8 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Sep 2)
MJF gets Dictator Jon's blood on his hands as AEW heads to All Out.
Goodness, does AEW know how to book a popping angle.
This was the biggest takeaway coming out of last night's Dynamite, on which killer, state-of-the-art action took a backseat to story and character development. A specific segment was so successful in painting a cornerstone AEW wrestler in a stark new light that it should go down alongside Cody's 10 lashes and The Inner Circle's formation as one of the best things Tony Khan's promotion has booked on TNT - but we'll get to that later.
A few wonky moments aside, this was a largely successful All Out go-home show that prospered by adding new layers to some of the pay-per-view's biggest programs, with only the healing Cody absent from an all-star cast of characters. Jon Moxley faced off with MJF's lawyer Mark Sterling before meeting 'The Salt of the Earth,' Thunder Rosa's in-ring debut went down opposite Serena Deeb (!), The Young Bucks looked nastier than ever before, the weight of Hangman Page's Elite exclusion came crashing down on him, and more.
Let's light the fuse...
(Note: Excalibur's return to commentary won't be addressed here. Check the introduction of yesterday's Dark review for that.)