6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (March 27 - Results & Review)

1. A Great Night For A Wrestler Who Needed It

That was a great and much-needed night for Swerve Strickland who, for the first time since Revolution, looked more like the World champion elect than Will Ospreay - but only just. If that race runs and runs and runs, 2024 will deliver to an awesome extent in the main event picture.

Swerve is a notorious receipt-keeper. He is driven by those who doubt him. This performance was fuelled with a stubborn, cackling brilliance. Predictable on paper, the main event was shockingly dramatic. Take was destined to lose, but, helpfully, he's a complete animal with a forearm like an unprotected Attitude Era chair shot. He can make it feel as though his opponent is in some awful plight just by throwing that thing around, which enhanced the drama and near-falls considerably. His brainbuster looked like it actually could turn Swerve's head into salsa. He is incredible.

As is Swerve: working the match from underneath and selling his shoulder so well it was as if he'd pinched a nerve, he wrestled with as much heart as creativity. Some of his stuff here was breathtaking. His unreal trademark motion, in which he glides over and sticks to the ropes at the same time, was used to set up a hurricanrana on the outside (that's a poor description of something that in fairness defies it).

The Swerve Stomp can sometimes look a little contrived; here, in an awesome variation, he kicked Take's brains in by using it to reverse a powerbomb. Swerve won with the Big Pressure. The last five minutes almost reached the all-time great Dynamite match tier, which is as lofty as it gets and ever got on TV. The drama built and the violence unleashed was off-the-charts. This actually felt like the match one should have to wrestle before becoming the #1 contender.

After surviving a freakish explosive athlete intent on giving you CTE, you've probably earned it!

It was louder and more over than Will Ospreay's match. That rarely, if ever, happens - but that will dent Will's professional pride and drive him to go ever harder next time. The race is on. Iron sharpens iron.

Let's go.