Dynamite Big Business recap and reactions: Mercedes Moné is home

AEW Dynamite (Mar. 13, 2024) emanated from TD Garden in Boston, MA. The Big Business special featured the arrival of Mercedes Mone, Samoa Joe throwing meat with Wardlow, Kazuchika Okada sending a message to Eddie Kingston, Will Ospreay saying, “Bruv,” and more.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Mercedes Mone is All Elite

It’s official. AEW heavily teased that Mercedes Mone would debut at Big Business, and that’s exactly what happened. The Boston crowd erupted with jubilation for Mercedes coming home.

AEW offered one final tease in the opening scene. Renee Paquette was interrupted by a beeping automobile zooming into the arena. The door opened as we waited to see who stepped out… Cut to Excalibur handling his intro. Those crafty sonna ma guns heightened viewer emotions with the excitement of the reveal only to leave us hanging.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long. The first segment went straight to the pay-off. A new song blasted on the speakers chanting CEO. Mercedes stepped onto the stage to a thunderous ovation.

Press play, and soak in the debut of Mercedes Mone to AEW.

Mercedes thanked the fans for having her back through thick and thin. She rehashed her life story rising to the top of wrestling with the message that young people can achieve that dream too. Mercedes is eager to be in AEW as part of a global revolution. She planted seeds of unfinished business with Willow Nightingale, and that led to the main event angle later in the evening. Mercedes closed her speech, but it wouldn’t be the last we saw of her.

Willow competed against Riho to close the show. AEW hyped the match with a special video package, then Mercedes introduced herself to Riho.

The main event was power versus speed, as seen in this big POUNCE!

Willow followed with a cannonball outside. Riho scurried away, and Willow crashed on the floor. Riho took advantage for a jumping double stomp off the apron. Riho added a dragon suplex on the apron then a flying double stomp in the ring. Willow kicked out on the cover.

The match progressed with Willow muscling put of jackknife pin to counter for a doctor bomb to win.

The action didn’t stop there. Julia Hart and Skye Blue went on the attack to pound Willow. That’s when Mercedes returned to the ring to clean house. She opened a can of whoop ass on the spooky girls. Despite calling out Willow earlier, respect was shared between the two as Willow thanked Mercedes for the save.

Mercedes’ debut in AEW was money. They didn’t complicate matters. AEW allowed the star to take center stage and shine bright. Mercedes let the people soak in her arrival, then she delivered a classic babyface promo. That’s what they wanted, and the CEO obliged with an electric vibe radiating throughout the evening. If a viewer never saw Mercedes before, it was instantly clear that she is a big deal. You might even say box office. That’s the true superstar aura to make the moment feel special.

Willow and Riho put on a fun big versus small clash. All signs pointed to Willow moving up toward the TBS Championship, but they still formatted the flow to keep me guessing about the result. In addition, there was the carrot of expecting Mercedes to return on screen. Earlier, she was a star in presence. Later, she was a star in the ring busting up Hart and Blue with ease. Intrigue is high to see where this leads Mercedes.

Mercedes was home in Boston, and she’s also home in AEW.

Meat on meat world title fight

The first match of the show came from Samoa Joe and Wardlow in a hoss fight for the AEW World Championship. It was meat on meat violence du jour. In the end, Joe showed why he is the baddest man in AEW.

Joe promised to collect on a debt long overdue.

Adam Cole sat in a library with many leather-bound books and smelling of rich mahogany. He read a tale of Wardlow conquering a dragon to bring the prize back to his king. Cole voiced several sentences aloud, then the camera panned down to comically show a handful of words in extremely large print. This was amusing but also dorky. That’s okay though, because I appreciate the effort into producing extra vignettes to hype the big-match feel.

Fight time.

Wardlow came down to the ring alone without aid from the Undisputed Kingdom. The challenger attacked the champion before the opening bell. The action progressed with meaty chops, peppered jabs, and power slams. Wardlow added an element of extreme athleticism for a twisting moonsault cannonball.

When Wardlow went back to the high-flying routine, Joe did his patented step away strut. Wardlow didn’t bite and waited to blindside Joe for a flying shoulder tackle. Wardlow had other tricks up his sleeve too. On a referee break, he raked the eyes to set up Joe for a hanging knee strike. The champ shockingly kicked out on the cover. Commentary put over Joe as the first to survive that maneuver from Wardlow and continue the match.

After powerbombing Joe out of the corner, Wardlow fired up for a symphony, however, he took too long to strike while the iron was hot. Joe was able to grab Wardlow’s neck for a chokehold. Joe used his weight as leverage to drive Wardlow down to the mat. The champ cinched tight the Coquina Clutch for victory as Wardlow passed out.

That was a satisfying collision of hosses. Joe impressed by taking Wardlow’s hardest hits and still coming out with a decisive win. Wardlow thrilled with this signature moves. I wouldn’t go so far to call it a great match. Very good hoss fight, but not great. I feel like they left meat on the emotional plate for an even better battle should they meet again.

I was curious how AEW would book the finish. They decided to make Joe look supreme, and I like that decision. It’s just not Wardlow’s time right now. Undisputed Kingdom has minimal momentum behind their sails with Cole still injured. Wardlow served his purpose to be a tough challenger, and he can always be jacked up again into contention with a series of dominating wins. I think this clean loss will be more interesting to see how the faction handles Wardlow’s failure. It could serve to make him more of a menacing brute moving forward, and that’s a scary thought for the competition.

So, what’s next for Joe as world champion?

From hoss fight to hisssy fit. Swerve Strickland stomped onto stage with a steel chain. Joe avoided a confrontation as Swerve beat up security.

I didn’t like this post-match scene. Swerve is too shrewd to be so blatant here. His character would have a plan cooked up rather than barging in. There’s also a big hole in this story. Swerve doesn’t deserve another shot at Joe yet. It’s true that he wasn’t pinned in the three-way with Hangman Page, but so what. Swerve still lost. AEW needs to focus on why Swerve should receive another title match in a sports context. There’s plenty of time before the Dynasty PPV on April 21 to remedy that.

Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite.

Young Bucks & Okada defeated Eddie Kingston, PAC, & Pentagon. Even though this match had rocking moves, the story was all about setting up a fight between Okada and Kingston. Okada picked his spots to engage when Kingston was already weakened by the Bucks. In the end, Kingston was lining up a spinning backfist to Okada, but Nicholas struck a low blow to the King’s jewels. Okada hammered a Rainmaker lariat to win. Okada held the Continental Championship over Kingston’s fallen body. AEW announced that title bout for next week.

Okada is starting strong leaning into the heel antics to stir the pot with Kingston. The Rainmaker has a cocky arrogance that he can back up in the ring. Kingston is the ultimate underdog with overwhelming fan support, so that showdown should be jamming with crowd reactions.

Also of note, enjoy Okada forcing Alex Marvez to sing Happy Birthday to Matthew. It was explained that Okada joined the Elite due to their years of friendship and 14 million other reason$$$.

Bruv! Will Ospreay shared his thoughts on the Dynasty dream match against Bryan Danielson. Ospreay emulated Danielson over his career by leaving it in the ring every single night for the people. The journey was all worth it for the love of professional wrestling. Much respect, however, this bout is about two of the best in the world with only one coming out the winner. Ospreay is willing to kill or be killed.

Box office promo from Ospreay. He sells the heart of competition to be the best. The energy level exudes from his words to hype anticipation for the dream match.

Jay White defeated Darby Allin. Allin wrestled with his back bandaged from the glass cuts. White focused in the injured target throughout. Sound on for this suplex on an open chair. Be sure to quickly turn the sound back down to avoid referee Bryce Remsburg’s squeaky shouting.

Allin didn’t let the pain hold me back. He competed in his usual daredevil style. Allin threw caution to the wind for a Coffin Drop onto the apron. One problem. White avoided the contact, and Allin’s spine crashed onto the hard surface. Good news is that he beat the ten-count back into the ring. Bad news is that he rolled right into White’s arms for a Blade Runner. The win went to Switchblade.

This was Allin’s going away match before leaving to climb Mount Everest, and he went out with a bang. Allin never holds back on his body, which is a worthwhile debate to have, and he went to the limit once again. Those back bumps looked painful. White earned a strong win to boost his stock back into relevance. Best of luck to Allin on his mountain adventure.

Bang Bang Scissor Gang explodes. The drama between White and Allin wasn’t over. After the bout, White offered a handshake. It was a scheme for the Gunns to attack Allin. Bullet Club Gold set up a chair on his ankle with White ready to swing a baseball bat. Their plot to maim was interrupted by the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn. The good guys weren’t going to let White injure Allin, so the bad guys turned bad on their friends. Switchblade and the Gunn sons attacked the Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, then they smashed Allin’s ankle anyway.

To be frank, this super club story has been terrible, and this turn made it even worse. The purpose of uniting was protection and revenge on the Undisputed Kingdom. That aspect was never addressed for weeks. They meshed well enough without any serious issues. Then, all of a sudden, Bullet Club Gold are wicked heels on Allin. That wasn’t consistent at all to their character work the past few weeks palling with the Acclaimed. The super group appears to be over without doing much of anything. It will likely lead to a trios title showdown, but the road to get there was not good.

Chris Jericho & Hook defeated Gates of Agony. Jericho wrestled in his Lionheart persona. Hot tag to Hook cleaning house with sweet German suplex on Toa Liona. Hook worked for a Redrum on Bishop Kaun, but he couldn’t grasp his grip tight. Jericho grabbed Kaun’s feet for a Liontamer, and that allowed Hook to achieve the proper position for Redrum. Match over.

Backstage, Jericho complimented Hook for rising to the occasion. Le Champion still needs to know more about how Hook handles himself, so he challenged Taz’s son to a singles match next week. Hook was game.

This is turning into an interesting story of Jericho and Hook bonding. I assume the goal is to enter the tag title tournament. In that case, these trials are bringing them closer through fire to find quick cohesion as a duo. As a result, any success in the tournament becomes more believable compared to being cold teammates thrown together.

Notes: Deonna Purrazzo isn’t done with Toni Storm and Mariah May. The Virtuosa challenged them to a tag team bout next week, and she’ll be bringing a friend.

Kyle O’Reilly wants to see if he can still hang with the AEW roster, so he picked Bryan Keith for a match on Collision as a man who can push him to his limits. Roderick Strong interrupted to share love and respect with his pal. He’s okay with O’Reilly desire to do this on his own.

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Stud of the Show: Mercedes Mone

The box office mojo continues with the addition of the CEO alongside Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada in recent weeks. The crowd’s reaction was deafening to her star appeal.

Match of the Night: Jay White vs. Darby Allin

Nice story of brains beating guts.

Grade: A-

The arrival of Mercedes outshine any gripes about other aspects in the show. Everything on the episode seemed to have purpose moving from one step to the next.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?