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

5. Subverting The Pattern To Great Effect

Samoa Joe Wardlow
AEW

Tony Khan has a tendency to really let his storylines burn slowly. To tremendous effect and with the most suitable character, he subverted one of his favoured patterns last night.

After thrashing Ari Daivari in an open challenge, Wardlow took the microphone and summoned Powerhouse Hobbs. He told his rival that he might want the TNT title, but it's going nowhere. He's never going to lose it. In fact, he wants to win every title in the company. This is when ROH TV champion Samoa Joe struck. Booking this angle so close to Full Gear was a great choice. It makes the presumed Wardlow/Hobbs a 50/50 prospect, since Wardlow can pursue a different title in the event that he loses. It also changes that assumption, which drops a hook for next week's show. It was also great from a character perspective.

Joe isn't the type to stew or agonise over such a dilemma. He doesn't care about the friendship because he felt patronised. The very second he wasn't perceived as a threat, he became one. Really good, atypical stuff, and a one-off, double gold, triple beefburger of a hoss fight is as cool a prospect as an informal monster division.

Any direction this takes will rule.

Advertisement
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!