AEW Dynamite 12/20/23: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show where nobody thinks it's weird that the extremely proud Jewish man is being accused of being "the Devil" on a weekly basis. Good thing there are no historic parallels for this! Yes, AEW World Champion MJF was back on the show this week after a brief absence, and the WINC writing and editorial staff had a few thoughts on his appearance, not to mention the continuation of the Continental Classic, a strangely sincere Chris Jericho, and the further adventures of Roderick Strong.

No, we're not covering the entire show here — the booking of the women's division continues to be so pedestrian that nobody could even rustle up a Toni Storm take this week — but our live coverage/results page is available for anyone who wants all the details of the show itself. This is about our opinions and analysis of the show; or to put it another way, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/20/23 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

The promo segment between The Winnipeg Golden Jets and AEW Tag Team Champions Big Bill and Ricky Starks on last week's show was so atrocious that when Chris Jericho appeared tonight in a backstage segment, by himself, looking very serious, and starting with, "Last week," I half expected him to apologize for it on behalf of himself and Kenny Omega. Instead, we got a refreshing bit of sincerity from Jericho, who sent well wishes to his tag team partner and got the crowd behind him to do the same.

Jericho reiterated Omega's diagnosis of diverticulitis and that he is now out of action indefinitely. The team's status is up in the air and their scheduled challenge against Bill and Starks now out the window, and Jericho noted that they're still deciding what to do in the meantime. But as he stated, the most important thing is Omega's health, and everyone in the wrestling world is glad that his illness was caught before it got much worse.

This came across as very genuine, as I'm sure it is, so kudos to Jericho and anyone else involved for deciding to include it on tonight's broadcast. I will say, however, the added touch of Jericho mimicking Omega's trademark farewell, bidding adieu, complete with a goodnight, a kiss, a goodbye, and a bang, left me thinking, "He's gonna kick Kenny right in the stomach as soon as he gets back, isn't he?"

Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing either to get Omega back into singles action as soon as possible, so if that's what it takes, go for it. For now, get well, Mr. Omega.

Written by Jon Jordan

The current format for the Continental Classic is very enjoyable, but because of how the Gold League points ended up working, Wednesday's match between Jay Lethal and Mark Briscoe effectively meant nothing. Neither man could qualify for the next stage, therefore it could have been easy for fans to not care about this one in the slightest, but the two veteran wrestlers utlized all of their talents and experience to get fans hooked. They added elements of comedy by constantly throwing chairs into the ring for the official to throw out, but they also broke things down and got physical to ensure the match was engaging from an in-ring perspective. They're two people with a lot of history together and that was clear, as they didn't rush things, simply telling a story of both men being desperate to not finish the tournament with zero points.

Nothing was over-the-top, but it was exactly what this match should have been and was as good as it could have been. Despite other encounters on the night having bigger stakes, this ended up being one of the strongest of the show because of the back-and-forth action the wrestlers provided. With believable nearfalls, a strong balance of action in and out of the ring, and fans that were engaged from start to finish, it was an example of how talented both men still are. While the tournament might have handed them a lot of defeats each, their impressive efforts throughout have arguably raised both of their profiles, which will hopefully benefit them moving into 2024.

Written by Matthew Wilkinson

Are MJF and Samoa Joe enemies or allies? At this point, we may never know the answer.

The AEW World Champion and his Worlds End challenger argued Wednesday about the recent events that have transpired with The Devil over the past few weeks, with Joe going so far as accusing MJF of being the elusive figure himself. While it certainly was not my first choice of a segment between the pair to watch, it makes sense given that their match is quickly approaching on December 30. However, things really took a turn when The Devil appeared on the screen and challenged MJF to an ROH World Tag Team Championship match.

For some reason, MJF decided to ask Joe to be the one to take the place of Adam Cole once again, and Joe accepted without stipulation. MJF had plenty of other options for people to choose (such as the recently returned Max Caster), but instead, he opted to ask his Worlds End opponent.

As a whole, this segment felt like it lacked a sense of cohesion, which is something that is reflective of the entirety of the storyline between the pair. One minute Joe is arguing with MJF and vowing to keep him strong ahead of their world title match; the next minute, the two are tag team partners and showing respect for one another. Week after week, they encounter each other, but nothing ever changes, nor is anything being built between them — at least not as far as telling a story that isn't centralized around The Devil is concerned.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

To Hell with this Devil s*** already. There's just no way to pay this off properly or with any semblance of it making sense in the end. There are just too many people involved, as evidenced Wednesday night by no less than 12 masked assailants hitting the ring to attack MJF and Samoa Joe. Twelve. And maybe more, since I can't really count very well, and also since The Devil him/herself was only shown briefly on the JacksonvilleTron, so they're not accounted for in this mix, either.

When have we seen excessively large wrestling factions work in the past? And has it ever worked with all of their identities unknown for this long? Are they actually planning on revealing everyone that has been involved since day one? Frankly, I don't think so. Moreover, I don't think there's been much of a plan at all from the start. Yes, I'm aware that Adam Cole got hurt in freak fashion and that very likely altered whatever plans were in place here, but even if they were planning on unveiling a 12+ person faction of devilpersons, where the hell does this thing go from here? And if you don't reveal who every single one of these people involved actually is, why have you shown that many in the first place? We're not (completely) dumb out here in Wrestlingland. I, for one, will remember what was counted tonight. So if we don't get that precise total, you already didn't tell a very good story here.

At this point, there is no good story here. It's a total mess. There's no intrigue as to who is who, and why, and certainly not how they've gone about their mischievous ways. I'm not even sure whoever is putting this all together understands that part.

Written by Jon Jordan

I could probably spend the next 250 or so words gushing about that cool-as-hell End of Heartache that Roderick Strong performed on "AEW Dynamite," which sent Komander flipping more than usual and landing rib-first on Strong's knees. It was an amazing visual and something that could only be achieved by unique performers like Strong and Komander.

Strong is the victim of a worrying trend in which one of the best bell-to-bell characters was being forced into some kind of "Saturday Night Live"/"Barney The Dinosaur" box. For too long, Strong has been an annoying invalid with the mind of a child, forced to teach Adam Cole about the power of friendship. It was a role that he adapted to well, but didn't suit him in the slightest. Strong has always been a wrestler whose name you see in an advertisement and get excited that he's gonna have a blistering contest, but now you see his name and worry that we'll have to endure more community theater.

Now Strong is back in the ring and doing what he does best: throwing guys around so that they land on his knee. Since abandoning the wheelchair, he's been the ass-kicking machine that made him a standout on the independent scene and in WWE. Now we just need to get him to stop that embarrassing shouting.

Written by Ross Berman

The overall match quality of the Continental Classic has been undeniable, but as we head toward the finish line (the round robin phase of the tournament ended Wednesday night for the Gold League and will end Saturday night for the Blue League, with both League Finals taking place on next week's "Dynamite" and the winners moving on to Worlds End) I have to admit that I'm pretty disappointed in the overall lack of creativity that's been put into booking the tournament. Looking at the matches from Wednesday night, I think Jay White vs. Jon Moxley best encompasses my frustration.

After Swerve Strickland defeated RUSH earlier in the evening, the Gold League final was very nearly set, as Strickland and Moxley both had 12 points. The only wild card was White, who had nine points and faced Moxley in the main event. If White won, the final would become a triple threat, since each of the three held a victory over another of the three, making tiebreakers impossible. Now first of all, this set-up itself is pretty boring considering the possibilities. Despite the scoring system awarding three points for a win and one point for a tie, there hasn't been a single tie so far in the tournament, which basically renders the points system irrelevant since we're functionally just doing win-loss record (again). And the entire endeavor seems pointless if you're going to give half the Gold League participants a shot at the tournament finals. Hell, if you look at the Blue League standings and the matches coming up on Saturday, that sucker could easily end in a five-way tie. I don't think they're actually going to do a five-way Blue League final, but just the fact that they could makes the whole thing feel less important. This is why you do the ties, so you don't end up in these scenarios where everyone has the same amount of points.

That having been said, there were still interesting places to go from here with Moxley vs. White. For one thing, that match could have ended in a tie, which would let you run Moxley vs. Strickland while still protecting White and giving him a logical reason to challenge down the road. But they didn't do that. White just won to trigger the triple threat.

Even with White winning, though, there were a lot of potentially interesting elements in play. What would it mean for the match that White had more incentive to win than Moxley? (Nothing, it never came up.) If they didn't want to do a draw, they could have at least invoked the specter of a draw, with White getting increasingly more desperate as time ticked down. (No, the match ended about five minutes before the time limit.) White worked Moxley's leg throughout the match; surely that would come into play for the finish. (It didn't.) Surely the circumstances of the match itself, the fact that it was part of a points-based tournament that's rapidly coming to a head, would inform the match in some way, shape, or form beyond "both men want to win." (Nope.)

No, in the end it was just a normal match that White won normally, and now we're getting a triple threat that I honestly would have accepted if, back in November, they had just been like, "We're merging these three titles and these three guys are wrestling for them." I can't see how it's elevated anyone, and the tournament format isn't even being used to its fullest extent, so why did we even do the C2 in the first place?

Written by Miles Schneiderman