AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[Chili]

Oh Christ, yeah, who has said to Wardlow that's fine mate, go out with that haircut. Absolute state of him. He used to look like an absolute don. What's occurring there, he looks so different.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

12 hours ago, kidzero said:

Why did they out the international title back on oc? ..I found him and his title defences boring after a while

I think before he was desperate to keep it and he'll be desperate to lose it again as he doesn't want the hassle, but I bet it'll be a fun run of seeing him trying to lose every match but noone wanting to be champ as noone wants the target on their back...but I have a feeling there's a big swerve/turn coming and probably from someone we least expect 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Heads up for anyone who watches the UK airing of Dynamite, it’s on ITV4 tonight at 10.40 instead of tomorrow night as normal 

[Hannibal Scorch]

56 minutes ago, Chili said:

Oh Christ, yeah, who has said to Wardlow that's fine mate, go out with that haircut. Absolute state of him. He used to look like an absolute don. What's occurring there, he looks so different.

I heard him being interviewed around the time it was cut, he had to cut it off because it wasn’t growing evenly or something so he basically wanted to grow it again from scratch. He’s currently in 1996 Sting mode

[organizedkaos]

23 hours ago, Dai said:

 

I dip in and out of AEW, and was shocked to see the state of Wardlow. What the hell happened?

He turned out to not be very good.

I mean he's definitely got potential under a good booker and with the right opponent. MJF dripping heel heat and generally being somewhat competent at putting together a storyline worked.

But Wardlow didn't have to do much there; look pissed off, powerbomb MJF's job squad, get whipped, powerbomb MJF 10 times.

After that him and Tony Khan's booking got exposed. Wardlow was a crap promo, has some good moves but matches of his never seem to have much spark when he's not powerbombing people or doing a cruiserweight spot. Couple that with some terrible storylines and weird choices with a title (likely done because he's not very good) and yeah it all seemed kinda shonky.

They keep trying cos at one point he looked like he'd be a big homegrown star and there's a chance of finding something that works ala Mark Henry (and as Supremo said, the fact he's likely going to be interacting with MJF means this run might be somewhat entertaining) but yeah you could probably just chalk all this up to "MJF is good at wrestling and can get a broom over"

[organizedkaos]

Oh and apparently the Toni Storm bit was reflecting what was happening in the adverts playing (picture in picture)

Which is a really neat idea but also made for a confusing demented viewing for those watching not the advert version.  Confusing and demented isn't off brand for the character but yeah that might have been a bit too much...

[BomberPat]

Wardlow was one of the first high profile victims of Tony Khan not knowing what to do with his long-term booking when a spanner gets thrown in the works, and his seeming willingness to indulge wrestler's creative ideas to the detriment of the story.

I hated MJF's promo the Dynamite after losing to Wardlow. Wardlow has what should have been the star-making match, the win that his entire character arc was predicated on, but all anyone could talk about was whether or not MJF got on a plane that day. On Dynamite, MJF cuts a long-winded worked shoot promo slagging off Tony Khan, but never once mentions that he just lost at the PPV, does nothing to transfer his heat, nothing to put Wardlow over. Completely cut him off at the knees, and AEW did precious little to move Wardlow on to the next thing to try and keep his momentum going. 

Given that he currently has "MJF" written on his wrist tape, there's definitely a potential story in Wardlow still being the one guy that really has MJF's number, and coming after the title. He'd make a good "monster of the month" challenger, given their history. The other option is that MJF needing partners to take on Bullet Club Gold leads to him recruiting Wardlow and FTR for a one-night Pinnacle reunion. But I think getting Wardlow back to where he was immediately post-babyface turn is almost impossible at this stage.

[Doog]

Wardlow is what Batista would have been if he hadn't joined Evolution.

[jaygoose]

Hearing a lot about AEW being on a downward spiral since the loss of CM Punk.

I skim through the program.. and really I don't think that's the case.

 

For me.. theres a few too many long matches with multiple guys, loads of spots and insane kick outs etc.. I know that's what's popular. 

 

But it's also getting good and relatively new characters.. MJF, House of Black, Timeless Toni.

 

It only takes a few of those to catch on big. (Arguably MJF is there)..

Things in wrestling can change fast.

[LaGoosh]

20 minutes ago, jaygoose said:

Hearing a lot about AEW being on a downward spiral since the loss of CM Punk.

Their live attendance is down but typically the ratings and PPV buys are remaining pretty consistent so definitely not a downward spiral.

[Loki]

The biggest victim of the Tuesday Night War - Juice Robinson being painted as anti-semitic.  And he doesn't deserve that, as he was ace again in the match with his antics.

The Toni Storm stuff was nuts (although pace above, like most of you I wasn't watching the ads!) but she gets massive points for channeling Dame Edna Everage with her facial expressions.

The main event I enjoyed and Christian Cage is generally the star of the show, and I also enjoyed MJF actually seeming to give a shit about the title, but otherwise this was an.. ok show on a night when its booker had hyped it up as the BEST EVA, so it really failed to deliver despite the title changes.

[Doog]

I've not watched much of the current product over the last few weeks, so last week I watched Smackdown, then watched Fastlane, RAW, NXT and then Dynamite. So got a feel of what was happening.

I really enjoyed all of the shows, aside from NXT which was pretty boring, however I'm going to give it another go next week when its more "normal" as I've heard good things.

Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the others, last nights Dynamite was my favourite of them all. Really enjoyed pretty much everything and it had a decent ish mix of wrestling and angles/promos.

The biggest thing that turns me off AEW is too much wrestling, I appreciate the product may not be for me, but there PPVs are such a chore as its just 20 minute at least match after match after match after match. There's hardly any backstage stuff/promo videos its just constant and its a chore. Dynamite used to be like that in the early days and I still think some of the matches go too long, but this week's was the right balance so I enjoyed it.

I like MJF, Hangman was one of my favourite months ago but he just seems a bit in the middle of nowhere, could do with a heel turn I think, the Copeland Christian stuff is great, Cage is really good, he's always been really good to be honest, he's just been overlooked. He was doing great heel week in 03/04/05 and he did great heel work in TNA but no fucker was watching it.

Anyway, there's a lot of good stuff in AEW, I still think it's not aimed towards me as like I say it's very heavy on wrestling, and that's not my main thing, but there's another there to keep me watching. I'll skip Rampage but I will watch Collision, especially now FTR hopefully won't be there, I fear this won't be a show for me mind and will be very match heavy but we'll see.

It's just a shame no fucker seems to want to go and watch AEW, I know the ratings have stayed steady but it hasn't grown at all since it stared so already feels like it's hit a ceiling so it'll just continue as it is, but it's nice to have an alternative so see some new characters, and if they're that good they'll end up in WWE anyway so at least they'll stick around andnbe seen by a wider audience

[Supremo]

The problem with Wardlow is the same problem Miro, Powerhouse Hobbs and Lance Archer all had. Tony just seems to have a massive blind spot on what to do with big monsters once he’s got them over to a certain level. They always fizzle out and flounder, eventually being fucked off for months until they press the reset button and start again. It’s an endless cycle. Goldberg push, then start a new EWR save. The only reason Wardlow stands out amongst them is because he’s on about his third or fourth reset, whereas the rest of them have only one had one or two.

I’d never considered a Pinnacle reunion. I’d love that. Either against Bullet Club Gold or whenever Adam Cole turns and joins forces with Roddy and the Kingdom. Awesome idea. Anything that gets Wardlow back in a suit. Fire up the jet!

Edited October 12, 2023 by Supremo

[Infinity Land]

14 minutes ago, Supremo said:

The problem with Wardlow is the same problem Miro, Powerhouse Hobbs and Lance Archer all had. Tony just seems to have a massive blind spot on what to do with big monsters once hes got them over to a certain level. They always fizzle out and flounder, eventually being fucked off for months until they press the reset button and start again. It’s an endless cycle. The only reason Wardlow stands out amongst them is because he’s on about his third or fourth reset, whereas the rest of them have one had one or two.

Miro: Best Man/Gamer/East European gangster vibe could be an evolution and seen as one, 2021 Redeemer TNT champion, 2022 half-arsed return, Collision return.

Hobbs: Will Hobbs, Team Taz, Book of Hobbs, QTV, back to book of Hobbs, Callis Family

Archer admittedly hasn't really had enough work to be considered a reset at any point. They've just very occasionally broke him out of cold storage after 2020.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by Infinity Land

[Loki]

The Jericho Hobbs squash was bloody lovely though, a real bit of work be Jericho.  Hobbs was working a Mark Henry style which really suits him.  It would be a crying shame if it was allin vain and this push floundered like everyone else.

Wardlow is this decade's Adam Bomb.