8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (29 March - Review)
Ups...
8. A Hot Opener (!)
The opener was too hot and loud to be the mere sum of its parts: a generic and at times static-feeling match between Jungle Boy Jack Perry and Matt Hardy.
It wasn't blow-away great or anything remotely close to that. It was moderately good. Hardy attempting to grind down Perry with sharp blows to the back, only for Perry to fire up with the Comebacker lariat, was a good spot. Ultimately, it was a Matt Hardy match in 2023. The logical things are going to happen in the correct order and it isn't going to be dynamic. The key here is that the Firm storyline is over.
Hardy, Ethan Page et al have put in the work and lovingly crafted something that has connected with the fans beyond the niche vlogsphere. They want to see Hardy Vs. Page and roared at the tease of it finally happening. Page drew a lot of what passes for heat in 2023. Perry generated a strong reaction too, which bodes well. He wasn't eaten alive by "Delete!" nostalgia.
Hardy gets pelters on this author page, but he didn't have to hit that Side Effect on the outside. He did that because he knows there's a standard of committed in-ring work to uphold on AEW television, and he levelled up to it (at least in terms of how hard he went at his age).
The Firm's comeback story is a nice DIY project that has rewarded their work and the crowd's investment in it, but the match served a dual purpose. The opening segment was resourceful, in that Perry picked up yet another win to further legitimise him ahead of the Four Pillars Four-Way.
On the subject of which...