AEW Booms and Duds: ‘Blood’ Orange Cassidy, beaten to a pulp!

Boom: a story-driven match with story-driven aftermaths

Well, to answer the tweet above, I think “Boom Boom” decided to join.

Cabana hasn’t had the best run of success dating to his first round loss to Archer in the TNT Championship Tournament. After losing to Jericho last week, Cabana was approached backstage by Lee with basically a recruitment offer.

This week, Cabana lost to Guevara in another back-and-forth match. Ross poignantly stated on commentary, “You hit your moonsault and still can’t win,” noting how these were probably the thoughts coursing through Cabana’s mind.

Post-match, the entire Dark Order appeared on the ramp, followed by Lee. He approached Cabana, helped him to his feet, and then immediately proceeded to head back through the left tunnel to the locker room. A confused Cabana made his way towards the tunnel and followed, almost against his better judgement (as written on his face).

He was then shown outside of Lee’s locker room as Dasha Gonzalez tried to get a word. He not only knocked on the door, but once it was opened, he entered.

Does this mean Cabana has joined Dark Order? Was he just listening to the full pitch from Lee? Regardless, it’s been a neat little story, and I think we may be seeing our first high-profile recruit to Dark Order.

Maybe this will help legitimate them more. Lee works as the leader, but they just need one more person who can bring them that credibility; it may be Cabana.

For Guevara, I was pleased to see him with a clean victory on Dynamite since it seems like we’re so used to recently seeing him eat pins (and, you know, run over by golf carts/chased by horses/taking a One Winged Angel from 30 feet in the air). He looked smooth, as always, and his character development continues to be a shining spot.

Of course he would tell them to cut Dark Order’s music as Cabana left because, as he said, he won and it’s his time. It’s also in-character for him to scoff at Hardy interrupting him, trying to tell Guevara he needs to remove himself from Inner Circle and Jericho, specifically. Guevara rebuffing Hardy’s words and failing to heed advice isn’t just in-character, it’s pretty much standard for 20-something young men who think they are gifts to humanity sent by the gods.

I like that we’re continuing this feud between Hardy and Guevara, and this new angle of Hardy trying to bring Guevara under his wing is intriguing. It began last week as Hardy told Guevara he has no ill will towards him, leaving Guevara with a confused look on his face. I’m interested to see what’s next.

However, Hardy and AEW are really straddling the line between “just right” and “doing too much” with Hardy’s constant character changes. There’s a time and place for them, and I don’t think last night was either. It’s also getting to the point where we expect them, so surprise us and have him stay as regular old Matt Hardy for a few weeks until something necessitates a character change.

All in all, it was a good match with great post-match angles for both competitors, leaving me fascinated with what will happen next.