5 Ups & 8 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jan 8)

2. The Rhodes & Lucha Brothers Light It Up

Cody Rey Fenix
AEW

The best match of the night saw the Lucha Brothers face off against Cody and Dustin Rhodes and while the outcome leaves Fenix and Pentagon feeling a tad directionless, it's hard to complain too much about what was effectively a ***1/4-***1/2 clash.

Penta and Fenix ran their usual formula. All fast action, danger, and fluid exchanges, they worked Dustin over for the hot tag, with the elder Rhodes an exceptional face-in-peril. This southern-style layout built to a nice, explosive hot tag from Cody, who had the building buzzing as he laid into Fenix with a ten-punch. Easy, timeless stuff, and it worked.

There were a couple of mistimed moments, with Pentagon sitting around waiting after what looked like an attempted synchronised Fenix/Dustin tag in one. Still, while these dulled the bout's shine, they didn't derail it outright. It was a fine TV match that Dustin won for his team after hitting the Final Reckoning on Fenix, putting him in a good position ahead of next week's six-man tag.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.