Good in-ring action was something of a minimum expectation as the Best Friends lined up against Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and in-ring debutant Kyle O'Reilly, but the weaving of the latest Elite in-fighting was always going to be the stuff to look for after tensions were so immediately established between The Young Bucks and ReDRagon.
O'Reilly played both saviour and slayer of Cole in some elegant agenting during the chaos of a match that gave recent returnee Trent? Baretta yet more shine, but a win aided by the Bucks found Adam Cole back in the bosom of Nick and Matt Jackson as AEW closed out 2021.
Such obvious battle lines being drawn feels a little premature - the group of villains are winning, can't they just all be mates regardless of prior canon? - but the sense of reward that will come from whatever matches emerge out of this latest civil war will almost certainly carry the odd bit of hokey acting and dishonour among thieves.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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
