Though it’d be unfair to label Samoa Joe’s TV Title defence as actively terrible, it also didn’t do much to assuage the feeling that the entire episode had slid off the rails in the final half an hour.
The headline contest didn’t go longer than it needed to, but that’s the sort of praise that scans as a burial, and the lack of even one truly memorable moment will consign this to the lower end of Dynamite main events forever. Joe is an icon and a legend, but he’s not Wardlow in 2022. Which, incidentally is why WarJoe is such a cool tag team more than it is a vehicle to splinter the two into blah singles matches like this.
Speaking of the TNT Champion, the post-match beatdown that motivated his appearance was so predictable that fans couldn’t really pop for it. Hobbs got more reaction for beating him down, and this was at least encouraging that homegrown AEW standouts haven’t totally drowned in the ROH sludge.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
