The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[Lorne Malvo]

@WyattSheepMask I didn't mind the tag going long but I do agree regarding Kenny, I'd like to see him handily beating a few of these guys to establish him as a top-tier star. I just think he prides himself on going 20-30 minutes and putting on these 'epics' regardless of the opponent, unfortunately.

Archer murdering Stunt was a highlight, too.

[TheBurningRed]

Speaking of squash matches, an all time bad take on the wonderful murder of Stunt by Archer. She backed it up by saying big guy beating little guy is lazy and regressive as well some other shite. 

[Liam O'Rourke]

Not sure a person could be more wrong.

[Joe Blog]

Where is Hangman? I have obviously missed something about his whereabouts. 

[UK Kat Von D]

5 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

I always thought Lee should be a badass, wild brawler who comes through the crowd to kick arse. Proper will man style with that hair, bug eyed look etc. Instead he looks like shit w that gear and his gimmick is very TNA. 

TNA had Voodoo Kin Mafia, which was just random words that would make the initials VKM. They had no subtlety about it which I think the Dark Order stuff does. The references they are dropping are stuff they would go over people’s heads unless they are nerds like us. Most the nerds will like the gimmick if they are the Anti-WWE Brigade that Pictcost is always banging on about.

Dark Order need a change of direction, but not on a Nightmare Collective where it needs to be binned off. A natural progression into something else will be fine, still early days while they find their feet with it.

 

The show wasn’t as good as their first isolation episode but it was a step up from last week. If the guys at ringside are all being tested for the virus I’m fine with them carrying on like this for as long as reasonable. They are making do with really limited resources at the moment, gonna be great to see them back in front of proper fans though. Hopefully Blood And Guts is the first proper show back because the atmosphere will be great.

The Lance Archer match was exactly what Marko should be used for. The offence he got was done really well and the chokeslam at the end was great. That fall away suplex was great too 

[Merzbow]

1 hour ago, Joe Blog said:

Where is Hangman? I have obviously missed something about his whereabouts. 

Probably just bright enough to stay the fuck home with his wife.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, UK Kat Von D said:

The show wasn’t as good as their first isolation episode but it was a step up from last week. If the guys at ringside are all being tested for the virus I’m fine with them carrying on like this for as long as reasonable. They are making do with really limited resources at the moment, gonna be great to see them back in front of proper fans though. Hopefully Blood And Guts is the first proper show back because the atmosphere will be great.

I think we’re far past that point.

Even if everyone is tested, we know the tests aren’t completely accurate and that there are a worrying number of false negatives. 

You then have to consider the fact that every wrestler has to travel to the arena. So even if they were tested and the tests were accurate, by the time they get there from wherever they live, if it turns out they actually have the virus that journey gives them ample time to spread it.

Ultimately there’s no safe way of doing this, and judging by their latest rating there may not be much appetite for watching wrestling right now anyway.

They’d be better off shutting down after their current taped content runs out and coming back with a heavily hyped bang once things return to normal.

[Brudaker]

The Dark Order stuff is an interesting one. I lean towards thinking it's a bit rubbish using Brodie as a Vince parody but as long as it doesn't go too far it won't sour me on the whole thing. 

Two of my mates have started watching AEW regularly. One has been watching properly since full gear and he has gone hardcore pretty quick. He likes the Brodie as Vince stuff cos he reads the reports and feels like he's discovering all this insider gossip. I can see how that would be interesting if you've not been reading the same lunacy for the last 20 years.

The other dude used to love Jeff hardy in the 90's and kind of remembers Jericho. He's been watching since just before Revolution and with lockdown in effect the three of us hung out on discord and watched the show last night. When I asked him about Brodie he said the dude is scary cos he's huge but doesn't act like it and that he sees him as a new age cult leader who wants control of everything because he is totally out of control inside. He didn't seem to think he was missing an inside joke.

Now the Hardy stuff did have him scratching his head. Kind of laughed it off in the end, proof Jericho can salvage anything I guess.

Obviously this is one anecdotal example but I thought it might be interesting to have a bit of the casual perspective.

[UK Kat Von D]

@RedRooster I was thinking they would be getting tested on arrival, then sitting in isolation in groups of two while they wait for results. I think results can come back in 24 hours, but I don’t know how long the actual test takes and if the 24 hour wait is to do with how the testers having to deal with a backlog.

Wasnt aware that there have been false negatives though. Trying to keep an eye on news without watching it excessively so must have missed that.

Have AEW said exactly what precautions they are taking other than running on a skeleton crew? 

[iPumaPants]

I really enjoyed this week's show. Having bodies in the 'crowd' really adds to the show, and it was definitely lacking last week.

Kenny and Trent just wanted to do something great, and whilst they did, it highlighted Trent more than Omega.

Shida getting a win was great, hopefully she's the one to take the title off Rose.
Great video for Hager/Moxley, but as mentioned above, it's a bit stupid to advertise an empty arena match right now...
Jake's promo was another winner...
Lance Archer's debut would have been so much bigger in front of an audience, but we wouldn't have got the throw into the crowd, which I loved. It went a bit long though, imo. The chokeslam was monstrous.
Brodie Lee is already coming across far too tame. Perhaps that's because of my expectations, but it's just...not working. I'm happy to stick with it because I do believe AEW have long term plans, but for now, it's mostly skippable. I did enjoy the Dark Order gimps being named 8 & 9 though. 
Jericho is the best. Such silliness, made great by Jericho. No other could do it like he does.
I was intrigued by the Bucks little video. Nick saying he needs more time was interesting, and I'm curious as to how this will affect Hardy and Blood & Guts. If B&G is delayed, Nick returns, there's no need for Hardy in the match. Maybe that means they'll finish his thing with Jericho and do something interesting with him. Maybe just keep him going until Jeff is out of contract?
The main event tag was decent. Cody always puts in a shift, but Darby is the star here. Guevara too. It's a shame one of them has to win in the QF match, and we don't get a higher stakes match with them later in the tournament. Good match, nice to see Spears put a win up, even if he wasn't involved in the decision. Hopefully the Sammy/Brandi mini-story doesn't turn into anything bigger.

 

I really liked the smaller setting. When they get their second show running, I'd like it to be in a similar way, kinda studio wrestling, but on tour. Smaller venues, the smaller version of the stage/set, and like, 1000 or so fans packed around 3 sides of the ring. I think it worked wonderfully.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

I agree with Puma Prints, I'm surprised that I'm not more engrossed with Brodie Lee.

Whenever he got an opportunity to do a promo, his WWE wild crazy man gimmick was great. The suit gimmick is almost making him more generic. Plus I don't feel he is walking the line of subtlety well enough to be frank. He might as well be shouting "IM VINCE MCMAHON DAMMIT" at times. Id rather he was inspired by Vince's alledged behaviour as oppose to outright mimicking him.

Still excited what comes from him mind. I love his in ring work and want to see him succeed.

 

Edit: Another issue that irks me, or maybe Im being paticular, is that originally the Dark Order gimmick was about giving acceptance to those who were vulnerable, which is something cults generally do. But now it's turned on it's head; with Lee outright abusing him underlings. I don't "get" why people are staying with the Dark Order. There's no reason consequence to leaving, unlike in a cult where you risk losing everything you've emotionally attached to.  

Edited April 2, 2020 by andrew "the ref" coyne

[unfitfinlay]

13 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

Edit: Another issue that irks me, or maybe Im being paticular, is that originally the Dark Order gimmick was about giving acceptance to those who were vulnerable, which is something cults generally do. But now it's turned on it's head; with Lee outright abusing him underlings. I don't "get" why people are staying with the Dark Order. There's no reason consequence to leaving, unlike in a cult where you risk losing everything you've emotionally attached to.  

I disagree. The Dark Order have always been abusive to their followers. Uno used to sit on them! It's what Cults do, really, attract vulnerable people, give them somewhere to belong and then exploit and abuse them. Lee, as leader, absolutely should be worse, because nobody is going to dare question "The Exalted One".

They did start a story on Being The Elite where John Silver wasn't into it at all but wanted to support Reynolds, but it seems to have been abandoned. Considering they were complete losers before they joined, I can understand them not being in a hurry to leave. Especially since Lee will kick their heads in.

Anyway, my biggest take away from Dynamite was that some of the high spots were pretty stupid considering that there were no fans. I appreciate that they want to keep the shows going but maybe lay off the dives for a bit?

[tiger_rick]

28 minutes ago, unfitfinlay said:

Anyway, my biggest take away from Dynamite was that some of the high spots were pretty stupid considering that there were no fans. I appreciate that they want to keep the shows going but maybe lay off the dives for a bit?

The review I read made that same point. While it's probably true, given how pointless the whole show is, they are wrestling for 700k viewers, and loads more on catch up. It's not like they're working an indy show to 30 people.

[Philjax]

I didn't mind the Archer stuff but in kayfabe, why would anyone (Cody?) book Marko Stunt against him in such as obvious mismatch as his first opponent? If you wanna test the guy, Jimmy Havoc (who gave Cody a decent challenge the previous week) was right there at ringside.

[Linus]

I mean, he should start at the bottom. I actually quite like that he and Brodie Lee haven't come straight in to world title matches. I miss the days when new arrivals would have two months of jobbers on the B shows.