It was hard to articulate why the first meeting of Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada since Forbidden Door wasn't quite as buzz-worthy as it should have been going into Dynamite, but it was much easier in the aftermath to work out how Claudio Castagnoli and Orange Cassidy stole the headlines in the aftermath.
A very very good tag team match got great when the International Champion and his next Challenger were mixing it up. Castagnoli countering the Orange Punch with Sharpshooters and Giant Swings was a tantalising teaser into what they'll get to do together, even if the 'Swiss Superman' will ultimately end up as a set-up guy for Jon Moxley. It was exhilarating.
The same couldn't quite be said for Danielson and Okada hooking back up, but an explosive conclusion resulted in Bryan selling his face like his jaw had been knocked clean off, creating convincing stakes for their Wrestle Kingdom rematch and a brutal Rainmaker finale.
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
