8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (24 May - Review)

1. The Worst Main Event-Level Feud In AEW History

Jungle Boy
AEW

The Four Pillars storyline, some very entertaining segments in isolation aside, has ultimately failed on a fairly devastating scale.

Jack Perry continued to promote the match with a pre-taped, mercifully brief interview, and the people in that crowd did not like it or him at all. When he appeared in front of the live crowd later, a lot of people joined the Baltimora wave. This could be a loud vocal minority situation - I couldn't make out everybody's facial expression, obviously - but in the building, it felt more serious than that.

Sammy Guevara in a backstage interview with Renee Paquette reiterated that he wasn't going to lie down and wanted to win the fair way. This wide-eyed dreamer stuff - in addition to being a one-dimensional role that never works and feels years behind Sammy's progression - continues to baffle. The babyface:heel ratio ahead of Sunday is a wonky 3:1, and realistically, nobody was clamouring for a face turn. His interview was also rejected, noisily, by the fans watching it on the screen. This wasn't ideal, not remotely.

This is the main event of Double Or Nothing, and AEW fans are vocally telling the promotion, for the first time, that they really aren't into it the biggest storyline on the show. They are reacting to this like the WWE fans of old reacted when certain matches and developments were forced down their throats.

This hasn't worked, at all, and in fact has achieved the opposite of the intended effect.

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!