8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming (15 Dec)

1. Burning Out The Crowd

Bryan Danielson
AEW

Putting Page vs. Danielson on first was an interesting move likely done to prevent predictability with the finish. Had the duo hit the ring as Dynamite ticked into its second hour, with nothing else left on the card, fans would have seen the colossal runtime (and perhaps the time-limit draw) coming, hurting investment.

Winter Is Coming's structure is therefore understandable. That being said, it unquestionably harmed the 10-15 minutes that followed the World Title match, leaving two of the night's other matches impacted by an exhausted audience.

Though Garland warmed back up during Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb, everything between Danielson/Page's conclusion and the women's match's second act felt flat and lifeless. That sucks. It sucks, too, that there wasn't an ideal solution here. Put the World Title match elsewhere and the aforementioned predictability problem creeps in.

But this was still something that hurt Winter Is Coming, which is why it must be brought up.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.