The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[BomberPat]

I love Ishii, but what a bonkers way to showcase him. A match with Danielson, or a messy brawl with Kingston, could have been brilliant, but as the third wheel in a tag match built around an interminable feud that's dragging everyone in it down is the worst way to use him and plays to exactly none of his strengths. I love Orange Cassidy, but Ishii against The Butcher would have been a better singles match than that was a tag.

I think the problem is that, like with Suzuki, they're bringing guys in to do a bit of a "greatest hits" match, which doesn't work if you've not seen them before. Suzuki's match with Danielson was superb because it broke away from that, and actually showed you what he can do.

[Guest]

New Japan are slow burning the hell outta who they let go to aew. First it was the young lions on dark, you got Kenta who’s mid card, then you got the run of the opener tag team Dads, then Suzuki who’s been left out of G1 for a few years. now ishii who’s a perennial upper mid. By this rate we will get Okada when he’s in the Dads matches role in Japan.

[The Gaffer]

Bryan's turn seemed so natural and on the fly, which it could be to a certain extent. He seemed to just smirk his way through those first few "These are really heel things to say, aren't they?" lines before going "Fuck it" and going all in on it. 

Brilliant. 

[Factotum]

Bryan is just the absolute bollocks. What a wrestler and character. Putting Page in with him is smart.

MJF/PUNK could be gold. It would be nice to see Punk bring out some vulnerability in MJF. That character needs to evolve a bit more than just slinging out heel lines someone would say on an E-Fed.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Punk is probably the best thing for MJF right now. They clearly have long plans for MJF but he needs a bit of polishing on mic work and Punk working with him backstage should be great and help him move those next few steps forwards. 

[Guest]

Darby losing two high profile feuds then getting Mr Ass up next. Wtf is going on there 

[DavidB6937]

At this rate, Okada's probably watching AEW and hoping Tony Khan doesn't get his TNA music.

[Chris B]

The approach with NJPW is odd at times, but I'm enjoying seeing some of their wrestlers getting this showcase to a new audience - I just wish they were doing more to showcase what's so exciting about them, rather than just having them as bodies in matches sometimes.

I think there's a strategy behind who they're booking - it's partly a treat for some of the wrestlers. Apparently, the Butcher cut out one of his tour dates to make this match, as he really wanted a match with Ishii. Same with the Moxley run, where he was probably the most excited person about the Nagata match anywhere. It also could be about showing NJPW respect, by rolling out the red carpet behind the scenes for some of their more senior talents, rather than just bringing in the most exciting people they can. None of this is great for an audience, especially when a little education about why they're interesting would go a long way.

The best way I can explain why Ishii is so highly-regarded is that Miro seems to have been taking a lot of inspiration from him, especially recently. Ishii's whole thing is about being a brick wall that's a tough (but beatable) opponent for almost anyone. He'll no-sell for a while, until he's chopped down, and then his selling and comebacks are really fun. But he usually works well with almost any opponent, because it's all about them having to really bring it to beat him.

In the same way that didn't really come across with Suzuki until the Danielson match, I hope we get something like a good Dark match where they're not as worried about time and format and can showcase a good Ishii match with someone.

[Infinity Land]

15 minutes ago, Louch said:

Darby losing two high profile feuds then getting Mr Ass up next. Wtf is going on there 

It's just a random match to get him on TV and a win. He gets to remind everyone of how he can excel bouncing off big men. Possibly, a set up for Darby & Sting ending the Gunn Club's undefeated streak. There's plenty of time to build for something more meaningful.

[Pinc]

Darby Allin is one of the cringiest characters on telly at the moment. Needs to be kept away from the mic. And was he standing on a Yellow Pages talking to Tone?

[RedRooster]

That was also my first time seeing Ishii, and I really hope that they stop randomly introducing wrestlers from NJPW with little context or purpose. It's hard to feel invested in the matches they're involved in, as you know that they won't be sticking around. AEW is supposed to be a place where wins and losses matter, and with the absence of storyline context, why should I care about a NJPW getting a pinfall victory over anyone on the roster? There's no "coming up next" for them. They're unlikely to chase a title, or to have an extended feud with anyone. And if you don't care about one person in the match winning, why would you be invested in the other picking up victory? 

Danielson was fantastic tonight, and I'm looking forward not only to his match with Hangman, but also to what he does next, and whether or not he remains heel. A Kingston/heel Danielson feud could be tremendous. 

The Punk/MJF face-off was also great, although I was surprised to see how much taller Punk is than MJF. I'm really looking forward to their eventual match. I know Punk's return has been divisive, but I'm really enjoying the energy he brings. I'd like to see Kingston getting involved in this feud in some way, I feel like there's still a lot of story to told between Punk and Eddie. 

I'm fed up of seeing variations of Cody versus Black. Heck, I'm fed up of Cody. I don't think he's going to turn heel, but if he does, it's going to have far less impact than it could, the more that they stretch this out. In addition, I'm not really enjoying The Lucha Bros at the moment. There's something missing from their act, and I'm not sure what it is. I'd like to see AEW put the tag belts on the Men of the Year, and have Penta and Fenix go their separate ways. Penta was a lot of fun during his short-lived feud with Cody, and I think there's much more to be gained from the guy as a heel. 

[The King of Old School]

Just that one segment alone wants me to see Hangman knock Bryan's head straight off, incredible stuff.

As much as I love Bryan Danielson I really hope they don't hotshot the belt onto him. Having Hangman being the first to defeat him will add another layer to his character I think.

Plus I really want Hangman vs Heel Punk for the belt on PPV next year.

[tiger_rick]

Meant to say, I thought that was Jungle Boy's best promo ever and by a long, long way!

1 hour ago, Pinc said:

Darby Allin is one of the cringiest characters on telly at the moment. Needs to be kept away from the mic. And was he standing on a Yellow Pages talking to Tone?

Didn't mind it. The delivery of the "screw it" at the end was good. Better than his usual stuff also.

[JNLister]

Lovely easter egg: Adam Cole saying "Don't worry Cleaner, I got this" is 99.9% certainly a reference to a classic Twitter cringe moment:

 

[Version1.0]

I like turtles ???

Send for the man!