8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Sep 23)

3. King Reigns Supreme

Eddie Kingston lost his AEW World Title match to Jon Moxley, but may have won the night, having ended it kneeling over a downed title-holder flanked by the motionless bodies of Will Hobbs and Darby Allin.

The match ruled. This was an ugly encounter that left a mark on both men, with Eddie's left shoulder bruising up midway through and Mox's chest inflamed from Kingston's stiff chops. Nothing was held back here. Kingston turned it into his kind of nasty brawl early on and both guys did a great job of hitting hard and selling, resulting in one of the grittier AEW World Title fights to death.

Kingston's face literally turned purple as Moxley locked him in the match-ending bulldog choke. Perfect.

The post-match angle served several purposes, as the Lucha Brothers ran out to beat Moxley down, Hobbs made the save, and Darby Allin was smashed by Ricky Starks, continuing their feud and setting up next week's singles match. A necessary display of power for Kingston's growing mob.

That AEW was able to put Moxley vs. Kingston together on such short notice - and have it make so much sense - highlights how effective their booking process is. Even when disaster struck and Lance Archer had to pull out, the company had something else in their back pocket. Though enforced by a real-life situation, the switch-up worked within the context of current storylines rather tha creating a logic leap, all thanks to the groundwork.

A shame Hobbs didn't get his big breakout match, though.