6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (February 21 - Results & Review)
4. Main Event Accomplishes Just Enough
Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage went over Hangman Page, HOOK and Rob Van Dam in the main event.
The entire section of the match wedged between the two ad breaks accomplished little after a start that was bright as it was wonky.
Joe got the heat, meaning the stretch was indistinguishable to the first break, meaning the match began to drag before the fireworks of the finish.
FTR do so well in this double heat TV trios match because they are cardio machines with the ability to remember multiple intricate sequences without making it seem as if they're recalling them. In a less effective contrast to a Collision standard, Rob Van Dam showed his age and HOOK showed his inexperience at various points. The main event while good overall was a little flabby and awkward. It sparked into life when Hangman Page stormed the ring after the second ad break.
His hurricanrana on Brian Cage and subsequent kip-up was incredible. It's the right time for him to turn heel, but you watch him in that ring and he's un-goddamn-believable at doing awesome sh*t at the perfect time to make a crowd explode. After a somewhat awkward sequence with Cage subsequently, Hangman motioned to see him off with the Buckshot before noticing that Swerve was lurking in perfect position to take the Orihara moonsault.
In a neat bit of storytelling and character development, and a premonition ahead of Revolution perhaps, Page made the decision to hurt Swerve rather than take the victory for his team. A bit choppy, but very exciting in parts, the trios main event threaded a lot of plot developments past and present together more neatly than the action flowed into itself, but this was still a good enough time. Page and Cage renewed hostilities; Page and Swerve will never stop fighting; HOOK is still intent on taking down Samoa Joe: as contrived can-they-co-exist tags go, this was very neat conceptually. The glimpse of the Revolution three-way witnessed near the finish was great and just brief enough to not give too much away.
In a nice inversion of the 2023 problem, this was more well-booked than well-worked, and that isn't remotely a concern: in AEW, the next great TV match is only ever an episode away.
Danielson Vs. Akiyama is happening on Collision this Saturday!