12 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite (23 Nov - Review)

3. Jon Moxley Spares William Regal's Life

William Regal opened Dynamite, attracting mega-heat from Chicago in his first appearance since betraying Jon Moxley and costing him the World Championship at Full Gear.

Name-dropping MJF drew cheers from an audience that later yelled "REGAL SUCKS!" and "F*** YOU REGAL!" at the top of their lungs. The veteran heel delayed their gratification by saying they'd hear from MJF next week, not this week, when Moxley's music hit.

Only Bryan Danielson separated Moxley and Regal. Mox wanted to tear a man with a papier-mache neck and two brain bleeds to pieces. Danielson was literally on his knees at one point, begging his stablemate not to act on his impulses, slapping sense into him one second and pleading the next. This was played marvellously well. To get his anger out, Moxley had to lock the top rope in a white-knuckle death grip, shaking with fury.

He couldn't strike Regal. For all his anger, that man, at one point, had meant a lot to him. So when he finally got the microphone, his words landed as the hardest thing in the universe. "Lordship, I only want one thing from you," growled Moxley. "I want you to run. Run far away, as far away as you can, and never, ever come back."

And Regal, who will most certainly be back, did just that.

Organic, authentic, and real, this was a near-perfect balancing act. Moxley and Danielson's individual inner turmoil could not have landed this well if not for their respective performance skills.