The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[Merzbow]

The cynical side of me is saying they care so little for the women's division that they've only just gave a enough of a shit to put a tiny little bit of metal on her belt.

 

[simonworden]

14 hours ago, CavemanLynn said:

That is a stonking photo.

They've got two angles running that have effortlessly involved FOURTEEN wrestlers, simply and logically, despite both being versions of a stable split. You've got the sneaky young pup trying to worm his way in by palling up with the big dog, vs the old leader coming back to sort out the chaos wrought by an intruder in his gang while he was forced to stay away. It's brilliant, carried by personalities and human reactions rather than win-loss records or (obvious) PPV match box ticking. The number of match combos, potential mini feuds, twists and turns is mind boggling, and the right kind of tension. Nothing feels inevitable or predictable, or unnecessary. It's fantastic.

There's so many ways they can logically go with it as well, Do Sammy and Ortiz leave and have a tag match, does Jericho get kicked out and they decide to side with MJF or do we get conflicted decisions? Do we get a tag title run going for Wardlow and Hagar, forced upon them by Jericho and MJF to try and make them buddies? I hope the end goal in 3-6 months is most of them turning on Jericho including Sammy out of jealousy as I see Sammy/ Jericho being a great lead in feud to Jericho/MJF. I'd have Santana and Ortiz stick by Jericho though. This in my mind then leads off to hopefully and eventual Wardlow/ MJF feud but that's hopefully a long way off and we have a lot of good shit to get through in the meantime.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

On 11/14/2020 at 5:56 AM, Mr Butternut Squash said:

I maintain that Cody's "I'll never challenge for the world championship again" stipulation is the stupidest thing they've ever done...

 

Cos heaven forbid a future heel Cody were to turn out to be a hypocrite and backtrack on a self imposed promise.

Credit to AEW, they seem to have lots of long term plans on the go, and I have every faith they have set that seed for a reason.

Edited November 15, 2020 by andrew "the ref" coyne

[Guest]

Even if that don’t have plans, it gives the impression they do when things are done so logically, which is better than what we have had in US wrestling in a long time. Much easier to invest in 

[Lenin]

It's quite incredible just how quickly and easy they make booking look compared to the dross in WWE (save for Roman). It's so natural and free flowing. Lovely stuff. 

[Merzbow]

A twitter promo for a match he isn't even in is better than most guys big fued go homes.

 

[unfitfinlay]

6 hours ago, Suplex Sinner said:

It's quite incredible just how quickly and easy they make booking look compared to the dross in WWE (save for Roman). It's so natural and free flowing. Lovely stuff. 

Agreed. One thing I really love how they've booked Reynolds and Silver. They've gradually gone from bland jobbers that Moxley destroyed in seconds to popular members of the roster, and they've done it without getting any wins, major storylines or even a lot of TV time. They just gave them a logical role in the promotion and let them run with it. Silver, in particular, is one of the funniest people in wrestling right now.

Another thing I like is that it's Ortiz and Sammy that don't want MJF in the Inner Circle. Not Ortiz and Santana. It might not lead anywhere but I think it makes things more interesting than if they'd went the obvious route and Proud and Powerful were on the same page.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

1 hour ago, unfitfinlay said:

Agreed. One thing I really love how they've booked Reynolds and Silver. They've gradually gone from bland jobbers that Moxley destroyed in seconds to popular members of the roster, and they've done it without getting any wins, major storylines or even a lot of TV time. They just gave them a logical role in the promotion and let them run with it. Silver, in particular, is one of the funniest people in wrestling right now.

Another thing I like is that it's Ortiz and Sammy that don't want MJF in the Inner Circle. Not Ortiz and Santana. It might not lead anywhere but I think it makes things more interesting than if they'd went the obvious route and Proud and Powerful were on the same page.

Yeah I've quickly become a Silver fan. Really enjoyed his match vs Cassidy at Full Gear. The personality he exuded was great, and their use of him has been solid.

[Jackpot]

Is the second telly show still in the works? 

I don't know if they'd go for an actual brand split at this time but they could make a second World Title for Cody to muck around with on the second telly show. Constantly talking about how he's put on extra muscle and how Cody feels it's time to play with the heavyweights, the AEW Heavyweight Title seems an obvious choice if they do want a second top prize. 

Failing that, the fact he said he wants to avenge his defeat to MJF (before the horrid segment that followed) seems like they'll go full circle and remove the stipulation during their second fight. The biggest issue there is how MJF has any care or power whether Cody can fight Mox/Omega for the World Title. 

[DavidB6937]

6 hours ago, Jackpot said:

I don't know if they'd go for an actual brand split at this time but they could make a second World Title for Cody to muck around with on the second telly show. Constantly talking about how he's put on extra muscle and how Cody feels it's time to play with the heavyweights, the AEW Heavyweight Title seems an obvious choice if they do want a second top prize. 

That's one of the worst things they could possibly do. A huge problem in WWE that they really don't want to replicate. I know they've got a large roster but they don't need to solve that by having too many titles.

[LaGoosh]

8 hours ago, Jackpot said:

Is the second telly show still in the works? 

Seems to be. Scheduled to start at some point in 2021.

The roster is indeed bloated but if they get a second show (likely to be one hour) and get rid of some of the scrubs on Dark and keep it to mostly contracted talent their should be enough time for everyone to get a fair shake.

[Supremo]

I’m not as hot as I once was on a second TV show. Whilst it’ll hopefully remedy the bloated roster somewhat, I actually think there’s some merit to the way they’ve phased guys in and out the last few months.

At first I didn’t like it and felt like it was killing the momentum of the guys who’d finish a program and then either be relegated to Dark squashes or vanish altogether, but having now seen it in action a number of times? I genuinely think it’s a more effective approach than just featuring guys on TV because you have them under contract.

Lance Archer is the perfect example. I think it’s helped him massively that he’s only been featured properly when he’s got a big feud worth everyone’s time, otherwise being allowed to simmer and do quick angles or promos every other week. Ten weeks worth of matches wouldn’t have come close to being as effective as the one ten second clip of him throwing jobbers in a bin.

Same thing with the Lucha Brothers. I think it’s been hugely beneficial that they’ve not really been around much, only to suddenly step into the spotlight. Adds loads of variety and keeps everything ticking along, not really allowing anyone to get stale. Wasn’t this what territories used to do? You can see why.

Obviously there’s a limit though. Where the fuck is Britt Baker already? Give her the belt!

I love this. They should release this type of old school poster every week.

Edited November 16, 2020 by Supremo

[BomberPat]

A second show would need to feel somehow different to be beneficial. I'm not keen if it's just an additional two hours of Dynamite by any other name, or Dark on the telly. It doesn't have to be a hard brand split (and I hope it isn't), but something that stylistically differentiates it from Dynamite would be welcome.

[Statto]

Agreed on that - since they've put a big emphasis on tag team wrestling, maybe they could do a show that is always exclusively tag matches of one kind or another?

You could heavily feature your "proper" tag teams of course, but also do those matches where you get a bunch of singles guys put together into a 4/6/8 man tag match to advance feuds that way.

You could work angles around new regular teams forming & finding chemistry (or otherwise), and have your top singles guys develop a go to tag partner (who's maybe slightly further down the singles pecking order than them) like the top WWF guys used to seem to have in the late 80s/early 90s.

Managed correctly, having a Moxley or Jericho show up to have their first tag match in a while could seem like a big deal, like a Sting/Luger tag appearance used to seem to me back in the day.

[I Bent My Wookie]

I'd be happy for them to use it as a medium between Dynamite and Dark, where the TNT title gets defended weekly. 10/15 minute time limit, a seperate rankings to the main belt, use the idea about giving more teams, groups of singles guys etc. 

It would have leant itself more to Darby wanting to be the face of TNT if he had his own show where he was the main attraction. 

As an hour a week, you could have that match for the title, a few promos of people they're trying to get over, main eventers too, then 2 lower card matches, maybe someone trying to rise up the ranks and then a multi person tag or singles and bam hour of easy TV. Can build on stuff on Dynamite, can build the TNT title, can build people. 

Use Dark as a 60 minute show on YouTube of 8-10 minute matches or squashes for people being built up and those they want more exposure for and you start to instantly lose that bloated feeling of the roster.