11 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 31 - Review)

CM Punk is BACK and AEW roars back into life with a phenomenal post-Double Or Nothing Dynamite.

by Michael Hamflett
CM Punk Jon Moxley
AEW

Beyond a mixed tag team match booked during Sunday's Double Or Nothing and yet another "Tony Khan big announcement" segment relating directly to the debut edition of Collision, there was nothing else announced for the post-pay-per-view Double Or Nothing until hours before the show.

Strategy, or a reveal of some late changes to a telecast typically all locked in by Wednesday morning at the latest? And either way, is it yet another sign of things to come from an All Elite Wrestling Khan noted multiple times during Sunday's post-show scrum would be going through some changes? It was as though he was trying to cut through recent niggling criticisms there - some iffy booking for the last few months had seen several bad habits creep in, to the point that even Kris Statlander's shocking and euphoric TBS Championship came with concerns about WWE-adjacent impromptu matches.

Nonetheless, it wasn't as if there wasn't anything to get to. New Champions, new shows starting, a new game ready to drop, and some new directions for a roster in need of a shake-up. As matches were drip-fed to the world via Khan's Twitter, the anticipation built, and for more than just whatever was set for June 17th's United Center showcase.

Did the ends justify the means?

Let’s light the fuse…

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett