8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (9 Feb)

2. Serena Deeb Kills

Serena Deeb
AEW

The Professor's Five Minute Rookie Challenge gimmick is already fantastic, and we're nowhere near the point at which she is taken to her limit by an emerging act in a breakthrough performance.

The Deeb character is a nasty, bitter and sanctimonious piece of work. This platform allows her to best explore her painful-looking blend of cruelty, and the first phase of the angle unfolded as it should have. By positioning Deeb as a dominant, sadistic veteran, and giving Katie Arquette nothing, it will mean something when a young act gets a hope spot, and something more significant than that when A) an impressive Dark act gets the full five and B) Hikaru Shida returns to give her the real challenge Deeb is ducking.

This only went a minute, and it was still awesome; suspend disbelief, and you could almost feel the ligament damage from that omoplata single leg crab.

When Jade's arc shifts, Deeb should hold the TBS Title for a calendar year.

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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 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!