10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Apr 29)
1. Dustin Dies
AEW's masterful presentation of Lance Archer continued in last night's main event, as 'The Murderhawk Monster' tortured a game Dustin Rhodes en route to scoring his spot in the TNT Title Tournament finals.
The promotion hasn't made a single misstep with Archer so far. The effusive praise is warranted, as the big man has gone from murdering jobbers to looking like a destroyer in more competitive layouts as well - without sacrificing a drop of monsterdom. This Dustin match was tremendous because it was different. Rather than straight-up ragdolling Rhodes, this was death by a thousand cuts, as Archer inflicted an agonisingly long, slow, and painful demise on a veteran who bled for the cause, brought the fight, and ultimately went out on his shield.
Archer's act is being revealed like onion layers: we see something new from him each time, with the big man busting out his outrageous rope-walk Moonsault and EBD Claw against Big Dust. Speaking of the Claw, what a finish! Lance just grabbed the dude's skull, pounded it into the mat like a horror movie monster, and scored the pin. Guy's an animal.
A nod to Dustin as well. Professional wrestling is about generating an emotional response, not how many silly stunts you can do, and Rhodes has long been one of the best in the business in that regard. Nobody in AEW is more sympathetic. His was the kind of performance that makes you genuinely worry for his health, such is his skill as a worker, and that it looked like he was on the verge of throwing his own towel in before Lance put him away was the cherry on top of an already delicious cake.
Cody in the finals? Bring it on.