The current Ring Of Honor Champion is having an excellent year - and more on that later - but he's never maintained a 100% record with this sort of thing, and an idea that already felt forgotten half way through the week played out as such in a weak opening to the show.
The Jericho Appreciation Society looked resplendent in matching purple, but that was just about the kindest thing to be said about a meandering laugh-free excuse to expand a few minor developments in the Jericho/Daniel Garcia angle and offer Luigi Primo another bizarre cameo.
Sending Bryan Danielson out there to out-Sports Entertain the Sports Entertainers is the sort of creative crime AEW must never, evvver commit aga-yn, though. "Don't do what WWE does" was the subtext for so long, and many fans gravitated towards it. As many will be pushed away with examples of the opposite, and some of that was reflected in the impromptu match that followed...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
