The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[DavidB6937]

It was fine. Not as great as I was hoping, but as a first show it was decent enough to keep me watching.

Found the women's match to be awful if I'm honest. Knowing some of the other talent they have on the books, they really need to sort that out fast.

I'm in agreement with wanting more character build and vignettes etc. It started off so well but not enough of that.

It felt unpolished and chaotic a lot of the time but that's not actually a bad thing up against the robotic predictable WWE presentation so I felt that was more a positive than a negative.

I'll give them a chance to win me over with Swagger I suppose but meh.

[MPDTT]

So here's my take:

Presentation, production  and commentary were great. Considering it was show 1, there was nothing out of place and the addition of Schiavone completed the commentary team and I got a kick out of the Nitro references.

Great crowd, not full of kids and loud all night.

I really enjoyed the Cody / Sami match and the segment that followed.

I liked the amount of wrestling on a 2 hour show - long may that continue.

The MJF / Cutler match used up precious TV time that could have been used for a multi man match to get more people TV time on the first show. I could have done without that match.

I liked the minimal backstage segments and the fact interviews happened in front of the live crowd.

TV-14, "bastard", "prick, "shit", glass table spot.....great stuff!

Hangman and Pac was great - building Pac as a top guy continues and makes sense.

Fite TV - well worth the money to see what happens during ad breaks.

The choice of female characters to compete for the title still surprises me. Neither wow me and I'd much rather have seen the Priestley / Baker fued take centre stage in the women's division. Also what was the point of Kenny coming out at the end of the match?

I don't want the Bucks and Kenny entering to the BTE theme, didn't suit the moment at all. Loved the whole match, the attack, the Hager reveal and the formation on a new heal stable to take on the Elite. Chuffed to see the former LAX in such a good spot on their debut.

Overall, a great start and 2 hours flew by.....even without Bea Priestley, Jimmy Havoc or Joey Janella!

I'll be in Baltimore on November 9th and can't wait!

 

[Yakashi]

Swagger is a fine signing. There’s too many 5ft 5 150lb geeks as it is. Having someone big and dangerous is a great addition and, in AEW at least, is something different. 

[BomberPat]

10 minutes ago, MPDTT said:

 Also what was the point of Kenny coming out at the end of the match?

Literally every single time Riho has wrestled the announcers have called her "the preferred intergender tag partner of Kenny Omega". It seems a more than obvious set-up to me.

I've only read the results so far, and it reads like a solid show, yet potentially underwhelming if you went in looking for a world-changer. I think it's probably the right pace to set for AEW to not front-load the debut show with big surprises and huge moments, as that sets a precedent they won't be able to keep up. 

I do question ending the show on a Jake Hager debut, especially as where I read suggested he's in a stable with Jericho, so already playing second fiddle. I'm sure he can work a good programme with Dustin, and bring something to the table, but putting him in the main event spot straight away is a TNA move in saying "the ex-WWE guy is more important than our own talent". 

To get a little "inside baseball" about it, though, I don't know if the self-styled "woke", inclusive promotion really should be looking to have someone on their roster that's a transphobic, Trump supporting, racist anti-vaxxer, and if I were in Nyla Rose's shoes, for example, I'd be questioning their commitment to that inclusivity by bringing someone like him in. To be cynical about it, when WWE are about to go back to Saudi Arabia, it would do AEW well to present themselves as the liberal, guilt-free alternative, even if it's just a gimmick.

[King Coconut]

How was Punk? 

[The Dart]

Didn't see all of it, but really liked what I did see.

I won't go to any effort to watch it live in the future, but I'll definitely watch most weeks on demand on Thursday nights.

[MPDTT]

22 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Literally every single time Riho has wrestled the announcers have called her "the preferred intergender tag partner of Kenny Omega". It seems a more than obvious set-up to me.

 

Hey @BomberPat. I get that, but it took away from his entrance just a few minutes later - it hurt the pop. He did a run in, when doing so added nothing to the match, went straight to the back and then came back out again to the BTE theme with the Bucks. The whole entrance for Kenny and the Young Bucks just felt flat - nowhere near as special as Cody's at the start of the show.

[MPDTT]

1 minute ago, MPDTT said:

Hey @BomberPat. I get that, but it took away from his entrance just a few minutes later - it hurt the pop. He did a run in, when doing so added nothing to the match, went straight to the back and then came back out again to the BTE theme with the Bucks. The whole entrance for Kenny and the Young Bucks just felt flat - nowhere near as special as Cody's at the start of the show.

Also - Kenny's either going with the whole unstable, crazy, falling to pieces angle......or he isn't. Which is it?

[Yakashi]

4 minutes ago, MPDTT said:

Hey @BomberPat. I get that, but it took away from his entrance just a few minutes later - it hurt the pop. He did a run in, when doing so added nothing to the match, went straight to the back and then came back out again to the BTE theme with the Bucks. The whole entrance for Kenny and the Young Bucks just felt flat - nowhere near as special as Cody's at the start of the show.

Maybe because they came out to shitty music looking like compkete geeks? I do wonder how a new audience would view them. They look so bad with those terrible outfits and the hair. 

[Max Power]

The lad who wrestled Cody in the opener was the MVP for me. 

All in all a decent show.

[Supremo]

34 minutes ago, MPDTT said:

Hey @BomberPat. I get that, but it took away from his entrance just a few minutes later - it hurt the pop. He did a run in, when doing so added nothing to the match, went straight to the back and then came back out again to the BTE theme with the Bucks. The whole entrance for Kenny and the Young Bucks just felt flat - nowhere near as special as Cody's at the start of the show.

Would you have liked it more if Kenny had said some swear words during his run-in,  like, “tits,” “arse,” or, “piss”?

[tiger_rick]

2 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Would you have liked it more if Kenny had said some swear words during his run-in,  like, “tits,” “arse,” or, “piss”?

He did say "What the fuck are you doing?" to Nyla.

That whole "hurt the pop" thing is a myth. Real stars can come out time and again with no worries. It hurts these days because no-one is a star.

[MPDTT]

29 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Would you have liked it more if Kenny had said some swear words during his run-in,  like, “tits,” “arse,” or, “piss”?

I'd have liked it if they just ended the match clean or had Britt Baker do the run in as she was on commentary. 

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

To get a little "inside baseball" about it, though, I don't know if the self-styled "woke", inclusive promotion really should be looking to have someone on their roster that's a transphobic, Trump supporting, racist anti-vaxxer, and if I were in Nyla Rose's shoes, for example, I'd be questioning their commitment to that inclusivity by bringing someone like him in. To be cynical about it, when WWE are about to go back to Saudi Arabia, it would do AEW well to present themselves as the liberal, guilt-free alternative, even if it's just a gimmick.

Is Hager actually like that in real life? I thought, given the furore over the "We, The People" gimmick and their response to it, that it was just that - a gimmick. I know that normally they're based on turning up an aspect of the real person up to 11, but it didn't seem like that with Hager. 

Can't say I'm disappointed, because I've never given a fuck about him. I just hope he goes on to crash and burn in MMA. 

[TheBurningRed]

2 hours ago, MPDTT said:

Fite TV - well worth the money to see what happens during ad breaks

Yeah it was really great seeing Riho and only Riho stand in her corner awkwardly for 3 minutes. And The Elite do the schtick while talking to the crowds like it’s a Butlins. 

Enjoyed the show. I’m fine with Hager. He’s a big guy with a good start to his MMA career. Only 2 for 2 but he’s more legit than Punk. Also, throwing the likes of Allin around could be fun. 

Did they even mention why Knox didn’t DQ Jericho’s team? Made him look silly and people in the crowd looked confused when the match carried on.