far as my answer…
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Juice Robinson
After having so many important matches on Grand Slam and the recent WWE shows, this feels like a do-nothing normal match, to be honest. I like both guys, so that’s not to crap on them, but this is just “guy versus guy because, why not?” and that type of booking doesn’t typically do anything for me.
Page is the former world champion with more momentum on his side. Robinson is, for some reason, there to lose. There are plenty other people I would have picked to put Page over before Robinson. I don’t quite understand this.
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Serena Deeb
This I understand from the perspective of it being in Pittsburgh, so that’s why Baker is on the card. Why she’s fighting Deeb? That’s a different story. My guess is because they just wanted to give her someone to beat who is somewhat credible, even though Deeb is basically enhancement talent for the midcard and main event at this point.
If it weren’t for the location, I don’t think we’d see Baker on the card at all.
AEW International Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Ricochet
This is intriguing to me. I could see Ricochet winning the title with some help from Don Callis, joining his crew and using him as a mouthpiece to offset how much Ricochet’s been struggling on the mic. Kyle Fletcher could also be the reason Ospreay loses, as they lost their tag title chance last week in part due to Ospreay stopping Fletcher from using the screwdriver Callis gave him. Whether or not that means Fletcher blames Ospreay or he sees the error of his ways in teaming with Callis remains to be seen, meaning it’s a viable option.
Then again, I could just as easily see Ospreay retaining here—especially if it means there’s a handshake after the match and THAT is when Ricochet turns heel. Given the choice between the two scenarios, I’m leaning more toward this one.
AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada — both belts on the line, but the Continental Championship is only up for grabs for the first 20 minutes
First off, I think this stipulation is bogus. I get that the continental rules are coming into play here, but it just comes off so dumb. Obviously, Danielson retains his title, but he only does so by beating Okada after the 20 minute mark, so that no championships change hands, rendering the whole title-for-title element of this moot.
Be honest, AEW apologists. You’d rag on WWE for doing something similar. Let’s not act like either company is infallible and just point out the ridiculous things they both do. This is one of those moments where I just rolled my eyes and thought to myself “You’re better than this, AEW. Come on.”
Yes, the match will be fun. But I’m tired of that being the narrative across the board in wrestling as a catch-all excuse for wonky storytelling. Also, if they end up not doing anything different from their first two matches, I’ll be a little disappointed that it was just a rerun. But I’m hoping they pull out all the stops they can to make this a Match of the Year candidate.
What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!
