8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (10 May - Review)

Downs...

1. House Rules Don't Rule

For the uninitiated, there was a UK-based promotion that operated in the mid-2010s named Five Star Wrestling.

Ambitious and driven (stupid and deluded), they decided to hire major indoor arenas, seating up to and beyond 10,000 punters, booking Carlito, Mr. Kennedy, and others who had faded from relevance. Hundreds of people, if that, turned up, and the arenas were lit in such a way that you could only see the first row. That is what the new House of Black special lighting effect was reminiscent of, which wasn't ideal, and even if you aren't au fait with that expensive blunder of a promotion, or even WCW in 2000, the "spooky" lighting effect that sought to put over the new direction for the AEW World Trios titles still wasn't good. It only worked half of the time.

When the fans barked along with Brody King, bathed in darkness, the scene actually looked and felt somewhat ominous, but when the babyfaces tried to get their hope spots going, the fans were distracted by the hokey presentation. The aesthetic choice only accentuated the House of Black; the action and the babyface comeback was quite literally overshadowed.

Also, King actually dented a barricade with his senton, but you couldn't make out the damage as a result of the lighting, which feels like a failed experiment already. If a production choice gets in the way of organic wrestling magic, it's a bad production choice.

There was probably a more than serviceable trios match lurking within the shadows, but at various points it was quite difficult to get into. It was more distracting than unsettling.