9 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (6 Oct)

2. Serena The Spoiler

Serena Deeb
AEW

Serena Deeb played an excellent spoiler in what was set up to be Hikaru Shida's 50th win in AEW, defeating the former Women's World Champion via a concentrated attack on the Japanese star's neck.

AEW informed the moment's cruelty by having Aubrey Edwards show a plaque dedicated to Shida's landmark before the bout. The stage was set for a big, emotional moment for one of the hardest working people in the company, and it was snatched away from her by a cold, calculating veteran with no regard for such pageantry, who worked Shida's neck and knee throughout, leading the payoff with the Serenity Lock.

Deeb rejecting Edwards raising her hand and smashing Shida in the face afterwards was pure playground bully stuff. It was perfect. The cleanest and most technical worker in the division pushed and pressurised Shida throughout, absorbing various fightbacks on the road to the biggest win of her own AEW run, hopefully setting The Professor of Professional Wrestling up for something big.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. 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.