[7.0] "Gutes Dynamite mit dem Start in das diesjährige Continental Classic. Benjamin gegen Briscoe war direkt auch ein gutes Match. Benjamin immer noch in Topform, vielleicht nicht mehr ganz so schnell wie früher aber sonst immer noch gut im Ring. Gutes Match der beiden mit einem verdiente Sieger. Das ROH Titelmatch hat mir besser gefallen als gedacht. Der Aufbau zum Match war kurz aber prägnant und dann hauen die beiden sich hier sehr ordentlich weg. Hat mir ganz gut gefallen. Castagnoli holt sich seine ersten Punkte mit einem Sieg gegen Ricochet. Das Match war ganz gut. Wie man es von beiden erwarten konnte aber ohne ins Ganze zu gehen. Trotzdem ne runde Sache hier. Im Turnier um den Platz bei Wrestle Dynasty kann sich Hayter gegen Aminata durchsetzen. Ein wenig schade für Aminata natürlich aber Hayter braucht solche Matches und Siege im Moment einfach mehr. Daher passte das schon. MOTN war dann der Main Event. King gegen Allin passte sich durchaus in die vorherigen Matches der beiden ein. Guter Brawl der beiden und da Allin auch geschwächt ins Match kam ging der Sieg von King vollkommen in Ordnung hier."
[7.0] "A pretty good weekly post Full Gear episode. Decent story follow-up, wrestling that also works well throughout the event, especially and obviously the Continental Classic tournament ones. I highlight the first and the last one. While the storylines don't culminate I think there was a good follow up and I look forward to finding out what happens with this path of Mox and his minions. I still don't understand the women's division. Few stories and the ones they have are the champions."
[8.0] "Fantastic start to the continental classic with all 3 tournament matches being excellent. Jericho Vs Ishii was also a great championship defence and one of Jericho's better matches recently. Hayter Vs Aminata was also a good qualifier match making it so all 5 matches delivered. Cole / MJF segment continues to disappoint. (8/10)"
[9.0] "That's what I'm talking about! Great episode of Dynamite! Especially in comparison to the lackluster Monday Night Raw two days prior. I'm not even sure there was anything NOT worth your attention. Admittedly, I skipped the Jericho match myself, which probably was a mistake, since it received 4 stars from WON, but hey, I was short on time and shit, but if I were not I would have definitely watched it too, which would rank this episode among one of the most unskippable episodes of Dynamite in history. Yeah, it still would mean I skipped the women's match, but that's just what I do. I have only one burning question: WHAT WAS THAT SHIT on Hayter's face? Why the commentators didn't acknowledge the fact that there was something wrong with her skin? Do they think the viewers are blind or dumb? I personally would NEVER go out on national TV with that shit on my skin, especially on my face. Damn, I wouldn't even leave my house until it's gone. Who the hell allowed her to appear in front of cameras in that condition? I understand that they tried to cover it up with make-up, but the disguise didn't last long and all the blemishes revealed themselves by the end of the match. I basically had to rewatch the whole match to see when exactly they started to appear, and obviously it was a gradual process over the course of the whole match. MVP's promo was great; the Shelton vs Briscoe match was great; everything about the Hurt Syndicate has been great so far and you gotta love it. I like how Hangman explained his actions after the main event at Full Gear and declared his intentions to be the next world champ, but I also like how Jay White interrupted him and right away told him that he has no business being the #1 contender for AEW world title because he beat him twice in the last two PPVs, and it just makes so much sense for him to point this fact out. Is Swerve done with the Hurt Syndicate? Is Max Caster a heel now? By the looks of it, they are. Perhaps, it's just a little detour before Max eventually joins the Syndicate and Swerve finds himself back in the war with them. Day by day, I am more and more inclined to think that the Cole vs MJF feud is actually a backdrop for the story of friendship, sacrifice and forgiveness between Adam and Kyle. I don't know how I've let this realization escape me for so long but today I finally realized that Brody's finisher is the best finisher in the history of pro-wrestling. Powerbomb into piledriver? Two of the most deadly and badass looking moves following one another? It just doesn't get better than that - that's the pinnacle of finishers, in my opinion."
[6.0] "THE GOOD: MVP's promo really is fantastic, & Hurt Syndicate continues to be the most compelling thing this fed's got. Briscoe vs Shelton is awesome bell to bell. It's great to see Swerve on mic & on watch as Max Caster starts to lean into this heel role a bit. Jamie Hayter looks great & sells well, & I can understand why so many are high on her. Mariah May's freaking backstage attack looked gnarly & brutal af, & I'm fully invested in that Winter Is Coming match now. Brody vs. Allin was excellent, & Allin is definitely someone I look forward to seeing on Dynamite every week. Adam Cole is great on mic, & I want more. THE BAD: Kyle O'Reilly's motivations are not convincing, & I don't really understand why he's there. Just because you're a friend of a wrestler I like doesn't give you a free pass to have a third of the charisma of the person I like. Mone continues to be the worst promo of 2024 & Kamille's betrayal promo is a terribly-acted afterthought. Ishii/Jericho is the most bored I've been in months. This is the third week in a row that this broadcast has featured audio glitches, unacceptable for a show with this budget. I'm startled that we're doing this tournament again. It took such a long time last year, & after winning it, Eddie Kingston was relegated to Rampages & Collisions for a month before taking a few Dynamite L's, & then finding both titles stripped from him, merely 4 months after winning this thing. How am I supposed to get excited for the result of this when it's clear that Khan is poor at taking advantage of easy lay-ups? CONCLUSION: This was a pretty good week. The past few weeks have all been more fun to watch than this same fed circa Fall 2023 in general. The good outweighed the bad in spades, but that Jericho/Ishii match. Lord."
[6.0] "No points for expecting almost no follow-up to the absolute cluster-fuck ending of the latest PPV but this was a largely okay show due to match quality alone. I'm not in the Jericho hate camp but he gives almost no fucks about concealing anything these days, from obvious communication, to clearly fumbling for blades, to stuffing his cheeks so full with blood packs to the point he looks like a hamster. It's strange behaviour from someone so accomplished and experienced in the industry. I'm rooting for him to have a good run and get the crowd back on his side once he eventually goes back to his Judas theme but this smoke and mirrors stuff isn't doing him any favours. Other matches were fine with nothing truly outstanding but still very much watchable."
[6.0] "Pretty solid episode of Dynamite. Not the strongest start to the C2 in my opinion as we got an unfortunately luke warm opener, a match plagued with a smarky crowd and a main event that had to account for storyline injuries but that being said I'm still excited for what's to come, namely Brody King vs Claudio Castagnoli. The ROH title match and the women's cup qualifier tournament offered some brutal looking offense from everyone involved. Not a bad match on the card but the show was let down by the promos. I don't know what they're doing with the MJF and Adam Cole story but it's not working but I guess the Death Rider storyline is keeping the company afloat right now."
[6.0] "Wish I could rate this show a little higher as I really did love the continental classic stuff. However, the rest of the card was a bit of a let down, especially the Ishii vs. Jericho match which was a much worse re-hash of their previous match from last year's Thanksgiving eve special. [MOTN: Brody King vs. Darby Allin]"
[7.0] "Dynamite est très solide et équilibré. Il me donne les goûts de revenir la semaine prochaine. Ce tournoi m'inspire pas mal d'intérêt. Je vais continuer à le suivre. La division tag boff et les femmes pourraient m'intriguer avec un peu plus d'effort."
[4.0] "I liked liked Shelton Benjamin vs Mark Briscoe, but other than that, the matches felt somewhat sloppy. It seemed there were a lot of botches and miscommunications, things really felt off in all of the other matches. Claudio and Ricochet, and Brody and Darby managed to still make decent and watchable matches but things still felt off. The show takes a hit because of Jericho vs Ishii, that was a sad mockery of modern wrestling. The story telling wasn't great here either - Death Riders are just going after everyone now and that didn't quite make sense. And the crowd was dead for that too."
[8.0] "For being the debut of the C2 tournament , this episode of dynamite was pretty good. Even being story driven & the Aminata/ Hayter was a great womens match."
[6.0] "I wasn't overly excited about this card, but the in ring work and the promos were pretty good. I enjoyed the storytelling the most. Give me more Jay White please. Loved Brody's finisher in the main event. Glad he got a much deserved win."
[6.0] "All of the matches were pretty good. MOTN was the main event, but all the matches were good with the first three matches relaying hard on veterans. Page, White and the Death Riders had a fun segment. They just need to end the Cole vs MJF feud and let both men move on."
[7.0] "Man hatte seit dem PPV und der Ankündigung der Teilnehmer des CC gar nicht so viel Zeit Vorfreude aufzubauen aber ich muss sagen, dass ich das Turnier sofort gefühlt habe. Shelton vs. Briscoe war ein guter Opener und die Darstellung des hurt Syndicates, speziell von Shelton Benjamin ist soo gut. Claudio vs. Ricochet fand ich nur ganz nett, hier habe ich mir vielleicht sogar etwas mehr erhofft und auch die Lariat im Finish hätte mehr krachen dürfen. Brody King vs. Darby Allin mit der Sotry-Verletzung vor Darby hat für mich sehr gut funktioniert, da Brody hier richtig gut aussah und ganz klar die Story für Darbys Turnier schreibt, der die ersten 2 Matches verlieren dürfte, um dann doch noch zweiter in seiner Gruppe zu werden. Jamie Hayter vs. Queen Aminata fand ich auch ganz nett und ich hoffe sehr, dass Hayter dieses kleine Turnier gewinnt. Lediglich mit Jericho vs. Ishii konnte ich wenig anfangen, da ich Jericho einfach nicht mehr sehen kann. Das Match ist eigentlich voll in Ordnung. Das Segment mit Adam Cole und Kyle O'Reilly fand ich auch eher merkwürdig. Die Story darf man gerne beenden."
[8.0] "Das war mal wieder eine richtige gute und vor allem kurzweilige Ausgabe von Dynamite. Bis auf das ROH titelmatch waren alle Matches mindestens ganz gut und unterhaltsam. Die Story wurde alle vorran gebracht und stellenweise mit neuen Windungen und interessanten neuen Wegen. So darf Dynamite immer sein"
[7.0] "Mercedes Mone segment was interesting if brief when Kamille quit as being her enforcer, which makes for intrigue to see where this goes next. Adam Page segment was intriguing especially when Jay White came out then did the Death Riders, especially intriguing where the world title picture comes into it. Mina Shirakawa interview was brief due to the attack by Mariah May which what followed at Full Gear this past weekend. Shelton Benjamin vs Mark Briscoe: A solid match to start the 2024 Continental Classic tournament, with an interesting pairing of the babyface Briscoe against someone who needs to build credit in Benjamin, solid action throughout [***1/4]. Chris Jericho vs Tomohiro Ishii: This was not a match, it was a fight as expected, they had a better match than I expected it to be, Ishii proved to be a worthy challenger [***]. Claudio Castagnoli vs Ricochet: These two have different styles with Castagnoli being a powerhouse and Ricochet being a high-flyer, the match was decent in itself, however the fans chanting got a bit distracting [***1/4]. Jamie Hayter vs Queen Aminata: A fine match in itself with not much memorable happened, Hayter winning was good to see [**1/2]. Brody King vs Darby Allin: Allin gave a hell of a showing despite not being 100%, King was dominant, they showed they did not need to go 15 minutes + to have a good match, good match to end Dynamite this week [***3/4]"
[9.0] "I wouldn't say it's the best Dynamite in terms of in-ring work, but when it came to its execution, story progression, pacing/flow... this felt clean and tight, and the 2 hours just *flew* by. Enjoyed this one."
[4.0] "Really poor episode of dynamite in my opinion. I think the Jericho / Ishii match has clouded my judgement and would have scored the show higher if any of the other bouts had any other redeeming features but that was not the case. Even most of the non wrestling segments were poor for example the Cole, Strong and MJF promo train. Only part of the show that I would say was any good was the Mina interview with Renee and the associated shenanigans."
[5.0] "There was not a lot to follow up after Full Gear which resulted in this show being mostly forgettable outside of its main event. The Hurt Syndicate looks great as a faction, I really liked MVP's promo at the start of the show. However, why aren't the Death Riders going after them? MVP's making all of this remarks how much they're dominanting, they're the most dangerous, why aren't the Death Riders coming out to fight them? But I guess this is the probably everytime you do an invasion angle. Shelton vs. Briscoe was a solid opening match. Shelton's agility and speed at 49 is insane. Kamille quitting on Mercedes is just a baffling decision to me. It doesn't make sense. They could've done something similar to the Wardlow/MJF dynamic from a few years ago. This just feels rushed. Kamille's going to go babyface and the crowd won't give a shit about her because you haven't built her as a babyface. Also they only started "teaming" in July, like 4 months ago. Ishii vs. Jericho was terbbile. Another chop fest is just lazy at this point. The Death Riders angle was actually really good. Hangman and White as the new challengers look great. "Baldio" vs. "Ricobald" was fine. Crowd was having fun, good for them. They were pretty much dead for the rest of the show though. I really don't care about ANOTHER Adam Cole/KOR angle. It's 2024, these men have been a team/rivals/team/rivals for over 10 years now. STOP. Aminata vs. Hayter was alright, nothing special. Brody vs. Darby was the best match of the night, these two just never miss against each other. Also thanks Brody for cutting off the announceners' mics. Overall: a pretty bad show carried by a nice main event and a good world title angle. Crowd was shite, I'm glad AEW will be starting to run smaller venues soon."
[9.0] "Continental Classic season didn't disappoint last year and even though this iteration wasn't a pure explosion of star power, it was nevertheless full of solid wrestling, with none of the matches going below "pretty good" - even the Jericho match! - and the main event, though short, was explosive and sweet. Coupled with the story beats landing effectively, and it's one of the best TV showings AEW have produced in several weeks. We could do with more of them."
[5.0] "Middling show with largely solid wrestling in front of one of the less invested Chicago area AEW crowds in recent memory. It felt like there was not a lot of follow up on the recent PPV with all the focus on the Continental Classic. Segments like the Cole/Kyle/MJF one did nothing for me."
[9.0] "Für mich persönlich eine richtig starke Dynamite, die beste seit einigen Wochen. Das Continental Classic ist auch dieses Jahr ein Segen denn es stellt organisch tolles Pro Wrestling als großen Fixpunkt in die Shows. Aber auch Storys kommen in dieser Ausgabe nicht zu kurz und man führt einige sehr sinnvoll fort und startet einiges neues. Die matches waren alle sehr sehenswert oder eben wirklich gut. Hier fehlt zwar das unfassbar starke 9 Punkte + Match, allerdings gibt's durchgehend gutes Wrestling, ohne filler oder "stinker" So sollte eine weekly aussehen, verdiente 9 Punkte."
[6.0] "AEW is in a real tricky spot at the moment because every segment or match no matter how good is dead on arrival thanks to awful cold crowds. Nothing feels important because there is just is not a reaction. The move to small buildings they can actually fill can't come soon enough."
[8.0] "I'm putting my money where my mouth is TK. Give me more Continental Classic! This episode was genuinely very good even though I was underwhelmed by the field but the first 3 matches were great especially the opener and the main event. Compare the reactions to these matches to the death that was the Undisputed Era tease bulshit. TK won the ratings war when The Undisputed Era was on top so why are you rehashing them on YOUR show? Baffling. Now let's talk about Chris Jericho because this is getting too much, this man took TWENTY minutes of our TV time. Time that could've been given to better more deserving talent. EXAMPLE: Hobbs interviewed in the ring by Schiovanne, Hobbs says he's coming after the international title which brings out Don Callis family and you can build to Takeshita vs Hobbs and even have Hobbs vs Cage/Archer on the way. You have the best roster of all-time so there's really no need to give that much time to a washed Jericho against Ishii who NEVER wins important matches in AEW. PUSHBRODY KING, HOBBS, TAKESHITA, FLETCHER, HANGMAN, SWERVE, HAYTER, OSPREAY. DROP MJF, COLE, JERICHO, BRITT AND YOUR 17 WRITERS. AEW is a big boy company now so they need to act like one. If you can't give me 8/10 performances every week GTFO"
[9.0] "What a good Dynamite, I love this season of the Continental Classic! Pure good fights. Hangman and Jay White in the title scene is another level. Jamie Hayter and Queen Aminata are spectacular."
[7.0] "Good episode, the best time I had watching a Dynamite in a long time, the Continental Classic season is incredible, and this episode had some really interesting matches and angles. Excluding the Jericho match and the Adam Cole stuff, everything was really good, I wasn't expecting a Kamille face turn so soon, let's see how this progresses, and it will probably be a multi-man for the AEW Championship at World's End. The ending of the episode, with Claudio and Brody teasing up their match next wednesday was very good, it's different and hypes a match that should've been random, it was incredibly well executed."
[7.0] "A good start to the Continental Classic this year with three enjoyable TV matches and some solid storylines making up the rest of the show. Probably nothing must see as it was on the biggest travel day in the United States, but anyone who did watch had a nice time watching."
[7.0] "I enjoyed this episode of Dynamite. The Continental Classic will always be fun and i'm interested with Hangman and Page entering into the Deathriders angle."
