10 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jun 24)
In which Chris Jericho says Orange Cassidy is an embarrassment to wrestling.
Last night's AEW Dynamite had a lot going against it.
The ongoing #SpeakingOut movement has seen accusations thrown at a number of the company's wrestlers, several of which AEW hasn't addressed yet. Jimmy Havoc, an apparent suicide risk, has been sent to rehab, while Sammy Guevara is serving a suspension after footage of him making a gross, tasteless joke about WWE's Sasha Banks resurfaced, necessitating a lineup switch. Pulled from his scheduled bout with Matt Hardy, Guevara was replaced by stablemate Santana.
Those weren't the night's only substitutions, though. The ongoing global health crisis is tightening its grip on professional wrestling and contact with somebody who had tested positive prevented QT Marshall from travelling, meaning FTR had to wrestle SCU in the Natural Nightmares' place. Jon Moxley was also off the card after contact with another positive tester - later revealed to be his wife, WWE's Renee Young.
AEW delivered another great episode of Dynamite despite all this, using excellent storytelling and strong in-ring action (with one notable exception) to navigate these problems. In addition to the aforementioned bouts, we also got an Orange Cassidy/Chris Jericho confrontation, squashes for Brian Cage and Hikaru Shida, Cody and Jake Hager's press conference, and so much more.
Let's light the fuse...