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

4. Jack Perry Continues To Struggle

Jack Perry cut a promo, the aim of which was to run down Taz, HOOK, the FTW title and ECW's legacy. This drew out Jerry Lynn, who will meet Perry in a "one on one" confrontation next week. Expect a careful beat-down and HOOK run-in save, since no match was advertised.

ECW is no longer that sacred a cow, and this plot development feels tacked on as a way of heating up a programme that has been at best mildly received.

Perry struggled again. The lack of belief extends to the audience and the performer himself. It looked as though he had been instructed to do the "wait for the jeers to subside, then motion to talk, because the boos will then intensify" bit. The problem, and this bordered on the excruciating, is that the jeers were never that loud at any point. He didn't look like a believable character living in and conducting the moment, but rather a performer struggling with instructions.

As part of this story development, for some reason, HOOK was filmed in a subway station before disappearing when one raced by. This was not unlike those puzzling, try-hard 1998 Edge vignettes - pointless at a minimum.