AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[BomberPat]

On 12/7/2023 at 5:06 PM, Doog said:

RUSH is such a wanker man, he was up arguing with the ref before Moxley had even got up ffs, just been "choked out" then straight up like that. Such an unprofessional twat. He won't, but Tony needs to get a hold of him like, it's shit like that thst spawns the behaviour of Perry and Punk and all that bollocks, people in business for themselves and no discipline.

Reports are that Moxley specifically pitched that finish and aftermath to replicate chokeout finishes in MMA.

It's funny, because RUSH has years behind him as a master politician in lucha libre, but if anything he seems to have been a model employee in AEW.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Reports are that Moxley specifically pitched that finish and aftermath to replicate chokeout finishes in MMA.

It's funny, because RUSH has years behind him as a master politician in lucha libre, but if anything he seems to have been a model employee in AEW.

Yeah I didn’t see this as an Austin Aries situation where he no sold the match but rather the ref called it and he wasn’t completely out of it. I thought it was a great finish which leads to further matches down the line

[BomberPat]

The way I think Excalibur called it on commentary was that he was out, but Mox's music playing shocked him back into consciousness. Generally, when someone is choked out it's for a matter of seconds, not the pro-wrestling thing of being left lying unconscious for minutes.

[Hartleyno9]

Why on earth do they have to announce EVERYTHING on a TV taping? I understand announcing a couple of matches, but announcing every in-ring promo on a poster makes it all very dull in my opinion. 

Where's the spontenaety? 

A far cry from Bischoff's Nitro ideology of "anything can happen". 

[69MeDon]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:01 PM, Hartleyno9 said:

Why on earth do they have to announce EVERYTHING on a TV taping? I understand announcing a couple of matches, but announcing every in-ring promo on a poster makes it all very dull in my opinion. 

Where's the spontenaety? 

A far cry from Bischoff's Nitro ideology of "anything can happen". 

I think perhaps that started as a way to differentiate between themselves and WWE, back when WWE would announce like one single match for Raw and that'd be it.

Edited December 12, 2023 by 69MeDon

[air_raid]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:01 PM, Hartleyno9 said:

Where's the spontenaety? 

A far cry from Bischoff's Nitro ideology of "anything can happen". 

 

34 minutes ago, 69MeDon said:

I think perhaps that started as a way to differentiate between themselves and WWE, back when WWE would announce like one single match for Raw and that'd be it.

Nitro in the very beginning used to always announce the main event for the week after too. The night after Fall Brawl 95 they announced three matches for the week after during the course of the show - Lex Luger vs Meng, Macho Man vs Kevin Sullivan and Alex Wright vs Disco Inferno. By the 18th December show, they're spending as much time talking about Savage vs Flair for the title on Christmas night Nitro as they are Starrcade. Into 1997, they're still doing it e.g. the Hogan vs Luger title match where Hollywood drops the belt five days before Road Wild, they announced the week before.

I think there are two different discussions happening between announcing some matches in advance vs announcing all the matches in advance of your TV show, but my point is - if anyone is labouring under the misconception that Nitro didn't announce any matches in advance and you always had to watch to see what was going to happen - it's not true. Or at least until things started hitting the skids in 98.

[Infinity Land]

Most people don't follow AEW or Tony Khan on social media which makes it a really easy thing to avoid.

[simonworden]

Out of curiosity how often have AEW done the old schtick of "I want you in the ring tonight" type promos leading to a match on the same show? I quite like that it always seems to be in the future at the next available slot

[air_raid]

5 hours ago, simonworden said:

Out of curiosity how often have AEW done the old schtick of "I want you in the ring tonight" type promos leading to a match on the same show? I quite like that it always seems to be in the future at the next available slot

Once authorised by the Championship Committee, I hope. The development of wrestlers being able to book their own matches at some point in the late 90s was always a personal bugbear. Especially as "contracts" and contract signings continued to be a thing, even though you could equally just have a match if you fancied it and there was a ref about.

To think too deeply about it.... those refs probably weren't insured against injury if they just did those matches outside of the company sanctioning them and the associated red tape. Although that's a "Death Star independent contractors" rabbit hole I shouldn't go down. I'm not even supposed to be here today.

[LaGoosh]

5 hours ago, simonworden said:

Out of curiosity how often have AEW done the old schtick of "I want you in the ring tonight" type promos leading to a match on the same show? I quite like that it always seems to be in the future at the next available slot

I can remember it happening once with CM Punk against I think FTR and Moxley was Punk's surprise partner. But that's the only time I can remember it happening.

[RedRooster]

11 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I can remember it happening once with CM Punk against I think FTR and Moxley was Punk's surprise partner. But that's the only time I can remember it happening.

That's actually a really interesting point @simonworden - I feel like it must have happened during the earlier days of AEW, but I just can't remember specifics. If I still had AEW plus, I'd love to go back to rewatch the first two years of AEW. There are so many brilliant moments I'd love to relive. 

[Infinity Land]

Its very rare. Collision was opening with an in-ring promo on occasion. I can't remember if one lead to a new match or was simply building to what had already been announced.

One I remember for the disappointment of it. JAS kick-off the show. There's some excitement it would lead to Danielson/Garcia v. Jericho/Sammy that night. Menard steps in and it becomes Danielson v. Menard.

[Supremo]

Impromptu matches in AEW are so rare that I don’t think you’d need more than one hand to count how often they’ve happened. That weird Four Pillars Tournament happening on the same show it was announced is one example I remember. Best left forgotten, though.

It’s one of many, many ways in which the introduction of AEW improved WWE’s product by proxy. Before AEW came along and reminded everyone how to do it, almost every WWE show would start with almost no matches announced. This ridiculous idea that they’d book a building, sell tickets and start an international television show in the hope that two lads would have some beef in the opening segment, allowing them to come up with a main event later in the night.

Once AEW started doing that brilliant run down of next week’s lineup before each main event, testing how much and how quickly Excalibur could rattle off without passing out, WWE quietly stole the concept and now we normally know most of Raw and Smackdown’s cards ahead of time. It’s so much better this way. Gives you time to get excited about the matches, makes the whole thing a thousand times less stupid, and then when you do get something impromptu it feels like an exciting, crazy transgression. You don’t get the wild feeling of, “wait, what? They’re fighting now?!” if that’s what you do every single week.

Probably worth its own thread, that. The endless list of ways in which the introduction of AEW improved WWE and the business as a whole. Imagine if the nutty tribalistic fans could go back in time so that AEW never happened. Doesn’t bear thinking about. Can I interest you in another Brock vs. Roman match?

Edited December 13, 2023 by Supremo

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

12 hours ago, air_raid said:

Once authorised by the Championship Committee, I hope. The development of wrestlers being able to book their own matches at some point in the late 90s was always a personal bugbear. Especially as "contracts" and contract signings continued to be a thing, even though you could equally just have a match if you fancied it and there was a ref about.

To think too deeply about it.... those refs probably weren't insured against injury if they just did those matches outside of the company sanctioning them and the associated red tape. Although that's a "Death Star independent contractors" rabbit hole I shouldn't go down. I'm not even supposed to be here today.

I actually miss 96 wwe where they once had Vader vs Austin on Raw. One of the commentators asked "how the hell is THIS match happening on TV on the run to the Final Four" and (I think) Monsoon was on commentary and said "yeah I know.... but both men have signed open contracts and this is what happens when you do."

Was a real nice touch.

[LaGoosh]

That Golden Jets segment will go down as one of the worst in Dynamite history. Everyone was absolutely awful, they knew it was awful, the fans knew it was awful. Rotten in every way possible. It made me actively not want to see their World's End match.