7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash (21 Dec - Review)
Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter, Ricky Starks, and The Elite vs. Death Triangle highlight Dynamite.
AEW's run of end-of-year Dynamite specials continued with last night's Holiday Bash, building further momentum for a brand picking up important steam to close a 12-month period rife with challenges and controversies.
Dynamite's construction has felt tighter and less frenetic lately, without sacrificing too much of that all-important anything-can-happen energy. While there was one notable exception last night (more on that later...), whatever Tony Khan is doing to adapt his approach is working, with clever use of short video packages, quickfire recaps, and more purposeful backstage promos and angles breaking up the blood and thunder.
Not that Dynamite is lacking in blood and thunder. This week alone brought fantastic, hard-hitting matches between The Elite and Death Triangle, whose series continued, and Jamie Hayter and Hikaru Shida. Elsewhere, HOOK wood-chippered his latest opponent, FTR finally got a piece of The Gunns, and Jon Moxley tested high-flyer Darius Martin.
While Holiday Bash suffered from a cooler middle period, audibly bringing the wonderful San Antonio, Texas crowd down, this was another show brimming with enough electricity to evoke memories of Dynamite's Jan-Feb 2020 and Aug-Nov 2021 peaks. AEW, and its flagship show, are in good form as the year comes to an end.
Let's light the fuse...