Replaced in the typical Dynamite opening slot with the aforementioned promo, the match pitting Orange Cassidy and Roppongi Vice against Will Ospreay and Aussie Open was just over 10 minutes of very good wrestling in an era where that's basically the minimum expectation on any wrestling show.
With some of the excellent work simply too easy to overlook with everything going on in the promotion at present, attention instead turns to the booking of these characters and the mess that's been made ahead of Forbidden Door.
Not to go to bat for Billy No Brains, but assuming he beats Orange Cassidy, his record in AEW will be 2-2. "All Elite Wrestling had Will Ospreay for a month and they 50/50 booked him" is legacy-staining sh*t whether you love the former IWGP Champion or not. Aussie Open being booked as his token loser mates exposes the transparency of the limp storytelling - "protecting" United Empire representatives Great O-Khan and Jeff Cobb by not featuring them doesn't exactly whet the appetite for them working a pay-per-view, as doesn't a fake forged friendship between FTR and Roppongi Vice.
Too late to fix it, but shouldn't have broken it in the first place.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
