9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (23 August - Review)

1. Another Heatless, Just There Women's Match

Skye Blue Ruby Soho
AEW

The view never changes.

On last night's episode of Dynamite, in the penultimate match, two women wrestled in front of a mostly disinterested crowd. The action stood no real chance as a result, but it only ranged between solid to good. It only went seven minutes, and even if they were permitted to go crazy in lung-bursting sprint, to equalise the customary, paltry bell time, the match - being a women's match on an episode of Dynamite - was butchered by a commercial break.

Between the booking of yet another vaguely related Outcasts offshoot fixture, the commercial break, and years' worth of conditioning, this stood no chance whatsoever of being memorable and functioned only to A) get the token women's match on the show because they evidently feel like they have to, not that it helps the optics one iota and B) set up, in the most numbingly basic way imaginable, a challenger for TBS Champion Kris Statlander at All Out.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!