5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (30 August - Review)

By Michael Sidgwick /

Downs...

5. Hardly A Hot Opener

Illness and the hurricane currently ripping through Florida did a number on Dynamite last night, apparently, so it seems unfair to go in studs up with both feet.

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Still, as a means of building All Out, this missed the mark, and it was also a splash of sobering reality following the incredible heights to which AEW climbed at Wembley Stadium. Jon Moxley defeated Komander in an opener that was mostly just there.

The story told was decent, if you look at it in a self-contained way. It was the classic Dynamite TV match layout: lower-ranked wrestler gives star name a test in a bid to get over, getting plenty of offence in, before the star emerges with the win to reinforce their star power. This wasn't the time to do it. It did nothing for Moxley, really. Everybody beats Komander. Mox doing the back-and-forth act didn't do enough to sell what could well be the main event of All Out. He should have shredded some poor bastard, grabbed a mic and cut the bloodthirsty live promo at which he's a master.

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Also: is that AEW TV match formula starting to falter?

The up-and-coming talent rarely seems to get anything out of taking a star to a long match, do they? Why give them so much and then so little after the fact?

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This was nothing, ultimately, and the crowd barely cared. It was easy to forget AEW was in Chicago last night, which is hardly a good omen.