Dynamite recap & reactions: Classic Sting

Dynamite recap & reactions: Classic Sting

AEW Dynamite (Feb. 28, 2024) emanated from Propst Arena in Huntsville, AL. The show featured Sting repelling from the rafters, Ric Flair hitting a low blow, Hangman Page pulling a fast one on Swerve Strickland, and more on the go-home to Revolution.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Sting’s final Dynamite

Sting was in the house for his final Dynamite as a professional wrestler. Sting’s last match will take place at Revolution on March 3 when The Icon & Darby Allin defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship against the Young Bucks in tornado rules. AEW did the moment right on Dynamite for a glorious memory of Sting repelling down from the rafters.

Even though Sting was present, the question on this evening was where was he exactly. AEW crafted a storyline running throughout the show of the Bucks trying to track The Icon. The EVPs were carrying baseball bats to conduct Sting’s exit interview. Various mini scenes aired throughout the show teasing a positive union between the Jacksons and Ric Flair, interrupting Eddie Kingston to threaten fines and a dress code, and finally locating Sting’s locker room. The Bucks barged in to see baseball bats hanging from the ceiling like decorations. Mind games were afoot, and the Jacksons were spooked.

Fast forward to the main event segment. The Bucks came down to the ring. AEW played into the classic Sting bit of fans wearing Sting masks ringside. The Bucks knocked masks off fans’ heads. One such person happened to be Allin, and the fight was on.

The Bucks quickly handled Allin thanks to the numbers advantage with baseball bats. Allin was victim to the EVP Trigger. The Bucks waved for Ric Flair to join the beatdown. The Nature Boy entered the ring, but he had different plans. Flair swerved the swerve to turn on the Bucks with an eye poke and punches.

Once the Bucks took down Flair with a low blow, Sting’s music played aloud. They rushed up the ramp to wait for The Icon on stage. That’s when Sting repelled down from the rafters. That moment was awesome by itself, but Tony Schiavone makes it even better with his voice cracking during the passionate call of, “It’s Sting!” We all need that as a ringtone. Sting cleaned house with his baseball bat. Allin added a Coffin Drop, and Sting closed with a Scorpion Death Drop to Nicholas.

Man, that was a great send-off for Sting from Dynamite. The classic homage repelling from the rafters should make every fan smile that is familiar with the legend of Crow-era Sting. For unaware youngsters, the moment still works as a rowdy dose of entertainment that they’ll remember to tell their kids about. Sting’s repelling gimmick made this episode feel special and injected energy into the story. I am certainly charged up to see what AEW and Sting have in store for his final match, so mission accomplished on producing excitement on the go-home for the PPV.

Hangman Page is a liar?

The show opened to address injury concerns about Hangman Page in regard to the triple-threat for the AEW World Championship at Revolution. The cowboy is booked to wrestle Swerve Strickland and titleholder Samoa Joe, however, he appeared to twist his ankle last week escaping a musclebuster from Joe in the trios bout.

Hangman limped into the ring with the aid of one crutch. The diagnosis did not look good. Hangman declared that he would not be able to compete at the PPV. Enter Swerve to speak about fate and destiny. His destiny is to win the world title. Swerve also recognized his respect for Hangman as a rival. The cowboy appeared to be receptive to the show of support. Enter Joe to verbally put the challengers in their place. Swerve snapped back and mentioned threatening Hangman’s infant child as the lengths he’s willing to go to get to the top. The cowboy’s expression dropped, and so did his limp. As Swerve was barking at Joe, Hangman hit his enemy with the crutch. Hangman will be wrestling in the title bout at Revolution after all to make sure Swerve never wins the gold.

The surface layer of this promo session was strong with sharp words, engaging talking points, and an interesting act of violence. They did well blurring the lines to cheer for your favorite. Joe is a supreme badass. Swerve is the people’s choice. Hangman rightfully retaliated on Swerve for past misdeeds.

Digging deeper, I question the effectiveness of the Hangman swerve beyond simple entertainment. I get the feeling that he is supposed to be an obvious heel now, because commentary cut him down as a liar faking the injury. That’s clearly a sign that viewers are supposed to boo that man. However, Swerve’s home invasion is unforgivable, so the cowboy’s reaction is understandable. Based on how the promo session played out, I don’t view Hangman as a clear-cut heel. He’s no more conflicted in personality than the others. If comparing the three to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, I’m not sure who fits where. It brings me back to the idea that AEW is presenting all three characters for you to pick your favorite to win in what should be a badass match.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Blackpool Combat Club defeated FTR & Eddie Kingston. The match separated in the end for a duel between Bryan Danielson and Kingston. The American Dragon hit the Busaiku Knee, stomped the Mad King’s head in, and applied a triangle choke to squeeze his rival into unconsciousness. Bragging rights went to Danielson on this evening.

This was a lengthy match with plenty of technical brawling on the outside. Referee Paul Turner lost complete control of his authority as there were extended periods of fighting with all six men in the ring. It wasn’t a good look to those who are sticklers for rules, but it sure provided entertaining moments, such as team submission holds and two near falls broken up by teammates making the save. The finish was a bit of a surprise for Danielson to choke Kingston out cold. I wasn’t expecting such a definitive decision, and it brings an interesting question to see how Kingston reacts at the PPV. I’m curious if his confidence will be chipped away at all. My top takeaway was how efficient the BCC were in softening their opponents prior to the PPV. Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli were focused on dishing out strategic damage.

Bruv. Will Ospreay finish his NJPW obligations, and he is full-time with AEW now. Ospreay is ready to pick up where he left off after beating Orange Cassidy, Kenny Omega, and Chris Jericho in previous AEW outings. The Don Callis Family arrived on the scene to hype Ospreay versus Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution. Callis’ logic in arranging that match was basically iron sharpens iron. Ospreay and Takeshita shared a tense handshake as competitive fire sparked.

My favorite part of that segment was the crowd drowning out Callis with boos. I love that he can elicit such a loud reaction. I was laughing so much at the hatred that it was hard to pay attention to Callis’ words. Thumbs up to the crowd for their participation.

Ospreay has great charisma on the mic with his British accent and lingo. He’ll clearly be able to hold his own in any promo battles. One thing to keep an eye on is if Ospreay grows tired of Callis butting into the spotlight. He was not keen on Callis interrupting his moment here. The fans are strongly behind Ospreay right now, so it would be any easy transition if Ospreay splits away from Callis’ clutches.

AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy defeated Nick Wayne to retain the title. Wayne was on fire early dominating the first half of the match. He even hit a no-look moonsault to the outside, much to the approval of Christian Cage.

The Patriarchy were ejected from ringside after Christian physically interfered. Referee Bryce Remsburg didn’t even see the incident, and yet he took a cue from the crowd to toss out Wayne’s support group. Cassidy turned it around in the second half with a speedy rally. After Wayne kicked out of a Beach Break, the Kingdom ran in to meddle. Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero was quick to arrive to take out the trash. In the hullabaloo, Wayne removed a turnbuckle pad. Daniel Garcia came in as a distraction to prevent rogue behavior from Wayne, so Cassidy could hit the superman punch to win. Roderick Strong struck with a cheap shot after the bell.

Wayne looked fantastic in this contest. In a bubble, I have no issues with Wayne being elevated in defeat. He certainly deserves it after that outing. In the larger picture, I question the timing of Cassidy having so much trouble. He should be on a pedestal as a star heading into a championship defense at the PPV. Instead, Cassidy got his ass kicked early. He found his groove later to hit signature moves, and then the finish came across as Cassidy squeaking by the competition.

Skye Blue defeated Kris Statlander. The alien showed her strength pressing Blue into the front row.

Blue fought hard to make it competitive with a Destroyer, a superkick, and an inside cradle sequence for a near fall. In the end, Stokely Hathaway was overzealous in his attempt to help, and it cost Statlander the match. After Blue kicked out of a hard slam, Hathaway pulled out a steel chain to pass to his client. Statlander wasn’t interested in winning that way. Referee Rick Knox spied the plotting and admonished Stooley. As that was happening, Julia Hart entered the ring to clock Statlander with the TNT title belt. Blue was quick to capitalize for a Code Blue to win.

This was a fun match. Statlander’s power was impressive. Blue showed smooth agility for her repertoire of maneuvers. The feud had heat, and Stokely played on the story angle in his relationship with the ladies. It sets up payback to get at Hart and also fallout for Big Stoke trying to cut corners to success.

Chris Jericho defeated Atlantis Jr. The luchador arrived from CMLL. Jericho gave a cool explanation for personally requesting this bout. When the Lionheart arrived in Mexico 30 years ago, CMLL threw him in the deep end to be a big star. Atlantis was there to help Jericho learn the ropes. Le Champion wanted to repay the favor to Atlantis’ son. Jericho aimed to teach Atlantis Jr. about the wrestling business from the American side.

Atlantis Jr. was joined by his father for the bout. He was seconds away from victory when trapping Jericho in La Atlantida submission, however, El Ocho escaped to counter for the Walls of Jericho. Junior almost reached the ropes for the break, but Jericho pulled him back to the center of the ring. Senior threw in the towel to save his son. Afterward, Jericho put over Atlantis Jr. to the live crowd and hugged Atlantis.

This was a nifty personal touch from Jericho to make the match interesting. He lived up to his word by roughing up his opponent to toughen him up. The reaction to Atlantis Jr. started cold as an unknown to AEW television, but they warmed up as the match progressed. Atlantis Jr. hit some sweet moves, such as monkey flips, hurricanranas, and a frog splash, to earn support. And yes, criticism is valid about this match adding nothing toward the PPV on a go-home show. Outside of that, I’m familiar with CMLL talent, so it was a neat treat through the Forbidden Door for me.

Notes: The Bang Bang Scissor Gang felt strong as a unit. For their next match, Austin Gunn proposed teaming with the Acclaimed on Collision. That idea didn’t gain support until Anthony Bowens suggest that the Acclaimed tag with Austin. Cheers all around.

Meat Madness was postponed for Revolution. In its place will be an 8-man scramble with Chris Jericho, Will Hobbs, Lance Archer, Wardlow, Hook, and Brian Cage. Two qualifying bouts were announced for the last two spots. Matt Sydal wrestled Magnus from CMLL on Rampage, and Collision will host a three-way between Bryan Keith, Pentagon, and Dante Martin. Don’t ask me why Meat Madness was delayed only for all three participants to be in the scramble.

Stud of the Show: Sting

Sting provided a memorable scene that might be in the top ten list ten years from now for greatest moments in Dynamite history.

Match of the Night: BCC vs. FTR & Eddie Kingston

I likely would have picked Orange Cassidy versus Nick Wayne or Kris Statlander versus Skye Blue had the finishes been cleaner, but this is how the cookie crumbles. The trios bout was rugged intensity personified.

Grade: B+

Good action in the ring, promos sessions that maintained interest, and the crazy moment of Sting repelling from the rafters all made for a fun episode heading into Revolution.

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