AEW Dynamite Match Review: 19 August 2023
What started as a two-man grudge-match descended into all-out chaos
With Orange Cassidy and Yuta Wheeler (Blackpool Combat Club) going toe-to-toe in the ring, it’s no surprise that the first match of this Fight for the Fallen special of Dynamite was packed with technical skill. AEW hosts a Fight for the Fallen charity tournament each year, with this year being dedicated to helping victims of the recent Maui Bushfires.
I’ll be honest, given Dynamite was based in Music City (aka Nashville, Tennessee), I expected the crowd to be a bit more amped up and the atmosphere to be a bit more electric. They ended up coming across as kind of grumpy and maybe a bit less excited than I would have thought of a city with such a colourful personality.
Image courtesy of All Elite Wrestling
In terms of the action, Yuta was cocky at times throughout the match, especially knowing Cassidy was recovering from injuries that he could exploit. Even the commentators noted that this was a slower pace than usual for Cassidy, who needed to be picked back up by Yuta repeatedly. Yuta dominated him countless times, including with an impressive Superkick and Suicide Dive. A few times he even stopped to do some stretches, and generally seemed to take it easy at many points in the match. The crowd wasn’t having it though, booing him as he kept taking Cassidy out.
Image courtesy of All Elite Wrestling
Cassidy tried a few times throughout the match to regain the upper hand, like when he climbed up on the turnbuckles to drop onto Yuta, only for Yuta to kick him in the head and take him out with a Superplex. That said, Yuta still copped it quite a few times from Cassidy, including by a desperate Beach Break upon re-entry into the ring and an impressive Michinoku Driver at one point too.
Things really started to turn south for Yuta when Cassidy found his strength again. He served up a Paradigm Shift, shut down a Seatbelt from Yuta, and then finished Yuta with a DDT. But victory ended up spelling pain for Cassidy, and is when things descended into madness.
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli are part of Blackpool Combat Club (BCC), and had been eyeing off Cassidy towards the end of the match from the outside of the ring. As soon as fellow teammate Yuta was pinned and time was counted, Moxley and Castagnoli launched into the ring to give Cassidy a piece their minds (and their fists). Just to add more mayhem to the ring, Best Friends then appeared and jumped in to help defend Cassidy against the BCC boys. The chaos didn’t end there, as Lucha Brothers then also joined in to back up Cassidy and Best Friends.
Out of the blue, Eddie Kingston appeared, which was unexpected, especially given he’s just completed the NJPW G1 Climax over in Japan. At this point, BCC escaped out of the ring, with Kingston delivering a huge challenge for them to bring their A-game to London next week.
Image courtesy of All Elite Wrestling
What started off as a stock-standard technical match ended up being pretty good given the gatecrashers and drama at the end. Although it’ll be interesting to see what transpires in London next week, I think it would have been good to have some more build-up to it given it’s turning out to be such a big deal. In any case, we’ll see where this rivalry goes.
I give this match 3.5 out of 5 stars:
