4 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (12 April - Review)

Downs...

4. An "Attitude Era Ass" Segment

Wardlow car
AEW

In a canny bait-and-switch, Tony Khan - who is usually very nice to performers working their hometown - subverted the pattern and booked Powerhouse Hobbs to squash Milwaukee's Silas Young within seconds. It was a smart idea, in that Hobbs is too powerful to be affected by the hometown advantage, but everything else in the segment was contrived sports entertainment.

In revenge for the plot that saw the QTV crew vandalise his car, a returning Wardlow destroyed Hobbs' new custom. This felt much too fake. The camera while not invisible had no reason to be stationed where it was, and how convenient was it that a forklift just happened to be right next to Hobbs' car?

Wardlow didn't even do that great a job of wrecking the car initially, and while his forklift skills were impressive, it was all a bit silly even for a feud with a big dumb fun blockbuster feel.

He commanded a major pop when he strutted into the arena to annihilate Aaron Solow, which again proves that The Discourse is as pointless as it is exhausting, but really, this was a naff and hokey segment building to a match next week with no good outcome: it's too early for Hobbs to drop a belt that feels almost cursed around Wardlow's waist.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!