6 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (8 May - Results & Review)

2. Serena Deeb Packs A Punch, But...

Toni Storm Serena Deeb
AEW

A note perfect encapsulation of the simultaneous good and bad of AEW in 2024, Serena Deeb and Toni Storm’s verbal and physical altercation on the Dynamite stage was undone by perplexing character alignments.

Storm was at her most babyface in the ‘Timeless’ persona when she saved Mariah May a fortnight ago, and it was that moment Deeb chose to first lay her hands on the Women’s Championship belt and lay out her goal to take it permanently. As a follow-up, she ruthlessly dismantled May, yet again pledging to make a sympathetic Storm her next victim.

The subsequent flip this week was jarring. Deeb - to a largely uncaring crowd - chose this week to explain the frightening health reasons that kept her off television for so long, and the struggles that fuelled her desire to be champion. A fine speech, but not for week three of the story the two have been telling. Storm’s interruption first scanned as crowd-pleasing before she heeled on Deeb in her verbiage. This got her a smash in the face from the Challenger that she…deserved?

The match at the pay-per-view will rule and the knockout was at least in service of the next segment, but this was the latest case of heel and face divides blurring to the point of annoyance rather than intrigue.

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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