13 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Mar 18)

by Andy H Murray

1. Broken

Matt Hardy
AEW

How could the return of Broken Matt Hardy not be number one?

The 45-year-old's arrival came at the end of the show, with Chris Jericho gloating about The Inner Circle's four-on-five advantage at Blood and Guts. This backfired. Vanguard One was landing in the ring as Matt Jackson confirmed that The Elite did, indeed, have their fifth man, and the camera panned up to the top of the building. There stood Hardy, arms aloft, working the full Broken gimmick - "delete!" calls and all. Wonderful.

That Dave Meltzer recently reported that AEW didn't want to bunch multiple debuts together actually amplified this, as expectations were low after the Brodie Lee reveal. A great example of an inaccurate take actually paying off for the better.

While the idea of Hardy competing in Blood and Guts raises immediate questions on his physical condition, storyline-wise, his inclusion makes a lot of sense. Matt has history with The Bucks of Youth from their time in Ring of Honor and the two sides have been all over each other's YouTube content as of late. This isn't a square peg into a round hole at all and hey, we're probably about to get some batsh*t stuff from the Hardy Compound again very, very soon.

Bring forth the Broken Brilliance.

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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.