5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (April 24 - Results & Review)

3. Bad First Night For The New AEW World Champion

The presentation of Swerve Strickland was baffling and counterproductive. His first night as the supposed new Ace was indistinguishable to that of a babyface TNT champion.

As you'll read later, AEW's booking is inspired at its detail-oriented best. Tony Khan can add a very thoughtful layer to a character arc, like Will Ospreay's later in the show. He's also prone to scoring the daftest own goals and failing to adhere to the basics. It's infuriating: like watching a flair player with no end product. Swerve didn't open the show with a statement of intent nor enjoy a celebration.

Instead, he simply entered Daily's Place and wrestled a 50/50 match in which he, like virtually every pushed star on TV, gave his opponent too much. Even if the match were excellent, it would have scanned as a midcard presentation. It wasn't. For a lot of the run-time, it was a late 2010s super-indie movez match.

Swerve really did look like he'd damaged his ankle when driving Kyle Fletcher to the ring apron with the Swerve stomp. It looked like a spot gone awry until Fletcher rushed into an ankle lock. Beyond this one moment of impressive craft, this was a dull start to Swerve's reign - and Swerve really didn't need to allow Fletcher to kick out of the Stomp at this stage.

The fighting champion who wins hard-fought matches, already a bit one-dimensional, won't work when there's a hundred titles and most Dynamite matches strive for great.