8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (26 Jan)

3. Sammy Climbs, Cody Falls

The Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara blowoff match was buckets of fun with a surprising outcome, but perhaps the right one. What's the point of this chaotic Cody character if not to put a babyface or two over along the way? This may have ended up happening sooner than many would have predicted, though it's tough to argue that Guevara came off extremely well in beating the actual TNT Champion here, settling the "interim" situation in the process.

An appropriate opener, given Cody and Sammy contested the first Dynamite match ever back in October 2019, this ladder match was fortunately free of the overlong table-setting moments that often blight such stipulations. The spots were spaced out well, too. Guevara leaping from one ladder to cutter Cody off another resonated so strongly not only because it was visually spectacular, but also for the time between that and the brutal superplex spot. This, coupled with more grounded moments like Cody wrapping Sammy up in a ladder-assisted Figure Four, elevated the match beyond typical ladder fare.

Sammy brought his usual thrills with a series of explosive moments towards the end, eventually winning by clocking Cody with the belt hanger and seizing both of them. Each man took some nutty bumps, too. It's very, very difficult to come up with ladder spots that don't feel overdone in 2022, given the regularity with which we see this stipulation, but they pulled it off.