Though Double Or Nothing didn't afford anywhere near the time for Kris Statlander's heel turn on Willow Nightingale to resonate, Dynamite was an extremely welcome opposite.
Alongside Stokely Hathaway (but in a promo very much not carried by him), Statlander's villain origin story came to the fore, and as it had been teased effectively on television too, none of it felt like forced mining of old dates for continuity.
The pair referred to the Dynamite four-way won by Willow to get her the TBS Championship match in the first place, suggesting that she was a bad friend to Stat for not stepping aside. Statlander specifically spewed her resentment for being taken advantage of by too many people in the past, saying that she was "done being the protector".
All of this followed Statlander's part in the attack on Orange Cassidy, severing what remained of her link with that side of the divide. Focus on a character in more than one segment is the low bar set for North American television, but still an important one to clear nonetheless.
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
