The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[I Bent My Wookie]

Tonight is pre taped right? Based off how much I liked last week and what they have scheduled, I hope they can carry the momentum on tonight and get a strong viewer rating to hype up Blood and Guts.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Louch said:

Could see this being the week he unmasks, Darby giving him props and him taking the confidence from a strong defeat 

I doubt it, particularly given the contents of the promo. At one point the masks were clearly designed to be a sign of subordination to Brody, but now they have turned into a tribute.

[Nick James]

That was a cracking little show from beginning to end. 

The Elite all crammed awkwardly into a limo at the beginning made me laugh more than it should have with Anderson and Gallows looking ridiculously uncomfortable. Gallows then showed what an insufferable moron he is, licking his bicep while Kenny was talking, those two need to hit the bricks and leave it to Kenny and the Bucks.

I'm never usually bothered about Eddie's gear or look and have defended it multiple times, but going from the on screen graphics where he looked an absolute boss, to him walking out of the tunnel with his pasty tan and singlet was like before and after a filter is applied. I still love the big mad bastard though. 

Derby continuing to be gold in the main event and The Dark Order continue to be the most likeable thing in all of wrestling. Could have done without another attack and beat down, especially by those two scrubs.

As mentioned above, I've developed quite a thing for Statlander since her return and can't quite put my finger on it. The Best Friends have gone from something I wasn't interested in one bit, to one of my favourite acts in the company. They should have shown that hype package from the 'Road to' video.

Miro being a menacing bastard to Kip, then hugging him and saying he forgives him is the Miro we have needed since his debut. I winced when he slammed the door on Kips arm. The worry for me is where does he fit in now? Surely he's the one to dethrone Derby.

Dropping a loss on Hangman was a good call, him Vs Kenny is too soon with everything Kenny has got going on. He took a hell of a beating.

MJF calling out Jericho for his blood shot eyes and covering how it's the stress and pressure of having to deliver each week was a great, really smart. Sammy digging out Spears for being a failure since his debut and failing in WWE was good as well. Does anyone know what Jericho was referring to in regards to the OVW assassination attempt?

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Love that Best Friends promo. Kris Statlander has definitely given them life and a new dimension. 

 

Helps that she looks great too, much better than her old character and outfits 

[Hannibal Scorch]

58 minutes ago, Nick James said:

Does anyone know what Jericho was referring to in regards to the OVW assassination attempt?

I believe it was this https://www.tmz.com/2012/05/24/chris-jericho-wwe-suspended-desecrating-brazilian-flag/

Great show that. Matt Jackson’s Johnny Cage tribute was the first time I’ve seen that, plus kept up the corporate synergy (even though the commentary didn’t reference that). 
 

also, most importantly, set up some cracking matches for next week so it’s not a 1 match card. Next week is now absolutely stacked!

 

[RedRooster]

JR really annoyed me on this episode. He totally undercut what was a fantastic angle with Miro. After Miro beat the shit into Sabian, then cradled him almost gangster like and told him he forgave him, JR's response, rather than talking about how disturbing this was, was to jovially say "I don't think Sabian enjoyed that trip to the woodshed!" 

He was also back to his old habits when it came to the female wrestlers, talking about how good looking Penelope Ford is. It's incredibly creepy. 

Having said that, it was a really enjoyable episode and I'm relieved that Blood and Guts won't be a one match show. The segment between the two stables hyping the match was very strong, with Santana/Ortiz, Jericho and MJF cutting particularly strong promos. 

Orange Cassidy defeating Penta was a little disappointing, I'd love to see Penta pick up some meaningful wins and move up the card. For me, the Cassidy gimmick is starting to feel a little stale. 

Darby/10 was a lot of fun, but if you're going to have him feud with Ethan Page at least do something to establish who this character is. He couldn't be more generic for me. I actually quite like Scorpio Sky as a heel, but I think he'd be far better off as a solo act. 

Kingston was a lot of fun on this episode, but I'm disappointed that he didn't goad Omega into a title match. That said, I'm still hoping that's where we land, especially considering that they seem to be shifting towards The Bucks vs. SCU as a tag title feud, rather than The Bucks vs. Kingston/Moxley (for now, anyway).

Page losing to Cage was curious, and I wonder if it's to move him down the rankings slightly and keep him away from Kenny that little bit longer. Which is absolutely the right thing to do. 

[Guest]

The Jericho Assassination thing is UAE, he was in a bar and a guy threatened to have him killed. Sure it’s in one of his books that Hager back him up   

[LaGoosh]

Fantastic episode this week. Nothing more I could want out of a weekly wrestling show.

- Page/Cage was a really good match. I was surprised by Page losing but in a good way. Firstly, Cage needed a decent win. Secondly, Page isn't ready for a title shot and losing a tough match slows him down a little without hurting him. Page needs a big, brutal feud with someone he faces down The Elite. Maybe Miro or Lance Archer?

- The lads in the limo was absolutely great, line of the night from Don Callis in this "Six grown men in the back of a limo, doesn't get any better than this". All of them looked like dickheads but in the best way possible.

- Didn't really care for the Bucks vs the Sydals. I love the Bucks in big matches but don't really want to see them wrestle every week. They've got a great bag of tricks but you don't want to see them too often.

- OC/Penta was loads of fun. Penta is fucking terrible at selling so luckily this match played to both men's strengths. Penta is great at arse kicking and being an over the top arrogant arsehole, OC is great at selling and babyface comeback spots. The catch on the dive turning into a one armed press slam was glorious. Some people might be bored of OC's act but I still love him. I hope they give him a title shot program with Omega at some point. The whole Best Friends group is really gelling at the moment. The babyfaces outsmarting the heels to win is also always good. Take note WWE, babyfaces don't have to be fucking idiots.

- AEW have turned Shida vs Britt Baker into one of it's most anticipated matches. You have to give them credit for that. Baker is tremendous as always in her segment this week. Her interactions with Tony are always great.

- You won't really get many better in ring promo segments that Inner Circle/Pinnacle this week. Even Shawn Spears looked good in it. They really sold the hate in this, with everyone shining. Jericho and MJF dropped the comedy and lame shoot bollocks and just concentrated on the emotion of it. Criminal that this stuff isn't taking place in front of sold out crowds. This got me insanely hyped for next week. Job done perfectly.

- Kingston really needs to drop that scrub ring gear and just fight in street gear. Omega was brilliant in this segment. Happily leaving Nakazawa to get his leg broken, calling out another jabroni and when realizing Moxley is behind him just dropping his head and saying "Oh, Christ". I burst out laughing at that.

- Looks like we're getting Christian/Starks soon which will be a banger. I like that they are telling a nice little story with this rather than "fighting just cause". Taz is jealous of Christian's return from retirement and longs for the spotlight and success so surrounds himself with the best young talent. Christian is going to show Taz that his way is wrong. Lovely.

- Statlander/Ford was a decent little match. Statlander is fast becoming a favourite of mine. I think I'm a bit in love with her. She just has that intangible something to her. Great look, gimmick and good in the ring.

- I even enjoyed the QT stuff this week. Ogogo's punches being treated as killer blows is really cool Hopefully Cody is back to what he does best, pure whitemeat babyface fire.

- Miro the psychotic murderer is pure money in the bank. A genuinely terrifying character. I like to think he is working out 24/7, just ready to snap. I hope he keeps Kip around for a bit as his best friend/constantly abused underling.

- Allin/10 was a perfectly fine TV main event. The commentators are starting to sell a "these matches must be taking their toll on Darby" angle which I'm all for. He's getting smashed every week, it's going to wear him down. I couldn't give two shits about Scorpio Sky or Ethan Page though.

- JR might have been shite again this week but his voice is still pleasant sounding so I can tune him out very easily now.

Bring on Blood & Guts! It's going to be mental. 

EDIT: Two really good Taz moments during the opener.

While Page is being attacked by Team Taz.

Tony: Taz, surely you can't condone this group attack on Adam Page?

Taz: Yes I can, he deserves it. He's a rotten bastard!

and

Hangman goes up for a moonsault.

Taz: Big mistake! Big mistake!

Page hits a perfect moonsault.

Taz; Not a mistake. Damn.

Edited April 29, 2021 by LaGoosh

[RedRooster]

16 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

- AEW have turned Shida vs Britt Baker into one of it's most anticipated matches. You have to give them credit for that. Baker is tremendous as always in her segment this week. Her interactions with Tony are always great.

I've said it before, but I'd love for this match to main event the next PPV. If Kenny's not facing Page, then there's no real reason not to give these two the opportunity to close the show. 

[Nick James]

I'm not overly familiar with the song, but i have had OC's theme stuck in my head all morning. The more I think about it, the more The Best Friends are one of my favourite acts in wrestling and tread that line between daft comedy and believable in the ring. As much as the OC act isnt what it once was, i think a lot of that is because it involves the crowd participation. Him doing the slow leg kicks doesn't work as well without the crowds losing their shit by the superkick. 

[Merzbow]

Hangman Page shouldn't have been pushed as the number one contender in the first place if they weren't at all ready for the Omega match, it felt like a rushed retcon to me having him lose like that in a match with little build.

It does the job but it's one that shouldn't have been had to do.

As much as I love the company on a week to week basis maybe I'm just soured on their "long term stories" that seem to often be artificially drawn out. The whole "WWE doesn't do long term booking so we will" feeling I get.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Merzbow

[LaGoosh]

Retcon? Not sure what you mean by that. It's not like he died and they brought him back to life like the Emperor in Star Wars.

Page was ranked number 1 due to winning loads of matches as a top babyface should.  He lost a match in what felt like a surprise loss to a monster heel who needed a big win. It made perfect logical sense. Outside of a few comments from JR and one backstage promo they haven't been even pushing the Page title shot story particularly hard.

They're telling a long term story here. 

[I Bent My Wookie]

Hangman losing is perfect for me. He is the character who is constantly rebuilding after every setback until he finally reaches the top. Lost to Jericho, went with Kenny, got ditched, found the Dark Order, built up to number 1, destroyed by a monster and his group, now he just needs to build up by going through Team Taz to beat Cage (and I'm sure have a Cage and Page Vs Cage and Ricky tag match) and then move onto Kenny once the Bucks move onto Mox and Kingston.

I love OC, even his and Trents interaction with Bryce asking them about the microphone at the end was good. It's mad to think that he spent years pretending to be an Ant before going full throttle with this character. Him and Kris together are cute as well, just in the sense that character wise they're both weird as hell and seem to have no form of actual communication yet look after each other.

[Supremo]

Yeah, the last thing you can call Page losing is a, “retcon.” That’d be like saying the time they originally teased Batista vs. Triple H in late 2003 was a retcon because they moved on to other things and didn’t properly pull the trigger until six months later.

They’re in the business of building things up, teasing them and making fans desperate to see the final pay off. This was perfect. It plants the idea that Hangman is one of the best, it flirts with the idea that he could be next in line for a title shot, but then it gives him a whole new obstacle to overcome first. It wasn’t like he was smashed to bits clean. Poor bastard was jumped before the bell! You know he’d beat everyone in a fair fight because he’s the real hero.

Plus, in a company filled with great acts, Taz might be one of the very best. He’s proved himself to be a hell of a promo. If I’m building someone up to be the next World Champion there aren’t many people I’d choose to help get him over right now more than Taz. Hangman is in excellent hands feuding with Team Taz. Darby Allin walked out of a feud with them as one of the top stars in the company!

Honestly, without meaning to sound like a prick, the very reason that one loss has us talking like this and has the potential to annoy you is kind of the point. You’re supposed to be sad we didn’t get the Omega match. It makes the orgasm bigger when he finally kicks out of the One Winged Angel, beats Kenny clean and raises that belt to fireworks.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Supremo

[Chili]

"Make it good."