12 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jul 22)
A wild Attitude Era-style brawl, Eddie Kingston's Promo of the Year contender, and more.
Sammy Guevara's return is neither an Up nor a Down.
Praising an admittedly effective angle when it played out in an environment that allowed Guevara to return in such idolatry fashion after a four-week suspension feels insensitive, as only time will tell if the punishment (including docked wages and behavioural training) was effective. Situations like this aren't a binary: the appropriate length for a suspension is however long it takes for the behaviours to be corrected. Guevara is a tremendous wrestler and seems genuinely sorry, though pedestalling him so quickly isn't criticism-proof, with the angle impossible to faithfully judge in a bubble.
Dynamite was tremendous last night. This was one of the finest AEW shows of the year thus far, pay-per-view or otherwise, highlighting swathes of new storylines and escalating beefs as the road to All Out commences properly. Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen are done. Now, all eyes are on 5 September, and AEW took that first step with a blistering night of television.
Cody's TNT Title open challenge brought a cult indie hero into the fold, Chris Jericho and Jake Hager fought Jurassic Express in the main event, Jon Moxley threatened ungodly violence, and more.
Let's light the fuse...