The show opened in the exact way it absolutely had to following the wonderful news broken by the man himself on Wednesday afternoon - Jim Ross was cancer free and buzzing to be returning to work.
Given his own entrance to the booth and an evocative ovation from the Daily's Place crowd, Ross was permitted to bask in the glory in a way that still feels strange to see after decades of grief he endured from a heat-seeking Vince McMahon.
It was impossible not to compare the ethos of both companies in the moment, and the contrast was stark. Any given Dynamite can be imperfect, but shows of love and support like this are reasons why audiences have placed their trust in AEW to get things right in the end.
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
