AEW's inaugural event event was Double or Nothing on May 29, 2019 and they had a lot to accomplish. A new promotion was faced with the challenge of having to live up to being the successor to All In. That show was a one-shot with the best companies in the world outside of WWE uniting for one supercard and it wound up changing the landscape in ways no one could have imagined. The creation of AEW saw the end of the relationship of the Elite and New Japan Pro Wrestling, which led to the latter gorup pivoting and giving Jay White the ball. The show built instant credibility for their World title by having Bret Hart showcase the title belt, and featured Omega vs. Jericho II and Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes in the match they always wanted to have in WWE, but couldn't. In many ways, the story of AEW as a company is intertwined with WWE because of not only what they do differently, but how they present their talent.
WWE is obsessed with the power of their brand, while AEW build up value in its brand by focusing on a blend of star power, workrate, and protecting its stars in ways that wrestling fans haven't been used to seeing in many years. AEW has shown a willingness to provide a platform to talent that always had the talent, but wasn't given the proper showcase in WWE. As a result, the talent lost their star power - and it's something we saw all too often in WCW over 20 years ago.
In this instance, we didn't have Psychosis coming out and going through the motions because he'd been jobbed out for years and lost all faith in his own abilities. In AEW's case, we saw Jon Moxley come out on night one to kick ass and fittingly hit an FU on Kenny Omega to set the tone for his tenure. Since then, he has embarked on a path of reinvention in both New Japan and AEW while showing a dedication to his craft that hasn't been seen in 30 years by wearing an eye patch to get across how important the AEW World Title-level feud was to him.
Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes was the battle of two men who wanted to prove their worth in WWE, but weren't given a chance and knocked it out of the park. On the night of the show, it was an absolute classic and stole the show from Omega vs. Jericho because it was a story-heavy match that had you buying into the drama and it built up equity in Cody right away. From the moment "Shoes" hit in the hype video, you had the story of the old gunslinger feeling his own worth was gone and his time was over and he was jealous of his younger, more successful brother. By the end of the match, the veteran Dustin showed he was as good as he ever was - but was toppled on this night. He lost a battle, but won a war by renewing his bond with his brother and forming the Nightmare Family.
The core story of that match wasn't one of good versus evil - it was of two men settling a long-standing issue because while they loved each other, they each had a point to prove and had to do it against one another. They didn't hit each other with cars, they didn't try to run one another off a roof in a monster truck - they just exchanged words and later reuinited in a scene that evoked not only Dusty begging Dustin to team with him in WCW, but also Bret Hart uniting his family against Steve Austin in the WWF. It wasn't just an homage to wrestling history - but it weaved itself into history by tugging at the heartstrings of fans in ways that few storylines do.
In the process, they made you care about Dustin and especially Cody. The young lion won and now had the pressure of the Rhodes family legacy on his back - and he came up short to win the AEW World Title. He sliced his head open in a grisly manner and all he had to show for it was a scar and the knowledge that now, a Rhodes may never be the World Champion. However, AEW used that as a way to plant a seed for the story that Cody needed something to prove his worth. In interviews, he talked about wanting a second, important championship and not a mid-card belt because those do nothing.
On Saturday Night Dynamite, the spritual successor to the NWA World TV Title held by not only his coach Arn Anderson, but his father, was on the line. He faced a man who came into AEW with a chip on his shoulder and a desire to prove anyone who ever doubted him wrong and showed exactly why he was deserving of a main event spotlight to anyone who wondered why on August 22, 2020 when he steamrolled Cody in a washout to win Cody's most prized possession. In making the challenge, Brodie Lee promised that he would let Cody keep his original unfinished TNT Title - but didn't tell him how.
Following a discus lariat, Brodie won the title and Cody was put on a stretcher. The Dark Order surrounded him on the ramp and Arn defended a man who may not be his son, but who his character clearly feels a fatherly bond to. He wants what's best for Cody and as a man that couldn't grasp a water bottle without dropping it 24 years ago and was forced out of the ring, went to war one last time. The man who swore vengeance on Cody's father and turned on his brother in 1994, was not only fighting alongside a Rhodes, but fighting to protect him and slugged two underlings only to fall to a group attack.
In one fell swoop, the Dark Order's leader took out Arn Anderson and laid out QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes. Brandi rushed to cover her husband, and in the single biggest star-making performance you'll see, Anna Jay runs in and chokes her out instantly. Fresh off a loss in the Deadly Draw tournament, Brandi may have been worn down - but she still fell instantly to Anna Jay and that's the part that mattered most. Brodie Lee's promo about proving people wrong who ever doubted him rang true as he held his title high and we see Cody give Brodie Lee the biggest show of confidence he's been given yet on a national stage.
Since minute one of AEW's existance, Cody has been one of the pillars of the promotion. He has used his star power to create among other things, an aburdly long entrance and several new nicknames, but he leveraged every second of air time he's been given to make a new main event star not just for the short term, but for the forseeable future in Brodie Lee. For Brodie Lee, a title win on its own helped erase his one AEW loss to Jon Moxley at Double or Noting - but the post-match scene was two men in Brodie and Cody showing to the entire world that they always had what it took to excel as main event stars. They just needed the platform to showcase their skills, and in a match where Cody got no offense, we wound up with a compelling main event and a post-match scene as chaotic as anything since the debut of Mike Tyson on Dynamite.
This has more ways it can go and it can lead to far more positives for more people. Anna Jay vs. Brandi is a given, and you can get a few good matches out of the Dark Order against the Natural Nightmares. Cody vs. Brodie Lee went from "just another TNT Title match" in its short buildup to something with a sinister edge to it, and the Dark Order group finally feels like a top-notch group with a few flaws to it rooted in the group's iffy pre-Brodie Lee days, but still anchorded by a main event talent in Brodie Lee and one of the most versatile tag teams in the world in Evil Uno and Stu Grayson.
AEW's Saturday Night Dynamite may have been a sly way to pay homage to the history of Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW on Turner networks, but it wound up being a signficant show in the company's history in ways no one could have predicted going in. AEW needed something that felt important with a erratic timeslot change due to the NBA schedule and delivered in spades with a show that laid the groundwork for a new chapter in the company's history with Cody on the shelf and All Out only weeks away. However, if the age-old story of the tourtise and the hare has taught us anything, it's that a hot start isn't enough. AEW needs to follow through and capitalize on the momentum with more solid storytelling.
The more AEW makes you care about its characters, the stronger their foundation will be in the future. So far, they have done an admirable job at doing so while also making a lot of mistakes and correcting course. Nowhere is that more evident than in the Dark Order itself, which now has the ability to look strong as it sheds its sillier trappings like the masked followers and human thrones. Time will tell the tale for AEW, but in a world with so much darkness, it feels great to have hope that pro wrestling can still tell compelling, multi-faceted stories in North America. It will take more than that to build the show's audience over time, but that will help make capturing new fans a lot easier as you can watch the show and get absorbed in the characters.
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