6 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (10 April - Results & Review)
3. Samoa Joe Vs Swerve Strickland Heats Up
After last week's bloody contract signing, AEW Champion Samoa Joe and Number One Contender Swerve Strickland were back at each other's throats again across bookending segments of the show. This was broadly effective - it elevated the status of the wrestlers for being so present in the narrative universe, and Joe absorbing a table bump in the opening few seconds energised the challenger's pursuit after the beating he took seven days earlier.
More of the same followed Samoa Joe's bludgeoning of Dustin Rhodes in their (rearranged) main event slot. The weakening of the 'Samoan Submission Machine' was underplayed slightly in hindsight, but the cute nature of the booking as a contrast/comparison to WrestleMania's main event had to be combated with some realism. That was established with Rhodes bleeding a gusher before the inevitable defeat, and Strickland's post-match attack held nothing back.
Subjectively, this just isn't quite what it promised to be coming out of Revolution, but AEW can still capitalise on the popularity of Strickland if they crown him at Dynasty. The story is already told and the pair have found themselves in a case of WWE-adjacent weekly premise re-establishment, but every time the Champion and Challenger fight, the violence feels authentic and interesting. "Where the best wrestle", that's more than enough.