4 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Sept 28)
5. Danielson & Daddy Lacks Some Magic
An intriguing television pairing had the two been positioned as such in the run up to the show, a first time meeting between Matt Menard and Bryan Danielson never escaped its p*ss-weak origin story.
Hardcore wrestling fans haven't complained for decades about the stupidity of impromptu wrestling matches for decades just to strain their voices and Edge-like veins in their foreheads. The device rips at the fraying fabric of a wrestling show's legitimacy longterm, and tanks investment in matches in such a way that wrestlers have to get a crowd back rather than having them from the start.
Such was the case here. A milquetoast opener had flashes of of fun due to Menard's insane charisma, inherent in-ring genius of Bryan and Angelo Parker's commitment to getting clocked and carried out by Claudio Castagnoli. But the shlocky set-up foreshadowed no real reason to care, and the live crowd weren't prepared to buy it as action, comedy or drama.