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

Ups...

7. Women's Match Is Flawed, But Very Over

Up until the finish and post-match, at least, Toni Storm and Mariah May Vs. Saraya and Harley Cameron was a strong bit of business. Despite very generous chants of "This is awesome", it was only a decent-to-good match. Perhaps the extent to which it over-delivered explains the response.

This was deeply basic stuff done really quite well. The babyfaces got the shine. The nefarious heels cheated to reverse the momentum, and maintained the heat throughout the commercial break. Saraya, who is too often ridiculed, should receive a degree of credit for elevating the basic structure. Just before the break, she ate a stiff strike from Mariah. She immediately fell to the canvas in a panic and summoned the ref. This was an effective ruse. She's a better worker than her reputation suggests. The match was also elevated by the sheer popularity of the Storm/May pairing.

Even when they didn't showcase the most fluent synchronisation on double teams, the fans didn't care. They just love the act. Cameron - who is one of the very few acts in wrestling who can believable perform as if slightly unbalanced - did her part to dial up the volume by going nuts on the apron. She was also game to take an overkill sequence during the closing stretch, but immediately before the finish itself, Toni and Mariah each planted forced kisses on Saraya and May respectively. This (worked) non-consensual stuff is ugly and it's frightening that so few people raise it as an issue.

After Storm and May won, Serena Deeb attacked them all from behind with a steel chair.

A sneak attack when Deeb was outnumbered three to one about sums up the utterly broken face/heel dynamic.