10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite: Road Rager (7 July)
4. Sign Dan Lambert
Incredible on the microphone throughout his brief IMPACT Wrestling stint in 2017 and 2018, Dan Lambert unexpectedly got on the stick last night and proceeded to motherf*ck the entire universe.
Stood beside fighters Amanda Nunes and Jorge Masvidal, Lambert grabbed the stick from Tony Schiavone, going full Jim Cornette on his way to the ring. Tapping into the kind of heat AEW has been drawing from Kentuckian Cultists since day one, Lambert spoke of Championship Wrestling from Florida in the '70s and '80s, claimed wrestling had gone downhill since the '90s, and echoed other stuck-in-the-mud complaints brilliantly, incredulous that AEW was making him "endorse the product" by doing an interview.
That the promo didn't lean too heavily on insider terms kept it just on the right side of kayfabe - and eventually, Lambert ate sh*t.
Lance Archer hit the ring, clocked the American Top Team chief in the face, and hit the Blackout. Here's hoping this leads to more Lambert and isn't a one and done. The guy is money on the microphone and AEW could do a lot with this kind of nitpicky heat. He's a tremendous heel.