4 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Sept 28)

2. Saraya Want A Revolution? Well, You Know...

Where to start with this?

Saraya's promo delivery wasn't excellent, but her charisma and audience connection has always been key, and stood up in spite of the odd stumble. The odd trips could and would have been easily forgiven had the content and outcomes not represented an unfathomably poor misfire.

Promising a "Revolution" was a risk that already looked like it wouldn't pay off by the end of the first night. A certain spice in the word was welcome - the former Paige and Emma never got the due credit for being the physical forefront of WWE's women's wrestling rethink back in 2014, but to suggest the same thing thing is needed in All Elite Wrestling was tantamount to going on television and calling AEW's league a Divas Division. Doubling and trebling down on that by lining up the babyfaces and heels for an impromptu lumberjack match then inadvertently talking down to them all like an authority figure was a nightmare look too, even if it was unintentional.

And about that - are AEW trying to stretch out speculation on just how much the newcomer can get involved? Commentary said she could "go" last week, but this played out as if she was on a raised platform above a bunch of hastily-grouped rank-and-files. And this didn't even have the huge pops that came with Stephanie McMahon doing the same to the random new trios - of which Paige was a part of - back in 2015.

Toni Storm seemed hesitant to step forward to be paraded by Saraya, even with such glowing praise. Was this a tease of something to come between the two, or Storm using her wrestling instincts to think carefully of what such patronising shine might look like? Saraya's commentary was curiously disconnected from the action too, muddying the waters even more of how exactly she can deliver on such grand statements.

The women's division desperately needed a ground-up rethink, but this was more spit-and-polish and than root-and-branch.