How AEW Taught WWE A Lesson Last Night
After failing to put Wardlow away with the Cross Rhodes, Cody, not f*cking around - this wasn't the time to milk the audience, he had a vital and difficult match to win - ascended to the top of the cage. He flipped off it immediately with a moonsault, the velocity generated from which seemed to flatten Wardlow as much as the impact. He risked his career to both win the match and get his hands on MJF. This was expert episodic TV storytelling capped off with an iconic moment to sell a pay-per-view. It wasn't just the Steel Cage match from which WWE should heed a lesson. Wardlow lost his debut match.
And it didn't matter.
He was presented as a raw prospect with freakish power; "untested," to borrow Arn Anderson's description. He lost nothing in defeat. He got himself over as a star for the future because that's what he is; he wasn't presented as TV-ready. Once more, the age and complexion of AEW's roster allowed for its clean wins-only policy as a protective, forward-thinking measure.
Moreover, this worked to such successful effect because it was a different genre of pro wrestling match on a night of diverse excellence. The crowd was not exhausted by the main event, as so many crowds often are. The opening Battle Royal was a fun blend of comedy, action, and stakes. Jon Moxley Vs. Jeff Cobb was a G1 Climax-adjacent bomb exchange. The World Tag Team Championship was exhilarating, state-of-the-art fare. This was a slightly modernised version of a timeless standard that should never have aged.
On last night's Dynamite, Cody got himself over as the most authentic, spirited, badass babyface in the game, a bloodied mess who risked everything to seek his vengeance on the man who has wronged him. He took the hardest way out of the match, not the easiest, and looked like the exact opposite of a coward.
Imagine if he tried to escape.