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

3. A Puzzling Development In The Women's Division

The women's match, singular of course, was strange.

Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker and Kris Statlander defeated Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir and Emi Sakura in one of those matches that seemed to evaporate from the memory as it was still in progress. There was nothing distinctive about it whatsoever beyond one curious story beat (and a fun Statlander hot tag, in fairness).

Baker and Shida weren't on the same wavelength. Baker tagged in Statlander where Shida tagged in Baker, this perfectly sound strategy in a trios match was somehow enough to create tension between the two, and Baker struck Shida with an accidental thrust kick.

If a gang of baddies rampage through the company like the Outcasts did for as long as they have, doesn't it make more sense to have the faces beat them in a gimmicked stable war before the split?

What does Sunday's self-implosion of the Outcasts story do for the babyfaces who got outsmarted and beaten down for about nine months, and who are now scrapping amongst themselves? Why is this company increasingly piss-poor at paying things off?

It's no wonder that Baker has never been less over. Fans don't buy into her as someone they can get behind anymore.

Also, continuing the dire All Out build, Ruby Soho laid out Statlander with a sneak attack in the most bog standard bit of booking you'll ever see.

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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!