10 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jun 17)
AEW Dynamite: the greatest episodic wrestling TV programme in decades.
This week's episode promised a celebration of two quite incredible developments, post-Double Or Nothing: the expansion of AEW's Tag Team Division, which in terms of personnel at least is amongst if not the best ever amassed in pro wrestling history, and a refined cause-and-effect booking process.
We are no longer in the early phase of Dynamite which, while awesome in-ring, sometimes electrified without purpose. Kenny Omega Vs. Joey Janela, from the October 23 show, was a great wrestling match that functioned only to put Omega over ahead of his Full Gear match with Jon Moxley. It was fantastic, but pointless, even wasteful: they had a match on the lesser-seen Dark that better advanced the story, in which Omega entered Moxley's unhinged hardcore domain - and took the piss out of him once in it - by bantering off the Dean Ambrose wacky line. He proved he could hang in Moxley's match; the story of this more visible match was premised on Janela proving himself a capable pure wrestler ahead of his less significant PPV match with Shawn Spears. It was all backwards.
Everything moves forward and dovetails beautifully now. Relentlessly.
For example: Le Sex Gods - and they had the win/loss credentials to do it - aimed to steal a World Tag Team Title shot from Best Friends, a dynamic that also allowed AEW to build Jericho's conflict with Orange Cassidy and, maybe, Sammy Guevara's inner conflict.
One match.
A couple of segments.
Three compelling potential permutations.
Did AEW deliver upon that promise?