AEW Dynamite Thread 2022

[Guest]

They can easily take shots at each other to make it a match we wanna see. Since Punk is having the Bret Hart greatest hits, he’s got plenty of examples of Bret being in face vs face and playing the guy who shows the signs of grey in the set up and match itself. 

[RedRooster]

33 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Page/Punk works as a face/face as they’re so different you could build resentment without turning them heel.

I think Page needs Punk. For me, it makes the most sense in the world. There’s no one in wrestling currently conferring heat and relevance to others as well as Punk.

I think there's a genuine risk that Page gets booed, and given the fragility of his title reign, I'm not sure I'd want to risk that if I was Tony Khan. Heck, why wouldn't you want to see Punk win the title? He's one of the best characters in AEW right now. 

On the flipside, Punk has been lifting every wrestler he's worked with. MJF and Eddie Kingston were doing just fine before they fought Punk, but in spite of that, he's helped take them to another level. 

You could also argue that the AEW title is the only logical next step for Punk, after his brilliant feud with MJF. Punk losing to Page, immediately followed by MJF beating him and becoming champion, would also keep the connection between them alive. 

Hmmm. Maybe I'm talking myself into this. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I don’t think AEW is as sensitive to people getting booed in isolation. It’s a ‘smarter’ crowd. And Punk could work his magic and then end with a show of respect to tell everyone ‘nah, this Page lad is legit.’

I don’t think the risk of short term booing is a problem, or outweighs the long term benefits of giving Page that rub.

[Infinity Land]

Hangman might well get booed. They're both smart enough to play into it to make it work. Then the next Dynamite Hangman comes out, cuts a promo and the fans will buy back into him. You could argue they've already leaned into Hangman possibly getting booed with the Cole belt spot. Then how he's been around the Dark Order.

Page is on top for the first time. He wants to stay there. How far is he willing to go? vs. The "old man" going for the one last run. Is he really still the Best in the World.

 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think Punk might actually be the best wrestler in the world.

Like, in individual matches I think I prefer Daniel Bryan’s work. But, if you think about the job of a wrestler holistically - the ability to tell stories out of the ring, and then convey that story in your matches - I don’t think there’s anyone better in the world currently.

His style is broadly generic, he doesn’t have a particular in-ring personality - he’s just a quite old fashioned, good-at-what-he-does wrestler. He just knows exactly how to use his skills to tell the right story.

He’s fucking great.

[BrodyGraham]

I think we've all been pleasantly surprised by how good this Punk run has been and, seemingly how happy he is to be doing it.

I still think that Danielson edges it though. Even as ostensibly the third man in that Blackpool Combat Club segment last night, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He radiates so much smug, menacing joy in this run that it's genuinely a pleasure to watch.

[hallicks]

Superstar beloved babyface Punk is the best Punk. I think I’d prefer Page as the tweener if Punk’s going for the belt, no point in swimming against the tide.

Something about the JAS is bugging me. They’re all about being sports entertainers, so that’s why they’re now using those guys real names… Huh? There’s something just not working about that whole group at the moment. Jericho could try a lot harder to get people booing him. He seems far too happy getting cheered for whatever pseudo-meta bollocks he’s coming out with. 

[RedRooster]

3 minutes ago, BrodyGraham said:

I think we've all been pleasantly surprised by how good this Punk run has been and, seemingly how happy he is to be doing it.

I still think that Danielson edges it though. Even as ostensibly the third man in that Blackpool Combat Club segment last night, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He radiates so much smug, menacing joy in this run that it's genuinely a pleasure to watch.

I'd throw Moxley in the mix too, for that matter, using the criteria set out by @d-d-d-dAz. He's obviously a totally different kind of wrestler, but the combination of his personality, promo work and ring work suck you in to his matches, and leave you invested in what happens to him in a way that few others are capable of. He's fucking brilliant. 

2 minutes ago, hallicks said:

Something about the JAS is bugging me. They’re all about being sports entertainers, so that’s why they’re now using those guys real names… Huh?

I think that was very deliberate - he immediately followed it up with ridiculous nicknames for 2.0 - "Daddy Magic" and "Cool Hand". 

6 minutes ago, hallicks said:

There’s something just not working about that whole group at the moment. Jericho could try a lot harder to get people booing him. He seems far too happy getting cheered for whatever pseudo-meta bollocks he’s coming out with. 

I'd be interested to know how others feel. It's working for me, even though I hate 2.0 and wish they'd fuck off to Dark on a permanent basis. But for Danny Garcia, it's working really well. He's very fun to watch in ring, and is solid enough on the mic. Working with Jericho will help him develop further in that respect. 

[Jonny Vegas]

4 hours ago, RedRooster said:

Putting Sammy and Tay against Paige VanZant and whoever her partner is, isn't going to work. Sammy and Tay are incredibly unlikeable as an on-screen couple, and it's only a matter of time before the fans turn on them. Having said that, I think they could be a tremendous heel pairing. 

They seem to have been taking quite the hammering over social media the past few weeks as well and Conti had even interacted with Brandi saying they seemed to have taken over from her and Cody. The irony is that the whole dislike for Cody/Brandi was them (particularly Brandi) constantly acting like heels then moaning people didn't like them  which in itself is the most natural heel behaviour going.

On screen Tay & Sammy come across as two smug people who absolutely love themselves and think the entire world revolves around them.

Off screen they don't seem much different and also spend half their time moaning about wanting privacy and the other half flaunting the intimacies of their private life over every aspect of social media.

I'm 100% behind the notion of respecting peoples privacy but you can't propose to your partner of 8 years or so on national TV, possibly whilst already shagging a co-worker posing as a close friend behind their back then start flaunting your new relationship all over social media and the same TV show 4 months later without accepting that some people are going to think you're a twat and they're entitled to.

A heel turn is getting close to becoming essential as I'm failing to seeing anything likeable about either and I think most would struggle to feel sympathetic with them regardless of any heel actions.

[BrodyGraham]

'The Influencer Chris Jericho' doesn't want the people to boo him, he wants the adulation. That's why he jettisoned Proud and Powerful when they called him on his shit and replaced them with a couple of goombas who'll lick his arse, because they're indebted to him. It's why he's replaced overly showboaty Sammy Guevara with the much more vicious and meat and potatoes Daniel Garcia who is also indebted to him. It's why he's not replacing Judas. He's not The Influencer because he doesn't care what people think. He's the Influencer because that's all he cares about and his ego is so fragile he's surrounded himself in sycophants to get what he needs.

Edited March 24, 2022 by BrodyGraham
Format.

[theringmaster]

57 minutes ago, Jonny Vegas said:

 

On screen Tay & Sammy come across as two smug people who absolutely love themselves and think the entire world revolves around them.

 

Ironically, Paige and her fella are exactly like this off screen?

[69MeDon]

That first hour was great, great stuff. Just flew by. The second hour was a lot less good. It was fine, but didn't compare with hour one.

I'm not really on board with this JAS stuff. To me, all the talk about sports entertainment and "future endeavoring" people gives me a TNA vibe. Like Voodoo Kin Mafia shit. Not into it as yet.

[RedRooster]

46 minutes ago, 69MeDon said:

That first hour was great, great stuff. Just flew by. The second hour was a lot less good. It was fine, but didn't compare with hour one.

I'm not really on board with this JAS stuff. To me, all the talk about sports entertainment and "future endeavoring" people gives me a TNA vibe. Like Voodoo Kin Mafia shit. Not into it as yet.

For me, it's different than Voodoo Kin Mafia, which was essentially a bad DX rip-off, that actively broke the fourth wall. This incarnation of Jericho works for me, as the phrases he's using work outside of that fourth wall breaking context. Describing himself as a "sports entertainer" just sounds like obnoxious self-branding, and ties quite well into the fact he's also desperate to be a rock star. He's not just a wrestler, he's not just a sportsperson, he's not just an entertainer - in his mind, he's genre-defying. The "future endeavoured" stuff...it doesn't really bother me. TNA typically used that kind of language for Russo-riffic reasons, as a bizarre acknowledgement that wrestling isn't real. Jericho isn't doing that, at least not yet. He's taking obnoxious WWE phrasing and using it to try and gain heel heat, but it all seems to be within the context of wrestling being "real". 

The idea probably does need some refinement, but that's something AEW is generally very good at, so I'm not overly worried about that. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by RedRooster

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Bi-polar as fuck this promotion. The first half was like 2000 era WWF. The second half was like 2000 era WCW.  Cant be having a promotion that has Vicki Guerrero and Justin Roberts all over the fucking thing. They are dog shit.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

3 hours ago, BrodyGraham said:

 He's the Influencer because that's all he cares about and his ego is so fragile he's surrounded himself in sycophants to get what he needs.

Adds to the theory of his lot vs Regals lot, as Regal on commentary spoke about how much he influenced wrestling in America.