8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (5 April - Review)

Downs...

3. A Very Flawed Segment

Bryan Danielson
AEW

After the Blackpool Combat Club dispatched three hopeless ham-and-eggers, Bryan Danielson took the microphone and explained why his unit loathes the Elite: he considers them amateurs. Interestingly, he seemed to play a surrogate of CM Punk, which brings into question Punk's future all over again. The All Out United Center upgrade raised hopes. Did this plot development dash them?

The beat-down of Hangman Page looked great, and Danielson articulated Wheeler YUTA's new direction to piss funny effect. "Even if he's a little sh*thead, I love him". The babyface push didn't really take, and this new heel character suits YUTA perfectly. The thing is though - and this was almost maddening - why was Page left to get battered out there?

The obvious (and illogical) answer: to allow the story beat to unfold. But it made little sense; security or the referee corp should have intervened, and if the Omega reunion can't happen yet, because the story isn't ready, the Dark Order were conspicuous by their absence.

They support Page no matter what, even if he himself isn't interested at times, so why didn't they support him here?

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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!