9 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (2 Nov)

Ups…

9. If You Can't Go Last, Go First

A Dynamite card that felt short of a main event turned out to be just that, but Darby Allin and Jay Lethal's tightly-worked opener subsequently earned the sweetest spot on the show. They worked up to the energy of a small-if-lively Baltimore crowd too.

Lethal's limb work was tremendous, as was a repeat of the garage door figure four spot under a guardrail. That all of that was foreshadowing something much bigger all along made it extra sweet in hindsight, especially with speculation mounting about who the heels had in their corner.

Ultimately, the contest will be remembered more for what happened afterwards - more on that later - but the match should at least survive in the memory thanks to Satnam Singh's sensational no-sell of Allin's dive. An awesome big man spot that teased out the potential greatness of this new Sting party match combination, Singh looked more of a danger absorbing such a killer move than he ever has delivering one.

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Contributor
Contributor

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