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

5. A Complete World Title Turnaround

Contrast last night's crowd reactions to Chris Jericho vs. Cody to those that greeted the AEW World Champion's previous programme with Hangman Page.

'The Painmaker' was cheered as he beat his young opponent down at Fight for the Fallen, with Page's flavourless 19-minute bout with Kip Sabian pouring a big bucket of cold water all over his title challenge. It was lame, lame stuff, and the muted response crept into the eventual All Out match.

Things couldn't have been different with Cody and Jericho. Venom poured from every corner of the arena as the AEW Champion ambushed 'The American Nightmare' following his hard-fought victory over Sammy Guevara, and the babyface pop was just as loud when Cody ran out to even the odds in the show-closing brawl.

We've got a proper World Title programme on our hands, people, and it's heated as hell. Excellent set-up and execution are the reasons for this. Let's hope they're able to maintain it over the next four weeks of television.

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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.