14 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 29)
12. The Prestige
This week's Dynamite opened with Tony Schiavone emerging from a private jet, followed closely by the Rhodes brothers. Cody and Dustin shared a hug, Tony and Cody walked, and, with gravitas, put over the weight of 'The American Nightmare's' upcoming match with Chris Jericho - the biggest of his career.
A nice little switch-up on the usual Dynamite format of firing straight into a red-hot match, it continued with Tony and Cody taking a limo to the building later on. Again, this put the bout over huge. They reflected on Dusty's old philosophy of "the star coming out last," put Jericho over as "the best he's ever been," and, because it's Cody, talked about family a lot. "This was our ride to take," the AEW Title challenger said. "Make 'em wait."
While nothing groundbreaking, segments like this go a long way towards adding weight to their subjects. Here, the build-up not only made Cody vs. Jericho feel like the most important wrestling match in the world, but it built anticipation for the contract signing as well.