4 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (July 26 - Review)

by Michael Sidgwick

1. Main Event Is...Fine

Clsudio Castagnoli AEW
AEW

This hardly warrants a 'Down' in and of itself, but the three-way dance tag main event between the Blackpool Combat Club, Best Friends and the Lucha Bros. hardly blew anybody away. The sum of the parts of last night's show don't tell the story.

The match was an unabashed spot fest that was exciting in places - without being particularly exhilarating. Fénix and Claudio Castagnoli displayed their awesome chemistry in what was the best one-on-one sequence. In the best sequence overall, every man in the match exchanged signatures as the last to deliver one move unwittingly walked into the next. This was arranged in a much less contrived way than that may read.

There is a blistering standard for this genre, the best action in which is meant to make you lose your mind, unable to comprehend what you're seeing as your body is flooded with adrenaline. In and of itself, this came nowhere near in truth, and it wasn't remotely helped by the complexion of the card overall. The fans had already seen a lot of high spot-driven matches laid out with back and forth sequences that are either thrillingly complex or contrived, depending on your disposition. This was the fourth stylistically homogenised match out of five. Dynamite is usually a show that lovingly embraces the range of the form.

This very dive-happy edition almost embodied the bad faith complaints levelled at it by certain podcasters.

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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!