6 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Beach Break (Feb 3)
KENTA throws open the AEW/NJPW forbidden door, Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford get married.
AEW Dynamite is not on a vintage run at the moment.
Individual week-to-week quality swings aside, the show's feuds, angles, and matches aren't popping like they usually would. The booking feels like it is regressing, with several of AEW's major players tied up in uninspiring programmes that don't play to their strengths, and it increasingly feels like the balance is being tipped more towards chasing numbers than providing the kind of content that inspires pro wrestling devotion.
You have to chase both, of course. Historically, wedding angles are draws. Shaquille O'Neal is more famous than any wrestler not named Dwayne Johnson. These things exist to try and capitalise on that, but they'd be a lot more palatable if the rest of the show was hitting home runs.
The road to Revolution 2020 was electric. So far, the road to Revolution 2021 feels like it leads to Stamford, not Jacksonville.
KENTA's big debut stole the headlines at Beach Break, as his IWGP United States Title feud with Jon Moxley made it to AEW television. Mox teamed with Rey Fenix and PAC to battle Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers in the main event, while Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker settled their feud, Lance Archer and Eddie Kingston warred again, and new Tag Team Title contenders were crowned.
Let's light the fuse...