10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Sep 30)
Moxley meets a beastly challenger, Cody answer's Brodie's challenge, FTR vs. SCU, and more.
A pretaped AEW Dynamite aired last night after the previous week's live broadcast - and the show was better for it.
This is often the case with the Wednesday night flagship. While the live episodes aren't significantly worse, the prerecorded shows feel slicker, flow better, and aren't as chaotic. This is likely down to the pressures of producing live television and the increased time in the editing room afforded by pretaping, allowing AEW extra steps to get Dynamite exactly as they want it. It begs the question: why bother with live shows at the moment? Spoilers are unlikely with so few people in attendance and the difference in quality is noticeable. Going fully taped, at least until the global health crisis is over, may help Dynamite soar even higher.
Regardless, this was excellent pro-wrestling television. Though marred by a single, short segment, it had everything one could possibly want from an episode of Dynamite, from hot angles to a long-awaited in-ring comeback, bookended by two gritty, attritional wars that felt more like fights than athletic contests. Jon Moxley, Cody, FTR, Chris Jericho, and everyone else: they all crushed it.
Let's light the fuse on a night that saw Cody answer Brodie Lee's challenge and Eddie Kingston name Moxley's latest opponent...