AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[Chili]

I absolutely loved Tazz going full Lyle Lanley on the airplane to North Haverbrook.

Suicidal!

'No!'

Genicidal!

'Oh NO!'

[LaGoosh]

For all its faults, the fact that AEW will happily do mad shite like bringing out SABU in 2023 is why I love it so much.

Pretty nothing show overall, bring on Sunday.

[Supremo]

I fucking love the idea of Bobby Fish watching Dynamite, seeing Sabu come out instead of him. Sorry Bobby, we needed someone younger and less of a head case than yourself, so we went with Sabu.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Supremo

[Infinity Land]

22 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I fucking love the idea of Bobby Fish watching Dynamite, seeing Sabu come out instead of him. Sorry Bobby, we needed someone younger and less of a head case than yourself, so we went with Sabu.

He's buying some MC Hammer pants and tying a bedsheet round his head as we speak. Hopes nobody notices when he turns up at the PPV.

[quote the raven]

I was thinking the utter worse when cole started his i made some phone calls promo. It had to be Redragon didn't it....Nope

Sabu..............I have no idea how broken down he is these days but i will take a chair throwing sabu over those two any day of the week

[Merzbow]

Sabu has been very active on Twitter recently, funny guy. It's still weird seeing the man who never spoke replying to people with "lol" though.

[Weezenal]

Does anyone know what Taz last match? 

[LaGoosh]

Just now, Weezenal said:

Does anyone know what Taz last match? 

Jerry Lawler at One Night Stand, though that wasn't really a proper match.

This week I thought Mark Briscoe was absolutely fantastic slapping everyone about. He's an absolute mid-card star that bloke. Funny but also can turn on some genuine drama when the story needs it.

Adam Cole...he's definitely a babyface but his physique is still such a problem. I know wrestlers are much smaller these days but his physique is just so bad. Absolutely impossible to take seriously and it's a real issue.

[Thunderplex]

I stay out of this thread for many reasons, but Sabu!!!  He can just be the hard as fuck crazy old bastard his Uncle was in his later years and it will be great.  Popped for this one. 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Darbys shoes, fucking Hell. 😆 

[Infinity Land]

He saw Yuka Sakazaki's backstage and wanted to know if you can get them in black.

[Fatty Facesitter]

Overall - You'll see me repeat similar phrases when breaking the show down, but it was mostly a case of simple and effective build up for the weekend. Sabu's insertion was a fun appearence, but aside from that, perhaps this show didn't the kind of killer 'must-see' segment that makes your jaw drop or makes you feel like you absolutely must tune in so you don't miss a classic moment that will be remembered for years to come, which I think you should probably aim for on the go home show for what's traditionaly your flagship event. Still, Double or Nothing certainly looks the part and we're in for one hell of a weekend. 

👍 Pillars Business - Simple but effective. This angle has gone through quite the rollercoaster - the indignity of the four-person moan-a-thon promos a few weeks ago to the rock solid execution thereafter. It’s all in a good place and they’ve done well to get it back on track. There was no need to overcomplicate things on the go home show and they certainly took a sensible approach here.

👍 JAS/Cole business - Passionate promos with the hatred radiating from both sides, lovely stuff. Interesting and cool surprise with Sabu entering the picture - Bobby Fish probably pissing in his cornflakes about that. Also, Strong vs Garcia was quite a physical affair and thus a very enjoyable one even if the crowd perhaps weren't going bananas for it. 

👍 Lucha Bros/BCC - Solid main event with four dependable stalwarts. The Young Bucks cameo furthers the build to the PPV and it served as another excuse for Mox to cut his second ace promo of the night at the end. Speaking of which, really enjoyed his first contribution of the evening from backstage. A quick mention also for Danielson's guest commentary appearance. Nothing outright shocking or memorable here, but simple and effective execution heading into the weekend. 

👍 Orange Cassidy vs Kyle Fletcher - Not quite at his vintage best, but it’s an Orange Cassidy match and it was always going to get a thumbs up. Kyle Fletcher doesn’t radiate charisma in the same way that some of Cassidy’s previous opponents have during this run and the match perhaps lacked the same kind of zest as a result. Clearly Fletcher is a good wrestler, but good wrestling alone is tough to break out from in the current landscape where we’re spoilt for choice in terms of eye-catching contests. Still, a good way to open the show. Even a B-level Cassidy match is a top standard.

👍 Mark Briscoe going ape on FTR, Double J and co was great. “I’m gettin’ tired o’ ‘dis bullsheet!” - The FTR promo beforehand was shite, but everything from Mark’s entrance onwards was great. On the whole this has been a really fun angle.

👍 House of Black six man was decent - cool finish with all three hapless babyface victims locked in submissions. Action-packed without overstaying its welcome.

👎 FTR Promo - No need for that Jarrett/TNA snarky, shooty bollocks. Poor. As stated though, everything from Briscoe’s arrival onwards was great.

👎 Taya vs Frost - Unfortunately not a very inspiring encounter. 

[RedRooster]

The booking of Jay White has been bizarre and abysmal. I’ve just found out that he’s in the battle royal for the International Title. Why sign someone this high profile and debut him in this way? It’s a spectacular waste of someone who could have made an immediate upper card impact. 

[Tsurutagun]

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

The booking of Jay White has been bizarre and abysmal. I’ve just found out that he’s in the battle royal for the International Title. Why sign someone this high profile and debut him in this way? It’s a spectacular waste of someone who could have made an immediate upper card impact. 

I'm even more convinced that when AEW signed Jay that he was going to debut after Double or Nothing and that when Senile Vince caused havoc at the Raw after Mania, Tony went "let's debut Jay now to show people that Vince made a whoopsie by not signing him" 

[Supremo]

Solid show. Nothing offensive, and a good time throughout, but a weirdly understated show considering it was the go-home episode. Like they ran out of material, so just filled the time with auto-book. In retrospect I think they'd have been better saving Hangman's return for this show rather than last week, to end on that massive high, but as I understand it tickets for Double or Nothing aren't selling great, so perhaps they just wanted Anarchy in the Arena announced as soon as possible.

Kyle Fletcher better be really fucking good as a tag team guy because I didn't see much in him as a singles star in that opener. It was still good because Orange Cassidy is the best, but that was easily one of Cassidy's weakest matches in a while. Fletcher just felt like a guy you'd see on a local show. Hopefully he has more in the tank. Maybe it's the haircut. Curtains in 2023. What are you doing, man. Sad to think this might be Cassidy's last match as International Champion. A shame that such an incredible run ended on what can only be described as an okay match. I'll be stunned if Jay White isn't holding that belt on Sunday.

Mark Briscoe is the best character in pro-wrestling right now. A complete superstar. Extremely uneven segment otherwise. Not to sound like Jim Ross or Jim Cornette, but I think this perfectly highlighted the different generations of wrestlers and where the younger lads have completely lost their way. Dax is out there trying to be all meta and clever, throwing out rubbish shoots to get the crowd to go, "OOoooOOooh!" but then here comes Jeff to save the day with some classic silliness. I was howling with laughter when Double J went for the high five, only to get chinned into next week. So, so funny. That's how you do it, Dax. Play the hits. Jeff hasn't missed yet in this company. What an asset. Strap. Him. Up.

House of Black continues to frustrate. Do these matches in a normal setting, under normal rules, and they'd be fantastic. However, the spooky, e-fed shit continues to handicap everyone involved. If anything, it was more annoying this week because there had obviously been crisis talks since the last one - with a compromise made to turn the dimmer switch up a few notches - but if you're having those conversations anyway why doesn't someone just point out the obvious and demand all of this bollocks is immediately abandoned. Another babyface team looking like idiots when they don't pick a rule that guarantees them a victory, too. We can pick any rule? OK, guns are legal for us. I hope and pray this leads to something clever down the road but as it is I just think it makes everyone look stupid. Didn't The Acclaimed win the right to face these goofs at the pay per view? What happened to that? Genuinely wouldn't be surprised if someone with as much experience as Billy Gunn has scrapped the plan entirely, knowing how there's no way to make this work, and it'll only harm them in the long-term. Bin this off already.

Speaking of turning the lights off, there's something really funny about Tony Khan doing the lights-off-lights-on thing for years and years, for absolute nobodies like Cole Karter, and then when they actually bring in Sabu himself he just comes down the ramp with normal lighting. Amazing. You're a nutter, Tony. Still, I adore the idea of Adam Cole and Sabu being mates in kayfabe. Adam Cole popping round Sabu's house, having to push all the drugs off the table to set up his N64.

Danny Garcia vs. Roddy Strong didn't meet expectations but I'm still in love with Garcia. Doing his shit dance in response to the crowd chanting, "you can't dance," was brilliant. Chris Jericho's not an idiot. I wonder if he's saving the Garcia turn for Wembley? Seems as good a place as any to finally pay it off.

Phenomenal pair of promos from Moxley on this show. I know people slag him off for always bleeding, but fucking hell. If this man is telling you they're going to have the craziest, most violent match in company history? I fucking believe him and cannot wait to see it. They're going to do flaming super-kicks, aren't they?

The Four Pillars stuff limped over the finish line. The match will likely still rule, but what a fumble overall. Only MJF has came out of this alive. Jungle Boy's getting booed out of the building, Sammy Guevara is a confusing mess of a character, and Darby Allin has never felt less of a star, doing those BIG BREATHS in between sentences, talking some nonsense about how AEW is so great because they let him be an idiot on the weekends, wearing those absolute shockers on his feet. What a loser. bring back Sting to talk for him! But yeah; call it a day, Max. Win on Sunday and then quickly move on from these chumps. You're way better than all of them.

CM Punk, though. For fuck's sake. What a dichotomy of a man. Is he an absolute whopper? Yes. Is this whole thing destined to end in tears? Yes. Is it certifiably insane that they're splitting their roster for one single dickhead? Yes. But did I still get a huge rush of excitement when they announced Chicago and the crowd erupted? Also yes.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Supremo