8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Dec 9)

3. Butchered

The Butcher
AEW

The Butcher putting Penta El Zero M through a table to remove him from the Family's six-man tag with the Lucha Brothers and Lance Archer was a nice rub for a wrestler who has grown immensely in 2020. Penta, injured earlier this week, was carted away by officials, leaving Archer and Rey Fenix in a three-on-two.

Butcher enjoyed equal focus early on, as the Family ground Fenix down. An ugly, dirty control sequence played out (in the right ways) before Archer's monstrous hot tag. While Fenix wrestled rings around Eddie Kingston and The Butcher later on, using superior speed and agility, bouncing his head off the floor on a dive signalled his end, with The Butcher and The Blade putting him away soon after.

Archer cleared the ring to close, having not been involved in the finish. He came off extremely well here. AEW's fluid alignment scale allows him to star in spots like this without formally turning babyface and while we should all hope Penta's injury isn't serious, Archer's presence means the depleted Death Triangle won't be outnumbered if the terrifying skeleton ninja is to sit out for a while.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. 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.