5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (June 22)

3. GREAT Moment, Terrible Booking

Kazuchika Okada Hangman Page
All Elite Wrestling

Coin drop = 'uge pahp.

This was never in doubt, and AEW can be grateful for the star power of Kazuchika Okada that one blindingly obvious moment of television wrestling gold played out as everybody would have hoped.

Grateful, because otherwise it was extremely unearned.

Okada saving Hangman Page from a Jay White/Adam Cole beatdown two weeks after being called out by the former AEW Champion (in a foolish and false manifestation of the singles match people genuinely wanted) brought the fans to their feet, but the announcement of a four way at Forbidden Door brought about yet more disappointment.

Only last week, White said he wouldn't be facing either Cole or Page at the show. Facing them both all of a sudden, with or without 'The Rainmaker' in the mix, is the most pathetic brand of WWE-style "haha fooled you" heel shlock. The contest feels flabbier than it ever needed to be with all four of them in there, and if Page can just be inserted in this, why was he left out of the AEW Interim Champion battle royal weeks ago?

Make it make sense, or don't make it.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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