5 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (December 6 - Results & Review)

2. Over-Gimmicked

Toni Storm Vs. Skye Blue was your mileage may vary stuff. It's almost unfair to label this a 'Down', since the women worked hard, but the TV audience was distracted from their efforts.

The match followed the usual star versus prospect AEW TV match structure. Star dominates, prospect grows into it, back-and-forth, star narrowly wins. The first phase of that structure felt like a comedy vehicle for the Timeless character.

The long old-timey wind-up punch spot is dumb in the context of a title match (not that these any-challenger-will-do specials actually feel like title matches, exactly). Also, by hopping on his shoulders and throwing Blue from the apron to the floor, Storm effectively performed a tag team move with Luther. This was moronic. Storm could have sprinted across the apron herself, generating more momentum. That way, she wouldn't have risked disqualification or relied on a 50-year-old man's knees as a way into an attack.

The commentary team made sure to reiterate that AEW encourages lenient officiating, but that was a piss-take. Blue was the fool in a slapstick sketch for large parts of the match - the clown who gets the pie thrown at her, ironically enough - but to be fair, the crowd did get behind her comeback, to a degree. The crowd also loved Toni Storm. The screen turned black and white on more than one occasion, which is a demand of Toni's. The kayfabe explanation doesn't make the device any less ineffective.

The visual effect happened when she hit the Hip Attack. Did the effect make it look like the finish was a formality, lending the actual near-fall a bigger shock factor? Or did it just look contrived and hokey? Ultimately, the Hip Attack looked so much more devastating before the Timeless character and the black-and-white filming of it, the dumb metal plate business.

When the gimmick actively ruins the wrestling, that about says it all.

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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!