7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (July 12 - Review)

Kota Ibushi finally lands in AEW, PAC is BACK, Nick Wayne soars, MJF & Adam Cole light up the dark.

Blood & Guts
AEW

Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite was as much a go-home show as much an edition on its own terms.

Next week's third annual Blood & Guts contest is likely to dominate all conversations and for good reason, and much of the hype going into Saskatoon for the latest Canadian pitstop was based around both sides picking their fifth men.

Elsewhere, the Owen Hart Tournament finals will take place on this Saturday's Collision, with the men's side pitting CM Punk against Ricky Starks in a tantalising encounter between the returning lightning rod and an in-house favourite looking to reverse his momentum. On that same episode, FTR will defend their Tag Team Championships against Jay White and Juice Robinson, and the winners of that will be waiting in the wings to find out who scores the big victory in the Blind Eliminator Tournament final next week.

It's all happening...but just didn't look to be doing so here ahead of showtime. Could the flagship maintain its no-skip reputation deliver under this unique set of circumstances?

Let’s light the fuse…

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett