11 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Mar 31)
In reheating Christian Cage and Miro, AEW almost prove that they can do no wrong...
AEW had much to achieve on the March 31 Dynamite, in that two recent signees hadn't arrived to meltdown-level fanfare.
Christian Cage was a victim of promise versus delivery. Picture the scene: at the Crossroads, Paul Wight cuts a promo putting over Dark: Elevation and signs off, winking to the camera, by telling the audience that they might be in for something of a surprise at Revolution. Christian Cage makes his shock debut, and the narrative is joyful: a beloved legend has returned, and in a quasi-Lex-Luger-on-Nitro flex, that legend had spurned WWE. That didn't happen; instead, Cage simply wasn't CM Punk or Brock Lesnar.
AEW fans briefly glimpsed the old Christian Cage on last week's Dynamite. He joked with the young guys backstage, cutting a figure very slightly - but crucially - removed from the dry, gruff, hard-working veteran that had arrived. On his in-ring debut, it was pivotal that AEW refined the delivery. Nothing less than the intelligent, well-crafted, counter-driven masterclass for which he was once known would do.
Miro fared even worse. Trapped in a ceaseless and frivolous feud with the Best Friends, he was neither monster heel nor banter merchant. In the vibrant show of much range, Miro, in a huge indictment, was a nothing character. Arcade Anarchy was never going to be worth the interminable wait, but AEW opened up an opportunity to promote something the wider programme somehow contrived to lack: fun creativity. The plunder brawl had much to work with: Chuckie T's genre expertise, Jerry Lynn's match layout magic, a unique scene with scope for irreverent comedy.
On a night that badly needed to deliver on waning promises, did AEW course correct...?