17 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Nov 13)

1. The Final Count

For those not keeping track of the Stories Told gimmick throughout the article, Dynamite touched on 19 individual AEW storylines throughout its two-hour runtime.

That's seriously impressive, comfortably the night's biggest triumph, and pointing it out demonstrates just how sophisticated this promotion's storytelling model already is.

The shared universe is becoming colossal. Wrestlers are building relationships with those outside their immediate feud partners and allies. Character threads are being established all over the place, too, some of which won't be (and don't need to be) paid off until months down the road. Cody, for example, may want to get his hands on MJF first and foremost, but he still has beef with Chris Jericho and needs to get past Wardlow first. Hell, he may even have to step in and defend his brother's honour if Dustin keeps warring with the Inner Circle. It's such great stuff, and bodes well for the promotion's long-term future.

AEW's methods aren't perfect, as shown by the Dark Order's inability to get over, but they're connecting. They're establishing meaningful, emotional connections with their viewership, and while they occasional do too much, that's all part of the process. Such issues will come out in the wash.

Dynamite is already a storytelling titan, though.