I know I’m always one to complain about long AEW shows, especially when it comes to “Dynamite,” but when the company is using branding like “Maximum Carnage,” I expect there to be MAXIMUM carnage on the show, not just some. This episode tonight would have lent itself well to one of the three-hour blocks of television, though I know there’s no reason to throw “AEW Collision” on for an extra hour this week without a pay-per-view coming up. The branding would have worked a lot better on one of those shows. I know last year, at least, AEW ran a “Maximum Carnage” branded show around this time, but I just can’t figure out why it’s important to happen at this time of year.
That’s not a knock on any of the performers tonight, as the wrestling on the show was quite good, it just wasn’t booked nearly as hardcore as it could, and should, have been, especially when it comes to AEW. On a show often criticized for its use of blood, tonight would have made a bit more sense to bring it out.
The four-way tornado tag team match was my match of the night, and even that could have done with some more carnage. There were barely any shenanigans, other than Ricochet pulling the referee out of the ring at one point. I can’t say I love how massive the Don Callis Family has grown to be, but there could have been plenty of carnage with a few other members involved to help Mark Davis and Jake Doyle secure the win. Or, even after, they could have run down to help them during the confrontation with FTR, though the heel versus heel booking is already a bit odd to begin with.
The opening match featuring Darby Allin and PAC had some potential to get nuts, and was overall a solid match with some exciting spots (though they were normal for an Allin match), but it still didn’t quite get to the level I was promised. And, honestly, Bandido losing his AEW World Championship match to MJF was to be expected, though it was still enjoyable. MJF had obviously been looking past the ROH Champion for quite some time, and nothing too crazy happened there.
I’m sure it’s been mentioned before, likely by me, that AEW needs to step back with the fun branding if they’re not going to follow through. To me, “maximum carnage” sounds like there should be some hardcore stipulations on a show, and despite a major title being on the line in the main event, and a fun four-way tornado tag, there wasn’t a lot of havoc to be memorable.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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