7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (June 5 - Results & Review)
6. Mark Briscoe Elevates Solid Match
Even though it's a mess of his own making, you have to sympathise with Tony Khan to an extent. He signed far too many wrestlers, many of which he couldn't not sign on a case-by-case basis - you couldn't just let WWE have Will Ospreay - and now he struggles with who exactly to push.
Rush?
Konosuke Takeshita?
Daniel Garcia?
Jay White?
Who, outside of the established main event bracket, is truly worth the investment?
It's a hard decision, but Mark Briscoe makes it easier every single time he appears on TV. Structurally, this was a very familiar match in which the underdog babyface survives the hoss monster. Everything more or less happened in the "correct" order. It should have been predictable and bereft of drama, particularly since Brian Cage is one of Khan's trusted glorified enhancement talents, but Mark Briscoe is incredible. He has such a bump on him and such an ability to work the crowd that Cage's Liger bomb looked like a kill-shot.
Briscoe won with the Froggy 'bow and the crowd exploded not because they didn't expect the finish but because they badly wanted to see it. At an absolute minimum, AEW should position Briscoe on the slow-burn chase to a midcard title. The crowd is in love with the guy.
He wears every single babyface characteristic so well.