6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (16 Nov)

by Michael Hamflett

1. Are The Clouds Parting?

Sting Darby Allin
AEW

And we end where we began, not strictly with CM Punk, but more with a pay-per-view build so polished and tidy that last night's Dynamite could dedicate short last-minute builds to everything without feeling as though anything was particularly neglected.

Full Gear has to deliver as an event to prove this to be true, but AEW can claim to have weathered its worst storm yet if it does. Across two economical hours, just-enough-but-never-too-much time was given to feuds featuring Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus/Christian Cage, Jade Cargill and Nyla Rose and Sting/Darby Allin and Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal. That's everything currently booked for an 11-match supershow attended to, and a bonus Jun Akiyama dream tag match on Rampage that will feed people into the Road To countdown special too.

The pay-per-view cycle Vince McMahon declared dead at the start of the 2010s is one WWE still books around, but AEW has disproved the former and mastered the latter. Regardless of subjective views on what worked on the night, this was as go-home as a go-home show gets, leaving nobody in any doubt of the biggest destination for the company right now. If this episode didn't guide you cautiously into the waiting arms of Full Gear, nothing will.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett