8 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 13)

3. Old-School Tag Action

Matt Hardy
AEW

It was a joy to receive such a solid old-school tag match between four experienced workers after two rough opening bouts. Matt Hardy is an all-time great tag wrestler (albeit one in his Indian summer), Satana and Ortiz are amongst the world's finest tandems, and Kenny Omega has proved himself just as comfortable in this realm as the singles one. This was always going to be a slick, professional affair and it did not disappoint.

Sometimes all you need to take is lock into a classic layout and ride out it, which is exactly what these guys did. It opened with a two-on-one beatdown of Omega before the babyfaces worked their shine into the heat segment. Proud and Powerful ground Kenny down to generate sympathy ahead of Hardy's hot tag and although a struggling Sammy Guevara hobbled out, Matt kicked the piss out of him, neutralising the Inner Circle man before scoring the fall on Ortiz.

Built from last week's awesome Street Fight main event (in which Ortiz and Santana coster Omega and Hardy the victory), this was a good course-setting match that helped Dynamite recover from its wonky opening stages by kickstarting an upswing in quality.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.