5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (20 April)

Downs...

4. Hook's Dynamite Debut Underwhelms

Though well-received by the crowd, which is ultimately what matters most, Hook's Dynamite debut was the most underwhelming of his AEW squashes thus far.

Anthony Henry is a fantastic pro wrestler who should be doing his thing on national television every single week. Here, he was bowled over in around 80 seconds, falling victim to the usual array of ankle picks, throws, crossface clubbing blows, and finally, Redrum. Short but not as snappy or dazzling as some of Hook's other maulings, this didn't hit the usual highs.

Danahausen challenged the Team Taz prospect afterwards, saying that if Hook wouldn't be cursed by Danhausen, he'd have to fight Danhausen. The very nice, very evil newcomer remains supremely over. AEW is also doing the right thing by Hook with this program, which exists on the midcard and keeps him from being overexposed, though the setup here felt awkward and, worse, like it didn't need to exist on this specific show.

If given more room to breathe on a less-crammed episode, this deal would have likely fared better.