5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (January 31 - Results & Review)

3. A Bad Night For Wardlow

Wardlow Komander
AEW

It seems very harsh to give this a Down, since Wardlow clearly jammed his knee when delivering the poor, anticlimactic powerbomb, but it wasn't a strong idea to begin with. Thankfully, as he revealed on Twitter, his knee feels fine.

Komander gave Orange Cassidy a fright on Collision, but was meat for the grinder here. Wardlow's spots looked quite sensational - he threw Komander around like pizza dough with his F10 - but you can never go back. That sort of thing looked all the more impressive when it was new, when you didn't know there was a ceiling on Wardlow as a main event hopeful working back-and-forth matches that never once orbited great. How effective can a good establishing match be when the character has already been established?

What should be refreshing - a break from the relentless lengthy competitive matches elsewhere - just isn't, whether that's a result of the stigma Wardlow developed in 2022 or the one-dimensional ring work. Wardlow doing the vertical leap on the apron to convey that he can neutralise an aerial attack was a great little touch, though. Still, this Wardlow: headliner reboot is not working.

His work isn't on that level, trust issues exist between the promoter and the audience, and the Undisputed Kingdom's origin story is too redolent of AEW at its worst.

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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!