5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (30 August - Review)
AEW made it hard to go All In on All Out last night, but Toni Storm and Orange Cassidy were Elite.
AEW has generated serious momentum having just broken the all-time paid attendance record at All In. Of course, being AEW, the promotion also unleashed yet another maelstrom of controversy, but that's par for the course.
At this point, it would be stranger to wake up and not read reports of CM Punk dangling Matt Hardy's legs over a balcony while screaming "Alls I'm saying is if you go to Dave Meltzer again I'll drop you here and now!"
In the past, AEW has not done enough on Dynamite to capitalise.
After Full Gear 2021, the next Dynamite was headlined by Sammy Guevara retaining the title over Jay Lethal, with a babyface celebration taking viewers off the air - hardly a seismic cliffhanger. Something similar happened after All Out '21, a legendary, dreamlike PPV that should have acted as a game-changer: Jon Moxley defeated Minoru Suzuki on Dynamite in a very rushed match before simply celebrating in front of his hometown fans. A lovely moment for the pandemic World champion, yes, but hardly an incentive to watch the next episode of a company that could not have been hotter the prior weekend. After the First Dance, the next Dynamite was headlined by of all matches Malakai Black Vs. Brock Anderson.
What?
AEW needed a "We're here to stay" mission statement after such an unreal return to form on Sunday - particularly since All Out badly needed the juice.
Did Tony Khan deliver?