9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (5 Oct)

1. Heat On The Booker, Not The Talent

Le Sex Gods
AEW

The main event was excellent - more on that shortly - but allowing Sammy Guevara to take the fall was a bad choice that detracted from what was a vital and reassuring episode of Dynamite.

The details behind the alleged "brawl" are not conclusive. TMZ reported that "Sammy allegedly pushed Andrade" and that "punches were thrown". Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter however tweeted that "many in AEW have disputed the TMZ version and noted that if it was true, it's very hard to believe Sammy would have worked the main event while Andrade was sent home".

Regardless, every fan in the building and online had made their mind up about Sammy. Was this fair? Potentially not. Dave Meltzer strongly suggested on Observer Radio that Guevara was attacked and offered no resistance.

He might well be completely innocent. At the very least, both men, provided they aren't working - and what a terrible work it would be - have acted as a distraction from the fiction that AEW badly needs to get over all over again. Booking a finish almost designed to instigate yet another tedious and damning conversation was a terrible choice. Putting Guevara over was a bad move, irrespective of what happened on Wednesday, because of what happened earlier in the week.

How did this even happen?

Everybody with a brain expected to wake up to the headline 'Sammy Guevara and Andrade el Idolo in Backstage Brawl!' - so how were they even allowed in proximity to one another?!

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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!