7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (January 17 - Results & Review)

Downs...

2. An Understandably Rusty Match

Dante Martin Marq Quen
AEW

Top Flight Vs. Private Party was, rather fittingly, very spotty in every way. It wasn't electrifying. It was, if anything, strong evidence of how great the Young Bucks are.

Even if you don't like the style necessarily, you cannot possibly argue in good faith that they aren't the best to have ever practised it. Matt and Nick - sorry, Matthew and Nicholas - have worked matches with both teams that were better than this by orders of magnitude. At points, this match briefly flirted with its own potential. Darius Martin was on fine form with his eye-catching creativity; his stereo DDT and reverse DDT spot are fantastic in particular. The overall experience however was undermined by a nagging sense of awkwardness. The complexity of the layout was rarely met with hermetic execution. This was understandable.

It was Marq Quen's first match after a torn pectoral tendon had ruled him out of action since December 2022. He didn't look as sharp as he will in a few months (that's if he receives consistent opportunities to shake off the rust, never a guarantee in AEW). A show-down with the Hardys looks likely. Keep that to Rampage.

Complaining about not being on Dynamite should not be a ticket to Dynamite.

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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!