10 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jun 17)

4. A Superbly Layered Segment Of Pro Wrestling Television

In his pre-match interview, Cody wondered aloud whether he remains aligned with either the Elite or the Nightmare family, accomplishing two things: retroactively making (some) sense of the booking in last week's wonky final segment, and further foreshadowing the formation of a new stable adjacent to the Four Horsemen alongside Shawn Spears and FTR.

Then, the open challenge itself was answered by Ricky Starks, a superb promo on NWA Powerrr with enormous breakout potential. The vignette heralding his debut very effectively put over both his style and his substance, and the mere fact that there was a vignette convinced the audience that he was a potentially major deal in the language of professional wrestling.

To cap off a multifarious triumph of a segment, the match was really, really good, put over both men in victory and defeat, and Starks showed tremendous fire, particularly in a high-quality blistering punch-up sequence.

Is Cody slowly turning heel, or is at a red herring that allows him to be that bit more of a desperate prick in these defences designed to get the undercard babyfaces over?

Either way, this is ace, ace stuff after a tentative start.