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

2. Drenched (In) Diesel

It was impossible to tell what to expect from Shaquille O'Neal's first AEW appearance heading into Dynamite, though some kind of confrontation with the Rhodes family was guaranteed. Here, we got the Diesel sitting down with Tony Schiavone and Brandi Rhodes, with the segment doing little to build anticipation for whatever comes next.

Shaq said he didn't appreciate what Jade Cargill had done to Cody and Brandi. Neither did Brandi, who defended her promo on Jade by saying she'd came into her house and attacked her people, but she was willing to squash the beef, put everything aside, and end it before anyone else got hurt. Hands were shaken and Brandi rose to take her leave, until Shaq told the Chief Brand Officer to take pointers from Jade while her arm's in a sling. Cue: Tony's glass of water ending up in Shaq's face.

This fell flat. Shaq's microphone lacked clarity, Brandi was remarkably forgiving towards a woman who broke her arm as part of the storyline, and, uh, if you're gonna bring a guy in as 'The Real Giant', why would you have him sit down for the segment?

That last point is a nitpick. Regardless, a short backstage angle in which Cargill, Nyla Rose, and Vickie Guerrero attempted to break Red Velvet's arm hit harder later on.