The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[Factotum]

Caught bits this morning.  Have to say presentation was great. Looked properly good and the commentary was great. Tony S is just brilliant and JR seemed pumped up as well. Worked really well.

Jericho was great. I know he looks terrible, but the guy is just pure entertainment.

Didn't see much else bar the end. Moxley run in was good fun, but yeah, not sure on closing your show with that lump of bland coming in.

[BomberPat]

22 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

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. 

Have a look through his "Likes" on Twitter. Once you've scrolled past every bit of praise from last night, it's all typical right-wing Republican memes, anti-CNN, anti-vaxx, transphobia and so on. 

51 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

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.

Very good point. In '98, you had episodes of RAW where Austin and Undertaker were interfering in every single match, and it never hurt them.

"I can't believe they had Stone Cold come out earlier and get kicked out of the building, really hurt the pop for the run-in he did in the main event" wasn't a sentence anyone was saying.

[Richard]

3 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Have a look through his "Likes" on Twitter. Once you've scrolled past every bit of praise from last night, it's all typical right-wing Republican memes, anti-CNN, anti-vaxx, transphobia and so on. 

''Likes'' aren't necessarily endorsements.

Anyway give your authoritarian shit a rest will you.

Do you not think American television isn't already politicized enough?

I'd wager the majority of people watching the show tuned in for an alternative that isn't dripping with political correctness at every turn. People want a wrestling alternative, not the next DSA conference.  

No-one gives a shit that Jack Swagger is a trump supporter.

Anyway, imagine being an exhausted/lapsed WWE fan, being coddled into giving this new upstart brand a whirl, only to see one of the old WWE '10's relics revealed as the big surprise to close the show. As iterated by someone else, couldn't be more TNA. 

[BomberPat]

1 minute ago, Richard said:

''Likes'' aren't necessarily endorsements.

Yeah, I'm always consistently liking the Tweets of political figures and political stances I disagree with for a period of several years. That completely holds up. 

There's nothing "authoritarian" about suggesting that the stated politics of a company are at odds with their actions. If they want to hire transphobes and bigots, they're well within their rights to, but it calls into question their stated approach to providing an inclusive working environment and a diverse roster. 

[Love-Wilcox]

The matches were decent and there was nothing that was insulting my intelligence so it gets a thumbs up from me. 

The real highlight was the production in just how it felt so un-WWE. It wasn’t anywhere near as slick as a WWE produced show but it felt so much fresher and much less predictable.

It had its fault but for a first show it provided a great foundation for them to build upon. As long as they keep improving and moving forward then I see no reason why Dynamite can’t be a massive success.

[tiger_rick]

Ignoring Richard's usual bollocks - I'm not sure AEW should be taking that stuff into account when hiring workers. Surely there is a place for personal opinion if it doesn't cross the line? The flip side is while Jake Hager can think what he likes but he's going to work for a company who openly promote gay and transgender wrestlers and he's going to have to lump it because he's a dinosaur.

They're already overly desperate to be everything WWE aren't and it just doesn't feel authentic. They have some great initiatives going on without constantly trying to be the moral compass.

[Richard]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

Yeah, I'm always consistently liking the Tweets of political figures and political stances I disagree with for a period of several years. That completely holds up. 

There's nothing "authoritarian" about suggesting that the stated politics of a company are at odds with their actions. If they want to hire transphobes and bigots, they're well within their rights to, but it calls into question their stated approach to providing an inclusive working environment and a diverse roster. 

You're the only one I've seen scoffing about it. 

Anyway if you really want to go down the GOP/big business rabbit hole, the owner of the company donated seven figures to Trump's inauguration. I'd suggest sticking to the independents if you don't want your ethics poisoned, at least then people wanting to simply watch a wrestling show wouldn't get choked with your moralistic lynx spray. 

That's the problem with the new left, wherein you get self-described socialists like BomberPat signalling outrage and flexing his morality biceps over an employee that apparently liked a Trump tweet on twitter meanwhile the owner of the company is lining the pockets of the Republican party and enjoying all the tax breaks that come with it.

AEW can make a big show out of rejecting conservatism and selling the idea that they are more inclusive, the reality is Tony Khan is still eating from his Dad's pig trough. It's a sleight of hand.

AEW was astroturfed from the start. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Richard

[DavidB6937]

Watching it on Fite was a bit odd. I assume it was the ad breaks where it just sat on a long hard cam with nothing going on apart from JR occasionally saying 'what?' to someone?

[lanky316]

Subliminal messaging. JR was hinting at the upcoming arrival of Steve Austin  

[Worthits]

Looks like a good show. Riho winning was the right decision. We need babyfaces winning titles so gives new viewers someone to root for.

Was Darby on the show or just on a dark match?

Edited October 3, 2019 by Worthits

[Accident Prone]

As soon as Swagger ran out, my heart sank. As the crowd popped louder and louder for him, my heart sank further. I hope he's fed to someone and packed off in a hurry, because nothing about him makes me want to watch. He's got extremely shit socio-political opinions (as Pat pointed out, it makes AEW's 'woke' stance come across as completely see-through) and he's also extremely bang-average in the ring and not much else on the mic either.

I'm not saying that everyone on the roster has to be a left-wring progressive, but if you have bad opinions AND you're also bad at the whole wrestling thing too, then you can fuck off. Great politics, shit wrestler? You're okay in my book. Shit politics, great wrestler?(AJ Styles, for example) You're okay. I can take one or the other, but not both.

As for the whole show, it was solid enough. I felt Cody/Sammy was a bit long, and wasn't the hot start that the show needed, but it was good enough. MFJ shined but should've squashed Cutler in seconds. Riho/Rose was clunky but had it's moments, very surprised with the finish and I like the seeds being planted for the tag.

The Smith/Mewes stuff was amateur hour and real cringe. Woeful. The SCU/Lucha Bros confrontation was much better. The main event and the related angles made for great viewing until Thwagger showed up. No idea why the ref didn't call for the DQ when Ambrose interfered though.

Still, I'm satisfied with what show I chose to watch this morning (and what show got the 'read recap on 411' treatment). I'll probably stick to AEW until Full Gear and see how the landscape lies then, as there's no fucking way that I can watch both shows spoiler free every week.

[Richard]

Yeah. Pretty much. Swagger has double-cancer. 

There are plenty of big blokes on the market that fit the mould they were after, why not Ryback?

Whatever the case, if Cody is hellbent on signing all of his old mates, Sandow would instantly make all the librarian comedy shit more watchable. 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I really liked the presentation of the whole thing. Just felt different. Tony, JR and Excalibur were great on commentary. I loved the camera work. Everything about the feel of the show was class. I thought it was going to be some love in shite, with loads of "we did it, look at how great we are" shit, but they got heat on them at the end. No comedy, no wink at the camera. Just a seriously wrestling show, where wins and losses mattered, and no guys dressed as penises.

The worrying thing is, is this really going to challenge WWE? Once the novelty and buzz dies down in a few weeks/months (and it will, it always does), will this be as fresh and watchable as it is right now? We'll see I suppose. All I know is, if this was 6 months down the line and guys like Sean Spears and Jack Swagger are the guys they are signing up, then that wont go down to well.

[Seratonin]

I think WWE is laughing right now because of Omega's cocky comments, set himself up for a big fall there. Swagger Jagger at least has a size advantage and someone who looks like could be a star with some build up as a heel.

But wasn't this their best chance to make a great impression? Ratings for the introduction shows are usually much higher like we saw with NXT. Imagine if their next show has 30% less viewers. Ratings matter and it'll be interesting to see where we are in six months.

Watched in full this morning and I'll let you make your own mind up how I got it.

[DavidB6937]

I watched this and NXT before work to avoid spoilers, and to be honest I think I'm more likely to stick with NXT and then watch AEW in the evening, as I didn't feel like there was enough of a pull here to make me switch. I'll happily watch both going forward though.