8 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Oct 7)
5. Duelling Microphones
With Lance Archer seemingly still on the shelf following his brush with COVID-19, having him and Jon Moxley cut duelling, distanced promos ahead of next week's World Title match was a smart move - and they both delivered.
Archer furthered the case that he doesn't need Jake 'The Snake' Roberts as a mouthpiece anymore, harking back to the clash at Wrestle Kingdom 14, promising that this time was gonna be different. Then came Moxley. "You don't beat Lance Archer, you survive him," said the World Champion, who put his challenger over by saying that while laying down isn't in his plans and 'The Murderhawk Monster' was going to have to unstrap the belt from his dead body, his number could be up next week. Everybody's trigger gets pulled someday: perhaps the anniversary special would be Moxley's time.
This World Title reign has seen Moxley evolve into one of the game's most compelling talkers, if he wasn't already, while Archer has benefitted greatly from his increased microphone time. Both have made the most of an unfortunate situation in the build.