14 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Aug 22)

1. Heat

The Dark Order has been redeemed.

Remember 18 December 2019, when the much-maligned group set AEW off into an uncertain Christmas break having inexplicably crushed almost every big-name wrestler on the roster, drawing nought but cricket chirps in response? We have finally reached the other end of the spectrum. Tonight's show-closer was everything that angle wasn't, made possible by the terror of Brodie Lee.

With Cody getting a neck brace fitted and being loaded onto a gurney behind him, Brodie spat fury at Tony Schiavone, screaming in his face as the affable announcer tried to interview him. "People like YOU created this monster," Lee raged, the entire Order joining him in and around the ring.

And then? Decimation.

61-year-old Arn Anderson (who hasn't taken a single bump in AEW) was put down. The Order took Cody off his stretcher and inflicted horrible, hateful violence upon the helpless man, whipping him with a bag containing broken fragments of the old TNT Title. When Brandi Rhodes came out to lay upon her husband and prevent further damage, Anna Jay choked her out.

And finally, eight months after the December disaster, The Dark Order is a threat. A genuine, promotion-shaking threat.

An explosive angle. One of the best of the year thus far, and reminiscent of the kind AEW was throwing out monthly prior to the Empty Arena Era kicking in. Segments like this started riots back in the day - and this was reminiscent of the best of them.

Heat is great.