AEW Dynamite Thread 2022

[DavidB6937]

6 minutes ago, Chris B said:

*Coin drop*

*Milwaukee, of all places, pops orgasmically before chanting holy shit.*

*Jim Ross shouts about how there's nobody better in the world.*

UKFF, shaking head: "This is a terrible first impression."

That's a pretty dumbed down version of the whole thing really isn't it.

Of course they popped and chanted holy shit. Big whoop. That's not everything.

And for what it's worth I thought the commentary was pretty shit on it. It's fucking OKADA. Get some damn enthusiasm behind it.

But it was Okada casually strolling out looking like he'd got the call 2 minutes before and was just chilling out at home.

It could have - and SHOULD have - been a real moment that could be replayed over and over for years to come. I've rewatched Danielson's debut and Punk's debut and hell even Adam Cole turning up.. but this? It couldn't have been much more forgettable if they'd tried.

If this was the best they had for him then to be honest I'd rather they kept him off.

[Nick James]

People cheered for Vince on Friday and Monday, doesn't mean it was any good. 

[RedRooster]

17 minutes ago, Chris B said:

UKFF, shaking head: "This is a terrible first impression."

This actually was my first time seeing Okada. I've heard of him of course, but I don't have any frame of reference as to what makes him special. 

To me, it really didn't feel like a big deal and he just seemed like any other wrestler. Clearly he isn't, but I couldn't really tell you why. 

But heck, I'm not sure I even need to be able to. I just needed to feel like it was a "moment", and I don't think they achieved that. Part of the problem, granted, was the context (the angle itself was pretty messy), but even within those confines it didn't have to be this way. 

I left the segment feeling confused as to what role he was playing, if any, at Forbidden Door rather than excited about what was coming next. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

I can’t wait for the Forbidden Door to be shut so AEW can focus on getting some actual angles and storylines going again. It’s felt like every match for weeks ends with someone whose name I recognise from the NJPW thread on here turning up on the ramp in a t-shirt. They’ve tried to keep some AEW stuff happening amongst it, but Wardlow and Sky does nothing for me, I thought I knew Christian’s motives for turning but now I’m just confused, and even Blood & Guts has been lost in the shuffle.

Hoping we’ll get a little reset of sorts from next week but with ROH still kicking about I fear that won’t happen.

I miss MJF.

Edited June 23, 2022 by HarmonicGenerator

[unfitfinlay]

I thought that was better but still not great.

I really don't get why they are cramming so many people onto the card. One of AEW's biggest strengths has been their ability to make people feel important, even with very little TV time. Now they are making people feel like after-thoughts. What's the point of flying ZSJ in just to have him walk out and shout stuff we can't even hear? What's the point booking Hiromu Takahashi, if it's just a meaningless multi-man match and Darby can't even pronounce his name right? Plus do they not realise that announcing matches just days away from the PPV makes the people in them look like shit?

This could well be the first AEW PPV I haven't watched since All Out in 2019.

[Loki]

They've introduced about 5 "best in the world" wrestlers in the last month, so it means nothing any more.  Having never seen Tanahashi, Ospreay or Okada really before you want them to arrive in a bang but them all arriving alongside the usual deluge of ex-WWE guys, it's just *shrug*.

For all the jokes about how TNA used to grab every WWE reject, AEW is a million times worse.  So they're bringing in Claudio Castagnoli or Oney Lorcan or whoever, again touting them as the best in the world, but a last-minute replacement on a show full of debuts.  Madness.

I LIKED the Christian heel promo.  I liked the black rollneck look.  Christian has been doing nothing of note, so a heel turn makes him suddenly useful again.  The pop about Luke Perry was, as everyone's pointed out, tasteless for no reason though.

Remember when Wardlow was the hottest thing in pro wrestling?  Neither does Tony Sniff.  He's too busy jobbing out Penta Obscura to Malaki Black for some reason.

All AEW's problems stem from the same issue - too big a roster with too many non-AEW guest wrestlers and too many new signings.

I will say I thought Ospreay was outstanding again though.  I've seen terrible gifs of his flippy nonsensical shit from other feds, but so far in AEW he's been impressive.

[WyattSheepMask]

The awkward silence after Excalibur corrected JR about Malakai using an Octopus Stretch was the highlight of the first hour. Must’ve lasted about 20 seconds, JR with his finger on the cough button telling Excalibur “correct me like that again and your joining the puppies in the sack”

[Callum1993]

Danielson did say ‘Best in the World’ so it’s clearly going to be that great technical wrestler Shane McMahon.

[Duke]

A fun show that was a bit over stuffed while they try to save Forbidden Door. It probably seemed like a good idea when they were going to have Punk, Danielson and Omega on it. They've had to hotshot so much though, which is a shame. 

- A shame but a not unexpected one about Bryan missing the two shows. Anyone coming in is only going to be a disappointment, sadly. I hadn't considered Claudio, but it definitely will be, won't it? I wondered about Johnny Gargano (Who my heart still beats for as long as he's kept away from Adam Cole), but Claudio seems way more likely.

- Great to have OC back. He and Ospreay, weird as that is, will probably have an absolute banger. The three title match should be good fun too

- The Christian promo was really excellent, MJF reference included, until the Luke Perry stuff. You felt him building to it and it was just so, so unnecessary. Get your head out of the attitude era Christian mate. Curious as what "remember what happened to Marko?" means and I look forward to this story evolving.

- The Bucks and some NJPW guys I've never heard of against Derby, Sting and some NJPW guys I've never heard of is proper "We need to get these guys on the show" level schlock. 

- Black v Penta was fun but ruined by the fact that we know Black won't be on the show, so the winner was never in doubt.

- Really enjoyed Hangman v Silas, and I'd like to see more of Silas Young. Glad to see the match with Jay White and Okada is a four way rather than a tag team, but it's proper hot shotted in the end and I agree it feels like they hadn't confirmed he was going to be there until tonight. There's a cool story to tell with Hangman vs White

- I didn't watch the women's match. Looks like that was a wise decision

- Really up for Jeff Cobb vs Cash Wheeler. That could be tonnes of fun.

- Main event was fun but I didn't come out of it thinking Tanahashi was this amazing Ace.  Mox has been building this show almost single handedly and doing a fine job. Still won't buy it mind.

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

37 minutes ago, unfitfinlay said:

 What's the point of flying ZSJ in just to have him walk out and shout stuff we can't even hear?

You know he has match on Sunday right?

[HarmonicGenerator]

8 minutes ago, Duke said:

 Great to have OC back. He and Ospreay, weird as that is, will probably have an absolute banger. The three title match should be good fun too

- Really enjoyed Hangman v Silas, and I'd like to see more of Silas Young. Glad to see the match with Jay White and Okada is a four way rather than a tag team, but it's proper hot shotted in the end and I agree it feels like they hadn't confirmed he was going to be there until tonight. There's a cool story to tell with Hangman vs White

 

OC and Ospreay had a little exchange towards the end that I thought was excellent. If their match is just five minutes of that I’d be very up for watching it.

On the Silas Young thing, that’s another bit that baffled me - they’re already cramming all your guys and all the NJPW guys on this episode, did they really need to add another new person from ROH on top of it? I’m sure he’s fine but he looked like a non-descript less impressive Butcher and never had a chance to stand out amongst however many other people we were supposed to take notice of this week.

[gmoney]

10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

You know he has match on Sunday right?

I think his point still stands. He's a fun promo, would have loved 40 seconds of him calling Bryan a dickhead and dragon bollocks with a mic.

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 minute ago, gmoney said:

I think his point still stands. He's a fun promo, would have loved 40 seconds of him calling Bryan a dickhead and dragon bollocks with a mic.

So would I. He's clearly been doing some good promo work recently, but it was the comment i took issue with. AEW's biggest misstep with this is not doing more stuff on YouTube and directing people there. You cannot in 3 hours of TV a week really get over how big and important some of these guys are, so use other tools at your disposal. 

[TildeGuy~!]

3 minutes ago, gmoney said:

I think his point still stands. He's a fun promo, would have loved 40 seconds of him calling Bryan a dickhead and dragon bollocks with a mic.

I’d loved it too but I think this match happens in Japan now once Danielson is cleared.

 

[Duke]

6 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

On the Silas Young thing, that’s another bit that baffled me - they’re already cramming all your guys and all the NJPW guys on this episode, did they really need to add another new person from ROH on top of it? I’m sure he’s fine but he looked like a non-descript less impressive Butcher and never had a chance to stand out amongst however many other people we were supposed to take notice of this week.

They pointed out on comms that he and Hangman have a significant history, which I guess was why. Your comparison with the Butcher is totally valid though, and obviously what should happen is that Butcher should dump Blade, team up with Silas Young and have a NO FLIPS JUST FISTS feud with FTR.