The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[69MeDon]

12 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I didn’t love MJF and CM Punk as much as it seems everyone else did.

It was fine, and I liked the line about MJF always going for low hanging fruit, but that, “battle,” style of promo never does much for me. People dunking on each other with workshopped lines designed to make the crowd go, “oOoOOhH!” wasn’t my cup of tea years ago. It practically killed WWE’s women’s division when that became the exclusive way in which they’d communicate. But in 2021? In AEW? When you’ve got Eddie Kingston on the same show? It feels more inauthentic, awkward and silly than ever before. It’s like Kingston has completely revolutionised the very concept of promos and everyone else - especially someone like MJF - is struggling to catch up.

Whilst I’m sure neither guy was handed a script, if there are long periods of time where it feels like someone is delivering their own pre-rehearsed soliloquies, then what’s the difference? There was a long chunk of time during MJF’s promo in particular that could have been directly lifted from an episode of Raw. Just a body with a mouth delivering their lines and hitting their marks. There’s nothing that makes me less excited to see guys have a fight. No wonder MJF is referencing there being a bidding war when his contract is up. This promo was a borderline audition for the typical WWE promo at the start of every show.

When do we reckon this back-and-forth, “battle,” style of promo was popularised? The Rock? Cena? Shawn and Bret? Either way it belongs in the bin.

Fine speech.

[hallicks]

Opening segment was about 5 minutes too long, I enjoyed it mostly but definitely overstayed it’s welcome. 

Commentators need to stop going on about how nice the women are outside of matches. “Blah is such a sweetheart,” (Thunder Rosa was it this week?), a few weeks ago they were banging on about how nice Serena Deeb is during a match when she was being a vicious heel. Fucking stop it. They don’t go on about what a lovely bloke Malakai Black is when he’s not kicking peoples heads off. 

[Pinc]

I like MJF and everything but he should lose the scarf. Punk was always about changing his look up every year or two to stay fresh. The scarf is a very indy looking prop. You're in the big leagues now kidder.

[Project Nim]

Cracking show. I didn’t want the Punk MJF interaction to end. 
Darby absolutely twatted Gunn on the ramp.
Poor old Lio; they should give him a Wigan Athletic gimmick where he nurtures developing talent only for them to leave for a bigger outfit. 
No Excalibur; I’m not having that Ruby and Statlander is a “dream match”.

[tiger_rick]

17 hours ago, Supremo said:

I didn’t love MJF and CM Punk as much as it seems everyone else did.

It was fine, and I liked the line about MJF always going for low hanging fruit, but that, “battle,” style of promo never does much for me. People dunking on each other with workshopped lines designed to make the crowd go, “oOoOOhH!” wasn’t my cup of tea years ago. It practically killed WWE’s women’s division when that became the exclusive way in which they’d communicate. But in 2021? In AEW? When you’ve got Eddie Kingston on the same show? It feels more inauthentic, awkward and silly than ever before. It’s like Kingston has completely revolutionised the very concept of promos and everyone else - especially someone like MJF - is struggling to catch up.

Whilst I’m sure neither guy was handed a script, if there are long periods of time where it feels like someone is delivering their own pre-rehearsed soliloquies, then what’s the difference? There was a long chunk of time during MJF’s promo in particular that could have been directly lifted from an episode of Raw. Just a body with a mouth delivering their lines and hitting their marks. There’s nothing that makes me less excited to see guys have a fight. No wonder MJF is referencing there being a bidding war when his contract is up. This promo was a borderline audition for the typical WWE promo at the start of every show.

When do we reckon this back-and-forth, “battle,” style of promo was popularised? The Rock? Cena? Shawn and Bret? Either way it belongs in the bin.

Everything is OK in moderation. Not a trope I've seen a lot in AEW, or in WWE much which might be because I don't see much, but the point stands.

This was mostly really good. Could have been shorter. Didn't need the HHH references. Otherwise enjoyed. People recently been asking if MJF was going to go after some of this stuff, like Punk's UFC run, and he did. People wanted something for Punk to get his teeth into. Now he has.

[FUM]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:06 PM, DCW said:

I dunno, I thought the Punk/MJF promo went on a good bit too long. MJF basically repeating himself and Punk slagging him off by comparing him to lad from another company that he's still jealous of. Apart from his return night, Punk's done nothing for me. Stale as feck. There was a hellish hint of something initially with Kingston, but it's not re-emerged. 

Polar opposite of Bryan who just gets better and was great again last night. Just the little touches, like doing the flex pose before locking in the la belle lock on Cabana, are so good. 

I feel like I've seen people say both angles of this - "Punks not doing much for me but Bryan has been great!", and, "Bryans not doing much for me but Punk has been great!"

It's probably the thing I see about AEW that sums it up most because it shows there is something for everyone. If you don't like one part of the show or someones act, there is always another part that keeps you interested. They have almost every base covered when it comes to giving a viewer something to care about. If you don't care about Punk, you are probably enjoying Bryan. If you don't care about Bryan, you are probably enjoying Punk. If you care about neither, here's Kingston being a nutter for you. Just like the old school heel? The Revival and MJF have it covered. Enjoy the fast paced high flying style? Here's Dante or the Lucha Brothers. Stuck in the attitude era and like nostalgia? Here's Sting and Billy Gunn. Every single angle of wrestling is covered.

[Liam O'Rourke]

I keep watching the clip when Darby ran over El Hijo Del Ass. That's the greatest tackle/pounce/spear I've ever seen in pro wrestling. If nobody got hurt, those men deserve a bonus.

[kev2050]

It's been mentioned about 3 times and no one linked the gif! Here you go. 

 

 

[69MeDon]

This week's Dynamite is looking like a lot of fun (Rampage, too, although I really don't give a fuck about Tony Nese):

Dynamite:

Atlanta Street Fight: Andrade El Ídolo vs. Cody Rhodes
TBS Championship Tournament: Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho
Bryan Danielson vs. Alan "5" Angels
Gunn Club vs. Sting & Darby Allin

Rampage:

TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Tony Nese
AEW World Tag Team Championship - Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match: Lucha Brothers (c) vs. FTR

[IronSheik]

Why as fans are a section so annoyed at Punk and MJF referencing a rival promotion and its talent? Does crossing that line not make it seem more real? What harm does it do to anyone's viewing pleasure? 

[air_raid]

Probably because Punk had his grievances with WWE, got it off his chest and should be ready to move on, and MJF never worked there, so neither of them should be bothered to talk about it. Talking about the big leagues a lot is a bit bush league, inferiority complex, TNALOL.

1 hour ago, IronSheik said:

Does crossing that line not make it seem more real?

Worked shoot is 10 years past producing anything meaningful or particularly memorable and 20 years past the peak of its intrigue. With the world of Twitter and podcasts there’s plenty of places to hear the workers shoot, on TV people just want them to work.

[tiger_rick]

There's a place for it. These people have a history and are mostly known for their work in WWE so references that don't make AEW look bad are fine. That was always the issue with TNA, it wasn't that they mentioned WWE, it was that they always made themselves seem so inferior. Bryan mentioning WrestleMania for heat was great. MJF being called a less famous Miz was hilarious. Cody teasing hitting the pedigree was good too, same when it looked like Puink might do the five knuckle shuffle.

The references to Cena and HHH weren't needed and don't really help anyone. I'd leave that out. But at least it was stuff everyone could get, they're not alienating their audience. The New Japan shite is far worse for that. References to people we don't see and factions we don't know so that some old bastard can wobble down for a one off match or two. Fuck that. Bryan vs. Suzuki as a YouTube exclusive was absolutely fine. That's the way to use this stuff. Keep it the fuck off real TV.

[RedRooster]

3 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

There's a place for it. These people have a history and are mostly known for their work in WWE so references that don't make AEW look bad are fine. That was always the issue with TNA, it wasn't that they mentioned WWE, it was that they always made themselves seem so inferior. Bryan mentioning WrestleMania for heat was great. MJF being called a less famous Miz was hilarious. Cody teasing hitting the pedigree was good too, same when it looked like Puink might do the five knuckle shuffle.

The references to Cena and HHH weren't needed and don't really help anyone. I'd leave that out. But at least it was stuff everyone could get, they're not alienating their audience. The New Japan shite is far worse for that. References to people we don't see and factions we don't know so that some old bastard can wobble down for a one off match or two. Fuck that. Bryan vs. Suzuki as a YouTube exclusive was absolutely fine. That's the way to use this stuff. Keep it the fuck off real TV.

Personally, I thought the Cena reference was really effective. It was away of saying Punk had lost his edge, without actually saying that; while also playing off their shared history. I don't feel strongly either way about the Triple H reference. My wife, who didn't watch wrestling until I started watching AEW, had never seen a promo like that before; so looking at it through that lens, the lens of a new viewer, it probably seemed quite fresh, and bold. As a one-off, I think it worked well, and I'll bet that it worked even better for newer fans. I'm intrigued as to what they do next, though. If they try to do the same thing, or similar, there's a real danger that it'll feel repetitious and tired quickly. 

[Supremo]

The Cena reference would have been far more effective if Kingston and Punk hadn’t already played on that idea weeks earlier, far more subtly. There was a real sense of copying someone’s homework but not really understanding the material.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

The Cena reference would have been far more effective if Kingston and Punk hadn’t already played on that idea weeks earlier, far more subtly. There was a real sense of copying someone’s homework but not really understanding the material.

One of my ongoing problems with MJF is that he tends to do that, and that he can often come out with lines that you could consider "heelish" without considering why his character would be saying any of this in the first place. 

However, in the context of MJF/Punk, I don't have a problem with the idea of the MJF character 'copying homework' without fully understanding what he's copying. MJF felt slighted by Punk during their initial interaction, and the idea of his that character stewing for a week, furiously thinking about what he might say, relishing at the idea of verbally eviscerating Punk, feels believable, even if some of the lines were mindless. And then he failed, Punk saw through his routine, even acknowledging that he was right about certain things, meaning MJF, in the end, fell flat on his face. 

The next step in this feud is crucial for me - I don't think it can be more of the same, I think MJF has to get violent. If the entire feud consists of back-and-forths like this, my perception of this segment might change.