5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (30 August - Review)

AEW made it hard to go All In on All Out last night, but Toni Storm and Orange Cassidy were Elite.

by Michael Sidgwick
The Acclaimed Billy Gun
AEW

AEW has generated serious momentum having just broken the all-time paid attendance record at All In. Of course, being AEW, the promotion also unleashed yet another maelstrom of controversy, but that's par for the course.

At this point, it would be stranger to wake up and not read reports of CM Punk dangling Matt Hardy's legs over a balcony while screaming "Alls I'm saying is if you go to Dave Meltzer again I'll drop you here and now!"

In the past, AEW has not done enough on Dynamite to capitalise.

After Full Gear 2021, the next Dynamite was headlined by Sammy Guevara retaining the title over Jay Lethal, with a babyface celebration taking viewers off the air - hardly a seismic cliffhanger. Something similar happened after All Out '21, a legendary, dreamlike PPV that should have acted as a game-changer: Jon Moxley defeated Minoru Suzuki on Dynamite in a very rushed match before simply celebrating in front of his hometown fans. A lovely moment for the pandemic World champion, yes, but hardly an incentive to watch the next episode of a company that could not have been hotter the prior weekend. After the First Dance, the next Dynamite was headlined by of all matches Malakai Black Vs. Brock Anderson.

What?

AEW needed a "We're here to stay" mission statement after such an unreal return to form on Sunday - particularly since All Out badly needed the juice.

Did Tony Khan deliver?

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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!