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

2. Arn AndARSON

Arn Anderson burns it down
AEW

The Armed Anderson meme had the juice sucked out of it last night when Arn showed up on Cody Rhodes' lawn, woke him from his slumber, set fire to a suit, and spoke of burning The American Nightmare's excesses away.

On-the-nose symbolism and a contrived setup (why would a production crew be stationed outside Cody's house at this time of night? Why wouldn't Arn just, like, do this backstage?) left this feeling like a bad Raw segment. The core premise is fine, with Anderson trying to restore Rhodes' killer instinct, but the execution was as excessive as Arn claims Cody has become.

Pulling this back to a more grounded, wrestling-centric setting is essential next week. This step towards the cinematic felt like more of a comedown than a step forward.

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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.