5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (August 9 - Review)
3. The Young Bucks Vs The Hardy Boyz
The Ups & Downs format doesn't allow for a caveat-filled "that was a bit rubbish but nice" section for more nuanced appraisals of broadly fine wrestling television, but perhaps some further investigation into the AEW normalisation of The Young Bucks over the last year or so is what drags this all into the Downs.
Matt and Nick clearly and understandably still idolise Matt and Jeff, and this match outstripped their Double Or Nothing 2022 effort by orders of magnitude. But if the graphic felt more for the wrestlers than the audience, the outcome served even less of a purpose.
Existing to give The Bucks a television win in only their third tag team match of 2023, this wasn't the advert required to lead into the FTR showdown about to come. Dream match manifestation is a lovely perk of AEW's existence for the likes of The Jacksons, but The Elite's withering saga stuff has cooled this last year more than any point in their legendary career. All In will surely be the reminder of who they really are, but it'd be nice if the doses weren't so small.