10 Ups & 7 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Dec 11)

by Andy H Murray

1. Plunder & Lightning

Those tired of AEW's cocaine-fuelled house style and plunder brawls won't have had much fun with The Young Bucks vs. Proud and Powerful. Regardless, the crowd's constant engagement and noise marks this as an objective success if we're to use consumer reactions to gauge a product's prosperity, making it hard to argue with this positioning.

This thing was wild, crazy, and out of control. It began on the ramp and stayed there for a long, long time as PNP attacking the Jacksons during their entrance. Brandon Cutler charged out to negate Sammy Guevara and ended up getting thrown through the stage for his troubles, with all kinds of other mayhem following, including a big Nick Jackson dive from one of the entrance tunnels, and an Indytaker onto the steel platform.

Plunder was always there, with the baseball-filled socks crashing into a trashcan wrapped around Nick Jackson's head, before Matt charged in with a Dallas Cowboys helmet, fighting back. When Rick Knox was Hager'd, Aubrey Edwards rushed to the rescue. She was pulled out of the ring herself as Proud and Powerful went for a pin, reminding us that at their core, the Bucks are still sh*theads, but was present for the match-ending Meltzer Driver onto a chair.

While the booking patterns are in danger of becoming formulaic, this was another all-out banger from this ridiculously talented tag division. This bout ripped.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.