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Quite often, the comments section of this article seems to indicate that the views expressed in this section may not necessarily be objective, that they may be biased towards AEW Dynamite over the competition. As has been maintained since the start of this column over four years ago, this is certainly not the case, because whether it's an episode of WWE RAW, SmackDown on FOX, or AEW Dynamite, we at Sportskeeda call it as we see it.
With that in mind, let's preface this article by saying that for all the hype, for all the hoopla around the Anniversary edition of AEW Dynamite, this show failed to deliver. And that's not even counting the botches from the announcers, where Tony Schiavone accidentally mentioned that AEW Dynamite has been on air since the 90s or even when Jim Ross accidentally referred to Mr. Brodie Lee as Mr. Darby Allin.
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But there were a few diamonds in the rough.
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#1 Best: A hard-hitting AEW Dynamite main event, followed by a pretty nice twist
Jon Moxley is really in his element in a match with no rules, and honestly, Lance Archer was one of his better opponents suited for this kind of a contest. The AEW Dynamite main event was exactly as advertised, with some great brawls earlier in the night culminating in a match between two men who looked like they wanted to rip each other apart in a pretty heated affair.
But what happened after the match with Eddie Kingston turning on Jon Moxley, with AEW Dynamite going off the air with Eddie Kingston and the Lucha Bros closing the show was a pretty nice twist, to be honest with you. Eddie Kingston is a fantastic promo and he just makes everything look super real.
#1 Worst: Former WWE megastar Miro is repackaged as a hardcore video gamer?
When he was in WWE, a lot of people thought that Rusev wasn't being used to the best of his ability and that this beast of a man should be in a more prominent spot. When he first arrived in AEW as Miro, the alliance with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford was weird, but one assumed that he would turn on the two and become a beast in the weeks that followed.
But now, Miro's new gimmick may even be worse than the way that he was packaged in WWE, as a man who gets upset over video games. Of course, this is one person's opinion and you may choose to differ (please let us know in the comments if you do), but shouldn't someone that looks like Miro and works like Miro be packaged in a different gimmick? Even the squash match (which ended in the right manner) did not do much to get this former WWE megastar over with the mainstream audience.
#2 Best: It's cheesy and it's goofy, but Chris Jericho and MJF make it work on AEW Dynamite
MJF wants to join The Inner Circle and as cheesy as the segment between him and Chris Jericho on AEW Dynamite was, the two masters of the microphone made it work. It was especially funny to see MJF wanting to touch Chris Jericho's silky hair on live television, on the anniversary edition of AEW Dynamite. If it was two other people, perhaps it wouldn't have been nearly as funny but even MJF's interactions with other members of The Inner Circle were really good.
To a lesser degree, this was also true for the segment between Dr. Britt Baker and Tony Schiavone, who got his chest waxed on live television while he was naked. AEW Dynamite can be extremely goofy and corny at times but when the humor hits home, it is not bad.
How excited are you about the steak dinner next week on AEW Dynamite then? How funny do you think Chris Jericho and MJF's interactions will be?
#2 Worst: No title changes on AEW Dynamite and a 20-minute draw
When you advertise a special edition of AEW Dynamite with 4 title matches and there isn't a single title change, it can be a little disappointing, truth be told. None of the matches really kicked into high gear either except for the main event match, and the 20-minute draw between Orange Cassidy and Cody Rhodes on AEW Dynamite left a lot to be desired. It just seemed like their styles did not really mesh well from the outset.
The involvement of The Dark Order in the match also left a lot to be desired because it just seemed like the match did not really have the right flow going for it. The traditional style of wrestling that Cody Rhodes favors clashes with the eccentric style of Orange Cassidy and nothing really came together on AEW Dynamite. It was just...very long.
One hopes that Darby Allin gets to clash with Cody Rhodes at Full Gear because that should be quite a clash over the AEW TNT Championship.
#3 Best/Worst: Hikaru Shida vs. Big Swole on AEW Dynamite
Big Swole and Hikaru Shida had an okay match on AEW Dynamite. Unfortunately, it was yet another match that just proved how far ahead Hikaru Shida is, as compared to almost everyone else in the AEW Dynamite roster, as a worker and a performer. Big Swole isn't in the same league as Hikaru Shida and unless Riho comes back, this will be the case, going forward. We did see a glimpse of Nyla Rose, so one wonders if she's Shida's next opponent.
Whatever the case may be, congratulations to AEW Dynamite on completing one year and providing a viable alternative in a world that needed something other than the monopoly of the top player in the game. We at Sportskeeda have also made a little video commemorating 30 years of Le Champion Chris Jericho and you may check it out in the video below, saluting the GOAT.
Oh well, this was a lackluster week but next week could be another story entirely so let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.
