AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[Supremo]

It got overshadowed by the nonsense of the brawl that followed the pay per view, but I always got a kick out of Kenny Omega being announced at All Out 2022 as, “Kevin Nash’s favourite wrestler.”  To see Kenny now secure a huge contract and then completely check out? Big Kev must be so proud.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Supremo

[air_raid]

At least it sounds like we’ll never have to entertain “But why haven’t WWE tried to sign Omega?” He’s always been a total goofball who’s only convincing bell to bell but isn’t “big time” in any other way, like an inverse Sid. His best non-wrestling stuff is the most rudimentary acts like the hug he had with Kota after Bullet Club betrayed him, the second he’s required to do anything in the way of “character” and especially with subtlety, it falls apart. You can get away with 7 star matches keeping you at the peak in Japan where athletic rivalry is allowed to tell its own story most of the time, but he’s been exposed a fair times in the States as incomplete for Western wrestling storytelling at the highest level. I’ve always raised an eyebrow when people have suggested he’s the best wrestler in the world, because big picture I wouldn’t have him in the conversation with, say, AJ Styles, and even his best matches in New Japan he wasn’t even the best wrestler in the ring.

[Snitsky's back acne]

26 minutes ago, Loki said:

Even the most positive fans here are starting to notice what's happened to Kenny Omega.  

Omega needs 6 months off, and to adjust his style to something he can do for a few more years, like Austin or (better example) Scott Steiner did.

Difference is Austin and Steiner also had bucketloads of charisma to mask a lot of their short comings. Omega is showing that 'Good in Japan' does not mean 'good'. He's always been over hyped and had the good fortune to be in the ring with genuine stars (like Okada) who could make him look better by proxy. 

Fair fucks to the fella though. As has been said, him and the Bucks have managed to bag themselves massive guaranteed contracts so why not either stay at home or turn up and half arse it. I would. 

[Lorne Malvo]

Fucking hell lads. He's had a few dodgy promos but he's still absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world with an insanely great body of work. Let's not write him off based on a shite Jericho segment.

[The Gaffer]

31 minutes ago, air_raid said:

At least it sounds like we’ll never have to entertain “But why haven’t WWE tried to sign Omega?” He’s always been a total goofball who’s only convincing bell to bell but isn’t “big time” in any other way, like an inverse Sid. His best non-wrestling stuff is the most rudimentary acts like the hug he had with Kota after Bullet Club betrayed him, the second he’s required to do anything in the way of “character” and especially with subtlety, it falls apart. You can get away with 7 star matches keeping you at the peak in Japan where athletic rivalry is allowed to tell its own story most of the time, but he’s been exposed a fair times in the States as incomplete for Western wrestling storytelling at the highest level. I’ve always raised an eyebrow when people have suggested he’s the best wrestler in the world, because big picture I wouldn’t have him in the conversation with, say, AJ Styles, and even his best matches in New Japan he wasn’t even the best wrestler in the ring.

Was going to chuck in my view on him but this sums it up succinctly. The heel run feels like an aberration now, and it's no coincidence it was the mostly tightly managed, edited and directed of his career. 

Also it's a mean, outdated view but whenever a potential WWE run was brought up before I always got a mental image of him trying to explain to Vince how he's got a new move named after a Final Fantasy VII boss, and Vince calling for security to have him pulled away. 

[Infinity Land]

Kenny Omega's year has suffered from the faction warfare that tends to bog down many in AEW. Trios to BCC to Callis Family. On paper he's always had something. Just none of it has been focused. Which is why some of the side quests like Ospreay and MJF have left people wanting more than they got from it.

In-ring this year I still think he holds up well enough for a guy in his early '40s. Ospreay x2, Vikingo x2, Mox in the cage, MJF, Takeshita, then the more everyday TV matches like Fletcher, Yuta, and Ethan Page.

[Chili]

What's this nearly five years into AEW and everyone has lost their minds now. We last did the 'Kenny has that Lord Tensai stench' when AEW started in 2019 just before the team with Hangman Page, the heel turn, that title run as king of the dickheads. It's like those saying Punk contributed no one getting over in AEW. Madness, complete hokum and poppycock boys and girls.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Chili

[DavidB6937]

20 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Fucking hell lads. He's had a few dodgy promos but he's still absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world with an insanely great body of work. Let's not write him off based on a shite Jericho segment.

Yeah the reason I am disappointed is because I know how fucking good he can be. Completely understand he's not to everyone's tastes but he's a huge asset to any company and more than capable of telling stories and putting on the best match on any given night. It's just been incredibly inconsistent in AEW and that promo was a real low point.

[Snitsky's back acne]

18 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Fucking hell lads. He's had a few dodgy promos but he's still absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world with an insanely great body of work. Let's not write him off based on a shite Jericho segment.

I guess it depends how you define 'best wrestler in the world'.

I remember Lance Storm and Chris Jericho giving separate interviews to Powerslam back in the day and both said who they thought the best wrestlers in the world were.

Lance said Fit Finlay. Jericho said The Rock.

 

[air_raid]

25 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Fucking hell lads. He's had a few dodgy promos but he's still absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world with an insanely great body of work. Let's not write him off based on a shite Jericho segment.

It's not just a few. He's total cringe to listen to whenever he's cutting a promo in English, always.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68eFASY8o5g

Cadence, mannerisms... absolute B movie of a wrestler doing anything other than, you know, having a wrestling match.

[Infinity Land]

Out of the 12 participants in the C2, Kenny Omega has had AEW singles matches against just two of them: Moxley and Danielson.

You can then look beyond that to the rest of the roster and its easy to understand the disappointment.

[Merzbow]

Just how long have people been champing at the bit?

[SuperBacon]

I watch AEW maybe 6 times a year. Omega is nearly always in the best match when I do.

That promo/segment was absolutely dreadful but it happens. 

He's still the bollocks in the ring.

Wrestling fans prone to hyperbole, who woulda thunk it?

[Chili]

I think after seeing his Japan run that the only Kenny Omega AEW matches any good are the ones that Arthur Matthews wrote.

[JLM]

I’ve always found “good in Japan” to be one of the most tedious UKFF tropes, but I’ll accept it when applied to a hilariously extreme case like Lord Tensai. Not Kenny though. Come on now. 

I agree he’s a terrible babyface promo and looks like his body is letting him down, but he had that belter of a match with MJF what, a month ago? 
 

If he is running out of steam then I think he should be booked as a big time special attraction and only do stuff like that MJF match.  Make his matches and appearances an event, make them a big part of a story and have him as the Okada style “final boss” of AEW. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by JLM