6 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jul 29)

3. Warhorse Steps Up

Warhorse did a good job of stepping up from the grimy independents to national television last night. This could have gone either way, as his is a heavily-gimmicked act that benefits immensely from a rabid indie crowd, though the man behind the metal is more than good enough to pull through between the ropes as well. At its core, the gimmick is pure '80 and therefore right up Cody's street and while it often overshadows his actual wrestling (which is a shame), Warhorse and 'The American Nightmare' delivered a good TNT Championship match.

This continued the theme of Cody showing increased frustration in his inability to finish opponents quickly, leading to Arn Anderson calming him down. Warhorse worked well with counters, targeting Cody's arm, though the champ worked into a control period during the commercial. The urgency was amplified on the return as Warhose upped the pace. He hit a double-stomp to Cody's back from the apron and scored a near-fall off a top rope elbow drop, though he was eventually submitted via Figure Four.

Cody's earlier leg work paid off in a smartly-worked match that will hopefully do for Warhorse what Eddie Kingston's standout showing did for him last week.