7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Anniversary Edition (Oct 14)
AEW celebrates one year of Dynamite with four title fights - and more.
All Elite Wrestling celebrated one year of Dynamite on TNT last night, loading the card with a trio of big title matches and turning up the pre-show media drive in hope of attracting increased attention and popping a big number. With the NBA over and no election-related competition to worry about, perhaps they'll do that, though they still faced competition from the Buffalo Bills and Tenessee Titans in the NFL.
Jon Moxley put his AEW World Championship on the line against Lance Archer in the main event, with 'The Murderhawk Monster' returning for the first time since a brush with COVID-19. Elsewhere, Orange Cassidy challenged for Cody's TNT Title a few short weeks after a failed attempt at dethroning Mr. Brodie Lee, Hikaru Shida defended the Women's Championship against Big Swole, and Best Friends fought Tag Team Champions FTR in the opener.
These special episodes of Dynamite usually sit amongst the finest shows the promotion has ever produced. Last night wasn't quite on that level, though it was a decent representation of the brand as a whole, whether good or bad. With its developments, the road to Full Gear looks a lot clearer as well.
Let's light the fuse...