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The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread


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44 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Depends what criteria that is being based on I suppose.


Great matches? Sure, but Dean Malenko consistently had great matches. Plus, look at who Omega had those great matches with.
 

Malenko had GOOD matches, and had he bad matches with people who couldn't keep up with him. Shoot me down in flames here, but Omega's '16 - '18 run was miles better than anything Dean Malenko did in his prime years.

And you can't use New Japan's solid roster as an excuse there. Yeah he had a brilliant series with the likes of Okada and Naito. But he was also able to excel with anybody on the roster. The likes of Yano, Goto, White, fucking hell even scrubs like YOSHI-HASHI. He could fly with the Ibushis, do comedy with the Yanos but also go toe-to-toe in hard bastard contests with the likes of Shibata and Ishii. And he did it all with heart, a sense of determination and a never-say-die attitude that practically shone through the screen. Malekno can't lay claim to those attributes.

And look at Malenko during his prime; who were his best matches with? Eddie, Jericho, Mysterio, the WCW cruiserweights of the mid-90's. Hardly scraping the barrel with that roster. Without mentioning Scotty Too Hotty, show me a good match that Malenko had with someone who was below him in terms of in-ring acumen.

So yeah, the whole "Well so-and-so has good matches too" doesn't do well when the worker being compared doesn't have the same high-level body of work as Omega. Maybe Eddie then? Or Jericho? Maybe then you're looking at a more solid argument. But I'd just say that Omega is right up there with them.

44 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Great promo? Everyone says the Moxley one so, okay, but other than that.... ..? I would imagine there is a reason Kenny has not been given/requested live promo time...

Kenny's mic work worked well for the Japanese audience. Weird phrasing and phonetics, weird choices of words, weird catchphrases too if we're being honest. But it worked. Whilst not the best at delivering live promos, he can still go out there, hit the beats and get a message across without looking like a deer in the headlights. 

For a North American audience, his sit-down interviews have been where he shines. He probably doesn't feel comfortable being handed a live mic, but that's not where he's at his strongest. But the times he has had a live mic? He's shows confidence and a belief in what he is saying, which is enough to get a story going or continue a feud.

44 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Charisma? M'eh... no sorry... not seeing it..... he comes off like a goof....he appeals to the gamers and the nerds but we are not talking Rock or Austin charisma here. He needs something else if he is going to draw in a wider audience, especially in a company with the likes of Jericho and Cody. 
...what else is there?...
 

Well, again, this is all down to how is being presented (or how he is presenting himself) in AEW. There's a reason why he shot to the top of Japan's largest wrestling company, and that's because the fans connected to his natural charisma and inescapable energy. He wasn't cosplaying as game characters save for his big entrances at the annual Wrestle Kingdom shows (which we all just smiled through gritted teeth at).

This geeky persona that he is portraying now wasn't there during his rise to the top in New Japan. In fact, you can trace Kenny Omega's turn in popularity from when he dropped the goofy 'Cleaner' shtick and just became Kenny Omega, leader of the Bullet Club.

49 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Dare I say it but... have we all fallen for the hype and Kenny Omega is maybe actually just not THAT great?.... Maybe? .... 

This is the Kenny Omega everyone adored. The hype was real, trust me.

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The Kenny Omega we see in AEW? Not the same guy, that's for sure. Certainly not my Kenny Omega.

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What worries me most about Omega is he’s seemingly fixated on Japan and eventually so long after he never meets those standards in AEW he’ll be in deep shit. Look at KENTA for example, or Shinsuke. Kenny is those guys right now and they had moments but never peaked. 
One thing I think he puts way too much credit into his is that bizarre maybe kinda homosexual relationship he has with Ibushi. They’ve mentioned or teased it a few times now but you have to wonder if it ever does happen if it won’t just be the final nail in his coffin. I don’t see how it successfully translates to the AEW audience at all.

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The Ibushi thing is pretty straightforward (by which I just mean not 'bizarre') - they're both very similar, they're both obsessive and they make each other happy. When they're not together, they're both lost in different ways. Last time, Kenny became ruthless and ego-driven, while Kota became aimless, until they finally reunited. This time around, Kota seems to be becoming more driven and ruthless, and Kenny appears to be slowly losing his mind.

Now, the thing is, in NJPW (from what I've seen), they were rarely THAT explicit about the relationship between them. It's a really unusual way to do stories like this. But if you've seen the reunion clip, then you've seen how it can translate to an audience. A lot of it was down to how they reacted around each other, but also by the commentators selling it.

Edited by Chris B
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One thing to consider with Omega is he hasn't done or been part of story driven week to week tv, even with his experience that my take time to get used too, the cameras, short(ish) simple "tv" matches all come with practice and time hence wwe has nxt/pc.

I think he'll settle and get aspects of The Cleaner back, could be a storyline or real life confidence.

Off Topic: but I saw him when I was in Orlando last month, he was shopping at the outlets with a friend, he's got a good look and size in person for what its worth.

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Omega has a formula, and that formula is all of his worst aspects at once - mugging, melodrama and repetition of big moves. The matches with Okada were great because Okada's skill is in wrestling his opponent's match, but elevating it into something better. Jericho forced Omega to wrestle Jericho's match. More than almost anyone else I can think of, he needs the right opponent.

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With Cody claiming before the start of AEW's run that they had a year's storylines already planned, I'm kind of hoping Omega's arc is the hyped-up ace failing to meet expectations, complacently assuming after a stellar run on foreign soil that he can swan into titles but coming massively unstuck by his ego and hubris, to eventually reevaluate, reinvent and reverse his fortunes with a steady rise to the main event in the second half of the year. That requires a level of character performance both in ring and out that I wonder if Kenny has the ability or patience for, and if he is booking himself, then I doubt that'll happen, in favour of high energy matches and gimmick entrances at arbitrary points on the card until it's his turn at the top.

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NXT nearly doubled their rating in the 18-49 demographic which is the most impressive aspect of this week's ratings. They still lost but it was close. Last week was 0.33 v 0.18. This week, it was 0.35 v 0.30.

Monday's Raw drew a 0.72 in that same demograph which is close to the combined audience for AEW and NXT which must alarm them.

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6 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

NXT nearly doubled their rating in the 18-49 demographic which is the most impressive aspect of this week's ratings. They still lost but it was close. Last week was 0.33 v 0.18. This week, it was 0.35 v 0.30.

Monday's Raw drew a 0.72 in that same demograph which is close to the combined audience for AEW and NXT which must alarm them.

...but...but... AEW! AEW was doubling NXT in the 18-49 demo!.......

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30 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

'So the ratings were pretty damn close this week, Dave. NXT came pretty close to beating AEW, right?'

 

You know we can see the point he actually responded to, rather than the one you made up like he was responding to?

In his next couple of tweets, he's also clarified that he was talking weeks previous to now in doubling it (in response to 'USA has been winning all along') and also that the demographic is the same reason that lower-than-expected ratings on Smackdown aren't as bad as people make out because they're doing well with that demographic.

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