4 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (1 Mar - Review)

Two world-class Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson promos salvage tame AEW Revolution go-home show...

by Michael Sidgwick
Peter Avalon
AEW

Promoting a one-match show is never ideal at the best of times, much less when All Elite Wrestling pay-per-views tend to put 15 of the f*ckers on the card.

Unless you're a giant baby incapable of acknowledging that your escapist hobby of choice can sometimes not be amazing, sentiment heading into Revolution 2023 wasn't exactly that of rapt anticipation. A sense of unease and boredom was hard to shake. Many fans were concerned that Tony Khan would add one too many matches to a card headlined by a one-hour Iron Man match, or not do enough to drive home that which he had already booked.

MJF Vs. Bryan Danielson told a great story, built indirectly via a series of incredible matches, that reached its personal, grudge tone peak at exactly the right time - but beyond that?

It's no exaggeration to state that, across 2019 and 2020, Khan did a better job building a match between Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager than he has in 2023 with too many attractions at the same PPV three years later. That one turned out to be one of the weaker matches in the history of AEW on PPV, but the art of booking is in the ability to hook people into a match, and not merely advertise one that is expected to be great.

Revolution '23 is backwards in that regard, and literally backwards in the case of Chris Jericho Vs. Ricky Starks - a feud that yielded a happy, forward-thinking ending before it actually began (!). That was one of several matches Khan needed to heat up on Dynamite last night.

Did he...?

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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!