5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (June 28 - Review)
Ups…
5. Jon Moxley Vs Tomohiro Ishii
A worthy sequel to their epic 2019 G1 Climax encounter, the escalating violence and anger in the strikes between Jon Moxley and Tomohiro Ishii brought new meaning to "big fight feel" - this felt big and like a fight alright, but the two men couldn't have cared less about spectacle as they were laying into one another.
The arrival of Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston to stare daggers at one another on the floor helped the two mirror the same spot from Forbidden Door's ten-man tag, but as chops became forearms and forearms became lariats, the tension built without the simmering Chikara rage needing to boil over.
Boil over it would, but not before Moxley drilled Ishii with the Death Rider to pick up a powerful win in a fun and committed opener. On second watch, it's even easier to see why Blood & Guts drew such a listless response. Moxley's primary concern is Kingston and his secondary one was surviving this. A double cage bloodbath should be third on the agenda, but such is life when you've got that many irons in the fire.
Speaking of which...