8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (24 Aug)
4. Rasslin'
The purest wrestling match on Dynamite was Dax Harwood vs. Jay Lethal, which ended up being a lot of fun.
As tight and clinical as you'd expect from these two, without sacrificing competitive spirit, a match that started with a battle for grappling parity unravelled with stinging chops to reddening chests. It was a chess battle between two razor-sharp workers that, to its benefit, never became a bombfest, though Dax's German suplexes rattled Lethal's skull and a slingshot Liger Bomb almost sealed the deal.
Lethal's attempts at softening Dax's legs up for the Figure Four played out through Dragon Screws, primarily. Harwood was still able to keep his wits about him, however, countering many of Lethal's biggest moves, including a spectacular Sharpshooter out of another Dragon Screw attempt.
Sonjay Dutt hit the apron to provide a distraction. This wasn't decisive, but Jay grabbed handfuls of tights on one of his many pin attempts to score the fall shortly afterwards.