6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (16 Nov)
Ups…
6. Signs Of Things Not To Come
Long gone are the days where The Young Bucks or a similarly supreme double act would kick off the first commercial-free fifteen minutes of Dynamite that put fans in high spirits for the rest of the night, but this expert effort between three veterans and a "pillar" attempted to establish all those same vibes even with an ad break.
Designed around showcasing what probably won't happen at Full Gear, Claudio Castagnoli and Sammy Guevara in particular were in scintillating form as Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson slid into the background of the action as their respective foils. Guevara's amazing flights of fancy and spring-loaded assaults were peppered in magnificently here, serving as yet another reminder of Jericho's inherent genius as a tag layout specialist in his later days.
A lack of cohesion in the Blackpool Combat Club wasn't remotely teased, and the former Cesaro's multi-tooled approach literally de-weaponised the bat-swinging ROH Champion and his JAS pal. Making it look easy on television will be what motivates something from the mastermind on Saturday, because that's how this works. Action of such a high quality on the run-up isn't so much as icing on the cake as a second slice altogether.