9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (23 August - Review)
Tony Khan scores dramatic last-minute winner to FINALLY get the All In hype train in motion...
AEW has not optimised the build for All In. Not remotely.
The Biggest Show in Wrestling History has arrived at The Worst Possible Time. Not for AEW necessarily - the incredible achievement that is a near-record attendance has enabled Tony Khan to deflect criticism with staggering objective data - but for the AEW fanbase.
Shouldn't All In feel like a celebration?
A lot of things have converged to ruin the atmosphere. The booking, outside of the entertaining, intricate and endearing mystery that is the Adam Cole Vs. MJF programme, has descended into parody.
Why are the wrestlers wrestling?
Why does Jon Moxley hate the Best Friends and Death Triangle? Why are the Best Friends and Death Triangle happy to team with one another when they have feuded in one form or another since Revolution 2020? If there's so much heated Bullet Club history in the controversial Kenny Omega trios match, why did Jay White target Ricky Starks, not Omega, upon his arrival in AEW?
Why are Omega and Chris Jericho each feuding with a manager, with their actual opponents mostly irrelevant? Why can't it feel like two wrestlers hate and want to hurt one another?
Isn't that what wrestling is?
Will this creeping resentment spiral when the show is done?
Fewer and fewer people seem to have time for Tony Khan and his "Everything is great for us" word salad, which isn't remotely ideal. Mid-South Tony, Big Bicep Tone: the man used to be beloved by his base for his seminal product and defiance against the WWE machine, but increasingly, he feels defensive, and some fans resent him for mismanaging Brawl Out and refusing to simply book big singles matches between his biggest stars.
Did last night's Dynamite generate the hype on a better-late-than-never basis...?