AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[The King Of Swing]

Not as good as some are saying imo but still a perfectly fine episode of Dynamite. 

Brisco farm shenanigans was lovely.

Eight man was a fun opener. 

Like the Open House idea for the trios titles. Something different to help the titles stand out more even if it is a variation of the open challenge. 

Adam Cole immediately bolting for Jericho was great.

The Outcasts politely lining up so Shida could spray paint them was hilarious. Nice to see Shida back for a few weeks before she inevitably fucks off again. 

Battle royal was shit.

Wardlow is ice cold. 

Four Pillars stuff just isn't doing it for me. Little wonder that ratings (I know they are not the be all, end all) have taken a hit when the world title fued is filled with midcarders.

Feels like a TNT Title feud. 

[Infinity Land]

Potential that Yuka Sakazaki will end up in AEW full-time.

 

[The King Of Swing]

Relocating to/being based in the US imo indicates that she's not just looking for indie work so AEW is a real possibility. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by The King Of Swing

[The King Of Swing]

Double post. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by The King Of Swing

[Infinity Land]

3 hours ago, The King Of Swing said:

Relocating to/being based in the US imo indicates that she's not just looking for indie work so AEW is a real possibility. 

Similar rumour around Maki Itoh coming over full-time this year. With the bump to two shows AEW certainly needs some more variety. Outcasts is already stale. As is Jade + 1.

 

[WeeAl]

Thought the show was fine, but certainly nowhere near what others are making it out to be. 

The 8 man tag was a let down actually. I'm glad for Adam Cole that he's healthy again and has been able to come back. He seems like a good spud off the TV. It doesn't change that I don't buy him in the slightest. Nor have I any interest in Roderick Strong coming in. I also think Daniel Garcia has a ways to go. He fucking wishes Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang were is daddies, then he would have some of their charisma. 

This version of Cole has a chance to get me onside, however that might come after the Jericho stuff. Like I said after the Baker angle, that was real, real amateur hour stuff and will drag this whole thing down for me until it's either over or if it gets too good to not invest in. Cole as a baby-face fighting from underneath is his spot though, so hopefully it clicks. 

Jeff Jarrett is the fucking man. They should put the TNT title on him or something. That was the best part of this show, out at the farmhouse. Cracking stuff. 

The show running theme around the main event was good. I always like when this is done. We know it's a foregone conclusion that MJF is winning. The more interesting part is who's taking the loss. So a four way is still the right option as if it was straight up MJF/All-in, you wouldn't have that intrigue. Do the four way at the PPV though and then get well away from this for all of them. 

Not getting the love for the Juice Robinson match either. I don't think he has anything about him at all. This was, fine? Unfortunately for Juice, I think fine is his ceiling. A necessary step though, this was. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

I’ll leave Fatty to do the proper review. But Dynamite was INSANE.

[The Gaffer]

Sweet. I sometimes flick through these threads then just wish I'd watched the thing unspoiled. That's a motivator! 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Just read a review page of it and it's funny how 'professional' journalists view things so differently to fans. 

 

One I read was 'above average at best' kind of review, yet on here is its 'insane'

[Guest]

Great crowd, couple of returns, good matches and some good vignettes for the title match that made the challengers look better than when they are unedited. Kept my attention more than any dynamite has in the last month or so 

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, Big'Olympic_Hero'Pete said:

Just read a review page of it and it's funny how 'professional' journalists view things so differently to fans. 

 

One I read was 'above average at best' kind of review, yet on here is its 'insane'

I don't think that's a journalists vs fans thing. It's just different from one person to the next. You get that exact thing in this topic every week.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Big'Olympic_Hero'Pete said:

Just read a review page of it and it's funny how 'professional' journalists view things so differently to fans. 

One I read was 'above average at best' kind of review, yet on here is its 'insane'

As with anything, it’s all subjective.

That said, this was an excellent show on the whole. I didn’t like Christian’s apparent reference to the death of Arn Anderson’s son - it’s just unpleasant to do things like that - but that aside, most things on the show hit the mark for me. 

The pillars stuff was all well done, and although I’m not optimistic about the idea of Collision, it was teased in an interesting way at least. Hopefully we’ll find out more about All In next week too, it certainly sounds like we might.

Orange Cassidy has done a great job with the International title. Christian Cage going after him would be far more interesting than Christian facing off against Wardlow. As much as I dislike the death references, the heat Christian gets is ridiculous and it might make sense to put a title on him.

Finally, Mark Briscoe is quietly becoming one of the most entertaining characters in AEW. He’s loads of fun.

[Factotum]

Cracking episode which keeps me intrigued. Omega just has IT doesn't he? Whenever he's involved in big angles it just seems massive.

The crowd were fantastic as well. Really made the show

[Fatty Facesitter]

👍 Mox/Omega - Butter my bollocks, what a spectacle. Brutal in the absolute best sense of the word - a vicious, violent masterclass between two people who have an electric chemistry together. The Callis turn was a welcome development to close the show and I look forward to seeing where that goes. Lots of great spots but my favourite was Mox using the camera to batter Kenny and kissing it afterwards. The big clash between the BCC and The Elite is red hot now and although it wasn't quite tingling my testes at the beginning, it certainly is now. 

👍 Cesaro/Rey Fenix - An absolute ripper from start to finish and you’d expect nothing less from two seasoned pros. An opener that set the tone for what was literally a dynamite episode of Dynamite, if you'll pardon the rubbish pun. 

👍 Cassidy/Garcia - I’m running out of superlatives when it comes to that freshly squeezed beautiful bastard. Transitioning his comedy material to become more psychology based is something that I think we all take for granted, because it was actually quite a risky move and direction to take - if it goes wrong and goes too much the other way, you risk killing the appealing factors that made him so popular in the first place. Not only have they absolutely nailed it, but it’s made him an even better act, and James Cipperly the performer has evolved to the point where he has become when of the very best acts in the entire business, not just from a character perspective, but also between the ropes. Sells like a trooper as well - as if we needed any more reasons to adore the handsome bastard. He's so, so, so fucking good and the main reason I absolutely had to book a ticket for All In at Wembley - I'm a massive, massive, massive fan. This title run is just such a wonderful thing. By the way, Garcia held his own here too - I love his shithousing ways with the crowd and his daft hip swirls and I think the lad can go. Good match, good shit, good times. Did I mention I think Orange Cassidy is quite good? 

👍 FTR/LethalJJ/Briscoe business - God, this is just utterly gripping! It's both hilarious and dramatic at the same time in different instances. Briscoe being the special ref for the tag title match works perfectly, loved him passing the cups to people (and Double J kicking his out of the ring!) and then the brawl afterwards. The Dash piledriver to Mark while he was blindsided was another good plot development they can build on. This is some absolutely great shit they've got going on between the respective parties. 

👍 Julia Hart/Anna Jay - A good, fun brawl with both ladies busting a gut and putting in a huge amount of effort. A few weeks ago they had a terrible singles match on Rampage that lacked any intensity whatsoever. They addressed that brilliantly here and it paid off nicely. A couple of things for them to look at - Anna Jay moves around the ring a bit too casually for me and I’d like to see more work on the facial expressions from both. By moving with more of a sense of urgency and with some more emotion on her mug, it all adds to the sense of hatred for her opponent and does more to bring to that to life on screen. Also, not sure if the superplex onto the chairs at the end was executed they way they intended. Again though, a smashing brawl and a massive effort from both.

👍 Trios title match - Not a classic but a still a good encounter all the same. Right decision with Taylor taking the fall. 

👍 Quick note on the commentary - they're all such loveable rogues together. Excalibur is excellent as the lead and a great salesman for promoting the seemingly endless amount of upcoming matches across the different shows. Big Tone is just a delight. Tazz isn't everyone's cup of tea but he always makes me chuckle. The three of them together are having a ball calling the shows. Three bantelopes. 

👎 Pillars promos (Jungle Boy) - A few nitpicky bits from me. Jungle Boy is giving it the “I just want to be the best professional wrestler I can be” verbiage and complaining about MJF and how he conducts himself…and they’ve shot Perry’s interview next to a massive swimming pool. It’s an odd juxtaposition when you're trying to build someone up as babyface with a sort of 'he's one of your own!' mentality. Don't get me wrong, he's earned his pennies and he can spend on it on what he likes, good on him - it's more how AEW have shot and edited this particular piece that I'm critiquing. Also, Christian Cage praising him after they’ve been feuding? Not for me, Clive. With Darby, I thought they did a nice job for the most part with his, but at the very beginning he essentially said he was too good to be washing dishes or cleaning toilets. I imagine there’s a great deal of the viewing public working jobs they hate and many of them probably saved up their hard earned shit-pay dosh to buy his merch, so as a babyface don’t be giving it the Bertie Big Bollocks about being too good to work menial tasks. It was nice to have an in-person break from all four guys this week so we could focus on other talents, and while these promo did offer a continuation the overall story, you’ll forget about them pretty quickly. 

👎 Opening - Sorry but even if this isn’t ROH tele, having the ROH World champion not get any form of introduction and to be inserted into a cold opening is a mistake. It devalues him, the the title and the brand he’s the champion of. Also, I think the double jeopardy stipulation is a bit naff in this context. Match was great, the tag title match will bang, but this irked me. Nobody being billed as World Champion should get a cold opening. 

👎 Miro/Thunder Rosa returning to little fanfare to knock on Tony's door for a chinwag? Poor way to re-introduce them for me - you've got the potential there to really build those up for when Collision begins, or even when you bring them back to Dynamite. Cut both of these little backstage interactions, find a minute or so of time from somewhere else and you could have given Cesaro a proper entrance for instance. Calm the fuck down Tony, there's a good lad. 

Overall - An absolute blinder of a Dynamite. Not a bad match on the show, a huge development in what was a magic main event and other top stars like Orange Cassidy continue to deliver and then some. Some nitpicky gripes from me because I'm a smart arse, but otherwise a thumbs way up sort of show. I watched this during my morning commute and missed changing trains at London Bridge because I was utterly engrossed. 

[Nick James]

I take in most of my wrestling these days through @Fatty Facesitter's reviews. He watched the wrestling, so you don't have to!