4 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (12 Jan)

5. World Title Contrivances

Lance Archer
AEW

Dynamite's second promo train segment saw 'Hangman' Adam Page hit the ring ready for a new challenger, pointing out the hard reset of AEW's win/loss records at the start of the year. He seemed open to facing anybody - so out came Dan Lambert.

A curious move, given how divisive (and not in a good way) Lambert has proven amongst the AEW faithful. Nonetheless, the American Top Team chief praised Page for his accomplishments but dismissed his cowboy credibility, saying he was disgracing the legacies of Blackjack Mulligan, the Funks, and Bill Watts.

Cue: Lance Archer's return. Appearing on TV for the first time in three months, the big man looked like he was going to destroy Lambert (again...), but changed his mind, instead trucking Page (via chair-assisted Blackout) to earmark him as a World Title challenger.

Great to see Lance back. The neck injury suffered while wrestling Eddie Kingston in October could've been a lot scarier - and programming has definitely missed his monstrous presence. That said, the setup to get to the comeback was contrived, feeling like an overly artificial way of jumping to what will presumably be Page's pre-Revolution feud.

Lambert was a MacGuffin, too. That he was beaten up by Lance in his first AEW appearance last year gives their interactions significance, though his beef with Page seemed forced and far-fetched. Standing up for the honour of pro wrestling cowboys is a big, big leap.

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.