10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (18 Aug)

9. Cult Of Paulsonality

Paul Wight fatigue is real. It's evident in the reaction his recent Dynamite appearances have drawn, and it's understandable. Big Show was on WWE television for a long, long time with minimal evolution beyond his meme-able face/heel turn record. It's therefore tough to argue with anyone who doesn't want to see him working programs on TNT, even if the content is good.

And the content was good last night.

Wight followed up on last week's confrontation with The Factory by cheesing on how good it felt to be back in the ring. When QT Marshall and co. interrupted, showing Wight's surgery photos and X-rays to suggest he isn't fit for this line of work anymore, Wight claimed he wasn't embarrassed by having his "big beautiful *ss on national television." Then, he pulled his trump card, revealing Tony Khan had booked him versus Marshall for All Out 2021.

This was well-performed - and the pieces fit. Marshall is a good stooge heel to eat a two-minute loss to Wight. It won't overstay its welcome and will serve as an effective buffer between two bigger pay-per-view matches, which is something AEW's overlong and inconsistent supercards definitely need.

It'll be fine. Don't worry about it.