Ah, Willie Mack vs. Brian Cage: a match so nice AEW opted to run it twice.

That's right, after drawing rave reviews on the Los Angeles edition of Dark Elevation for a big hoss bout between Ring of Honor Six Man Champion “The Machine” and Mack, a local fan favorite billed from the City of Angeles, Tony Khan called up the performer known to the Lucha Underground universe as simply “The Mack” and decided to run it back for a second showing on national television. Now granted, fans were never in any doubt about who would win the contest, as the match was effectively booked as a tune-up for Cage ahead of his match against Bryan Danielson on Dynamite, but hey, in a sport like wrestling, where the outcomes are *spoiler alert* pre-determined, it's not so much about who's seeing stars at the end of the match but how well each wrestler performs during the contest.

With that qualifier in place, it's hard to look at Mack's first nationally televised match since his days in Impact Wrestling – which are technically nationally televised – as anything other than a success.

Taking the ring to cheers from the Fresno crowd, which is still in California but is multiple hours away from LA, Mack moved smoothly around the ring, got in some serious offense against “The Machine,” including his signature Sky High for a near-fall, and sold well for Cage, who looked like a star in his ninth televised match since September of 2022.

Is Mack signed to AEW and/or Ring of Honor? That is not public knowledge, but if he isn't, he really should be, as Mack can work in both singles and tag team action, can work solo or as part of a team, and is just genuinely a great professional wrestler. TK, make Mack an offer he can't refuse.