6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (July 5 - Review)
Kenny Omega is the best sports-oriented storyteller ever, and proved it on Dynamite last night.
Over on Collision, Tony Khan has booked a very good (if predictable) tournament.
The more languid pace on the Saturday show has allowed its various threads to resonate. Powerhouse Hobbs is a potentially excellent finalist; He stalked Dustin Rhodes menacingly and overcame his indomitable spirit last Saturday. In a great touch, Juice Robinson put up a fair fight against Ricky Starks, ensuring that the Owen has a slightly different tenor to the usual carny trappings of AEW television, in a match that was far more dramatic than it had any right to be.
CM Punk worked a great fight with Satoshi Kojima at Forbidden Door, a pissy war in which the cocky prick only narrowly escaped, and was even better at the commentary table last week. Samoa Joe Vs. Roderick Strong was already a beautiful, hard-hitting main event, with one of the better babyface comebacks in recent memory, but Punk elevated it.
Joe felt like an insurmountable force through Punk's narration. In the magic of suspended disbelief, Punk made it feel like Joe was still in his prime, that he couldn't be defeated. The other semi-final is hard to predict, at least, and the elegant simplicity has vastly improved upon last year's inaugural tournament.
How did the Blind Eliminator, launched on Dynamite last night, fare in comparison...?