I fell out of the habit of watching Dynamite in full every week when the lockdown took hold. AEW’s a product that benefited greatly from having a hot crowd around to help gloss over a lot of the growing pains of the new promotions. But now that we’re firmly a year into the company’s history and its less savory aspects have gotten more clear, it’s become easier for gems like this to slip past my attention when they’re announced every week.
Having The Dark Order involved along with making this twelve man tag was enough to get me to not prioritize it in my viewing at all. But a recommendation got me to go back for it and I didn’t regret it at all. At its best, this match represented all the things I really did enjoy from this first year of AEW television.
As to be expected from the number of participants and who’s involved, the action moves at a crazy pace that never ever lets up. That alone could get you to good but what these guys do with the space given to them and the 6-on-6 stipulation makes this a noteworthy piece of television wrestling. Halfway into the match, a backbreaker goes awry, leading to Dax Hardwood injuring his knee in kayfabe. Wheeler and Page assist him to the back, leaving The Elite at a 3-on-6 advantage while continuing to fuel tensions between Page and the rest of The Elite.
While it seems that might be the end of things, the twists keep coming as Page does make a climactic save at the end and just narrowly misses nailing Omega with the Buckshot Lariat–a move that fans have been anticipating for close to a year now. That second tease happens so seamlessly in this match that it does a lot to lend credence to the fact that AEW are incredibly invested in some of their longterm stories. These come to varying levels of success but when they work, they sure do work.
Everyone’s on their best behavior here tonight, everything is smooth and brutal looking, and the pace is exactly what you want from weekly TV wrestling. A strong little gem of both booking and ring work, check it out.
