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

4. Opener Is Fine, Nothing More

Not quite the vintage opening Dynamite "banger", Hangman Page Vs. Penta El Zero Miedo half-resembled a typical WWE television match in that not a great deal happened, and not a great deal of noise was made, until the finish.

What's worse, Hangman Page drew jeers when he tried to wake up the Savannah crowd in picture and picture. As Tony Schiavone pointed out, Penta has always had his fans, but still: it's potentially another symptom of the five year itch AEW is simply unable to make go away. With so little really happening in a match that, move for move, probably would have sparked wild scenes five years ago, it was hard not to feel a bit glum at the backdrop. The attendance woes and the perception battle are not going away any time soon, no matter how much AEW tells you it is going to restore the feeling. Tepid atmosphere, a visibly bad crowd: the match was very well-wrestled but only developed into something really exciting by the finish, when a fun chess match on the apron followed a great near-fall from a Buckshot lariat into a Made In Japan reversal and led to Page then winning with the Buckshot.

His Orihara moonsault just before the finish looked emphatic even buy his standards, but execution aside, the vibe was just...off in the building, an unshakeable sense that it's all deeply familiar and cannot get hot again for love nor money.

You'd expect better from two noted madmen.

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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!