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Welcome to this week's edition of Best & Worst of AEW Dynamite. It was an interesting episode as always and we're not one step closer to AEW Revolution. AEW Revolution is slowly turning out to be one of the more stacked cards that the company has put out since its inception last year and we couldn't be more excited.
While there were both ups and downs, we felt that AEW had done good enough a job to maintain the hype heading into Revolution, where Jon Moxley will attempt to become the second AEW World Heavyweight Champion.
Things outside the main title picture are interesting as well, with new and familiar title challengers emerging. With a Battle Royal to open the show and a steel cage to close it, AEW continues to dominate Wednesday Nights with excellent programming. Here were the best and worst parts of the show.
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#4 Best: Establishing Jeff Cobb as a threat
Jeff Cobb debuted last week and made his in-ring debut for AEW this past episode against one of the biggest stars in the company - Jon Moxley. There was never a need for Cobb to win despite many believing he should.
The idea of the match was to establish Cobb as a legitimate threat - the "hired gun" that's now the power house of the Inner Circle. Moxley had an excellent match as usual against Cobb - while Chris Jericho was sitting ringside and watching.
At the end of it all, Moxley ended up getting a swift pin on Cobb and winning, but not before Dustin Rhodes and the returning Darby Allin came to save the day. Allin's return was phenomenal and the pop he got was well-deserved. This was a great part of the show.
#2 Worst: The women's segment
This was not a good segment. Nyla Rose was being interviewed by Tony Schiavone and she cut a less-than-average promo as the new AEW Women's Champion. What was slightly awkward was when Big Swole called her "brother".
Either way, it's an indicator of how far AEW needs to go with the women's division. The talent is there, but there's no denying that virtually all of the best female talent in the world (minus Tessa Blanchard, Mayu Iwatani and a few others) have been snatched up by WWE.
There have been relatively weaker matches as well, with many fans never having been convinced of Riho as the AEW Women's Champion - despite the Japanese star playing a great underdog.
It was time for a title change and we hope that Nyla Rose can make some adjustments during her reign. The spotlight is on her now and it's her time to shine - so it's going to be a "sink or swim" situation for her.
She's set to face Kris Statlander next in what we expect to be a great bout.
#3 Best: The opening Battle Royal
Over-the-top rope elimination matches are some of the most fun stipulation contests to watch. The simplicity and pace of it make it a lot more interesting, which is perhaps the reason why many fans feel that the Royal Rumble elimination match is the best that WWE has today.
AEW decided to open Dynamite with a Tag Team battle royal, with the winner set to challenge the Tag Team Champions at Revolution. It was an epic contest with many teams and cameos from Orange Cassidy as well.
The timing of the eliminations was perfectly done and it didn't feel overbooked in any way whatsoever. This is the kind of battle royal that fans want to see and a lot of teams looked good in the process as well.
For example, the Butcher and the Blade had a great showing along with The Best Friends - who lasted up until the later part of the match. Ultimately, it was The Young Bucks who ended up getting the win and they're set to be the next tag team title challengers.
#1 Worst: Rotation of the same tag teams
This is slightly problematic from AEW given that their issue with the tag teams isn't the same as the issue with the women. With the latter, the roster hardly has top talent, while the tag team division is deep.
They should be building new stars and while we agree that the likes of The Best Friends, Butcher & The Blade and others have all been featured consistently on programming, the main tag team title picture has generally revolved around The Lucha Bros, The Young Bucks, and the reigning Champions Kenny Omega and Adam 'Hangman' Page.
There's also no doubt that 'Hangman' Page has come leaps and bounds since his AEW debut and he fits well with Kenny Omega in the current storyline. The Champions defended their titles against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix and to nobody's surprise - the match was outstanding.
While it had its sloppy moments, there was nothing too much to dwell on except the fact that AEW has been habitually rotating these three teams in the main picture.
#2 Best: Kris Statlander impresses
Kris Statlander is without a doubt one of the best female talents in AEW today. We're a bit surprised that she wasn't snatched up by WWE before, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Statlander has received a lot of praise over the past few months and for good reason. She has been very consistent with her matches and the latest episode was no different - as she took on Shanna in an excellent match.
It takes two to tango, which is why Shanna deserves credit as well. She looked great in defeat and if AEW can do something consistently with her, they could reap the benefits later on.
While the women's division is weaker, this match proved that all AEW needs is a few more top female superstars to establish the division. The talent is there but they still have to figure out how to make the division bigger.
We're confident that in time, AEW will be able to snatch a few more top female names.
#1 Best: The steel cage main event
We didn't expect anything less. Wardlow made a rare in-ring appearance to take on Cody Rhodes in a steel cage. The narrative at the time seemed to be that Arn Anderson would turn on Cody.
As it turns out, AEW didn't want to be blatant with it and though they teased a spot where MJF was goading Anderson on, the tables turned as he smashed the door of the steel cage against MJF.
MJF even had a confrontation with Brandi Rhodes at ringside and things escalated before Anderson saved the day. Ultimately, that didn't have much impact in the ring as Cody Rhodes was able to make it through the match victoriously - albeit busted open with his face covered in blood.
It was an incredible visual to the match and the perfect way to introduce the first steel cage match in AEW history as well as the perfect way to give Cody Rhodes some major momentum ahead of AEW Revolution.
That's all from Best & Worst this week. We'll see you next week for another edition of AEW Dynamite!
