5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (18 May)

4. Up Middle finger

Maki Itoh Britt Baker
AEW

AEW played a strong hand with last night's Jokers in that they picked two wrestlers who could get away with losing to established names. Bringing a Cesaro or Athena in to eat an immediate loss would've been suboptimal. Johnny Elite, however, can get mauled by Samoa Joe, while TJPW's Maki Itoh can take pinfalls all day and still be one of the biggest personalities in the building, so strong is her character.

Itoh vs. Baker was barrels of fun. Though Houston didn't sound into Itoh's idol-inspired ring entrance, she was quickly pulling chants from them. The International Princess Champion is extremely useful in shorter television bouts like this one because the gimmick is so connectable. From selling that her skull is made of iron to pulling the middle finger on Baker after swerving out of what looked like a gifted pinfall early on, Maki Itoh did Maki Itoh things here, and the crowd lapped it up.

Britt survived the Kokeshi to eventually put Itoh away via Lockjaw. It was the right outcome, though hopefully we'll see more of Maki in the future. Over as hell, even if her gimmick isn't for everyone, she has spent the past 12 months closing the gap between her ring and character work.

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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.