9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming (Dec 2)

Downs...

2. The Inner Circle's Ultimatum

The Inner circle
AEW

Frankie Kazarian and Chris Jericho worked a slick, professional bout early in the night. Going one-on-one for the first time in their careers, Jericho and Kaz meshed well, with the babyface forced to contend with Jake Hager and Ortiz at ringside. Constantly battling the odds caught up with him in the end: he was pinned after a Judas Effect.

What happened with The Inner Circle is the real story, though.

MJF came out near the end, a white towel in his hand. Ready to throw it in as he did for Cody Rhodes against Jericho last year, MJF had it yanked away by Sammy Guevara, who was brandishing the surrender rag when 'Le Champion' came to. Afterwards, Jericho broke up an Inner Circle shoving match by getting in the middle, yelling that he'd had enough of their sh*t, and issuing his ultimatum. Next week, the stable will either work together as a team or break up forever.

While the execution of everything described above was on point, it feels far too early to be teasing a full-on Inner Circle breakup. The Las Vegas trip was just a fortnight ago, while last week presented them as a dangerous, swarming unit for the first time in a while. Even if they don't split, the Ultimatum would resonate better with at least another month or two of build, playing on existing tensions, creating new ones, and working towards a more satisfying conclusion.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.