AEW Dynamite Match Review: 22 June 2023

Image courtesy of All Elite Wrestling

Good laughs, but no compromising on technical moves

This match saw AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy join forces with the legendary New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Katsuyori Shibata in an impressive technical match against Daniel Garcia and NJPW Zack Sabre, Jr.. Despite delivering a match packed with action including the odd epic high flying aerial move, the four of them still managed to keep things funny. It was definitely great to see Shibata enter the AEW ring, bringing some fresh Japanese moves to the traditionally American wrestling scene.

The crowd in Chicago delivered for Dynamite tonight, with this match no exception, as they showed their electric energy throughout the whole thing. Understandable, as the technical skill shown was pretty darn impressive.

Zack Sabre, Jr. was man of the match for me, with his submissions and a nicely executed Flying Octopus Hold. Although, Cassidy was awesome as always in his delivery of a Suicide Dive that took Sabre out with style - especially given how chilled he looked with his hands in his pockets half of the time (as usual, but it always makes me laugh).

Shibata showed off the strong style the NJPW is known for, and it added a cool twist to the match as a treat to the AEW regular fans. Garcia has definitely shown his technical skill, while, at the same time, holding true to his heel (villain) persona. All in all, the combo in the ring tonight brought the skill and the theatre you would hope for in a match.

Image courtesy of All Elite Wrestling

If I had my way, I would have liked to see someone win by submission, especially Sabre, given his track record. It would have been great to see the match go for a bit longer, too - I wanted to see more of Cassidy’s sweet aerial moves and a bit more of Shibata’s NJPW flair. That said, I’m just being greedy, as it was a pretty great match, so I can’t complain too much!

I give this match 3.5 out of 5 stars: