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

1. That's It?

CM Punk
AEW

After the opener, the finish of which saw Jay White and Juice Robinson (complete with yet another amazing facial expression) interfere on behalf of the Gunns, Ricky Starks, followed by FTR, followed by CM Punk, all hit the ring. Punk laid down a challenge for Collision: an eight-man tag main event. Since five people in it already worked a multi-man tag on last week's debut show, this feels inessential already - a diminished return which is not a great prospect for a show that arguably didn't do enough to hook people in the first time.

The first glimpse of the inherent political issues surfaced onscreen for the first time, too.The Hardys getting bounced out of there with zero ceremony whatsoever was no great shame - they'll remain forever over and they've had their time one million times over - but it was very noticeable that Punk didn't want to be remotely associated with them. That's actually quite funny, sorry, but is less than ideal for those who want to park the offscreen drama and intrigue when watching their TV show.

Punk's line - "I'm not even supposed to be here" - felt a bit less rebellious than his Collision return promo, and again suggested that he's more interested in playing up to his backstage renegade stigma than getting on with the business of telling stories with those willing to work alongside him.

He acted fired up to take on Bullet Club Gold in his short promo, but at present, his feud with another Bullet Club offshoot is too difficult to ignore.

Advertisement
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!