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

2. Swerve Strickland Vs Nick Wayne

Nick Wayne's All Elite Wrestling debut has been one of the best in recent memory and/or one of the best ever depending on exactly how impressed you are by the vignettes.

Dynamite's pace over the years has worked for many, but slowing it down to spend several minutes over two weeks with the Wayne family has worked wonders in fleshing his life and story out ahead of an historic debut. The 18-year-old was to be no pushover, and he'd fought back from some big challenges in life to prove it.

As one of the roster's best baddies, Swerve Strickland was perhaps the best possible choice of opponent. Ignoring the fact that they'd already built up terrific in-ring chemistry on the independent scene, this was all about Wayne's undeniably great high spot/counter game tackling veteran presence and a wrestling villain's will to win.

The influences were obvious here, and right now, that's charming. Wayne was channeling idol Will Ospreay a lot with the flashier stuff, and the more he requested love from the crowd, the more he actually seemed to get it. That might not work forever but it was impossible not to get taken along in the magic of it all before a JML Driver by Strickland ended the youngster's night on a low. Darby Allin had returned to ringside to play cheerleader earlier too, and while he didn't interfere, the tease of tension between Allin and Swerve threw up a captivating trios possibility should Wayne and Sting want to get involved.