11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Jan 29)
6. The Young Bucks Leap The Hurdle
The Butcher and The Blade were positioned as a hurdle on The Young Bucks' sprint up the card. MJF threw his enforcers at Nick and Matt Jackson and sat on commentary for the bout, doing a decent job of putting Butcher and Blade over while dismissing the Bucks, calling them "backyarders." He played his role well, though not as well as the Bucks.
The Jacksons were in fine form heel. Watching them bumping and selling for the green-but-imposing Butcher was a hoot and the early stages saw them in complete control with quickfire tags, superior double-team work, and fast, crowd-popping offense. These control sequences sold them as an elite tag team. That's exactly how they need to come off after their stop/start early AEW run and it was an entirely convincing performer, leading to them putting Blade away with the Meltzer Driver.
MJF and The Bunny were apoplectic in the aftermath. It may now be time to see the Triple Bs split from 'The Salt of the Earth' and carve their own path. They've been fine in their role as hired guns, but we won't see the act's true potential until they break free from MJF's shadow.