6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (21 June - Review)

Downs...

3. One Of The Most Fake Moments In AEW All Year

Orange Cassidy
AEW

The tag team precursor itself was fantastic, more on which later, but the Forbidden Door International title match was set up in such an obnoxiously fake way.

Deep into the finishing sequence, Katsuyori Shibata accidentally ate an Orange Cassidy Orange Punch and was pinned by Zack Sabre, Jr. On the back of this result, ZSJ, ZSJ's tag partner Daniel Garcia, and Shibata (!) were all awarded a shot at the International title. The optics of a losing wrestler receiving a title shot within seconds are...not remotely good for the wins and losses promotion.

Even if this can be excused - Shibata caught friendly fire and wasn't bested, as such - how did Khan arrive at the idea to put him in a four-way match within seconds of the tag match ending? Complete with a match graphic flashing up before they'd even shot the angle in which all three men intimated that they want/are deserving of the belt?

Contrived in the extreme.

Tony Khan should have waited until Excalibur's run-down to confirm the match.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!