8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (16 Feb)
CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Lee Moriarty, and more shine in AEW's first post-Cody Dynamite.
Do doubters of All Elite Wrestling's relevance to the modern pro wrestling landscape still exist outwith the easily-ignored Twitter grifter hive, to whom concepts like "logic" and "facts" are acceptable casualties in the pursuit of clout?
If so, they were soundly proven wrong this week, when AEW dominated the wrestling news cycle despite reports of the last truly colossal in-ring return WWE can ever pull off.
News of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's first match in almost 20 years was promptly swept aside and washed away when it emerged that Cody and Brandi Rhodes had left the company they helped form in 2019. A huge, seismic story, transformational to the sport as we know it, and one that may represent a turning point not only for AEW, but the American scene as a whole. This thing is monstrous. Its shockwaves will be felt through 2022 and beyond.
That the outgoing Rhodes would completely overshadow a loaded episode of Dynamite was inevitable. Nonetheless, AEW got down to business on TBS, delivering a strong, stable, and steady show when it mattered. A rattled, gotten-to promotion would have stumbled here. Not AEW, however, who provided the first indication that life after Cody and Brandi may be just fine.
Let's light the fuse...