5 Match Star Ratings For AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming

AEW drew a wry sort of mirth in some quarters for branding the December 2 show 'Winter Is Coming'.

A year out of date, it didn't help that the Game of Thrones finale was so divisive and the discourse so toxic that, in a rare collective agreement, virtually everybody stepped aside and stopped bothering. GoT is irrelevant. It also didn't help that the cute in-joke of Fyter Fest has somehow become an annual event, and that the 2009 motion picture the Hangover inspired a recent, heavily advertised skit.

But 'Winter' in GoT wasn't just pathetic fallacy. It foreshadowed an invasion.

AEW is the details company. They aren't daft, either. The marketing doubled as a hype-job for the ultra-attentive. Could the Wall act as a metaphor for "the Forbidden Door" - to reset the "balance of power" in pro wrestling?

It did, in a monumental cliffhanger.

'Monumental' neatly summarises the show itself, which was in part highlighted by the debut of Sting. Even if he's "only" in AEW to manage Darby Allin, the massive spectacle of the presentation is a good thing. It's good that AEW puts so much effort into getting over a role that WWE has senselessly abandoned.

Irrespective of where this all this goes, it was a tremendous moment. They nailed the grandeur of his mystique, and, mid-pandemic, generated a monster pop.

The word 'special' also summarises the show...

Battle Royals have a star rating ceiling - outside of the incredible Tag Team #1 Contender's match on the February 19 Dynamite - but this was a multifariously deft storytelling triumph that never once got in its own way or rushed the all-important beats.

Matt Hardy furthered his heel character - and what an impressive booking move that is, reversing the hex that is his dire AEW run - by eliminating his protege and two of AEW's most endearing acts in Hangman Page and John Silver. Everything informed itself so meticulously; Page's interactions with the Dark Order were wholesome and dramatically resonant, where Silver and Alex Reynolds impressed with their trademark blitzkrieg tandem spots.

Miro's dominant showing, which was performed as well as it was booked, intensified the theme of course correction. In a match designed to build several more matches, the incredibly-worked apron sequence between Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy hinted at a future TV banger. That sequence also furthered the intrigue within the sprawling Inner Circle storyline, which, in yet another deft booking manoeuvre, informed the finish.

After spending so much time lurking on the margins, the field dwindled to MJF, Wardlow and Orange Cassidy. In a deft subversion, Wardlow, showing the intelligence of a babyface he's morphing into, realised that OC - who has such great, shrugging potential as ring-bearer with his pockets deal - hadn't been eliminated. It came down to MJF and Orange Cassidy, who will fight for the ring next week. What an incredible dynamic that is.

Really, only the interactions between Shawn Spears and Scorpio Sky felt flat. And uninspiring, since we've already seen the only-OK match very recently.

Star Rating: ★★★½