In retrospect, this was a highly important match because of how badly it exposed Phil as not a draw for AEW. Keep in mind, that this wasn't some throw-away match. It had two months of build, with guys like Darby, Wardlow, Kingston all having to do the honours to keep Phil strong. And what did this match draw? 50k.

You'll also observe that since getting absolutely shat on, Phil rarely, if ever, appeared in the second hour of dynamite, opting to instead take the lead in, when numbers are at their highest. It's worth remembering that AEW's first million streak since its move to TBS was broken by the episode of Phil headlining. You have to think this caused some eyebrows to raise backstage and ask serious questions about Phil's drawing ability.

Interestingly enough, the only episodes of Dynamite which did over the million mark were episodes where Phil was in a lesser role or not on the show at all. The entire time Phil was chasing for the belt and the show was overly focused on him, they never broke a million.