5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (8 Feb - Review)

1. Pulling Up Threes

Never has an Elite match delivered such a forceful b*llocking to fans about wanting what you have rather than having what you want.

Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks’ Trios Championship match with AR Fox and Top Flight was maybe the best Elite TV clash of their most recent run, which says something considering that six of them fed into an iconic best-of-seven series and another got something surprisingly fun out of Matt Hardy and The Firm.

It was something even more incredible.

Breathless near falls towards served as a reminder that this was a match still taking place on earth rather than the moon, such had been the consistency and connectivity of the gravity-defying and jaw-dropping offence from both sides. The result wasn’t really in doubt when the referee’s hand rapidly slapped two, but the ride was so fast and exhilarating that everybody gasped along with them all the same.

If any of that sounds like faint praise for such exceptional action, perhaps that’s the subjective “problem” at the heart of what The Elite are currently doing. Kenny Omega showed the world the top star version of himself on January 4th, and The Young Bucks had a tag match with Top Flight several weeks ago that approached the quality of this encounter without need for belts or two extra wrestlers.

Unusually for the group, it feels right now like there’s nothing of narrative substance really happening for them beyond kick ass match after kick ass match. “But isn’t that enough, you spoiled entitled pr*ck? Are we not all just Homer Simpson eating the donuts in hell now, anyway?” Probably. But there’s surely a happier medium than a genre that's already threatening to feel mid without something meaningful.