8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (1 May - Results & Review)

1. Adam Copeland Vs Buddy Matthews

Adam Copeland’s TNT Championship reign - and indeed the Cope Open concept - has been great.In yet another case of AEW correcting mistakes from years gone by and actually getting to the weird and wonderful match combinations you want to see before wrestlers retire, leave the company or get injured, seeing the former Edge mix it up with so many new and diverse colleagues has been a subtle joy lingering beneath the bigger headline-making moments in the shows.This win over Buddy Matthews may stand as the rule-proving exception, but not just because the match missed its peak and realistically just didn’t need the 20 minutes it had allotted. More because of a post-match sequence that - par for the course with The House Of Black - was overthought and hackneyed.

After getting the win, Copeland appeared to set Matthews up for a Conchairto having apparently been corrupted by the mist to the eyes he recently experienced. The lights going off brought Malakai Black out, who implored Copeland to smash Matthews as planned. As did Matthews himself! Copeland hesitated, rose the chair, then lost then both with another lights on/off teleportation bit. Why was Cope conflicted when the evil mist had potentially made his mind up for him? Why did Black intervene only to…not intervene? Why does Matthews want CTE?

These are not cliffhanger questions. The opposite, if anything, because we all know where it’s headed; spooky bollocks for three weeks then Cope/Black at Double Or Nothing probably. This is the typical Malakai Black complaint and it’s back once again with its ill behaviour - everybody can see the vision, no matter how much he plays with the lights.