AEW Dynamite Thread 2022

[Hannibal Scorch]

Well that was a fucking episode. Garcia/Danielson could be a MOTY candidate 

[Supremo]

AEW is always at its best when it has crazy, unpredictable, messy, 1997 energy. This graphic is distilled 1997 energy. What the fuck is going on?!

What the hell is the PPV match, then?! Three way with Hangman? A crazy Hell in a Cell when they don’t have a winner here? Is one of them injured? Is MJF coming back next week?! They have two episodes of Dynamite left! Mental!

Punk heeling it up was a thing of beauty. Eddie Kingston warned us! Eddie Kingston is always right! Deep down, CM Punk is a prick! 

Phenomenal episode.

Kenny Omega is back and he’s already being the best in the world again. Not only is it infinitely more interesting for returning guys to act like they’ve missed a step and need to find themselves (see Punk last year), but Kenny’s performance has beautifully exposed the morons online, arguing he, “looked bad,” and, “shouldn’t have returned so soon.” Fuck me. It’s not even like it was a particularly subtle, “bad,” performance. The lad is too explosive and too athletic to be that convincing. Between the big moments where he’d do an obviously worked screwup spot he looked fantastic and is clearly in better shape than he has been in years. It really is something how lost fans can become if the storyline isn’t always, “guy returns looking better than ever, wins Royal Rumble, wins title at Wrestlemania, feuds with Kane.”

But yeah. Good for Kenny that he’s healthy enough to come back and be one of the best storytellers of all time again. So happy he’s back. The world is a better place with Kenny Omega in our lives.

You know when your mum visits, so you tidy and clean your house to an insanely high standard, so she can never know how you truly live? That feels like Tony Khan getting his shit together and tidying up his promotion before Kenny Omega came round for a cup of tea.

Dragon Lee earned himself a job with that dive, surely? Amazing.

I could weep at the pop they got for, “Scissor me, Daddy Ass!”

Garcia vs. Danielson was tremendous. Can’t wait for the day Garcia rips his top open to reveal a Blackpool Combat Club T-shirt. Garcia on a pole match at the PPV?

Poor Triple H, man. The guy is trying his hardest, bringing back whoever he can, letting people say, “wrestler,” and the other company are bringing back the fucking Triforce of Omega, Punk and Danielson. Why even bother?!

Shout out to Eddie Kingston, too. Not even on the show and he still managed to steal it.

When this company has momentum it’s the best pro-wrestling show there has ever been. It’s like April to June never even happened!

Edited August 18, 2022 by Supremo

[Nick James]

I think it's testament to AEW that as soon as you see that it's Punk Vs Mox for the titles next week, you immediately thing 'jeez, what do they have planned for the main of the PPV in that case', rather than thinking it's hot shot booking to bump a rating.

If it's MJF, I think I would be a little disappointed if I'm honest. I don't think I've missed him at all and feel like Punk / Mox is a bigger match than say Punk / MJF.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Nick James

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Nick James said:

I think it's testament to AEW that as soon as you see that it's Punk Vs Mox for the titles next week, you immediately thing 'jeez, what do they have planned for the main of the PPV in that case', rather than thinking it's hot shot booking to bump a rating.

If it's MJF, I think I would be a little disappointed if I'm honest. I don't think I've missed him at all and feel like Punk / Mox is a bigger match than say Punk / MJF.

It is a bigger match, but what is gonna get a bigger reaction than punk vs MJF in Chicago? It’ll be one night stand levels with a spotty back 

[quote the raven]

And its back to being great again.

Kenny worked super smart the fact he has people saying he looked gassed and slow is amazing they all fell for it. 

Mox and punk will end in a no contest? Leading to the ppv? 3 way? Hangman? or MJF?  who fucking cares im invested. 

 

[RedRooster]

35 minutes ago, Nick James said:

If it's MJF, I think I would be a little disappointed if I'm honest. I don't think I've missed him at all and feel like Punk / Mox is a bigger match than say Punk / MJF.

It's rare that I ever read one of your posts and say this Nick, but I couldn't disagree more! MJF's last vow related to Punk was that the next time he faced Punk, he'd deliver the most embarrassing loss of his career. Furthermore, the last time MJF appeared in an AEW ring, he was chased off by Punk, even though this wasn't aired on television. The foreshadowing is there. MJF defeating Punk for the AEW World title in Chicago would be an unforgettable moment. 

Don't get me wrong, Punk/Moxley is a massive, massive match and I can't believe we're getting it for free next week, but I don't think Moxley defeating Punk in his home city would receive anywhere near the visceral reaction that MJF would, particularly if MJF comes in as hot as he left - there's real potential for MJF's first show as champion to feel like must-see TV. 

On the other hand, Punk heelishly called out Hangman Page, knowing he wasn't there. I guess there's a chance All Out gives us Punk vs. Page II, although that would be a very strange direction to take at such short notice. Regardless of what happens next, it seems very possible that the end result is a heel Punk, even if that won't be the case in Chicago. 

The fact we're so close to All Out, with the card being so up-in-the-air could feel frustrating, but it's actually really exciting. If the cards fall in place the way that they could, this could be one hell of a show. Are we getting Danielson vs. Jericho, for example, or Danielson vs. Garcia vs. Jericho; or perhaps Garcia will play some sort of role at ringside? Could Garcia tag with Danielson to fight Jericho and Hager? Whatever the case, it feels about right for Garcia to leave the JAS and join the BCC, or carve his own path as a babyface singles wrestler. The momentum is definitely there. 

Jungle Boy didn't manage to follow up his last promo with another solid effort, but JB/Christian should still be a fun match. Given some of the options AEW has in reserve, I'm feeling less convinced than ever by JB as a potential singles wrestler, and I think I'd like to see Christian win and go on to wrestle Wardlow, who could do with that lift. JB just isn't good enough on the mic, and when you have people like Danny Garcia, Powerhouse Hobbs and Dante Martin progressing in that respect; and wrestlers like Ricky Starks, Miro, Pac, Malaki Black and Ethan Page waiting in the wings, I'm just not convinced he's worth pushing as a top singles competitor at this stage. 

I'm pretty baffled about what they're doing with the tag titles right now. Are Swerve & Lee even going to defend their belts at the PPV? I couldn't even take a guess at who their opponents might be. 

All in all though, this was a brilliant show, and if WWE stepping it up means we get more shows like this from AEW as the two companies try to one-up each other, this could be a very exciting time to be a wrestling fan. 

[Infinity Land]

First things first. CM Punk coming out and heeling it up was great, but starting with Hangman hurts.

It's obviously going somewhere as we would find out later in the night. I say obviously, but i'm willing to give them the full benefit of the doubt on this one. The Mox v. Punk stand off and brawl was brilliant way to start the show. When Tony Nese randomly came out, I was PISSED. Really? Tony Nese is getting TV time! Then a Wild Mox appears and it was all over for him and a rinse and repeat with him and Punk. Finding out that the Title unification is happening next week still blows my mind. In the best way possible.

Garcia v. Danielson was so much fun. Again don't quite know where it's going down the line. Does Garcia go solo? Dissension in the ranks of BCC with Danielson & DG v. Claudio & Wheeler?

Gunn Club v. Varsity Blonds was something that went by the paint by numbers. Stokely has his new recruits.

Jungle Boy and Christian is chugging along fine.

Dax v. Lethal has me worried the 6 man between FTR & Wardlow v. Lethal, Dutt & Satnam is being saved for All Out. Could lead to the Elite v. FTR & Wardlow at Grand Slam maybe?

Toni Storm v. KiLynn King was perfectly fine. Serviceable. It was the cuts to Thunder Rosa that annoyed me. Let her music hit, come down to the ring, shake Toni's hand and say let's go again one more time. If they're not going to give it proper time, it's better than the gurning at a TV backstage.

That introduction, gold. Jim Cornette will go full Kenny Olivier on his selling, but coming back low to build to a high likely at the PPV will be a far better story.

Two weeks to go until All Out. The good far outweighs the bad. Looks to be a helluva ride.

 

 

 

[LaGoosh]

I liked the show but didn't love it. 

- CM Punk going straight into full heel felt a bit out of place to me. Especially when he absolutely buried Hangman at the start out of absolutely nowhere. Brutal and unnecessary.  Why'd they have to do my boy like that? Also I felt like Punk's promo on Mox actually knocked him down and made him look shit rather than build up for the title match. Less shooty nonsense and more fire please. Mox's rebuttal felt a bit weak and the brawling lacked the intensity it needed in my opinion. Mox coming back out later was a really cool touch but again the brawling just felt off and looked a bit crap. If they were building up to a match at All Out it would have dampened my enthusiasm...

- ...except what the fuck it's happening next week?!?! Absolutely mad surprise booking there. I'm very intrigued now because surely the only reason to do this match is because they've got a big angle of some kind planned. Very interesting!

- Danielson/Garcia was a banger. Yes, again we have blood. One the one hand, yes there's too much blood in AEW. But on the other hand the matches with blood always feel like they've earned it. Cool angle at the end too.

- AEW has tightened up on some of the production gaps over the past few weeks, with the awkward dead air moments now smoothed over, better backstage promos, things like recaps and replays being added. Surely a side effect of the recent promotions of Sonjay Dutt, Schiavone, Pat Buck and co. to help out with the production of the show.

- Wardlow & FTR vs Jethal and co. feels like a weird match for All Out if that's where they are going. Like that they are building to Wardlow powerbombing Singh but I can't wait for them to hurry up and get there. FTR should be tag champs not hanging about with this stuff.

- Felt like a real lack of star power this week with Hangman, Darby, Sting, Kingston, House of Black, Death Triangle, Orange Cassidy, Danhausen, Miro, Sammy Guevara, Luchasaurus, Ricky Starks and the tag champs all either being off the show or having very small roles. 

- Didn't they just do Thunder Rosa vs Toni Storm at Forbidden Door? Hopefully they add a few people to the All Out match to freshen it up.

- Jungle Boy vs Christian was fine. What Jungle Boy lacks in promo ability he makes up for in white meat babyface fire and Christian is doing great work as he always does as a snivelling heel. Wish they incorporated Luchasaurus more into this story and made his role more up in the air. 

- Something as ridiculous as SCISSOR ME DADDY ASS being a moment of genuine emotional catharsis and joy should be used as example that maybe Tony Khan isn't actually too bad at booking this wrestling malarkey. Huge props to all involved for getting something so ridiculous over.

- Main event was good but not in the way I expected. With all six at full volume this would be an insane and perfect brutal spotfest (which is what I expected) instead they decided to tell the story that Omega is back but he's weak, rusty and beaten down and it was better for it. At times I thought Omega looked genuinely fucked but then he'd hit something with the same snap he used to and it was clear that he's telling a brilliant story here. I'm looking forward to watching Omega gradually build up his powers over the next few weeks. It's great to have him back, AEW just doesn't feel the same without him. When people talk about people jumping ship from AEW to WWE, to me the only ones who really matter are Omega, Hangman and the Bucks. They are the heart and soul of AEW.

[DavidB6937]

7 hours ago, Supremo said:

Poor Triple H, man. The guy is trying his hardest, bringing back whoever he can, letting people say, “wrestler,” and the other company are bringing back the fucking Triforce of Omega, Punk and Danielson. Why even bother?!

As much as I appreciate the excitement etc surrounding AEW, especially when it's damn good - and hell, I loved it this week - I just don't get shit like this. It's tiresome.

It's the same bullshit that appears on Twitter and other places where you've got stupid fighting between grown ass men over different companies.

If there's a "why even bother?!" comment to be made, it's why even bother mentioning WWE or Triple H? If you don't enjoy it then great, stick with AEW every week. But why are we still at the point where we're slipping in sly little digs when really we could just be enjoying a wrestling show, no matter what company it is.

Shit like this is more disappointing than anything that happens on screen. Let people enjoy whatever the fuck they enjoy. It is completely and utterly possible for multiple companies to put out a quality product, have quality rosters and create quality moments. Just because Dynamite had some great shit, it doesn't diminish anything that worked on RAW or Smackdown or anywhere else if people enjoyed it too.

If I could fix anything about AEW or WWE it'd be stupid shitty comments like this. We should be wayyyy over it by now.

[69MeDon]

I thought that was awesome. Dynamite is getting back that energy it had...actually, right around this time last year. Leading into All Out and then some follow-through into Full Gear. I missed Kenny Omega so much.

And yeah, it is really crazy that they're doing the unification match next week on TV. I assume there will be shenanigans.

[Keith Houchen]

17 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

But why are we still at the point where we're slipping in sly little digs when really we could just be enjoying a wrestling show, no matter what company it is.

Yep, this attitude shouldn’t be sniffed at. 

[RedRooster]

39 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

- Something as ridiculous as SCISSOR ME DADDY ASS being a moment of genuine emotional catharsis and joy should be used as example that maybe Tony Khan isn't actually too bad at booking this wrestling malarkey. Huge props to all involved for getting something so ridiculous over.

 

I know I'm in the minority, but I wasn't crazy about this. He got attacked by his own kids! Just brushing it off like that seemed a bit weird, they could have done it, while still having Billy show some degree of emotion at that. 

Talking of emotion - I didn't mention Omega's return, and even though I was fairly sure he was returning, I had goosebumps when Justin Roberts started delivering his intro - and even then, I was still prepared for it not to be him! I'm not sure why, but as soon as his music hit I felt genuinely emotional. I guess he's one of the OGs, and one of the reasons I fell in love with AEW in the first place, so watching him make his return after god knows how long felt genuinely meaningful. 

24 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

As much as I appreciate the excitement etc surrounding AEW, especially when it's damn good - and hell, I loved it this week - I just don't get shit like this. It's tiresome.

It's the same bullshit that appears on Twitter and other places where you've got stupid fighting between grown ass men over different companies.

If there's a "why even bother?!" comment to be made, it's why even bother mentioning WWE or Triple H? If you don't enjoy it then great, stick with AEW every week. But why are we still at the point where we're slipping in sly little digs when really we could just be enjoying a wrestling show, no matter what company it is.

I don't think his comment constitutes a dig, it reads to me like an acknowledgment that WWE has been pretty damn strong since Triple H took over booking. I don't think it's fair at all to compare it to the Twitter nonsense, which, as you acknowledge is just stupid. Both shows can be good at the same time. 

I wouldn't at all be surprised wrestlers stepped it up a bit because WWE has been so good recently, so I think it's a fair thing to bring up - and frankly, I'm all for it, if this dialogue leads to both companies trying to outdo one another. It's a brilliant time to be a wrestling fan, and I can't wait to see what the next few years bring. 

[WyattSheepMask]

Help me out as well with Punk’s “third best Eddie” comment: Guerrero - 🤷🏻‍♂️- Kingston. Great promo between Punk & Mox though and had they just done the first pull apart brawl, which was just enough that it didn’t resemble one of the many that WWE have done over the last few years, it would’ve been fine. They didn’t need to go to a well a second time. But, it did save us from a Tony Nese match, so every cloud and all that. Insane that they’re giving it away on TV 10 days before the PPV though, there must be some shenanigans afoot.

Took me a second to click that JR said that Jericho “has 8 stitches in his head” and “has extensions in his hair”. He wouldn’t have been wrong saying either in all fairness.

You’ve got Ricky Steamboat at ringside. Bryan gets DDTed on the concrete floor. Any link to be made there, lads on commentary? Close to a century of experience in the business between 3 of them and another whose a fucking nerd, and not one of them said anything. 
Great match between Bryan and Garcia though.

Didn’t expect to see Cobra make his long awaited return on the Dark Results ticker, I wonder if Sgt Craig Pitman is #AllElite too?

Despite some absolute nutters getting it into their heads that The Bucks partner was going to be Marty Scurll, it just had to be Kenny. I could do without Don Callis chewing the scenery though, although I understand I’m in the minority.

Probably the best top to bottom Dynamite that they’ve done in months, even Toni Storm’s match wasn’t a complete stinker

[Duke]

According to DA MELTZ, Punks comments on Hangman were not scripted or expected, and so Page didn't respond because he.. wasn't supposed to. 

[LaGoosh]

12 minutes ago, Duke said:

According to DA MELTZ, Punks comments on Hangman were not scripted or expected, and so Page didn't respond because he.. wasn't supposed to. 

Well...that's fucking weird and explains why it felt so weird. Punk saying "you want a rematch?" to Hangman when Hangman hasn't actually asked for a rematch since losing the title (or done much of anything really)...it felt like I was reading a book with a chapter missing.

Made Hangman look like an absolute loser by not coming out. Poor guy.

Edited August 18, 2022 by LaGoosh