The AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite Thread

[Accident Prone]

And you have Tony Khan shouting in the background, "Remember guys, SPORTS PRESENTATION! SPORTS! PRESENTATION!".

[Whistling Skull]

7 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

And you have Tony Khan shouting in the background, "Remember guys, SPORTS PRESENTATION! SPORTS! PRESENTATION!".

I think that is one of the big reasons there are so many matches on one show. I don't think Tony Khan has the experience or know-how to demand anything from them. He should delegate someone that knows the business, to act and speak on his behalf. You didn't see Ted Turner telling Lex Luger to run the ropes faster. To me, he comes across as a money mark that is out of his depth.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Whistling Skull

[Brudaker]

56 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

This is all very presumptuous. As Tiger pointed out, that Page promo could've gone anywhere in live show (some of those matches really didn't need to go the time they were allotted). Makes zero sense having it as a Fite and live crowd exclusive when it's the TV market who should be AEW's main aim. 

There was also nothing about that finish that would push the TV audience towards AEW'S social media. There was no "Oh, follow us on Facebook and Twitter as Adam Page will be joining us!" or "How will this affect AEW next week? Check out our social media pages for exclusive info". There was nothing that the match, the match result or the post-match that screamed "FOLLOW US!!! QUICKLY!!!". 

If anything, I'm not really looking forward to next week's episode because they clearly have no grasp on how to shine a light on the stories that they want to tell. I want them to succeed, and hopefully this will be fixed up as time goes on, but I shouldn't be left feeling like a two hour episode of wrestling only pushed one major angle whilst leaving everything else to fend for themselves.

Tell that to the million or so watching on TV, my man. 

I agree that it would have been nice to see the Page promo on the main show and while I think you're spot on the TV is AEW's main aim I think it's important to remember it's not their only aim.

One of their major aims after TV is obviously maintaining a live audience, it has been one of their biggest successes and any drop in attendance would hurt them. The commentary team is constantly pushing the "There's nothing like seeing AEW live" line and I think things like last nights post show segment that is only for the live audience (though obviously subsequently shown on Dynamite or Dark) are a great way to encourage folk who might need a little nudge to buy a ticket.

You're also right that Excalibur wasn't shouting hashtags at the end but personally I'd prefer they don't go down the route of over promoting as I feel it drags audiences out of the moment. They did promote AEW Dark very effectively throughout the show though and Dark has done a good job of including the bits you don't see on Dynamite, not only matches but things like the segment with the Orange Cassidy kid. 

It's still early going and so I think it's natural that there is one big story receiving most of the focus though suggesting AEW shouldn't forget about everyone else is always worthwhile as it i so often the main issue companies fall into. I don't see that as the case though. You've got the issues between Mox and Kenny, The Elite vs The Inner Circle, The Tag Tournament, within that you have a personal issue between SCU and the Lucha Bros, you've got Baker and Priestley, and the cody MJF story that were all at least touched on this show. Obviously you might not be interested in all those storylines and you could certainly highlight areas where more focus could be shone but I think it's unfair to say that the two hour show only pushed one major story because Hangman had to cut his promo on the post show.

I would tell it to them but twitter and reddit hurt my soul so I'll stick to ranting at the fairly reasonable guy who streamed it.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Brudaker

[BomberPat]

It's more about a seeming inability to capitalise on, or follow up on, key moments.

While I like that they haven't gone the WWE route of having everyone on every show, and recognising that some people can afford to miss a week, they've created a clear hierarchy with the people who are on every show (this isn't necessarily inherently a bad thing) - but this is where promos and highlight packages should come in. Brock Lesnar isn't on WWE TV every week, but they rarely let you forget that Brock Lesnar exists. In the early '90s, Hogan wasn't on TV every week, but you were always constantly are that you were watching a show in which Hulk Hogan existed, and mattered - other people talked about him, you saw video packages, promos, highlights. 

Nyla Rose turned heel, beat up Riho, beat up Michael Nakazawa, and had to be stopped by Kenny Omega, one of the bosses and top stars, on episode 1, and she hasn't been on TV since. Talent that have been featured on PPV haven't shown up on TV at all. There have been one-off video packages for wrestlers who still haven't debuted weeks or months later. 

Out of sight, out of mind - at a time when they should be establishing who their roster are, how they relate to one another, and what their motivations are, all but a select few we're barely even being given reason to remember exist. 

[tiger_rick]

There was another promo for Wardlowe on this show. Might have been on Fite only but there was one.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

There was another promo for Wardlowe on this show. Might have been on Fite only but there was one.

I was watching a TNT feed and it was on there. I am going to watch the 2nd hour when it appears on ITV Player tonight

[Merzbow]

While there could have been more non-wrestling segments I still really enjoyed this show, the pace was off the charts and felt so fresh compared to whatever else I've seen recently. It just feels like they're still experimenting with things and this was another part of that, it might take a while before they truly nail it but I've been into most of what's been put out on TV so far.

For every negative there are multiple positives, you really can't say that about WWE right now.

Oh, and the crowd were red hot for most of it, I expected them to get tired after such a wild start but to their credit they kept going.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Merzbow

[Chris B]

It's mildly frustrating they're not doing more with the build-up videos, because they're really good at them for the most part. I watch Being The Elite, and Road To... etc on Youtube, so I do feel like I've had a lot of the character work that's missing. And while that is a much bigger part of things than it has been in the past, assuming people will watch it is a poor approach. They do seem hesitant to recycle content though - I reckon they probably could do so a lot more than they're doing.

That said, they do seem to be learning from their mistakes and making changes at times, so hopefully it's a learning curve and they'll improve at it.

[BomberPat]

1 minute ago, Chris B said:

That said, they do seem to be learning from their mistakes and making changes at times, so hopefully it's a learning curve and they'll improve at it.

This is something that I think plays a big part in why I still enjoy their shows in spite of my criticisms; a mistake feels like a mistake honestly made, a questionable booking decision is something I can have faith in them to address, and so on. Whereas with WWE, a questionable decision leads you into saying, "well, they need to protect X because he's booked to headline Wrestlemania in 6 months time, and the next match won't have a clean finish because there's a Saudi Arabia show coming up" - they've lost the audience's trust, and everyone cynically assumes the worst.

[Chris B]

6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

This is something that I think plays a big part in why I still enjoy their shows in spite of my criticisms; a mistake feels like a mistake honestly made, a questionable booking decision is something I can have faith in them to address, and so on. Whereas with WWE, a questionable decision leads you into saying, "well, they need to protect X because he's booked to headline Wrestlemania in 6 months time, and the next match won't have a clean finish because there's a Saudi Arabia show coming up" - they've lost the audience's trust, and everyone cynically assumes the worst.

I think that's partly that WWE spent so long criticising the audience. All the 'Bizarro-land' stuff, laying into organically-grown fan-favourites and destroying them... they clearly don't care about mistakes or get overly defensive. It's always that they're right. While sometimes, that's the right response, that approach would be a poor one for AEW to ape often.

[Carbomb]

For me, the strongest impression I get from the way things are done is that McMahon actually dislikes wrestling, whereas most other promoters love it. Maybe it isn't a fair impression of McMahon, but it's how it comes across. As to the other promoters, it must be a lot like any other creative job: there's so much crap and risk you have to go through, you could only do it as a labour of love. 

[BomberPat]

5 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

For me, the strongest impression I get from the way things are done is that McMahon actually dislikes wrestling, whereas most other promoters love it. 

I would love to find out what wrestling McMahon actually enjoys, compared to what he thinks makes money. Because I'm convinced the two are very different, but everyone assumes that they're the same thing.

[UK Kat Von D]

It is pretty common sense that the finish for Mox and PAC to have not allowed the show to run for another ten minutes. The aftermath would logically have to be either next week or on social media. 
 

They could have made that hook obvious by having an announcer say “we’ve just got word that Omega is making his way to the ring, tune in next week to see what is about to go down.” 

[tiger_rick]

He must enjoy it. Surely? It doesn't just "make him money", it made him more money than most could ever dream of. If he didn't like it, he could have sold up then and gone and done something else with the money. I think people take his pathological desire to prove himself as more than a wrestling promoter to mean that he's somehow ashamed of being a wrestling promoter. I don't see it that way.

I think he's miopic about the way he sees wrestling, ultimately very stubborn and when he does make concessions, he often gets it dead wrong. That doesn't mean he doesn't like it.

[garynysmon]

Bret Hart always goes on about how Vince loved some of his best known matches and the ability to tell stories in the ring (but Bret is such a big head that fuck knows).