8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (March 20 - Results & Review)

by Michael Sidgwick

1. Main Event Is A Great Bit Of Business

I Quit Adam Copeland Christian Cage
AEW

Adam Copeland Vs. Christian Cage delivered a wildly entertaining and super-loud I Quit match that should linger long in the memory.

It was violent, but they also played a lot of it for laughs - which was a sensible idea, since both men are funny and the match needed to set itself apart in AEW's plunder canon. This was never beating Swerve Vs. Hangman at its own game.

Copeland spent a long old time kicking Cage's ass to kingdom come. They worked a quite literal hockey fight in a penalty box before Cage scarpered into the women's restroom, sending, in another inspired visual gag, a horde of women fleeing. Cage is so great at playing a heel. He has no compunction whatsoever about showing ass or presenting himself as a pathetic, inveterate coward.

In sports, there is absolutely nothing worse than your team battering a team they are expected to batter only to concede an equaliser. In pro wrestling, Cage is the absolute king of scoring against the run of play. After getting battered, for ages, he leapfrogged Copeland's attempt to spear him through a table. Copeland got posted, drawing blood.

Copeland fought his way back into it, but after several weapon-assisted Grindhouse attempts that Cage sold wonderfully with his garbled, pained cries, was thwarted by the Patriarchy. Wrapping up the wider storyline and its various subplots, it was Daniel Garcia and Daddy Magic's turn to equalise. They helped cuff Cage in the corner.

Copeland kicked Cage repeatedly in the testicles in a series of receipts before smashing him in the balls with 'Spike', his new bespoke weapon. This was quite incredible, dumb wrestling logic. Christian Cage is clearly not the biological father of Killswitch, nor Nick Wayne, but the idea that his corruptive demon seed needed to be eradicated from the earth forever was fantastic.

Copeland is your new TNT champion - Cage quit after he was threatened with taking Spike to the face - and, as creative and hot and memorable as this was, he has much work to do. The Cope Open was only ever solid.

Advertisement
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!