12 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Bash At The Beach (Jan 15)
8. Dads Fall In Valiant Effort
A supplemental Up for MJF's wonderfully crude and immature "I banged Dallas' daughter" t-shirt. Man's a piece of trash.
'The Salt of the Earth' teamed with The Butcher and The Blade to face QT Marshall, Diamond Dallas Page, and Dustin Rhodes in a well-played, well-paced clash of bastards vs. overmatched sentimental favourites. Sympathy was key here. QT Marshall isn't all that good but works really hard, DDP is 63 years old, and Dustin Rhodes is the most sympathetic man on the roster. Realistically, the didn't stand a chance against the younger, stronger, more athletic heel trio, but they tried - and that's what it's all about.
Dustin carried most of the water here. A wise move, as he's the best worker on that side, and the build to DDP's hot tag was nicely done. Page ran wild for about a minute and it worked a lot better than it did in last week's segment. In the context of a match, with fatigue and chaos both in-play, it's a lot easier to believe the old fella getting his spots in. He did well.
That MJF scored the pin while a replay was happening was a pain in the *ss, but the bout worked. It was fun, well laid-out, and just the right length, with the heels emerging as rightful winners.