The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[wordsfromlee]

So then lads, Bray Wyatt as possible leader of The Dark Order?

[Supremo]

10 minutes ago, Jonny Vegas said:

Are we now in a world where its not acceptable to be offended or make a response to spurious and unfounded accusations of racism from strangers on the internet?

[RedRooster]

2 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I've seen a lot of people reading into his Homelander style gear as either a sign that he's turning heel or that he's too thick to recognise that Homelander is the villain, like the people who think Rorschach in Watchmen is cool. What's far more likely is that he likes the character and thought it would be a fun look - nobody obsessively dissected the intention behind Pentagon Jr's Joker get-up, did they?

Definitely possible, but one of the most enjoyable things about AEW is the layered booking, and the Easter eggs they sometimes use to tease fans. For me, it's not just the outfit - it's the combination of the outfit, his behavior during the match AND his insistence that he won't turn heel - I reckon he knows exactly what he's doing.

My judgement, admittedly, could be clouded a little by how exciting I find the idea of heel Cody - Cody vs. Punk, Cody vs. Kingston, Cody vs. Moxley, Cody vs. Bryan, Cody/Dustin II, Cody vs Page, Cody vs. Sting/Darby, Cody vs. Jungle Boy - there's so much potential for great storytelling. 

[Chili]

Ironically Jonny Vegas that rant would have ended beautifully if you walked out Morgan style with 'Take the Weather with You' playing in the background. 

[Jazzy G]

Yeah, that entrance attire, the way he responded to the crowd booing him during the match, it was all quite heelish. Combined with his frequent absences for his reality show/game show etc. It will be interesting to watch going forward and seeing where it all ends up going. 

[Guest]

As hangman doesn’t look to be in the title picture when he returns,  Cody feud wouldn’t be the worst for them both. Cody angry that the dark order and the fans like him, when half his faction turned on him and the fans are rejecting him. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

Spoiler

Far too long to quote

I called you Piers Morgan because you were going over the top about someone with a load of nonsense and rumors of what may be, with no proof. You then respond to that by going over the top with a load of nonsense and rumors of what may be with no proof.

Thanks for proving the point

[stewdogg]

AEW fans are the fucking worst, it was HIS opinion stop being a bunch of cunts.

[BomberPat]

7 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

My judgement, admittedly, could be clouded a little by how exciting I find the idea of heel Cody - Cody vs. Punk, Cody vs. Kingston, Cody vs. Moxley, Cody vs. Bryan, Cody/Dustin II, Cody vs Page, Cody vs. Sting/Darby, Cody vs. Jungle Boy - there's so much potential for great storytelling. 

Yeah, there's definitely an argument for Cody being given the Bret Hart 1997 option of "here's a list of opponents if you're a face, here's a list of opponents if you're a heel". 

Thing is, I believe Cody when he says he's not turning heel, because in the past he's talked up that he doesn't believe in heels and babyfaces, and the way he's booked and the way he's wrestled has generally supported that. In terms of match structure, he works heel when he's against someone like Darby Allin, but babyface against MJF. He's been able to do that because, early on, he was pretty universally loved and the discrepancies and inconsistencies were glossed over. But now I think him being absent through a run of big shows, and not really working at a main event level, has seen a lot of new fans come in, who just see him as someone treated like a big deal even though he's fighting QT Marshall, and I think that's hurt his perception. 

I see people comparing him to Jeff Jarrett or Triple H, and generally that gets shut down by people pointing out that he puts people over, and has done a lot to help establish the likes of Darby Allin in AEW. But that doesn't answer the question of why, if he's selflessly losing to all these people and putting them over, people still see him as over-bearing and pushed beyond his station. And I think a big part of that is presentation, and a bigger part is that lack of continuity between matches and stories I was talking about earlier, that sense that every story is booked in isolation, and that on top of that the matches are rarely informed by the story. 

I called it after the match, but I think we're not getting Cody turning heel, we're getting Cody doing the "Dark Side of Hulkamania" against the Dungeon of Doom schtick. He's going to have to find his "dark side" to beat Malakai Black. 

[DavidB6937]

5 minutes ago, stewdogg said:

AEW fans are the fucking worst, it was HIS opinion stop being a bunch of cunts.

95% of the people in this topic are AEW fans. You might be overreacting a tad.

[stewdogg]

Yeah the first part of my comment was daft.

This place is cool in the fact that people can have opinions and they are respected in the main without getting jumped on. In my opinion I feel some of the comments at Johnny are more argumentative than forming any discussion.

Personally I feel that if you dare speak out against things in this thread people will jump all over you for daring to not love the product, whilst ironically those same people will happily slag off the competition in other threads.

[CavemanLynn]

In a show with so many highlights, any lowlights stand out like a sore thumb. Cody was always going to come under more scrutiny than most, because he's Cody. The Rhodes legacy, the ex-WWE star, the suited EVP of a new wrestling promotion who featured in marquee matches as the company got off the ground. Then add to that his presentation: his labored, overcooked, emotive promos; the entrance theme featuring angelic choral voices and portentous sound mix breaking into conveyor belt metalcore (I daren't look up the lyrics); the special entrance way, awkwardly-positioned in amongst the clear visual language of heel and face entrances that the rest of the show has worked really well to build; all of which does nothing to illustrate and communicate a cohesive character, unless that character IS a labored, overcooked, emotive, portentous, awkwardly-positioned, suited EVP. Everything points to Cody being a BIG DEAL, so when the parts of the show that involve him are disappointments, it shows up in a big way.

If he wants to be a face, he needs to start organically mixing things up with the other over faces in the company. He can't continue being this aloof, melodramatic figure. But to that, he's now got to undo months of half-baked, stop-start booking, and it typically takes twice a long to break a bad habit as it did to make it. He wants to do right by the company, but he hasn't been able to find the balance between media commitments and the AEW on-screen product. A fly-by-night standard-bearer is an oxymoron.

Re: Brandi, it annoyed me more that she was clearly standing plain view in the entrance way, waiting for Cody to cue her Big Moment. AND she came out of the heel entranceway because of blocking, which disregards the show's tropes, isolating them from the rest of the roster, but also makes no sense in terms of realism - why wouldn't she come out alongside her husband, or why wouldn't her husband forego his standard entrance and insist on coming out alongside her? Overthinking, maybe, but it's these subtleties that subconsciously communicate important details to the audience.

Finally, I thought that the match overall, and especially Black's performance, was very good, aside from the unnecessarily convoluted ending depending on an overweight pensioner getting in just the right position (and why couldn't Cody adapt, instead of clearly pointing to the side of the ring he wanted Arn on?). Malakai laughing in Brandi's face as she sat there was a brilliant little moment, demonstrating that Black knew exactly what was going on and couldn't be intimidated by such obvious playground mindgames.

Edited September 27, 2021 by CavemanLynn

[RedRooster]

7 minutes ago, stewdogg said:

Personally I feel that if you dare speak out against things in this thread people will jump all over you for daring to not love the product, whilst ironically those same people will happily slag off the competition in other threads.

I don't think that's a fair reflection of the thread, there's plenty criticism of AEW in here, but it just so happens that there's a lot more to be positive about. As for WWE criticism, frankly, there's a lot more to be negative about. 

As for his comment, he's trying to claim that Brandi received no reaction - she did, and it was positive. If you're saying something that is demonstrably untrue, framing it as an "opinion" doesn't make it valid. 

I mean, it's fair enough to dislike Brandi (or any character on a wrestling show, for that matter), but don't let it cloud how you view what's actually happening on the screen in front of you. 

[Keith Houchen]

Yeah I think the biggest AEW cheerleaders are the first to say when WWE get it right, so to speak, and enthuse about it. As I said earlier, we tend to be older on here so WWE has passed us by mainly, AEW caters for those who loved WWE ten years ago but don’t anymore. 

[Supremo]

On the subject of AEW normally being such a good show, meaning the bad stuff is more noticeable, I’m hoping they address what the fuck happened with Santana and Ortiz on Rampage.

Them not coming out to help Jericho and Hager when they were attacked by American Top Team but then coming out for their match in the very next segment? That’s the type of oversight you wouldn’t normally expect from an otherwise cohesive, well thought-out product. Hopefully they come up with a reasonable explanation or it at least leads to something down the line.

“Me, Moxley, Santana and Ortiz were arguing about whether Cody even understands the Homelander character. Is he turning heel or does he just really like long capes? Does Brandi have an ego? Either way, we accidentally took their attention away from the monitor, and that’s why they let their mates get murdered and didn’t look particularly fussed moments later.” 

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by Supremo