9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (June 15)

Christian Cage, the Young Bucks and Dr. Britt Baker highlight a wild, momentous AEW Dynamite.

by Michael Sidgwick
Christian Cage
AEW

AEW needed to present a great show last night because the promotion has arrived at a low point.

A lot of things have converged to create a suboptimal public image. Dr. Britt Baker and Marina Shafir both liked a tweet suggesting that Thunder Rosa had sandbagged Shafir in a self-serving TV match last week. Thunder Rosa herself is rumoured to be frustrated with her perceived role as an afterthought. Jeff Hardy was arrested for DUI and was publicly suspended by Tony Khan in a sad, seemingly inevitable tale. That Khan booked Hardy in a stunt-heavy speed run posed troubling questions. Why did literally everybody else see, before the news broke, that putting Jeff Hardy in a ladder match after his strange, near-disastrous showing at Double Or Nothing was an ill-advised idea?

In parallel, the promotion hasn't exactly enjoyed a rich, acclaim-generating spell of late. The road to Forbidden Door's rearranged main event was convoluted, the meaninglessness of the rankings system was openly mocked by FTR, and in general, there's a sense that Khan is appeasing his massive roster more than he is telling great, focused stories.

Did Dynamite indicate a return to form...?

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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!