Cook's AEW Dynamite Review 4.17.24 | 411MANIA (2024)

Hey kids! Tony Acero is on assignment tonight, so I’m here for AEW’s latest & greatest production. They’re in Indianapolis tonight and have all kinds of fun planned to lead into the big Dynasty PPV this weekend. Should be good times! Or at least better than last week’s episode? I saw those screen shots of Tony from last week and he seemed pretty displeased with how things were going. Might be why he took off, now that I think about it.

Oh, wait, that was Schiavone? Ah. I always mix up Schiavone & Acero. All those Tonys look alike.

Cook’s AEW Dynamite 4.17.24 Review

We are live in Indianapolis! Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone are our hosts, and new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley is making his Dynamite return. Former 411 writer and longtime palomino Todd Bergman is in the fourth row with some Danhausen signs, let me know if you see him!

The fans chant “Moxley”. He says that one of the first championships he won was at a Salvation Army center in Indianapolis. He tells the doubters to kiss his ass and watch him climb mountain after mountain. The IWGP Championship is steeped in history. He’s been chasing it for five years. People said it was impossible, but they didn’t know what was inside him. It’s about how far you’re willing to dig and how far you’re willing to go. These kind of things are what AEW is all about. The Don Callis Family is comprised of very talented individuals, but Don Callis is a creep. The Callis Family tried to injure Bryan Danielson last week. Moxley invites them to fight him. He could do any number of things, but they wouldn’t learn nothing. He’s picking the biggest and baddest of them all, and challenges Will Hobbs to a match next week on Dynamite. Hobbs will find out just how far out of his depth he is. Mox will drag Hobbs to the deep waters, and Hobbs will know that he’s being fed lies. Nobody can touch Jon Moxley.

Backstage, somebody attacked Mercedes Mone last week. She promises to get revenge, and throws some accusatory shade at Julia Hart.

Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart & Brody King: Wait a minute, Willow has been attacked backstage! Stokely Hathaway, an official & Kris Statlander talk to her while she tries to get up. Now the lights go out, and Brody King attacks Copeland from behind. Julia Hart appears on the stage and King lays a beating on Copeland at ringside. The bell has yet to ring. Aubrey Edwards starts the match once Copeland gets in the ring, and we immediately go to picture in picture.

King continues working Copeland over while Julia goes to the corner. Julia does some choking behind the referee’s back, King takes advantage with a decapitator before sending Copeland to the corner for a superplex. Cope blocks the attempt, knocks King off the top rope and hits a flying clothesline. Forearms & chops exchanged. Cope sends King into the corner, hits a big boot. Another big boot in the corner. Impaler gets two for Cope. Blockbuster by Copeland, his eyes bug out and it might be spear time! He runs into a clothesline instead. King places Cope in the corner, misses the cannonball. Willow makes her way to the ring, with Stokely & Kris in tow. Willow tags in, hits a crossbody on King! Julia runs away, and Cope spears King! Cannonball by Willow on King! Hart clocks Willow with a chain! Cope & King take each other over the top rope, and Julia locks in Hartless for the “submission”.

Winners: Julia Hart & Brody King (8:48 via stoppage)
Match Rating: ***
Fine little match to further various issues and get things ready for Dynasty. I wonder who attacked Willow? Tons of backstage attacks going on around here with this assortment of folks, that’s for sure.

Mercedes Mone comes down with a chair and chases Julia out of the ring. Mone shakes hands with Willow & Adam.

Renee Paquette is backstage with Samoa Joe. Joe sees Swerve as more of a nuisance than anything else. He compares Swerve to a punching bag, as he keeps coming back. Renee shows clips from last week. Joe was concerned about Swerve taking his property and having to disinfect it. He doesn’t know where Nana’s been! Joe notes Swerve’s penchant for choking, and says it will happen again at Dynasty. Joe will choke him out there.

Matthew & Ncholas Jackson bump FTR’s video package because there’s simply no time. They’ll put it on social though, so it’s all good. Okada promises that Pac is a dead man. Seems extreme to me. There’s Tony!

Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks vs. Pac, Daniel Garcia & Penta El Zero Miedo (w/Alex Abrahantes): I can’t blame the Jacksons sacrificing FTR’s promo for Okada’s entrance. Pac & Okada start things. Or not, as the Bucks attack Pac from behind and Okada knocks the partners off the apron. Nicholas gets double teamed by Pac & Penta. Penta with a fun blue outfit this week. Okada boots Penra down and Matthew tags in to pick up the scraps. Penta sends Matthew outside, kicks Nicholas down and tags Garcia. Clothesline in the corner and 9 punches and a dance! Okada trips up Garcia, but Garcia gets the upper hand on the outside until a PK is delivered. We go picture in picture.

During the break it’s all Elite. (heh) Nicholas with some words for the camera as he works Garcia over in the corner. Okada & Matthew also get tags in to deliver some punishment. Matthew with some words for the announcers, as he’s grabbed a microphone and seems to be calling the action. We return and Garcia goes for a tag. Matthew gets the tag and cuts Garcia off. He berates Garcia, wondering why they hired him. Garcia hits a back suplex. That was funny. Pac tags in and hits some suplexes on the Bucks. A double dropkick off the top by Pac, then a moonsault to the floor! Pac wants Okada, but he didn’t weaken the Bucks enough to avoid the sneak attack. Triple kick in the corner by the Elite. Penta kicks Okada to break up the count. Penta tags in, hits some sling blades, then a Made in Japan gets 2 on Okada! What an insult! Penta gets backdropped. Pac cuts Matthew down, then tags back in. Pac & Okada go after each other. Matthew blocks the Black Arrow attempt and Pac lands on or around his head. Garcia tags in, hits some forearms before getting dropkicked by Okada. Tombstone on Garcia, one for Penta too. Garcia eats a double superkick, then a Rainmaker from Okada for three.

Winners: Kazuchika Okada, Matthew & Nicholas Jackson (12:20 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Say what you will about the Bucks, but the party match almost always delivers on that promise. They’ve had crazier ones, but this was perfectly enjoyable.

Garcia eats an EVP Trigger, then gets slammed on a ladder. The Elite tries to murder Garcia, but Pac chases them off with a hammer.

Austin Prock is here with us! He drives for the NHRA, so maybe AEW will get a funny car soon. That’d be…fun!

Taz is in the ring and is soon joined by Chris Jericho. The Hook signal shines, and here comes Hook. Taz is here to make sure things go nice & easy. Jericho thanks Taz for getting Hook to come out. He explains that he wanted to get Hook’s attention and make him realize he’s not listening. Jericho says he is the learning tree. Everybody in AEW who’s listened to him has gotten to the next level. The Jericho Vortex makes everybody better. He wants to get to the top of Wizard Mountain and breathe the air of Jericho. Hook doesn’t want to sit under the learning tree. Jericho is confused. Hook says he doesn’t need Jericho’s help. Taz tries to interject, but Jericho takes a shot at the guidance Taz gave Hook. Jericho shoves Taz down, and the fans inform Jericho he messed up. Hook says Jericho crossed a line, and says he’ll face him anytime, any place. Hook tells Jericho to get out of his ring.

Renee is with Swerve Strickland backstage. Swerve doesn’t believe he’s a choke artist. He’s been stumbling his whole career, but keeps falling forward. He runs down the list of things he’s gone through in the past year, and notes he always gets up. Joe can call Swerve anything he wants, but on Sunday he’ll call him “new champion”. Swerve says he’ll see Joe in the ring tonight.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mariah May (w/Toni Storm & Luther): Deonna has certainly increased her robe budget. May with a hard shot in the corner. Deonna hits a leg sweep, goes for the armbar & May ducks outside. Deonna follows her but pays the price when she’s sent into the barricade. Single arm draping DDT by Deonna gets two back in the ring. May goes for the Trish rana in the corner, gets blocked but shoves Deonna to the floor as we go picture in picture.

May keeps control during commercial. She does the boot choke in the corner, then hits a rear chinlock after a brief flurry from Deonna. Mariah yanks Deonna down by her hair, then chokes her on the ropes. Deonna gets kicked down in the corner. Deonna with some kicks, then a knee to the arm as we return. Kick and a clothesline get two for Deonna. Strikes exchanged! Fujiwara armbar is locked in, but May is too close to the ropes. Pump kick gets two for Deonna. May blocks the Queen’s Gambit, hits a headbutt, then a hip attack in the corner. DDT gets two for May. May tries to roll up Deonna, but the Virtuosa reverses for three!

Winner: Deonna Purrazzo (8:00 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
I’m a fan of both these wrestlers, and they had pretty good chemistry here. How about them perfectly hitting eight minutes on the run sheet? Silly thing to be impressed by I’m sure, but it’s the little things that count. Mariah has really impressed early in her AEW stint, won’t be long before she’s holding some kind of gold.

Toni attacks after the bell, but Thunder Rosa comes down and takes all three of them out. Thunder & Deonna briefly argue, but May & Storm break that up. Thunder gets a measure of revenge on Toni for previous activity, marking up her face with makeup.

Renee is with the Bang Bang Gang. Jay White issues the challenge to unify the AEW & ROH trios championships. Yeah, probably time to do that.

Daddy Ass & the Acclaimed accept the challenge for Dynasty. Max Caster adds a challenge of his own, Acclaimed vs. Gunns on Collision.

Orange Cassidy vs. Shane Taylor (w/Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty): Shane tells his guys to get off the apron. OC puts his hands in his pockets and here we go. It works for a minute, but Shane’s power is a bit too much. Draping Stunner by Taylor, then OC gets stomped down on the outside. Taylor restrains OC’s arms on the ropes and delivers a big overhand chop before we go picture in picture.

Taylor maintains the advantage and delivers some more strikes. Big legdrop on the apron by Taylor. OC with some huge strikes that don’t seem to have much effect on the big man. Back to full screen and OC rams Shane’s head into the turnbuckle multiple times. Ogogo interferes to slow OC. Slumdog Millionaire, then OC takes out the ringside help. Clothesline from Taylor gets two. THE ELITE VS PAC & FTR ON COLLISION 420 SATURDAY. Shane blocks the first Orange Punch but can’t block the second.

Winner: Orange Cassidy (7:58 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
I do like seeing Taylor get a chance here, as he was one of the better parts of late-period ROH. Hope he gets to flush out his character a bit more on the main shows.

Moriarty immediately attacks OC after the bell and Ogogo knocks the man out. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal try to help out, but Trent Baretta takes them both out with a chair! Moriarty locks in a submission while Trent walks out. With Best Friends like Trent, who needs enemies?

Roderick Strong was happy to have Kyle O’Reilly back. Now he’s going to end the man forever. Seems harsh.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Will Ospreay: Don Callis joins commentary for this one as he’s still associated to Ospreay somehow. Big running uppercut right away from Claudio for two. Riccola Bomb blocked. Claudio with a backbreaker. Will is not going to win the striking battles here. Will kicks Claudio outside, then follows him out to deliver some chops. Will jumps over the barricade twice and hits a forearm. Claudio blocks whatever springboard move Will was trying, then hits a running double stomp. A couple more double stomps for good measure. Claudio with a backbreaker. Claudio wins another strike battle, but Will hits the Deja Vu. On the outside, Claudio catches a Will crossbody and backbreaks him on the apron as we go picture in picture.

They trade strikes and snap mares during the commercial. Claudio with a rear chinlock. Will takes the Bret Hart corner bump and Claudio goes back to the chinlock. We return and Will’s fighting out. Springboard into a kick that Claudio flips on! Nip up by Will, big boot in the corner. Springboard forearm gets two. Will backslides Claudio for two, then goes to the Sharpshooter! Claudio reverses pretty quick, as he’s utilized that move for years. Claudio springs into a kick, Will hits a Tiger Driver for two! Claudio with a poke to the eye to change momentum! That guy from Blackpool would be proud. Forearms exchanged. Riccola Bomb reversed into a rana for two after a series too fast for me to type. Kicks by Will, Oscutter is blocked by a torture rack into a slam for two. Standing Spanish Fly by Will gets two. The elbow pad comes off, but a Super European Uppercut gets two. Claudio motions for the Swing, but Will maneuvers into a DDT! Cancun Tornado splash gets two! HIDDEN BLADE and that’s all she wrote.

Winner: Will Ospreay (14:25 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ****
I fully expected this to be awesome because of who was involved, and it was.

Takesh*ta, Hobbs & Fletcher come down to attack Castagnoli. Moxley intervenes but the numbers are against him for a minute. Not for long. Will remains uninvolved, except to yell at his “family members” afterward.

Excalibur runs down the upcoming events.

It’s 10:00 on the East Coast, and here come Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana. Swerve tells us why he can beat Samoa Joe. Last week, Joe was scared. Swerve & Indianapolis are waiting for Joe to come out so he can tell it to his face. Security tries to hold Joe off for some reason. Swerve jumps onto all the indy guys/security. Joe & Swerve stare down before throwing down. Swerve gets sent rib first into the steps. Joe taunts Nana for a second, but Swerve takes advantage. Joe fights back, hits the Musclebuster. Samoa Joe stands tall as we peace out.