8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Feb 10)
KENTA's in-ring debut, Sammy Guevara quits the Inner Circle, and Sting does Sting things on TNT.
It's often said that rewiring the brains of fans conditioned to accept WWE's style of professional wrestling as the only style for the best part of 20 years is one of AEW's greatest long-term challenges, and how effective they are at doing it will determine their success (or failure). It's a good take. Screwy finishes, 50/50 booking, and the idea that the brand is the star, not the wrestlers, weren't the norm until Vince McMahon eradicated his competition and decided they were.
But there's another side to all of this. As much as AEW's mission has been about differentiating the product from WWE's, restoring the joy of simple, effective television wrestling is right there with it. An entirely different subsect of wrestling fandom has been conditioned to expect boundless ****+ matches each week. Dynamite gives you that some weeks, but not most - and neither should it. Overindulge on highs and suddenly they aren't highs anymore.
Last night's Dynamite was a great encapsulation of the above. This was great television wrestling, not necessarily great star-rating wrestling, and effective in pushing almost everything it wanted to get across.
With KENTA and Kenny Omega meeting Lance Archer and Jon Moxley in the main event, Darby Allin's TNT Title defence against Joey Janela, and a major development within the Inner Circle in the stick, let's light the fuse...