Week 2 of AEW Dynamite is in the books and the AEW Power Rankings (only on Fightful) are here to help you make sense of it all.
Here's how it works; I rank anything and everything from the past week of AEW Dynamite, giving what I liked a low number and what I didn't like a higher number. The numbers are fairly arbitrary, but an explanation accompanies each ranking. Because AEW won't use the same talent every week, you won't see the same people, places, or things ranked every week. If you don't see something ranked, feel free to ask me on social media (@jeremylambert88) where it would fall. I will use a random number generator and reply ASAP.
If you missed anything from AEW Dynamite, check out Fightful's full report on the show. You can also catch up on where things stand with last week's Power Rankings.
AEW Power Rankings - Week Three
1. Private Party
The duo defeated The Young Bucks, who were widely considered to be the favorites in the tournament coming into it, and did so in style. Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen came off like complete stars in victory and them winning was the right call.
Jericho seemingly has a permanent spot in the top two. He picked up another victory in the main event and was the star throughout the show. His promo had a little bit of everything. Whether it was inside references, call backs, putting things over, or burials. Jericho hit all the talking points you would want him to hit. I often find myself wondering where AEW would be without Chris Jericho and the answer I come up with is TruTV.
3. Darby Allin
Allin earned an AEW World Title match next week with a win over Jimmy Havoc and turned in arguably the most memorable spot of the night, skateboarding down the ramp to attack Jericho. Allin may have surpassed Jericho for the number 2 spot if Jimmy Havoc was a stronger opponent or if his match were the main event.
4. Britt Baker
With a victory in the tag team bout, Baker earned herself an AEW Women's Title match. A big jump in the rankings for her after a weak showing on commentary last week.
5. MJF
Even though he didn't wrestle, MJF earns a top five spot because loyalty is rewarded in the power rankings. Cody has been telling us for months that MJF is a good guy. MJF has been telling us for years that he is the salt of the earth. Why do we doubt this man?
8. Jon Moxley
Moxley gets knocked for beating Shawn Spears, who has been reduced to almost nothing. And because we didn't get to see the barbed wire showdown between him and Kenny Omega. He remains awesome.
9. Orange Cassidy.
Yup.
13. Pac
While Britt Baker didn't do much with her commentary time last week, Pac made good use of his, even pointing out that wins and losses aren't mattering right now. And he laid out Kenny Omega, proving that a chair is better than barbed wire in the game of Chairs, Barbed Wire, and Sledgehammers.
15. Britt Baker's Teeth Based Offense
Big fan of Britt Baker attacking the mouth of her opponent. It makes perfect sense, too. She's the dentist in the company, so why wouldn't she try to rearrange some teeth so they have to visit her, thus boosting her income? She gets paid to wrestle and paid to fix the teeth she had a hand in screwing up. This is the best psychology in wrestling history and anytime Baker isn't going after the jaw, she should be docked points on the judge's scorecards.
17. Private Party's Moves
Just their moves.
18. Sammy Guevara's Good Looks
Just his good looks.
20. Jimmy Havoc
Good job, good effort.
29. The Young Bucks
That's three straight losses for The Young Bucks. This is how you know Cody is the most cut out to be an executive. He's doing all the media, making decisions, and still winning matches. Meanwhile, the Bucks and Kenny are doing almost no media, more worried about their YouTube show, and losing a bunch. That's why this is Cody's company.
43. Lights Out
Happening a little too much for my taste. It works sometimes (Cody) but when you do it too often and in an unnecessary way (Shawn Spears) it loses something. If the arena would pay some bills, we wouldn't have this issue.
57. Dustin Rhodes
Can we throw him a victory at some point? Even NBA defenders give Vince Carter a free dunk every now and again. Sportscenter would go crazy if Dustin Rhodes won a match.
68. Closing Show Brawls
That's two for two on closing show brawls. Need to start changing it up a bit. Maybe just turn the lights out?
76. Tag Team Tournament Hype
Still missing them. We have two matches in the AEW Tag Team Title tournament next week and all we got was an awkward Best Friends video package where the guy who is not wrestling ended up getting the biggest pop. I prefer the Tag Team Title Tournament over the Casino Battle Royale (though I'm partial to casumo casino) and winning random matches, but the push behind the tournament has left something to be desired.
83. The Inner Circle
Not feeling it. It's not exactly bad and it apparently broke the Pro Wrestling Tees website, but Jericho could have named them "5 Dudes With Bad Attitudes" and the website would have broken. That's how much pull Jericho has right now. I'm sure The Inner Circle will grow on me and in two weeks they will be in the top spot. God Bless, Chris Jericho.
97. Not LAX
Are we still going with Santana & Ortiz? That ain't selling t-shirts. Think of the t-shirts you guys are missing out on. You're a t-shirt company, right?
101. Stats
WHERE ARE MY ADVANCED STATS, MOOKIE?!?!?!
150. We The People
It's dead and buried.
157. Shawn Spears
But not as dead and buried as this guy. He's 0-2 and an afterthought following each loss. A "good hand" might be overselling him at this point.
160. Tully Blanchard
For still aligning himself with a loser like Shawn Spears.
