AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[Supremo]

If BBC watched Rampage this week, they’ve already picked Big Bill.

[WyattSheepMask]

7 hours ago, Supremo said:

If BBC watched Rampage this week, they’ve already picked Big Bill.

I think they’ve got more pressing matters right now

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Sounds like a mental ending to Dynamite this week.

 

Looking forward to tomorrow night on ITV4! 

[DavidB6937]

Is @Supremostill alive after that?

[69MeDon]

That was a great show, top to bottom. MJF slamming Big Bill - god damn, I popped (in more ways than one).

Edited July 13, 2023 by 69MeDon

[Supremo]

"He's coming."

Me too. Everywhere.

[Loki]

I just saw the news on Reddit, and was coming to see whether @Supremo has spunked himself to death.  I see I'm already too late!

[Hannibal Scorch]

Who’d have thunk that the best comedy match this week on Dynamite didn’t contain Orange Cassidy. Loved that tag match.

[Guest]

Big Bill should be an attraction until they put the belt on him. What a lad 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Just watched the entrance of MJF/Cole and I'm sure someone will be able to crop the bit where it looks like MJF is having some 'happy time' just before the 'BOOM' 

[Loki]

What a great tag match that was though, eh.  Pro wrestling at its best for me - genuinely entertaining, funny, but not in a break-kayfabe type way, advanced the storyline, got everyone over.  The double clothesline spot where Cage hits them with the second double clothesline - perfect.

The entire MJF-Cole storyline has been brilliant, some of the best stuff of MJF's reign for me.

[LaGoosh]

Cracking show.

- opener was really good, Jericho needed a solid singles victory and Kommander came out looking better than when he went in. Not sure how interested I am in the Callis/Jericho stuff at this point but willing to stick with it.

- something I have no interest in: Jack Perry vs HOOK.

- first tag match had three guys who never have bad matches (and Sammy Guevara) so this was a guaranteed banger. Daniel Garcia is absolutely MY BOY. Everything he does in the ring just looks fucking great.

- all the Cole/MJF stuff was absolutely brilliant, the Fight Forever bit being especially inspired. MJF turning on Cole and going back to the cheap heat heel will be an incredibly disappointing end to this surprisingly wholesome story. Seems like they're building up Cole having to choose between MJF and Roderick Strong. Choose Max! Tony Schiavone was putting Bill/Cage as a team over big so hopefully they keep these two together. Bill in particular is tremendous and a genuine breath of fresh air on the roster.

- Swerve/Nick Wayne was good telly but I'd give the credit for that to Swerve who is just getting better by the week. What I love about Swerve is his unique movement and offence was wanky as a babyface but works perfect as a heel as it comes across like he's constantly sneaking and sliding about to get in a cheap shot advantage. They need to push him to the moon. Wayne put in a good innings but there's at least 20 other people on the roster not being regularly used I'd rather see, he's just another flippy lad. I give it a month before he's teaming up with Action Andretti and Darius Martin.

- Don Callis's non-music theme is so eerie and unique, I love it. Pac being the 5th man amd actually having genuine motives for it was great. FUCKING IBUSHI, LET'S GO! Omega saying after he's beaten everyone else he's coming for Don was perfect. And finally Mox shouting "you think we're scared of Ibushi? I don't give a fuck!"...love that man.

- Blood and Guts looks absolutely insane. You've got some of the best wrestlers in the world and some of the biggest maniacs all in the same match together. Hangman, Mox, Takeshita and Yuta will probably collectively bleed enough blood to fill a swimming pool and Nick Jackson, Omega and Ibushi are going to do the craziest shit you've ever seen in your life.

[Hannibal Scorch]

When he's great, he's really fucking great

 

[BomberPat]

the Callis/Jericho stuff definitely becomes a lot more interesting knowing Jericho isn't the fifth man in Blood & Guts, and with Callis still talking of building a "family". It suggests that once this feud is over - which, hopefully, will be at Blood & Guts or soon thereafter - Callis and Takeshita will go their own way from the Blackpool Combat Club and Callis can start building his own stable.

Jericho would be an interesting fit for it, but risks overshadowing whoever else is in there. I'd rather that than Jericho turning face and feuding with them, though - it wouldn't surprise me if Jericho saw how much plaudits Ospreay and Omega got and wants his own match with Ospreay out of this. On the other hand, Don has repeatedly brought up how him putting together Jericho vs. Omega at the Tokyo Dome was really the catalyst for everything that eventually became AEW, and it would be a neat full circle thing if Kenny Omega has to beat Chris Jericho to get to Don Callis - they're currently tied at one win apiece in singles matches against each other. 
 

In terms of what Callis' "Family" could end up looking like - Takeshita, Jericho and Ospreay isn't a bad start, though it may be that they don't want Ospreay as a full-time member as he's not under contract, and because he's already in the United Empire in NJPW. Depending on what plans are between him and Luchasaurus, Christian Cage could be an eventual addition, as he has history with Callis going back to their days on the Canadian independents. 

There's plenty of people on the AEW roster who would benefit from some exposure and a good mouthpiece, but the best thing about the Callis/Omega partnership was how believably rooted in their actual history it was - Callis being managed by Kenny's uncle, returning the favour later in his career, setting up Kenny and Jericho in NJPW, all that stuff was real, and the feud should feel just as real. Whoever Callis brings in to side with him as his "Family" should either feel just as genuinely connected to him as Kenny did, or be someone he can disingenuously claim that connection to as well as he does with Takeshita. 

[Accident Prone]

I don't want to lift the lid on paywalled content, but on the Flagship Dynamite review last week, they said that several people in the AEW creative room are either a) Intimidated by the massive success of the Bloodline angle, b) made up of people who love the WWE method of "telling stories", or c) Both. The Flagship have been bang-on with their sources when it comes to the more detailed-tidbits like this (they were usually first on any CM Punk drama, for example), so I've been inclined to believe them.

These consistent Adam Cole/MJF and QTV skits are the biggest smoke-to-fire danger signs of that being true. I've been getting proper "Four sides only got you so far, brother!" vibes from the past few shows; instead of trying to be a WWE alternative by offering a product that is largely the anthesis to WWE, they are trying to be just like WWE and looking incredibly bush league in the process.

I don't watch AEW for skits and comedy segments and backstage angles, I watch it because they used to promote the important chunks of the card with in-ring storytelling, proper interviews, post-match angles and video packages. They had silly shite every now and again, but it was mostly relegated to guys who weren't important. But now we have the world heavyweight champion dabbling in segments that even NXT staff would scoff at, and we've got the most over tag team in the company (who have been cooled off a lot since their peak) embroiled with the instant death that is QTV.

There's still good stuff up and down the roster, but having your World Heavyweight Champion wasting his time with this Vince McMahon-engorged guff is such a waste.