8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (4 October - Results & Review)
5. A Good Night For Powerhouse Hobbs
Powerhouse Hobbs joined the Don Callis Family in a shocking, welcome and really well-executed angle (mostly). Hobbs looked like a force of nature in the first phase.
He threw Omega onto chairs behind the front row. The landing looked brutal. Then, he removed a bar from a guardrail with his bare hands and stuck Omega's head through the thing. Omega looked helpless. Hobbs looked reborn.
Remember when everybody said QTV was going to fail badly but they weren't allowed to express that opinion because they've never worked in wrestling?
Back in the ring, Callis attempted to tape Omega's wrists to the top rope. As often happens in wrestling, the prop didn't play along - but Hobbs possessed excellent instincts and composure here. He barked at Callis to get it right. He didn't just complete his part in the segment as scripted. He knew there was a risk that he and Omega could look daft in there, and had the sense to improvise. This still went too long on what was a baggy night generally.
Hobbs is a tremendous addition to the Family. In theory.
Takeshita is over and has entered some outstanding performances of late, but you do wonder at times how much this promising wrestler joins stable device actually works out in AEW.
A hell of a start all the same.