10 Best Times AEW Threw Shade At WWE
5. "You're Not The First Out Of Touch Old Man..."
However this line materialised, it was fantastic.
One of two things happened: either a quick-witted mind in the booking committee made the connection after the final phase of the Exalted One mystery angle took hold, or, more impressively, that final phase was booked in order to arrive at that line. This week's Dynamite suggests the latter, given what the Exalted One character has morphed into.
That line, delivered to Christopher Daniels by Brodie Lee, was "You aren't the first out of touch old man to believe in me".
It capped off the angle in which Daniels, 50, was unconvinced of the Exalted One's existence. He challenged the Dark Order to prove it, and was met with the reveal and a powerful big boot for his lack of faith. This was tremendous because it wasn't a bitter aside muttered in passing for the sake of popping a few thousand cult devotees; it was informed by Brodie Lee's awful WWE run, attaching a sense of reality to an exaggerated persona, and in one sweeping angle aimed to convince AEW fans that this man emphatically was not Luke Harper but the real, under-utilised monster lurking within.
Fan service that doubled as character development and an audacious push, this was petty and purposeful.