7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Fyter Fest (13 July)

Downs...

2. Cheap Heat Turns Cold

Cheap heat done well has been Christian Cage's modus operandi since turning heel on Jungle Boy and coercing Luchasaurus to his side. Those first few weeks were fantastic, with Cage tearing the absent Jungle Boy to pieces on the microphone, spitting brutal, straight-to-the-bone comments on his late father, Luke Perry.

Last night suggested that the gimmick might be running out of steam. Perhaps it was the lack of crowd noise to play with, but Cage's shots at Brian Pillman (who he called mediocre, adding that he'd be appalled to know that his final contribution to the business was his son, Brian Jr.) didn't land. Rather than feeling cutting, Cage's attack on The Varsity Blonds almost came off as mundane, which is the problem with this kind of verbiage. When you start as low as you can go, it's hard to escalate.

Nonetheless, Luchasaurus' squash of Griff Garrison was satisfying enough, as was the call-back to The Dark Order mistaking Garrison for Jungle Boy, inciting the late Mr. Brodie Lee's fury. A supplemental Up for the table failing to break when Luchasaurus first tried to Chokeslam Garrison through it and Brian Pillman Jr., too. This always makes the move look nastier.