6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (28 February - Results & Review)
1. Classic Dynamite Moment Pays Tribute To Vintage Nitro
AEW delivered a suitably iconic moment to drive pay-per-view buys.
Before this was arrived at, AEW told a show-long storyline in which the Young Bucks stalked the backstage area looking for Sting. They wanted to thank him for his services and conduct an "exit interview". Bats in hand, they were trailed throughout the night by a camera crew. The eventually located Sting's dressing room, and crept in tentatively, selling fear of the scary, dead-eyed promo he cut on them last week. Inside, they found an assortment of bats, in a really neat bit of foreshadowing, hanging from the ceiling. The hunt made it ringside by the main event segment. Nicholas Jackson removed the masks from the "Sting fans" at ringside.
In a cool tribute to a timeless bit, one of those fans was Darby, who went after the Bucks before the one man advantage caught up with him. The Bucks then retreated up the ramp in anticipation of Sting's entrance when the music hit. The wonderful aspect of that foreshadowing is that nobody clocked it until the perfect time. It seemed impossible that Sting would ever repeat the old trick, but for the last time - and you just had to mark out for this if there's any wrestling fan DNA inside of you - he repelled from the rafters. God, that was just such an awesome thing to have happened. Sting then took out the Bucks with bat shots before drilling Nicholas with the Scorpion Death Drop.
The Ric Flair element was bleak.
He had walked to the ring, teased turning heel on Darby, and executed an absolutely awful-looking beat-down before Nicholas hit him in the nuts.
He shouldn't be on television, but that Sting entrance was so magical that the vibe was rescued at the last minute.
This programme, the odd ill-advised moment aside, has absolutely ruled.
Everything is in place for Showtime on Sunday.