9 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (17 Nov)

3. Knee Stuff

Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida was the night's strongest match from bell to bell. Held back from true greatness only by some inconsistent knee selling on Shida's part, this was a good piece of storytelling revolving around the Japanese's star's Achilles heel.

Serena Deeb picked Shida's knee apart a few weeks ago. Sold on Full Gear's Buy In pre-show, further damage was dealt when Vickie Guerrero went after it with a kendo stick. Last night, Nyla attacked it at every opportunity, taking a different approach to Deeb. While Serena stretched and pulled at the joint with a variety of holds, Rose was more brutish. Befitting her style of wrestling, Nyla stomped at the knee, stood on it, and threw it against the turnbuckles, leading, ultimately, to her catching Shida's attempted Katana with a standing stretch muffler, putting Shida away.

Hikaru's leg gave out when she was trying to fight back later in the match. She attacked with urgency early on, knowing she had to strike hard and fast before the knee became a serious problem. This plan failed - and Deeb's brief interjection towards the end had a role to play.

Both wrestlers came out of this looking good. Nyla advances in the tournament, while Shida, nursing an increasingly damaged knee, has Deeb on her calendar.