12 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 2)

6. Jake Hager Is... Good, Actually

Look, Jack Swagger was largely lame as hell in WWE. That's indisputable.

But you can't dispute that pop either.

Jake Hager got a thunderous reception when he ran down to destroy every single babyface in the world after Dynamite's main event. He came off really, really well as he killed the Rhodes brothers, showing more fire and urgency than he has inside a wrestling ring in years and the fans were totally into it, with chants of "we the people" filling the building. It's almost shocking how effective this was.

A potential heel stable has emerged in the form of Chris Jericho, Hager, Ortiz, Santana, and Sammy Guevara, who ran down to deck Cody. This came after what turned out to be a very good pseudo-handicap match as the Young Bucks played ultimate survivors with Kenny Omega out of the picture, battling bravely against Jericho and the former LAX until 'Y2J' landed his new killshot, the Judas Effect, for the 1-2-3.

Credit to the performers and AEW for salvaging this after the Moxley/Omega angle almost sent Dynamite careening off the rails.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.