The money quote from AFP columnist Ray Petree on this week’s podcast: you could miss this week’s AEW “Dynamite,” and not be any worse for the wear heading into the big “Grand Slam” show next week in New York.

And no, this isn’t good for AEW.

Ray and AFP editor Chris Graham cover a lot of territory on the AEW beat this week.

In this podcast

Jericho-Cassidy sheds viewers in dud of opening segment

The opening segment of “Dynamite,” featuring a match pitting Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy, went over like the proverbial wet fart in church.

As a gimmick, “The Learning Tree” is easily Jericho’s worst re-invention yet. Every week, we watch the “Jericho Vortex” suffocate Bryan Keith and Big Bill.

Since “All In,” Jericho has had The Conglomeration and Orange Cassidy in his crosshairs; culminating in this match — which lasted nearly 20 minutes.

Was this the best use of time for this episode of “Dynamite”?

New looks for Jon Moxley, Private Party

Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli are doing a good job reinventing themselves in the new-look Blackpool Combat Club.

This week, the BCC attacked Private Party, after Isaiah Kassidy and Marq Quen cut a nice promo that seems to signal a new direction for them, and then we saw Darby Allin get involved.

Where all of those parties go from here will be something worth watching.

It’s time to get the tag belts off The Young Bucks already

The names of the participants in the “Dynamite” main event reflect the quality of this match: Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita faced Kazuchika Okada & the Young Bucks. 

For Ospreay, Fletcher, and the Young Bucks, it was a preview of their match next week at “Grand Slam.” For Takeshita and Okada, this was yet another confrontation — building towards their eventual match for the AEW Continental Championship. 

This match was guaranteed to be entertaining, given how phenomenal all six men are in the ring. Not to mention, watching Ospreay and Okada share an AEW ring was exhilarating.

The question remains: can we just get the tag belts off The Bucks already?

Breaking: Miro asks for his release

Miro, not used in AEW at all in 2024, has reportedly asked Tony Khan for his release, and the only surprising thing to this breaking news is: what took so long?

Miro was, for a brief few months several years ago in WWE, the hottest heel in wrestling, as a pro-Putin propagandist with nuclear heat.

He had a solid run as the TNT champ in 2021, but we’re three years past that now.

Is the grass going to be greener if he returns to WWE? Or does he try to latch on with TNA Impact, MLW, or … just hang ‘em up?

Kill, Steen, Kill!

The wrestling rumor mill has it that Kevin Owens, nee Kevin Steen, could be a target for Tony Khan, with Owens’ contract with WWE coming up at the end of the year.

Would Owens/Steen consider jumping ship from WWE to reunite with his former Ring of Honor running buddies Matt and Nick Jackson?

KO might have already hit his ceiling in WWE, so that’s one factor to consider.

But he might want to get some assurances from Khan that there’s a plan in place for his rollout, in light of the flubs that we’ve seen with recent big-money signees Adam Copeland, Mercedes Mone and Kazuchika Okada.