The Anatomy of a Squash

Two minutes and fourteen seconds. That is exactly how long The IInspiration lasted on AEW Dynamite before staring at the stadium lights. Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay didn't just lose; they were systematically dismantled. They registered zero offensive maneuvers. They managed exactly one tag, and it was a desperation reach out of a wrist-lock. It was an absolute burial.

Fans immediately hit the panic button. You do not bring in former WWE Women's Tag Team Champions just to feed them to a makeshift duo in a fraction of a television segment. But if you look at the actual mechanics of the match, the booking makes a twisted sort of sense. AEW's women's division operates on a heavy strike and high-impact workrate model. The IInspiration do not.

As Ringside News recently reported, the duo didn't waste any time bouncing back, making their ROH debut just weeks after that controversial Dynamite appearance. This transition isn't an accident. It is a necessary recalibration.

Style Clashes and Ring Positioning

Let's look at the tape. During their peak Impact Wrestling run, Lee and McKay averaged 14.5 minutes per match. They control the pace through stalling, vocal crowd manipulation, and cutting the ring in half. They rely heavily on double-team transitional moves rather than explosive finishers.

When Lee hits her spinning heel kick, it usually comes after McKay has distracted the referee for at least four seconds. That requires a specific match structure. Tony Khan does not book that structure on Dynamite. AEW television matches demand rapid sequences. If you cannot chain three reversals into a high spot within the first sixty seconds, you get left behind.

The Dynamite squash highlighted a major flaw in AEW's approach. They signed a character-heavy, methodical tag team and tried to slot them into a sprint. It failed miserably. Lee missed her timing on a basic arm drag at the 45-second mark because she was trying to rush through a sequence she normally takes thirty seconds to milk for heat.

Why Ring of Honor is the Fix

ROH is currently operating as AEW's tactical laboratory. The pacing is entirely different. Matches breathe. Referees enforce tag ropes and double-team counts with far more rigidity than the chaotic environments of Dynamite or Collision.

This is where The IInspiration thrives. Their entire offensive playbook is built around bending the rules within a structured environment. When the referee actually cares about the five-count, McKay's blind tags suddenly matter. The tactical advantage shifts back to the heels who know how to exploit the boundaries.

We saw this immediately in their ROH debut. The match went eight minutes. They spent three of those minutes entirely in the corner, isolating their opponent with quick tags and rest holds. It wasn't flashy. It didn't pop the crowd with Canadian Destroyers. But it worked.

The Underlying Flaws in the Division

We need to be honest about Tony Khan's booking here. The AEW women's tag team division is practically non-existent. It consists entirely of singles wrestlers thrown together because creative has nothing else for them to do. You cannot build a division out of spare parts.

This is where the criticism lands hard. AEW brought in an established, legitimate tag team with a proven television track record, and had absolutely no idea how to use them. The Dynamite squash wasn't just a loss for Lee and McKay. It was an admission of failure by the booking committee. They looked at a puzzle piece that didn't fit their exact shape and decided to throw it in the trash rather than build a section around it.

  • AEW averages less than one women's tag match per month on flagship TV.
  • The IInspiration rely on 60% double-team offense, requiring sustained control segments.
  • ROH allows for slower, character-driven storytelling in the ring.

These numbers do not lie. You cannot run a sprint with marathon runners. The shift to ROH allows them to dictate the tempo again.

The Prediction

Here is what happens next. The IInspiration will not spend the next year wallowing in dark matches or YouTube shows. The ROH women's division is starving for anchored, recognizable acts who can carry a microphone segment without a script.

Athena has carried the ROH brand on her back, but she needs antagonists who can generate actual heat. Lee and McKay are going to tear through the lower card of ROH. They will use their slow, methodical, frustrating style to drain the life out of high-flyers.

I am calling it now: The IInspiration will be holding tag team gold within four months. They will use ROH to rebuild their win-loss record, stringing together victories by utilizing the exact same slow-burn tactics that failed on Dynamite. They will isolate, they will cheat, and they will win. The Dynamite squash will be a distant memory, replaced by a reign of terror on Thursday nights. They are simply too smart to fail twice.