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

7. Yet Another Great AEW Trios Match

Orange Cassidy
AEW

Best Friends Vs. House of Black was a very good and even more impressive match.

While they went nuts for MJF, the Long Islanders lived down to their reputation as a flat crowd. It took them a while to get into every match. It wasn't unlike a WWE crowd in that respect. They only really got into the finishes. They erupted when they thought the Trios titles had changed hands, which, given this was a TV title defence with minimal build and House of Black only won the titles last month, was some feat.

The dense barrage of strikes aimed at Brody King weakened him ahead of a gnarly piledriver that fans bought, entirely, as the finish. Orange Cassidy built two awesome prospective International Title defences against Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black here. His work opposite both men in lightning quick exchanges was fantastic. The build towards the Black confrontation was particularly effective. He got smashed into the ring apron for daring to put his hands in his pockets during a dive. In response to this f*ck around and find out humiliation, when he came face to face with Malakai deeper in the match, he "tried", and showed the tremendous defiant babyface fire he reserves for maximum effect.

The fans got behind him because he's over and because the House are exceptional at convincing the fans that the babyface is doomed with their predatory body language.

Overall, a really well put-together Trios match that surged with a relentless dramatic momentum.

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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!