AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From April 10
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite on April 10.
AEW Dynasty is coming up on April 21, so All Elite Wrestling is in full planning mode for the first-time pay-per-view, but Tony Khan also planned a big reveal for Wednesday's show.
Here is a look at the advertised card from this week's episode:
- Samoa Joe vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW World Championship)
- Adam Copeland vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (TNT Championship)
- The Young Bucks reveal backstage footage from All In
- Mariah May vs. Anna Jay
- Hook, Katsuyori Shibata and Chris Jericho vs. Shane Taylor Promotions
Let's take a look at what happened on this week's Dynamite.
Adam Copeland vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
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AEW started with a bang with Samoa Joe being attacked during his entrance for the World Title Eliminator match against Dustin Rhodes by none other than Swerve Strickland.
The battle spilled off the stage and ended with Strickland spearing Joe through a table. After Joe was taken to the back to check on his head, we got a video package about the tag title tournament.
The next match got underway with Copeland defending the TNT title against Penta. While The Rated-R Superstar may have been more experienced, Penta was not the young talent Copeland has often faced in AEW when not fighting Christian Cage.
He is a decorated champion and was seen as one of the more skilled competitors the TNT champion has faced. The announcers did a good job making it seem like Penta was a viable challenger even though nobody expected the title to change hands here.
For two guys who have never worked together, they had great chemistry. Copeland was a good base for the high-flyer, but he didn't let Penta have all the fun. He pulled off a few impressive feats of agility like a headscissor takedown and a few leapfrogs in a row.
This bout lasted through two commercial breaks without overstaying its welcome. While it delivered some highly enjoyable action, it happened during a strange first half hour that featured a notable production error and a disjointed opening with an attack and a delayed match.
A Spear secured the win for Copeland and allowed him to retain his title.
This bout was one that could have felt much more important with a few weeks of buildup. The lights dropped and Julia Hart appeared to distract Copeland so Brody King could attack.
Willow Nightingale ended up making the save by attacking Hart to distract King so Copeland could get the upper hand.
Result: Copeland defeated Penta
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The announcers pointed out that Joe's head hit the table pretty hard. He could have been selling, but he definitely looked dazed when he got up.
- Penta's kick to Copeland after faking him out looked brutal because the champion sold it so well.
- Something about the black, red and white color scheme just fits Copeland. Whenever he has worn different colors in AEW, it has felt off even if the gear looked cool. Penta's blue gear was on par with his usual high-quality choices.
- There was a weird moment during the match when a graphic popped up. It looked like it was meant to be part of the breakdown for the footage from Wembley.
- Willow saving Copeland is one of those things you didn't know you wanted until it happened.
The Footage
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The Young Bucks were sitting backstage with a monitor and talked about both the upcoming Dynasty PPV and what happened at All In.
They called Jack Perry the scapegoat in this situation but didn't name the other individual involved. They only mentioned that FTR were friends with him and even insinuated the group set the whole thing up to throw the Bucks off before their match.
Nick and Matt played the silent footage that showed CM Punk approaching Perry backstage. They speak for several seconds, and you then see Punk shove Perry to begin the physical altercation that is immediately broken up.
The Bucks ended their part of the segment by hyping Bucks vs. FTR IV at Dynasty. FTR came to the ring and said everyone is ready to move on from this. They talked for a few minutes and sort of made a hybrid promo about AEW moving forward and hyping their match against the Bucks.
It's so hard to decide how to feel about this. On one hand, it was a creative way to hype a feud that had nothing to do with the guys in the footage; on the other, it also felt totally unnecessary and like a reactionary response to Punk's recent interview with Ariel Helwani.
At the end of the day, this isn't going to change much. Punk fans will still be Punk fans, Punk haters will still be Punk haters, and fans and haters of AEW will view this in two completely different ways.
FTR and the Bucks seemed passionate in their performances, but they could have brought that to any promo.
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Cash Wheeler calling the Bucks "Rod and Todd Flanders" was hilarious.
- The All In footage being silent makes it impossible to tell how the conversation escalated, but there is no mistaking who took the first shot.
Hook, Jericho and Shibata vs. Shane Taylor Promotions
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Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty and Anthony Ogogo had their first Dynamite trios match against the team with Hook, Jericho and Shibata.
Jericho and Moriarty had an exchange that ended with Taigastyle taking a hurricanrana. Shibata tagged himself in and traded strikes with Moriarty.
Hook and Taylor eventually tagged in and went back and forth until the powerhouse put The Coldhearted Handsome Devil on his back.
Jericho ended up pulling Hook off the apron to prevent a tag to Shibata, and they argued as The Wrestler was left to fend for himself. In a surprising upset, Moriarty ended up pinning Taylor to win the match.
This made Jericho look like an idiot instead of the experienced veteran who is trying to mentor someone, but even if that was the point, it made little sense for his character to do this unless it would lead to an eventual betrayal, which Jericho has already mentioned as something he has done several times.
Most of the wrestling was decent, but the way it ended stuck out in both good and bad ways.
Result: Shane Taylor Promotions defeated Hook, Jericho and Shibata
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Will Ospreay gave a promo before this with a not-so-subtle response to Triple H's comment about some people not being able to handle the grind.
- Hook sold a lot for Taylor. He is usually the one striking down bigger opponents but not this time. Taylor no-sold a lot of his offense to look even more dominant.
- Moriarty pinning Shibata is kind of a big deal based on how the Japanese star has been booked.
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Kazuchika Okada Squash, Mariah May vs. Anna Jay
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Kazuchika Okada had an unannounced match against a local talent and quickly beat his opponent down.
The match ended with The Rainmaker winning in about a minute. He grabbed a mic and accepted PAC's challenge for a match at Dynasty.
PAC showed up, but the Bucks attacked him before he could get to the ring. FTR arrived to give The Bastard an assist. Okada used a chair to attack FTR to regain the upper hand.
Result: Okada won
Grade: Incomplete
Toni Storm's champagne toast quickly devolved into her throwing a drink in Thunder Rosa's face. This played out quicker than expected and felt like a segment that would have been longer any other week.
May looked confused as she made her way to the ring for her match against Jay, but they wasted no time getting into the action and seemed to wake the crowd up a bit.
May was the aggressor most of the time, but Jay didn't just job to her. There were a few exchanges when the former Dark Order member had control before May turned things around again.
Jay was in control for a bit when May used a counter to pin her. Jay applied the Queenslayer and choked May out until Mina Shirakawa from Stardom made the save.
This match was decent but ultimately forgettable unless it leads to something interesting for Jay.
Result: May defeated Jay
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Okada knows he is being turned into memes and is playing into it now.
- Deonna Purrazzo coming out to help and then immediately leaving when Rosa pushed her away felt tacked on.
- May is deceptively tall and muscular.
- Jay has decent strikes. She is good at making believable contact but occasionally hesitates before a move.
- Shirakawa and Storm both kissed May, but Shirakawa's got a bigger reaction from the announcer.
Samoa Joe vs. Dustin Rhodes
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Joe carried a chain to the ring for his match against Rhodes. The Natural had an advantage due to Joe limping from the attack at the top of the show, but the champion didn't make for an easy target.
Joe busted Rhodes open with a whip into the ring post and tried to open up the wound with a few punches.
Rhodes brought the AEW title into the ring, but the referee talked him out of using it. He had a long period when he was on offense before Joe tried to use the chain. The ref took it from him, but Joe was able to use the belt as a weapon behind his back to get the win.
He choked out Rhodes until Swerve delivered a kick to the head out of nowhere. He picked up the chain and used it to punch Joe in the face. The show ended with Swerve holding up the belt as Joe looked on angrily.
Result: Joe defeated Rhodes
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Booking this bout days after Cody Rhodes won the undisputed WWE universal title is no coincidence.
- Dustin might be the only person in AEW whose percentage of matches with blood is higher than Jon Moxley.
- Powerslamming a guy the size of Joe is an impressive feat of strength.
- Rhodes being willing to use the belt right in front of the ref after giving a passionate promo about wanting to be a world champion last week seemed so out of character.
The Final Word
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This week's show was paced so differently from every other episode of Dynamite that it's hard to know what to make of it. The first hour only had one match, but it was easily the best of the night.
Copeland and Penta put on a fun contest that had the crowd on its feet. It's one of those first-time matchups for the TNT champion that seems random but ended up delivering.
The footage from All In didn't exactly reveal any new information, and it's doubtful this will lead to anyone changing their opinions about what happened.
Storm's segment felt rushed, and the rest of the show was business as usual. Even though this episode was hyped up quite a bit in advance, it's going to end up being one of the more forgettable ones when we look back on 2024.
Grade: C
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