8 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 20)

3. Good Promos, But...

Jake Roberts
AEW

There was some good stuff in the Jake Roberts/Arn Anderson face-to-face confrontation. Both wrestlers spoke well, as you'd expect from two all-time great talkers. AEW should utilise Arn's verbal talents more often. This wasn't exactly "they send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of theirs to the morgue" calibre, but still a strong babyface promo, particularly when he wasp putting Roberts over.

Two problems, though:-

1. They teased violence they cannot deliver on. Arn said it was great that Jake practised DDP Yoga as he wanted Roberts to be nice and limber for a Spinebuster, but Jake can't take a bump. That's daft.

2. More effort was put into getting the managers over rather than the wrestlers. This was particularly true on Roberts' side, though it's hard to say that Lance Archer or Cody are stronger for their respective advisors trading verbal barbs.

This makes the segment a missed opportunity, though it wasn't without merit.

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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.