7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (18 Jan - Review)
2. Top Flight vs. Young Bucks
Top Flight felt like they were being positioned similarly to Konosuke Takeshita heading into last night's match, in that AEW were building them up in defeat, booking them to have great matches against great teams they would ultimately lose to.
The people in that position have to win one of those matches to stay over. Dante and Darius Martin did that here, defeating The Young Bucks in Dynamite's biggest shock - and AEW's grandest upset in a while. That it didn't feel like it could happen so soon meant that it registered strongly as a legitimate surprise.
A great bit of business across the board, here. Not only did Darius and Dante go over well, but the action was as red-hot and cutting-edge as you'd expect. A contest to determine which set of brothers had the superior cohesion and agility played out before Dante was worked over for a long heat segment, leading to a great hot tag from Darius, who has returned from injury looking better than ever. The Doomsday Nosedive produced a great near-fall that kept the move protected when a desperate Nick dived in to break it up. Later, Top Flight proved themselves better and more cohesive on the night, with a ducked BTE Trigger leading to a rolled-through pic for the upset.
2023 is shaping up to be a big year for the Martin brothers. Besting the Bucks will not be their only big win by the time it is done.