8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (29 March - Review)

1. A Lovely Main Event (And Promising New Direction)

Adam Cole Vs. Daniel Garcia was a very good main event, but a far more special scene.

Cole looked beyond moved at the heartwarming reaction to his entrance. He felt like a returning hero. The match took the expected turn and quickly when Garcia nailed him with a gruesome-looking piledriver. Because it was the story they had to tell - why wouldn't Garcia go for the kill? - it didn't quite scan as a shocking, unsportsmanlike transgression. Still, the wrestling here was of a very high standard when Cole grew into the match; the initial Panama Sunrise reversal sequence was liquid technical wrestling. Garcia had Cole scouted, putting across the idea that he had prepared diligently for one of the best matches of his career.

Cole of course picked up the clean, crowd-pleasing win, and in a touching scene was embraced by his partner Britt Baker in the post-match. They kissed in time with the "Boom!" in his theme. That was cute. Everything else was just lovely.

Then, in a very inspired bit of booking, Chris Jericho entered the scene to take Garcia to the back. Here, AEW made canon the prevailing social media take: Jericho latches onto wrestlers when they are at their hottest to remain relevant. That he ruined Cole's triumphant return as he celebrated under streamers was a fantastic, knowing choice.

That felt like a transgression - but AEW knew exactly what they were doing.

Since Revolution, that take can be applied across the board.