8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Fyter Fest Night 2 (Jul 8)

Ups...

8. A Very High-Quality Opener

Perfectly timed, paced and judged for a television opener, the brief jolt of electricity that was Kenny Omega & Hangman Page Vs. Private Party worked as a means of ungluing the audience at home and, quietly, as a story.

At 11:32, it didn't reach for an epic, nor did it ask too much of the challengers (though, as challengers to the World Tag Team Titles, perhaps it ought to have). That concern aside, the duration made perfect use of a dynamic understandably thrown together when AEW lost out on/WWE's negligence ruined the original main event.

The narrative centred on Private Party drawing on their exuberance, athleticism and aerial skill to completely overwhelm the Champions, layering a fun spot-fest with a psychology informed by Fyter Fest Night One, at which Page and Omega were taken to near their limit. Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy capitalised on their physical and emotional fatigue, stemming from the tense post-match of the main event, with a blitzkrieg series of spots before the resolve and quality of the Champions snatched the win. Fans of Being The Elite were also serviced by the feisty exchanges worked between Page and Private Party, but not to an extent that would have mystified the casuals.

This worked well above Private Party's recent fun but even output because it was their tightest performance in a long while and it didn't rely on the same high spots; Kassidy executed a particularly stunning feat of balance with his jaw-dropping springboard cannonball to the outside.