5 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (November 22 - Results & Review)
1. Tournament Tone Setting
AEW could and should be held to the promise Bryan Danielson made about the quality of the Continental Classic, but even with patience extended to the hyperbole, the tournament ultimately got what the slapdash launch of it deserved.
A cold crowd for all the matches made potentially intriguing combinations feel instantly stale, but fans were given less than 7 hours to get hyped due to when the announcements of the leagues were made. Decent wrestling alone can stabilise a product (and AEW needs that), but it cannot wholly reheat and revitalise it. A sense of anticipation was badly lacking, and the company didn’t quite nail the match choices in order to manufacture one.
In 2023, WWE comparisons have constantly been made to illustrate an unfavourable change in direction for the show, but a series of solid-to-good matches runs the product closer to a Raw or SmackDown than any skit or comedy character. And on those shows, the personas have usually had substantially more television time to set their agenda and the audiences right now are way more invested that Wednesday’s Chicagoans.
Not a bad start. But a long way from a best-of-all-time one. And the closest it got was…