7 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Nov 11)

2. On And On And On

Brian Cage Matt Sydal
AEW

A typically good Taz promo preceded Brian Cage vs. Matt Sydal, with the manager-slash-announcer telling Darby Allin to keep his "narrow ass" up in the bleachers, and Ricky Starks was solid afterwards as well. Now that he is ranked, 'Absolute' swore on Anita's life that Team Taz's presence would be felt later on. This materialised in the Cody segment.

Good stuff there, and the match, in a bubble, was strong. Within the current context, it was too much.

Cage worked a fast, fluid, back-and-forth battle with Matt Sydal here. Both looked good and their counters were on-point, but if the goal was to build 'The Machine' up, it wasn't achieved. Sydal gave big Brian too much trouble on the road to victory (including several near-falls) to leave Cage looking like a beast, though plucking Matt out of the sky for the bout-ending Drill Claw was a great touch.

Again, a good wrestling match - but the story wasn't right. A Cage power-squash would have been more effective.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.