9 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (30 Mar)

Down...

1. The Undercooked Elite

The Jericho Appreciation Society works because it creates a contrast.

This is AEW. A wrestling promotion. Revelling in their roles as sports entertainers is therefore easy heat for heels who are making outsiders of themselves. In a company predicated on being different to the industry-dominating monolith, particularly one that is never sharp of poking the bear with base-rallying barbs, revelling in Stamfordian trappings pushes buttons.

It doesn't work when you have angles as overtly sports entertainment as the Undisputed Elite's belt-stealing deal on your show. When things like this happen, the contrast doesn't exist anymore. The gimmick loses steam. That isn't to say AEW should be all wrestling, all of the time (it never has been), but cheesy, worn-out stories done to death long before this supposed alternative came to life aren't going to cut it.

Jurassic Express and Hangman Page recapturing their stolen Tag Team and World Championships held no weight, either. Cole only snatched the singles belt seven days ago, while reDRagon took Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus' straps two days later. Last night, at the first time of asking, Page and Jurassic got revenge.

There's no craft to this. Theoretically, running such a storyline should mean withholding gratification long enough for it to mean something for the babyfaces, who'd come agonisingly close to getting their hands on the bad guys several times before finally getting it done. This was the equivalent of fast-forwarding to the next stage.

Weak idea, weak execution.