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

8. Dax Harwood Furthers His Wrestler Of The Year Case

Dax Harwood Vs. Will Ospreay was an incredible professional wrestling match. Their stylistic philosophies informed the story, every near-fall was as close as they get, the execution was world class, and the tone conjured was just phenomenal: it felt so believable and compelling because they each felt beyond desperate to pick up the win.

In a match brimming with a sense of strategy that drove the feeling of immersion, Ospreay attempted to manoeuvre Harwood into his domain. He forced Harwood by the apron and to the top turnbuckle so that he could then control the match with his specific expertise. This followed a brutal series of German suplexes, one of which Ospreay took with perfect timing to create the illusion of profound danger. Ospreay had to regroup mid-match; this felt like the opposite of an exchange of moves, like a closely-contested sporting fixture, and it was "end-to-end stuff" by the scintillating finale.

It threatened to get ugly too, as the best sporting contests do; that exchange of headbutts on the mat was positively glowing with incredible "I'm not losing to you, you c*nt" energy.

There's nothing better than wrestling when it's as class as this.