14 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 29)
Downs...
2. Lights Out... Again
Last night's Dynamite saw Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley turned into a Lights Out unsanctioned match and while this shouldn't hurt the quality of what looks like a guaranteed in-ring banger, AEW risk burning the stipulation out.
Moxley and Omega have both wrestled Joey Janela with the unsanctioned gimmick in-play. That's three examples in a relatively short period of time. Not only that, but it's now turning into a crutch to avoid planting a loss on an esteemed wrestler's record. If used sparingly, the stipulation is an undeniably useful booking tool, but the impression now is that AEW are using it as a cop-out.
This is the promotion where "wins and losses matter," right? So why not just have Moxley or Omega eat a definitive loss and book from there? It's something that the promotion have done well with so far, so it's disappointing to see the Lights Out gimmick being spammed.