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

1. What?

25 4 Jack Perry
AEW

Where to start with one of the most unhinged and unexpected angles in AEW history?

If you somehow missed it: The Elite entered the building at the very beginning of the broadcast, and in a show-long storyline, attempted to negotiate the return of Jack Perry with Tony Khan. An in-ring meeting was set for the main event segment. In it, after Perry and Khan reconciled with a hug, Perry struck Khan in the chest. Khan's bump was too funny and the very idea was too crazed for it to feel like a proper transgression. After feigning to help Tony up, the Young Bucks - as Kazuchika Okada did a very funny point - blasted him with, and this was a very cute easter egg in retrospect, the Tony Khan Driver.

Ultimately, this was too silly. Khan was bad here, only remembering to clutch at his stomach after an amateurish pause. The execution of an idea that will take some explanation to work was so-bad-it's-good.

CM Punk was terminated with cause for - as it appeared during the screening of the Wembley footage a few weeks back - motioning aggressively in Khan's direction. Will Perry and the Bucks get fired for actually striking Khan and actively attempting to damage his neck?

This is the problem: the angle collided drastically with real-life precedent, and AEW is a promotion that seeks to exist in the real world. Say, in the follow-up, that it is written in Matthew and Nicholas Jackson's contracts that they must succeed Khan on a temporary basis in the event that he is unable to fulfil his duties. Khan is on record confirming that Bryan Danielson would succeed him.

This feels for now like yet another mistake in a long series of them. Between the introduction of too many titles, a fourth and fifth hour of TV that has lessened AEW's premium appeal, and an expanded PPV schedule, Khan has made the same errors that every 21st century promoter has made en route to the downfall. Now, the big story in AEW is a heel authority figure gimmick.

Ultimately, this just reeked of a Fake Wrestling Angle, no matter how fascinating it undeniably was.

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Contributor
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!