6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (14 Sept)

4. Man Swats Fly

Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara worked as a multi-level pile of contrasts.

1. The company's ultimate folk hero vs. a detestable, sh*t-eating heel.

2. A roughneck bruiser with an old-school mentality and technical acumen vs. a flashy spot machine.

3. The best promo in American wrestling vs. uh, this guy.

The bout played to this. Guevara tried to play head games by bailing out at the opening bell, then made the mistake of thinking he could stand and bang with Mox. While each other Moxley's blows demonstrably staggered Guevara, Sammy's strikes were mere whispers of violence. At one point, rather than selling, Mox took a page from the Nate Diaz playbook and feigned taking a nap, mocking his opponents' efforts.

Guevara found fortune when exploiting his clear agility advantage rather than playing Moxley's games. His reversal of a King Kong Lariat into a Spanish Fly worked, but trying to turn the match into an ugly, dirty brawl on the outside did not. Such is his character's arrogance. He thinks he can beat people at their game, then goes back to his playbook when this inevitably fails.

Moxley advanced via Death Rider, thwarting an interference from Tay Melo and Anna Jay. Here, the run-ins worked as a means of generating drama and rallying the crowd behind Moxley even more than they already well.