7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (February 14 - Results & Review)

by Michael Sidgwick

1. Wild Main Event Over-Delivers

Bloody Orange Cassidy
AEW

While this easily could and should have been held under some sort of Cedar Park Street Fight gimmick, to preserve the mystique of Texas Death, Orange Cassidy Vs. Matt Taven ruled.

It was also rushed. TV time constraints meant that the lack of selling during the climactic thumbtack spots were egregious. Still, while it could have done with a few more minutes, it was a cracking ultra-violent blast all the same.

Orange Cassidy executed a great tweak on Kenny Omega's spot at Full Gear '19 by leap-frogging over the barricade - with his hands in his pockets. This spot sparked a lively brawl through the crowd and led to the first big plunder action set-piece. It didn't go well. The table just sort of collapsed when Taven attempted to drive Orange through it with an elbow drop. In a superb bit of improvisation, Taven grabbed it, propped it up against the entrance ramp, and smashed Orange through it with a suplex. The match started to rock from that moment forward.

Taven killed Orange all the way down the ramp with his underrated strike game (everything about Taven is underrated) before outwitting Cassidy with his creative attack patterns. Orange regained the advantage when he dodged a Taven plancha through another table. He took a terrifying header of a bump. Taven's lunacy was as impressive as his quick thinking earlier.

In a cute and creative moment typical of the Best Friends, Orange retrieved a Valentine's Day gift box from under the ring addressed to him from Chuck Taylor. Thumbtacks, not chocolates, were contained within.

This incited the rushed finishing sequence, but it was so demented and blood-soaked that it hardly mattered. Taven took a spiked DDT on the things!

Orange won with the Beach Break on the tacks and some chairs following interference from Mike Bennett (thwarted by Trent). Until last night, the story of Orange Cassidy battling through fatigue felt like a deeply uninspired retread of his arc last year.

This was much more like it.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!