1. Orange Cassidy v. Matt Jackson v. Penta El Zero v. Austin Gunn
AEW
Wrestling will occasionally ask fans to simply accept something as real even if it's impossible to escape the phoney energy.
Case in point; Orange Cassidy and Hook apparently now have momentum heading into WrestleDream because 'Freshly Squeezed' claimed a victory over other wrestlers also in Sunday's tag four-way. But do they? Do they not have momentum because they won while on the same side on Rampage? Does Hook not have more momentum with RVD because they won a straight up tag team match on Collision?
Of course not, but wrestling does this sometimes and AEW should avoid this whenever possible. Good work never ascended to great and the heat never boiled because the stakes were inauthentic and none of the (well-worked) action was permitted to resonate.
And if criticising a match-to-build-a-match (even if it's good) seems unfair, perhaps AEW as an organisation need to take the blame for hotshotting a much better one on the same card and sending it out there first to steal its thunder...
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
