AEW Dynamite officially premiered on Wednesday night, meaning the AEW Power Rankings (only on Fightful) are officially your weekly destination to making sense of what you watched.
You can find the first-ever AEW Power Rankings, done following AEW All Out, by clicking here. And if you're too lazy click, allow me to explain how these rankings work.
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. If you're all caught up and ready to read, keep scrolling. But not too fast.
AEW Power Rankings - Week Two
1. Riho
She became the first-ever AEW Women's Champion by defeating Nyla Rose and, based on my ears, was the most over person on the show. The crowd popped huge for the win and were into her offense throughout the entire match. They were so into Riho that right before the finish, I tweeted, "If Nyla Rose is scheduled to win, call an audible." Either they listened to me or listened to Kenny Omega, who probably pushed for Riho to be the inaugural champ. I'll take the credit, Omega doesn't seem in his right mind at the moment.
2. Pac
Pac remains undefeated in AEW with wins over Omega and Hangman Page. Chris Jericho has the same two singles victories and is the AEW World Champion. Where is Pac's title shot?
3. Chris Jericho
He was successful in the main event, laid out Cody, broke a wiener, and got some extra muscle. Thank you.
4. Cody
Besides Riho, no one on the show came off as a bigger star than Cody. You could see the emotion on his face when he entered the ring for his match against Sammy Guevara. And then he went out and had a great match with Guevara, showcasing him to the new audience, while losing nothing in giving away so much offense. Does Pac's wins make him a better title challenger? Maybe. Is Cody still the right man to challenge Jericho? Definitely.
5. Jake Hager
Am I excited about Jake Hager in AEW? Come back to me in a couple of weeks. His Independent run following his WWE release was uninspired. He's 37 years old and a WWE cast-off, which goes against AEW's "fresh" approach. But the Bellator crossover could lead to some extra viewers and I do think he'll raise his game in AEW. They've certainly presented him as a big deal by putting him with Jericho, Santana & Ortiz, and Guevara. I'm cautiously optimistic.
7. Jon Moxley
Big pop. Cool brawl. Destroyed a glass table. Glad to see Moxley back.
10. Sammy Guevara
Sure, he lost to Cody. But who stood tall to close the show? That's what matters in AEW, right?
13. Production
The arena looked awesome, the camera angles were good, and it felt new and exciting. Knock it off with the crowd reaction shots, though. It's worked twice (Angry Miz Girl and Undertaker Shocked Guy) in history and they do it a hundred times in a show. Otherwise, great job.
14. MJF
He won, which was good. But where was he in the closing segment to help his best friend Cody? Or when Cody was being attacked by Jericho? I don't buy his explanation. You're not fooling me, MJF.
18. Commentary Team
I enjoyed the commentary of Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, and Excalibur. Schiavone is the perfect link for JR and Excalibur because he's a professional and he was energized. JR was a bit reigned in, clearly feeling comfortable letting Schiavone take the lead more often because he has that respect for him. And Excalibur remains solid in his role.
21. Not LAX
Can we get these two a name? Santana & Ortiz are just two dudes thrown together who Jim Ross can't remember. Give them a name Jim Ross can remember. Like "Boomer Sooner" or "Stone Cold" or "Blue Chew"
23. Pharaoh
Where was he to help Cody?
31. Vince Fears Ratings
Shout out to that guy making that sign. Good call back.
48. Britt Baker
A three-person booth is already tough. But a four-person booth? It's too many voices. And when one voice doesn't have much experience with a headset and isn't known for his/her mic skills, it's just awkward silence. Putting Baker on commentary did her no favors, except they wanted to get her in front of the television audience. Which is fine, except there are other ways.
59. Video packages
Like video packages. Where were the video packages? They didn't introduce anyone who wasn't actually on the show and even some of those wrestlers; they weren't introduced with any kind of explanation. Maybe AEW assumes everyone who watched has seen AEW in some form? That's probably not the best line of thinking. And if talent won't be used on every show, introducing talent via a video package that you know you're going to use next week, would have been a wise decision. But, instead of a Private Party video package, we had SCU and the Lucha Bros brawl. Private Party face The Young Bucks next week. Lucha Bros and SCU don't even wrestle each other in the tournament. At least Private Party quickly showed up to hang out with Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, looking like some Street Profits rip-offs to the casual fan.
69. Thrown Wiener
Chris Jericho was not nice.
71. Stats
Where was my advanced analytics? Mookie, I'm counting on you.
75. Green
You may think green won because it was worn by The Elite and Evans & Angelico. But green lost because it's Michelle Visage's least favorite color and I'm Team Drag Race all day. I saw all those exploding colors in the intro. I know you have more than green on your pallet.
84. Shawn Spears
He's wrestling Jon Moxley next week. Did you know this?
100. AEW YouTube
Upload clips, you cowards. I know AEW knows how to utilize YouTube to their advantage. Don't be like ROH. For the love of God. Don't be like ROH.
1,409,000. Viewership
*wink*
