The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[69MeDon]

18 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I thought Rush was a heel with his buying out businesses big money "I'll take your career to the next level" thing? He's a great promo, but it just feels like he's doing moves during his matches with little by way of psychology or spectacle. It's impressive stuff, but it's not my cup of tea. 

I think he was meant to be a heel but between his gran dying and him being a babyface in terms of in-ring, they've decided to go with Lio Rush as a face.

[The King Of Swing]

Yeah he definitely came across as a heel at first, wouldn't surprise me if they changed direction for whatever reason. 

[69MeDon]

They should make the whole "Man Of The Hour" thing much clearer, though, because for weeks now I thought his gear just said MOTH. Like "The Moth" Lio Rush.

Edited November 21, 2021 by 69MeDon

[Mr Butternut Squash]

He does have that John Morrison/Seth dilemma of being a total heel character with babyface offence. (He's obviously better than both).

[RedRooster]

I must admit, as charismatic and athletic as he is, I’m yet to be convinced that he brings enough to the roster to justify his prominence on Dynamite, compared to some of the wrestlers sitting in reserve on Dark. I mean, I’d take an hour of Rush over a minute of Matt Hardy or Brian Cage, but I’m still finding it hard to invest in him at the moment.

[Guest]

I think he’s just getting cycled in to get established. Same as 2.0 and Garcia got weeks of tv then cycled out. 

[Supremo]

Originally I had zero interest in Lio Rush coming in. I wasn’t at all bothered when he announced his retirement after being the Joker at Double or Nothing. I had even less interest when he returned and was doing those rubbish crypto bro vignettes. He and Dante as a team has been a complete revelation though. Proper mad, ridiculous spotfests. The closest to what we were promised with the OWE guys. A real sense of, “what would WCW’s cruiserweight division look like in 2021?” Long may it continue.

[Jazzy G]

I was thinking earlier today about how much heat Danielson is going to manage to get when he wrestles John Silver. He must wrestle him last before his match with Page, right? Lay an absolute beating on him, bloody him up, work that injured shoulder. The crowd will be red hot for that one. 

[poetofthedeed]

3 hours ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I was thinking earlier today about how much heat Danielson is going to manage to get when he wrestles John Silver. He must wrestle him last before his match with Page, right? Lay an absolute beating on him, bloody him up, work that injured shoulder. The crowd will be red hot for that one. 

That's your long Island match right there.....

[Guest]

Put them in a cage, means he can’t be saved 

[tiger_rick]

That absolutely flew by. What a bundle of fun. 

Genuinely think my favourite part was seeing OC and BF do something that had nothing to do with HFO or CHAOS. Hoorah.

Good stuff from Miz, er MJF, and Punk to start the show. That crowd reaction to the mention of The Miz was spectacularly good. Didn't really need to hint at anyone else after that, they weren't topping it. "PG Punk" is such a good nickname. Simple stuff that hits the spot with the right people. MJF's promos are what they are but his facials when Punk was running him down were great. Nice to see someone selling this stuff.

Fair play to JR, he had another rough night, but his comment about the Savagery being back in Punk as he set up to hit the top rope elbow was great timing. 

Bryan heeling it up again was such good shit. Good little match that didn't outstay it's welcome. 

Anyone else fear for 2.0 when Eddie was sat gripping his fork? I cannot wait for him and Garcia. Didn't even know who Garcia was a few months ago. Eddie and Jericho isn't the dream team I'm looking for though, if that's where they're going. 

Darby Allin running through Austin Gunn is the moment of the year. "Billy Gunn needs to pick up his kid." Funny stuff.

[LaGoosh]

I have no idea why Billy Gunn and his kids are on my wrestling show but their entrance theme is a fucking banger.

Dante signing with Team Taz was a really interesting and cool twist. Glad to see it and where it goes.

As AEW doesn't do the "open a show with a 20 minute promo" that WWE always does, doing it here made it feel important. MJF went a bit too long but it was very good overall. Toeing all the lines very carefully but just right. MJF's main weapon is getting under people's skin but he just can't get under CM Punk's skin is a neat detail.

I imagine JR isn't going to be on Dynamite for much longer, the poor sod. He needs to rest and deal with his cancer treatments.

Far too much of interviews getting interrupted but pretty much everything on the show was good. I have no idea where this Cody stuff is going and I don't give a shit. He sucks. Even if he turns heel he's going to suck because Cody just isn't a very good wrestler.

[Mr.Showtime]

The very last line of the show was JR saying something along the lines of "I'll see you all again soon" which sounded like he's going away, but then maybe it was another slip. But other than one "Daniel Bryan" I didn't really catch any from him on this show, I tend to zone out when he's speaking anyway.

As said by LaGoosh, it felt so fresh having a long promo to kick off the show! And if you're gonna do one, you're not gonna get much of a better pairing. My stream cut off when Punk said "the only way you're going to be number one around here is if Tony...." and I assumed he was going to say "goes mad in the head and trades title shots for golden eggs", so I was disappointed to find it was just a reference to Triple H!

Not great having so much time for QT Marshall and Billy Gunn BUT the latter had a quick match and, as mentioned here previously, I'm totally fine with the Gunn Club / Sting & Darby thing for a short and sweet feud. No matter how far down the pecking order someone is, they quite easily make teams like the Gunns feel like some sort of threat, and the amazing win record over dozens of jobbers helps a little, heh.

Dante Martin seemingly signing for Team Taz was genuinely a shocking twist! I feel like he's up to something, although it's hard to figure out what since he's never really said anything, or seems like the type to have something up his sleeve.

Really enjoyed the main event, especially Arn and Tully (and, erm, Jose) facing off, but yeah the Cody stuff is not sitting well with me. At least they made it fairly clear the loss was his fault with the superkick to Pac. Pac was bloody great in this match. I hope he smacks Cody around with his own belt someday soon.

[Factotum]

I think I mentioned last week that MJF needs to start showing some vulnerability, and he definitely sold those barbs. Punk was excellent, and shows he can do what he does best despite not turning. Really good start to this feud, I hope it leads to Punk making MJF more serious. 

Not entirely sure I can love Bryan anymore than I already do. The guy is just the best in ring and in character. Be interesting to see what they do when him and Hangman square off. 

Rest of the show was good fun. AEW is just a really enjoyable watch. Need more Kingston with cutlery 

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

I have no idea why Billy Gunn and his kids are on my wrestling show but their entrance theme is a fucking banger.

This. It's been stuck in my head all morning! Although I must admit, I'm quite enjoying The Gunn Club. They're really easy to hate, in the best possible way. 

That MJF/Punk segment was one of the best in-ring back-and-forths in years. I really liked Punk calling out MJF for targeting the low-hanging fruit, and that line alone should force MJF to bring his A-game every time. The Miz line was phenomenal. 

That segment was so brilliant, that Danielson/Page isn't quite getting its due. Danielson is phenomenal as a heel, although I do wonder how direct a substitute he is for Moxley, given how brutally Mox was treating wrestlers in the early stages of the tournament (plus, he already, quite spectacularly, destroyed one of the Dark Order)

The Christian/Jurassic Express storyline continues to intrigue me, and although there wasn't one on this show, I'm enjoying the subtle hints that Jungle Boy is uncomfortable with Christian's brutality. Christian has ended up a very effective signing for AEW, and I really hope they go ahead with Christian/Jungle Boy at the next PPV as it's a match I really want to see. 

Dante signing with Team Taz was very unexpected, and also very intriguing. I suspect the idea is that Dante is trying to figure out who he is, given that his brother is out of the picture, and once Darius returns, he'll find his eventual direction. So far he's briefly paired up with Sydal, Rush and now, apparently, Team Taz. I'm assuming this is intentional, rather than throwing partnerships against the wall to see what sticks.