Worthits Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 5 hours ago, King Pitcos said: AEW doesn’t need to be profitable. It just needs to not lose enough money for daddy to pull the plug. I'd just rather it be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philjax Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 It is good, it's just not great yet. Some of it is though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamTH17 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 One of my resolutions was to try and get myself back into wrestling, so thought I'd start by checking out tonight's Dynamite. The venue was great. Any way in which they can get a bit of variety into the typical arena setting is always good with me. I liked how close the action felt, it came across really well on screen. Not the first time they've done it either (Fight for the Fallen, IIRC?) which is a good aspect in my eyes. Darby is cool. His shtick comes across well, especially with the little vignettes. Cody is a star in this environment. Really enjoyed the story they got across of each man being wiser to the game-plan of the other, and they had a lot more chemistry than I presumed they would have going in. It's not something I expected, but I'm really pleased about it. I really like how car crash Darby's style comes across, in that he actually looks like he's trying to hurt you with his offence. Even his dives, you don't get the sense he's doing it to look good, he's doing it because he's flinging his body at you as fast as he can. Not the ending I would've gone with, I personally would've had another draw, but this time Darby being on the verge of victory, but at least it helped to establish the relationship of Cody and Arn. At least it gave Arn a bit more substance than "people will pop for you and when you do a spinebuster." Comfortably the best match of the night. Justin Robert's overcoat was fucking hilarious. Wasn't a fan of them playing up that Nyla hadn't been around for a few weeks, but still had a high spot in their rankings. Doesn't that just suggest everyone else is shit for not overtaking someone who's been sat on their couch? The women's stuff was bad. Bad, and really boring. I honestly can't imagine anyone genuinely taking any interest or enjoyment when they're just sent out, second on the card, thrown together match with little to no heat. Britt Baker's fucking triangle choke as well. State of it. Almost as bad as JR's attempts to pretend that he gives a flying fuck about what he's watching. They need to tie a rocket to Shida, she's the only one in this match that showed anything halfway interesting. They worked hard enough, but it's really not clicking. I wish they didn't keep giving Janela rubbish to work with. First Spears, now Sabian? I'd rather go back to see him throwing himself through lightubes against mid-1990's Japanese talent. Something I enjoyed especially during Mox/Trent was JR bringing more storyline than what we were just seeing in the ring. The whole Inner Circle deal with Jericho and Moxley, and Trent's singles record alongside the implications of a win. I thought Moxley should've just battered Trent around for a bit, as opposed to the back and forth exchanges they had. It's not like Trent's a protected commodity. Maybe it's because I've seen them more predominantly in PWG but Best Friend's shtick doesn't really translate well in my opinion to television. I'd much rather see them build to a Moxley/Cassidy match. If there's any two guys that could pull something like that off, it'd be those two. Sammy Guevara is fucking excellent. I love how he's the little stringy dickhead who gets himself involved in everyone else's business. Plays it excellently.Dustin was also great. Came out, no fucking around. No pandering to the crowd. Just had business on his mind, and wanted to get revenge on Sammy for the shit the Inner Circle pulled. He absolutely gets it. Unlike Jake Hager. Isn't he meant to be this big, brutish muscle? Hard as fuck MMA professional? Why is he strutting around in his River Island polo with his arms folded in that case? Fucking woeful finish. I like the idea of Wardlow/Cody in a cage at MJF's behest, but the presentation is going to be important. If they turn it into "who can escape" then it'll be shit - if they have it as Wardlow being assigned the job of beating the piss out of him, then it'll work a lot better. MJF's delivery was pretty good, and he got his points across well. Solid enough stuff. I'd far prefer to see Cody on the microphone, though. Not a fan of what they're doing with Britt. Do we really need another heel turn? That's MJF, Britt and Hangman either turned, or strongly hinted at in the last couple of months alone at going down that route. Plus the whole "will he won't he?" situation they've been working with Moxley. I get the whole angle they're going for with The Elite, but it's something that would be served so much better with some vignettes, or talking head interviews. You could easily cut some time from the earlier matches to try and get across your main story. A couple of throwaway lines on commentary isn't the most efficient method of trying to get across one of your key storylines. On an honest note though, I thought Hangman did a thoroughly decent job on commentary, getting across his bitterness and jealously. Could've gone down really corny, but he was quite reserve and subtle. The match was as expected. Everyone got their shit in. Didn't do too much for me. Pentagon and Fenix should have been main event stars in this company yesterday. Both of them offer something so unique and dynamic in their current main event scene. Really would've preferred the Elite getting some wins against the lower rungs of the company before moving on to some of the top heels in the company before declaring themselves as being back, but main events gotta main event. Good show overall. Did enough to make me want to tune in next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Yeah that was definitely a solid show that felt like it was making some positive adjustments for the future. True test will be delivering on that groundwork and trying to be consistent. That's always the challenge and hopefully they can keep the momentum going now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2020 Excellent show. I like all the moving parts at the moment, even Dustin and Hager. Particularly nice to see something more out of Page. Be interesting to see if they can avoid a heel turn being anticlimactic given it seems so obvious at the moment. I'm not a big fan of the spotty style of the main event but it's far more enjoyable watching a match where people are losing their shit for every spot than a dead crowd waiting for a finish. Enjoyed the environment. Like where they're heading with Jericho/Mox, Cody/MJF, Page turn. Like how well they've already established MJF, Allin, Sammy, Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and OC as characters I care about. Happy New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Did they reset the win/loss records? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2020 36 minutes ago, The King of Old School said: Did they reset the win/loss records? No, they were still the full records on the graphics but they did interview Jurassic Express and mentioned about the records resetting. So presume it's from next week with a new 2020 record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uklaw Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, The King of Old School said: Did they reset the win/loss records? You didn’t come out any clearer to the fact. It didn’t help that when JR made that point at the very start of the first match Excalibur (and Taz, by extension) essentially contradicted him in the next sentence, unless I was really dense? Or maybe it’s not this week?  Edit: As rick said, maybe it’s from next week? Edit 2: Speaking of Excalibur, I felt the presence of Taz further highlighted the ‘quality’ of his commentary. I haven’t read reviews or looked at message boards, but I can guess people may be calling for Taz to be switched it and join JR (if they insist on keeping him in the booth) and Tony Schiavone. Edited January 2, 2020 by uklaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted January 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2020 With a Feb PPV, I'd possibly expect it to be the end of Jan for the resets, with achievements in records leading to matches. If not this year, then next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Why make everything needlessly complicated though? First TV show of the year is a perfect time to reset them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 7 hours ago, AdamTH17 said: Â I wish they didn't keep giving Janela rubbish to work with. Â I wish they didn't keep giving Janela work, personally, but each to their own. Other than that I agree that the show was much better this week. I wonder if this means the Bucks will reinstate their social media accounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted January 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2020 44 minutes ago, The King of Old School said: Why make everything needlessly complicated though? First TV show of the year is a perfect time to reset them. Because they have a PPV in February. I don't disagree that first week in January makes a lot of sense on some levels, but if there are prizes/matches at the subsequent PPV, being able to focus January on a mad dash to get as high a ranking as possible makes sense too, and then spend Feb building the matches once they've been announced. There are 8 shows between now and then - that's two-thirds as many shows as AEW has had so far. I'm going on two assumptions here, which could be dangerous: 1 - The rankings will have meaning in future years 2 - The February PPV will be influenced by those rankings. If they can use this year to show us what the idea behind the rankings is, along with the rewards, then it should be more interesting this time next year. If it's treated like the AEW equivalent of the G1 tournament, there's plenty of scope for that with future booking. If the thinking is more 'Oh shit, this hasn't worked at all - quick, reset, reset', then when they do it doesn't make a difference. Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2020 The rankings will never mean anything. Except to people on Reddit who like to overthink everything. I don't think it's complicated to reset next week as otherwise everyone will be 0-0. But anything beyond that would be pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brudaker Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 They did reset to 0-0 for everyone, though as mentioned on commentary everyone still has a career tally The intro graphics for wrestlers coming out were updated to reflect that, saying "career" rather than "overall". They do need to do more at the end of 2020 to make having the best yearly record actually mean something though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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