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

1. The Devil Angle Continues To Be Not Great

Mercifully, MJF and Samoa Joe Vs. The Devil's Masked Men didn't happen. If it didn't begin and end with the MJF and Joe ripping at their masks, it would have been stupid. But do you know what else is stupid?

The idea of the match happening to begin with.

Did the Masked Men stay anonymous when they signed a contract for the match?

If so, and they could be anybody under there, how did the medical team clear them? Hell, they could be underage for all AEW knows. Wouldn't Tony Khan want to know who they are and potentially punish them? They have "run roughshod" over AEW, after all. They've compromised AEW's security system from the inside. They've shelved the Acclaimed for a month, effectively icing the Trios division. These renegades should be brought to justice, and yet they were rewarded with a match?

Do dumb BS, invite snarky questions.

Anyway, the Masked Men surrounded Joe before MJF could make his entrance. They put on a light show, for some reason, before the lights went out altogether. When the lights came back on, so did the big screen, on which it was revealed that MJF had been struck by a glass bottle. This angle was designed to encourage the audience to ask two questions - was Jack Perry responsible for this attack with "real glass", or was it suspicious that MJF wasn't actually seen to be assaulted? - but it was just another TNA-style cheap production nightmare with crappy TV wrestling logic. The patience isn't even wearing thin.

There's just an apathy to the entire main event scene at this point - a big shame, following up MJF's excellent verbal performance last week and a great backstage segment last night...

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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!