9 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (2 Nov)
A NJPW icon AND a controversy magnet on the same show? And Shibata and Colt Cabana were there too?!
What to make of this week's AEW Dynamite?
A card that didn't look exactly the most attractive on paper turned out to be...not exactly the most attractive in practice, and yet very little was actively terrible and so much was so utterly insane that it was difficult not to be charmed by the entire lot.
How much of that emotion was really an accident? All Elite Wrestling has used its on-screen product to quietly recover from the loud and relentless backstage drama that blighted its summer months, with much of the output following All Out 2022 actually rather...good. Full Gear is two Dynamites away and has most major title bouts reasonably well built, all while this episode served as a reminder to never assume everything is exactly as it seems as long as Tony Khan's at the wheel.
To this end, a chaotic night in Baltimore was as brilliant as it was berserk. An all-timer Dynamite, or one of the most confusing shows in company history? Let's light the fuse...