It was clearly obvious that Roderick Strong and Samoa Joe would win their respective matches to earn a potential shot at MJF's AEW World Title at Dynamite Grand Slam later this month, but obvious and predictable isn't always a bad thing.
Also, Strong vs. Darby Allin, and Joe vs. Penta El Zero Miedo were two cracking TV matches.
Yes, there was a mild grumble about Roddy not putting Darby away a little sooner, but the overall match was great, with Allin taking some utterly disgusting bumps, as per. In particular, Strong using the top turnbuckle to assist in a backbreaker resulted in his opponent taking a sick fall to the outside.
As for Joe vs. Penta, this was another fun contest, with one highlight seeing the Samoan Submission Machine do his famed 'walk away' spot as Penta dived through a table on the outside. Still, even in defeat, the former AEW Tag Team Champion was made to look strong, before ultimately falling victim to the Coquina Clutch.
Now, we have Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe on Wednesday's Dynamite, with the winner advancing to face MJF at Arthur Ashe Stadium one week later. Of course, both men have had their own issues with the Salt of the Earth lately, and it may even be that we see a triple-threat match - of four-way with Adam Cole? - by the time Grand Slam gets here.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.
