8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (6 September - Review)

Ups...

8. Solid But Functional

Roderick Strong Vs. Trent Beretta was ultimately passable. It barely warrants an Up, really, but they grafted and there was nothing wrong with it. Also, Trent can be forgiven here for not going all out. He took a pasting at All In.

Low bar, but that's the review format.

Elements of what was a spotty match were impressive. Strong killing Trent with a backbreaker to the apron was one of the more convincing ways to slow down the action during a commercial break you'll see on Dynamite this year. The best sequence down the stretch saw Strong reverse a top-rope hurricanrana into a Strong End attempt before he was flattened by a brutal half-and-half suplex. Even then, it was barely sold before they rushed into the finish.

Strong won, suddenly, with the End of Heartache. His feigned poor neck health was a stitch in the post-match, mind. It was paced more methodically than you'd expect from these two, and the crowd didn't give a toss, which further sapped the energy from it.

A match between a killer and a man with no regard for his own body was much too plodding for its own good, but it wasn't actively bad in any way.