7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 22 - Results & Review)

by Michael Sidgwick

1. Swerve Strickland's Best Night Since Full Gear '23

22 5 Swerve Strickland
AEW

Swerve Strickland, after getting his ass kicked relentlessly over the past few weeks, enjoyed his best night yet as AEW World champion.

He entered nothing short of a babyface tour de force of a performance, one so relentlessly great that it was reminiscent of Jon Moxley in 2020, even Steve Austin in 1998. Before making his entrance, the Young Bucks stumbled upon him. He asked the "turds" what was up before, with pure contempt, asking them to hit his music. That interaction didn't happen by accident. Then, in a very refreshing and well overdue break from the usual 50/50 back-and-forth predictable TV match formula, Swerve - who was vulnerable to the occasional creative counter - quite handily and viciously defeated Nick Wayne. This didn't strain for epic; instead, Swerve kicked his head in with a series of spectacular and well-linked moves, including a backdrop suplex on the apron that led to a Swerve Stomp launched from the apron.

After Swerve won with the House Call, the Patriarchy swarmed the ring, threatening yet another beat-down angle. Instead, Swerve got the better of Killshot. This panicked Christian Cage, who retreated up the ramp. Killshot rose from the dead, but in a superb bit of blocking, Swerve, the effortlessly precise gunslinger in the western, took him out with a no-look Last Call before confronting Christian. This next bit was tremendous - peak, detail-oriented AEW.

Cage, much like had when running away from Adam Copeland in the not too recent past, carjacked some poor guy and tried to drive away from the arena. He was cut off by a returning Prince Nana, dragged out of his car, and then almost brained with a Con-chair-to.

Following this total blast of an angle, you'll have to wait (and pay) to see the heel receive his comeuppance.

Mostly excellent go-home material all night long.

Advertisement
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!