8 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 7)
Cody and Brodie go to war on the night of Chris Jericho's 30th anniversary.
A night built largely around Chris Jericho celebrating 30 years as a professional wrestler saw Luther, of all people, step up for a Dynamite main event. It was a curious choice enhanced by a well-played history piece on the Road to Jericho 30 YouTube special that's definitely worth checking out, particularly if you understandably felt like the booking came out of nowhere.
Jericho's big party wasn't the only thing on the marquee, though. Cody met TNT Champion Mr. Brodie Lee in a rematch of their shockingly one-sided 22 August pounding, in which 'The American Nightmare' was soundly destroyed. Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine watched on from ringside as they beat the living daylights out of each other in a dog collar match reminiscent of Valentine's 1983 classic with the late 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper.
Next week's one-year anniversary episode of Dynamite features not one, but three title matches, plus MJF promising a career-altering announcement. With that show and last night's biggest events, AEW is now racing towards Full Gear 2020 on 7 November... and we still have a World Title contendership tournament to go. There won't be a dull moment between now and the pay-per-view.
A good show last night, albeit one that raised a number of big-picture concerns. Let's light the fuse...