5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 12)

1. Miro Demolishes Darby Allin

This may have been the best singles match of Miro's career. It was excellent.

Many had predicted a squash, here, given Darby Allin was thrown down a staircase last week. A la Brodie Lee and Cody Rhodes, this would have been an effective and acceptable way to build a monstrous new TNT Champion. It would have probably ruled.

This ruled harder.

The most brutish performance of Miro's AEW run was met by Allin's typically excellent resilience. Darby bumped all over the place here, at one point diving at his unit of an opponent with so much force that he literally ricocheted off him. This was one of many spirited comebacks in a bout that largely saw him getting demolished by a bigger, stronger, angrier man, who finally looks like the machine many have wanted him to be for a long time.

Referee Paul Turner sold the extent of the beating by asking the injured Allin if he wanted to quit early on. The answer, of course, was no, and though Darby pulled out almost every move he has used to fell challengers throughout his TNT Title reign, Miro had an answer for everything. A back-snapping Game Over proved his match-winner after countering the Coffin Drop.

The big man vs. little man format was nailed here. Miro was ruthless in his hossy control work and suitably hot-blooded, while Allin bumped, solid, and agonised his way through another gritty performance. It was an electric match that built a hot atmosphere inside Daily's Place and Miro now looks like the most dangerous man in the promotion.