6 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Beach Break (Feb 3)

2. Same Segment, Different Week

Darby Allin Sting
AEW

The song remains the same with Sting, whose repetitive pattern is becoming a serious problem on Dynamite.

The Icon makes his entrance alongside Darby Allin, shoots hostility at Team Taz, and leaves. That's it. We got a slither of variety with last week's promos, but the early RETRIBUTION/Riott Squad "hoodlum" energy didn't hit. Here, it was back to the same old, same old, and while this segment delivered news of Allin's TNT Title match with Joey Janela and Taz and Ricky Starks did a good job with their promos, it increasingly feels like Sting makes these appearances for the sake of being on the show.

Worse still is that Allin is starting to feel marginalised here. Uniting with Sting is a huge theoretical rub, given their many parallels, but he resembles a side character at the moment, not his own man. Bi-weekly banger TNT Title matches would have more of a positive impact on his trajectory than these do-nothing segments with the WCW legend are.

When will that rub materialise, if at all? The format has been in need of reconfiguration for weeks nows.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.