9 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Mar 25)
Ups...
9. Jimmy Can Wrestle
AEW hs put effort into presenting Jimmy Havoc as more than a deathmatch guy recently, framing his Dark bouts as opportunities for the Englishman to flex his traditional grappling skills. It has been moderately successful. Sometimes it works and Havoc comes across well, others it doesn't, with the neverending Luther feud a flat circle of meh.
Either way, Havoc's Dynamite bout with Cody was a solid opening tilt that began with counter-wrestling and eventually spilled out of the ring, but never became a hardcore brawl. Havoc got heated, true, but he and Cody worked a relatively traditional bout with good pacing, solid action, and fun spots like 'The American Nightmare's' Muta-esque dashing Lariat from the outside.
The finish saw Cody getting a little too spicy, using two Cross Rhodes to put Jimmy away where one may have sufficed. Regardless, a perfectly acceptable TV bout and a decent win for Cody, who remains in the top five.