8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (January 3 - Results & Review)

3. Mariah May Vs Queen Aminata

Mariah May Vs Queen Aminata was everything the performers and promotion could have hoped for. A good match that established exactly what Mariah May can and will offer, agented in such a way to allow the touted Queen Aminata to maximise her valuable Dynamite minutes, the company earned the reactions the wrestlers generated through earnest character development for May as the latest addition to the Toni Storm cinematic universe.

Aminata's kicks and strikes looked stiff enough to rattle May before she hit her May Day sit-out slam for the win, and May followed her idol's lead and celebrated in spite of the locale. Earlier in the night, Storm had revealed that she wasn't there to watch. The AEW World Champion had already decided to attend a seance with the late Steven Sondheim in Manhattan rather than stick around in New Jersey, and May had little nice to say about the place as a way to trigger Deonna Purrazzo making her surprise AEW debut.

'The Virtuosa' was hugely over in her home state, and was targeting May in order to make a statement to the absent Champion. May herself noted that she was no messenger to trigger the brawl, which was yet another wrinkle in her unique relationship with the 'Timeless' star.

Given a hot spot on the show with multiple characters teasing multiple directions, this was rich reward for a company that has previously done so little to earn one.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett