11 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 9)

1. Welcome To The Party

The Young Bucks might be the most underrated in-ring storytellers in the world on account of the volume of people who still write them off as no-selling flippydoos. If that's your take, you aren't paying attention to matches like last night's with Private Party.

Yes, the bout possessed all kinds of fluid, fast-moving, athletic spots, but the psychology was sublime. Matt Jackson spent much of 2018 selling a back injury. It came up in almost every match, with the elder Buck coming up with new, creative ways to work it into his performances each time. Against Isiah Kasidy and Marq Quen, Jackson proved that he'd learned from those experiences by putting his pain on Kasidy. His Powerbomb on the ramp established the injury. Kasidy was hindered thereafter, cringing with every movement, and Matt worked over his back like many an opponent did to him in 2018. He has evolved.

Framed as something of a passing of the torch (with the announcers comparing Private Party to the Bucks of 10 years ago), the match was fantastic. Quen and Kasidy worked babyface against the Jacksons, who were in full-on New Japan d*ckhead mode from their entrance onwards, it shot forward with great energy and adrenaline yet still found room for important story beats. The finish was key, too, with Quen rolling Matt up as the Bucks attempted the Meltzer Driver, with Kasidy decking Nick on the outside.

Private Party celebrated in the crowd afterwards. This win might prove to be the making of them.