AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[Factotum]

'STORYTELLING' has become a really annoying word used since Triple H took over WWE. The whole finish the story bollocks.

[Carbomb]

For me, a good match requires good storytelling. It's not the only thing - it requires technical ability, by which I don't mean technical wrestling, but the actual skill to do things well enough to make it all look good, i.e. enough athleticism so as not to be breathing out of your arse halfway through, selling, and execution of any move so it doesn't look shit. It requires character work so that people feel connected enough to give a damn about what you're offering them.

But these all contribute to the storytelling. Can't have matches just for matches sake - even seemingly throwaway ones contribute to an overall, long-term whole. 

Not that this is anything new to anyone on here - I think we all understand this.

[BomberPat]

for all that "matches for matches' sake" is levelled at AEW, I'd say it's far more of an issue in WWE. 99% of the matches in WWE are filler, and don't mean anything, but you don't see people trot out "why is this match happening?" about, I don't know, Otis vs. Apollo Crews or something on RAW. It's a disingenuous complaint.

What's clear from a lot of the "where's the story?" complaints from modern WWE fans towards AEW is that there's a whole generation of fans who see "story" and "matches" as two distinct aspects of a wrestling show - you have your matches, and then you have your promos, angles, and in-ring monologues - because WWE has taught them that more often than not the content of the match doesn't count beyond, at best, the finish. The idea that the character development and storytelling could be happening in the match itself seems to be lost on a lot of people.

It's not dissimilar to some of the complaints about AEW not "introducing" or "explaining" who a wrestler is when they make their debut, if it's not preceded by a video package or something - the fact that they have a commentary team telling you exactly who the wrestler is aside, their job is to wrestle, their first match is the introduction. Of course, the other sides of that complaint are that it's usually tinged with racism - it's almost invariably just Japanese or Mexican wrestlers who get the "who are they, why should we care?" treatment - and more often than not it's levelled at a match graphic on Twitter, rather than at the actual content of the show.

I occasionally see people say that they watch wrestling, but don't really care about the matches. And I honestly have never been able to wrap my head around it. Do they know that movies and other TV shows exist? What do they get out of it?

[Chili]

"tell a story/storytelling" is the wrestling version of woke being completely misused in various contexts. It's gonna be the catch term for empty criticism of both companies storylines/matches for a while unfortunately.

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

For me, a good match requires good storytelling. It's not the only thing - it requires technical ability, by which I don't mean technical wrestling, but the actual skill to do things well enough to make it all look good, i.e. enough athleticism so as not to be breathing out of your arse halfway through, selling, and execution of any move so it doesn't look shit. It requires character work so that people feel connected enough to give a damn about what you're offering them.

But these all contribute to the storytelling. Can't have matches just for matches sake - even seemingly throwaway ones contribute to an overall, long-term whole. 

Not that this is anything new to anyone on here - I think we all understand this.

Yeah, there's different levels to storytelling, but it's usually there in some form or another. Storytelling definitely doesn't have to be a Bloodline epic every single time. It's the smaller and simple nuanced things through a match that can really tell a story - something someone like Bret Hart would know about very well. You want the audience to be invested, and it doesn't have to be because a match is part of a massive feud or something. A story can be as big or as small as you want it to be, but it can still be effective. Big guy vs little guy. Injuries. Things like that.

Obviously you do occasionally get MOVEZ~! matches, and that's fine, but I do think they're in the minority. Even in those cases you could argue it's a story of two flippy guys trying to one-up each other or something. It's actually very difficult to have NO story whatsoever.

[JLM]

The Continental Classic-heavy episodes being criticised for having a bunch of matches and no story was what really highlighted how differently some people view wrestling for me. We had the basic story of any pro wrestling singles match, both guys trying to beat each other. Then we have the points/league format giving each match tangible stakes. Then we have the ongoing story of the tournament, with matches becoming more crucial as the blocks develop, guys facing elimination if they don't win, ensuring qualification if they do win.

Then there are the character stories, Garcia trying to test himself at the highest level and prove he can hang, with Daddy Magic backing him all the way, Mark Briscoe trying to find his feet as a singles guy in deep waters, Danielson's injury and gradual erosion of his gameplan/mental state, going from cocksure final boss and outright bully of the tournament to a mentally defeated man in the end, Jay White trying to outsmart his opponents and take shortcuts in a tournament designed to prevent them, Eddie Kingston's quest to win a triple crown like his idols, his terrible start, trying to shed his "guy who falls at the last hurdle" curse, trying to get out of his own head AND keep Danielson out of there, the need to earn Danielson's respect by force if necessary etc. etc. etc.).Then the  incredible in-ring storytelling combining aspects of all of the above,

There were some belting promos over the course of the thing of course, but even without them the whole thing was packed with story. 

OK I think maybe I just wanted to gush over the Continental Classic again for a bit. Man it was good. 

 

 

 

Edited May 17 by JLM

[JimmyAnderson]

Really enjoyable episode of Dynamite this week. Taz being back helped, him agreeing with Schiavone's assessment of Claudio carrying a really big crowbar was the sort of unscripted daft shit that makes AEW's commentary team such a joy. 

Opening match was fun, even with Callis on commentary. I don't have much time for him but I think that's the best use for him than anything else. Mox and Danielson are always a good pairing together, Cobb is a good watch and Fletcher looks like he's styling himself on Garnacho and Hojlund. The eventual BCC and Don Callis Family match will be absolutely boss. I'm expecting Ospreay to be on the side of the BCC by that point. 

The video package for Swerve was top notch as was the little countdown clock throughout the show for his match with Cage. The actual match took a bit time to get going for me. It felt very slow paced but once it did get going it was boss. Post match angle was what you'd expect from Christian, in terms of the same sort of stuff he's been nailing for years. Nick Wayne's shot with the photo on Swerve's head was a bit close for comfort to Strickland's eye. Blood was pissing out of him.

House of Black and Copeland's fued continues to be a bit of a let down. I was guessing that the wedding ring angle was leading to a surprise appearance by Beth Phoenix somewhere down the line but I've just read she's still signed to WWE, so maybe that isn't going to happen. Not sure Kyle O'Reilly is the sort of person you want saving your arse either. A barbed wire steel cage match between Copeland and Black won't be everybody's cup of tea but AEW do tend to do these brutal matches quite well.

Kingston getting injured and being taken out of Anarchy in the Arena is unfortunate, meanwhile The Elite continue to shine. I still think they need to smarten Jack Perry up though. Okada kissing the finger before calling Dax a bitch got a laugh out of me. Thought it was a little nod to Kenny. I don't care much for FTR. The Bucks match with Daniels and Sydal was a lot more even than I was expecting as well as putting over a few moments of miscommunication from the Bucks. Perry was good on commentary though. pouring his drink over Schiavone was top notch dickhead behaviour. Sacking Christopher Daniels was more dickhead behaviour from the Bucks. That's Kenny they've kicked from the Elite, Hangman that they've suspeneded from the Elite and now Daniels they've sacked from AEW - that's a proper team of AEW originals who can bind together to stop the Elite.

Toni Storm's promo was a laugh as usual. The match with Harley Cameron was nothing special but nothing offensive either.

Another good line from Taz in the Hook match with "the big, bad Wolfe". Not sure we need to see Hook having squash matches anymore though, even if the whole point was to get him riled up for another match with Jericho. Shibata's google translate gimmick remains the highlight of any AEW show for me. Joe And Shibata teaming up to turn on Hook down the line and reform the JAS only for Taz to finally make the save. 

Ospreay seems to have fallen off a cliff in terms of excitement to see him. From the Danielson match where he was on fire and the crowd were going mad for him, to that backstage segment with the Undisputed Kingdom that was a waste of everybody's time. Still expecting a belting match between him and Strong at Double or Nothing but I thought with Ospreay going for International Title it'd be elevated back to where it was when Orange Cassidy held it but instead it's very much on the back burner, feeling like nothing more than an excuse to get Ospreay on the PPV card.

Willow's role in the Mercedes Mone debut has been note perfect, unfortunately Mercedes has been absymal. Even as a heel, it's like watching paint dry. Willow is absolutely boss and has been showing what a great babyface she is. She's one of the few success stories in AEW post-title win as well as the actual chase. Mercedes will hopefully be gone by the time Double or Nothing finishes. Or even better, that powerbomb through the table can give them an excuse to push Mone's debut even further back with a kayfabe injury and leave the title on Willow. 

Okada/Hardwood was your typical AEW match. Really good wrestling but with an obvious winner. The closing angle with Darby coming back as Team AEW's hero makes sense. He's got history with the Bucks and Perry as well as being an AEW original. One of their first signings wasn't he? Maybe even a cameo from Sting at Anarchy in the Arena.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Mercedes’ music is the worst in wrestling right now, isn’t it? I’d rather listen to Right To Censor.

[DavidB6937]

Despite being pretty indifferent to her coming in, I would've loved Mercedes to win me over. But it hasn't happened yet. I hope this can be the start of something but at the moment there's nothing I'm really enjoying about her and I don't feel like she's adding much.

[Mr_Danger]

I quite like that AEW can just throw in two guys to have a match because they think they’ll have a good or interesting match. One thing AEW never do is clip the wings of the undercard so what we end up with a lot of the time is some underused guys going out there and working their balls off. Obviously it doesn’t matter because they’ll disappear for 3 months afterwards but it’s better than watching half a tag team vs another half a tag team that WWE usually uses as filler.

Christian vs Swerve probably won’t go past their PPV match will it? It’s a shame because whilst I think Christian is perfectly placed as the best thing in the mid card he’s such a great heel. I was dying for him to take a handkerchief out and start wiping the blood off Swerve’s face like some untouchable movie villain. 

 

 

[LaGoosh]

13 hours ago, JLM said:

OK I think maybe I just wanted to gush over the Continental Classic again for a bit. Man it was good. 

My dream is for all the matches and promos to be collated on a Bluray.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

My dream is for all the matches and promos to be collated on a Bluray.

Best your going to get for now 

 

[Supremo]

Ice cold imagery.

I love that they’ve kept so much of Swerve’s heel character that I wouldn’t be surprised if he commits some crazy, violent crime in response.

Obviously, the dream scenario is another home invasion. He breaks into The Patriachy’s mansion, where we see Christian, Mother Wayne, Nick and Killswitch living as a mad, creepy, yet somehow wholesome family. Maybe they’re having a lovely BBQ together and Swerve breaks in with a baseball bat. Smash everyone up. Throw Christian into the pool (instant death by pro-wrestling logic). Steal a hotdog on the way out. See ya Sunday.

[The King Of Swing]

Killswitch has to be in his wrestling gear. Otherwise don't bother. 

[JLM]

Dynamite 15/05/25

Opening tag was loads of fun, helped by great heat from this crowd. They were especially hot for Danielson here but they remained strong throughout the show. A few episodes in a row now with hot, noisy crowds and it makes a world of difference. I say this every time he makes these little cameos, but I would have liked more Jeff Cobb. He still produced my favourite spot of the match with his catch on the busaiku knee, I approve of his new beard and I enjoyed his shithousing throughout. No surfing on anyone's back and no Tour of the Islands, but I will take what shetland hoss action I can get. The Deathrider at the end looked of this bloody terrifying. I don't know if Fletcher just took an amazing looking RVD-esque bump off it but man it looked like he smashed the top of his head. 

Copeland/HOB beatdown was good and violent. I'm sure the cage match will deliver. Copeland will make it feel like a massive deal as he has done consistently with his big matches, and the stipulation automatically adds danger and a bit of intrigue. The stupid Uncle Howdy bullshit HOB do when they feud with people is just so tedious though. Stealing wedding rings, printing pictures of people's families and burning them in barrels. They're physically imposing and they do a great beatdown. Just do that. It worked with Mark Briscoe. They attacked him a bunch, he attacked them a bunch, they had some fights. It worked.  

Malakai Black feuds remind me of this sketch: 

 

I think the only time I've ever found a Malakai Black story engaging was his feud with Velveteen Dream in NXT, and that was 100% down to his opponent. Dream wanted Black to do a spooky-bollocks in his direction but Aleister refused to acknowledge him. So the best feud he's had is the one where he refused to feud with the guy. But yeah, I think the match will deliver and we got the excellent Copeland/Brody match out of this too. Just a shame they get in their own way so much. 

No Kingston in Anarchy in the Arena is a shame. Backstage bit with The Elite was tremendous. Okada's closer was fantastic, Perry is getting better each week in this role and the Reebok Pumps ad was absolutely brilliant. Okada looks like he's having so much fun in this role. 

Bucks vs Daniels/Sydal was the first time I've been engaged by a Matt Sydal match in what must be years. Was a cool idea to use these two for this story and they were both great underdog bayfaces backed by the excellent crowd. Perry did a good job on commentary and man Schiavone is just a treasure. I love him. The shot of him sitting there soaking wet amd going "son of a bitch" nearly took Taz out completely and I can't blame him for it. Firing Daniels was also a great bit of business. Everything worked for me in this segment, absolutely spot on. 

Effortlessly great promo from Toni Storm to follow up. "thanks for knocking me out so I didn't have to listen to any more of your sob story" was a bloody brilliant line. 

This Jerichon run is Sharknado. They saw the market for so-bad-it's-good failed creature feature movies so they made one on purpose. For me that's missing the point. Bad movies where they were trying but the budget/competence of those involved didn't match their ambition have a certain charm to them. Movies where they're going "we're shit but we KNOW we're shit, eh? Eh? EH?" much less so. I don't know if a "please retire" chant is one you can really take ownership of and pretend is heel heat, but he sure did try. Give me Shibata vs Big Bill though. 

Cage and Swerve was a belter! Best match I've seen from Brian Cage in forever. He can do lots of cool stuff but in a singles match I think he needs the right opponent or the right circumstances to make a good match out of it. Swerve and this crowd provided both of those things. Loads of fun moments, though the single biggest holy shit for me was the deadlift brainbuster from Swerve. Genuine holy shit moment for me there. 

Post-match Christian was outstanding as usual. Was quite relieved when the blood stopped spraying out of Swerve's head though, that looked nasty. Only thing that slightly disappointed me was Swerve stopping his attack on Brian Cage when Christian's music started. Just for a brief moment it looked like he was going to carry on anyway and it would have been such a bad ass, trope-defying move to smash Cage's arm and *then* acknowledge Christian. 

Samoa Joe coming in as the voice of the viewer was amazing. Even Samoa Joe the character is acknowledging that Hook's momentum after their fucking amazing world title match up has been completely squandered by his descent into the Jericho vortex. This was a great call back and yes, please, give me the Shibata/Hook/Joe super team up.  

Storm/Cameron was pretty good, could see Storm was having to guide Cameron through it at times but it still turned out fine. Commentary completely breaking down for most of it was hilarious. Still baffling that they've tried to position Deeb as a babyface in this feud though.

Wardlow standing in the background like a complete mug as Osprey calls him a big veiny bellend just about sums up his Undisputed Kingsdom run. Quality promo from Osprey again, Roddy sounded way better than usual too. 

Willow/Mercedes segment was superb. "I walked out as champion and you didn't walk out at all" was spine tingling coming from Willow. Would be a heelish line in most other circumstances but it was perfect here. Every time she's mentioned the injury she's been apologetic and full of regret but she has had more than enough of Mone's shit. Great pop for that line and for the powerbomb. This match feels huge. Despite Mone's promos ranging from passable to god-awful, Willow has ensured this build has still been excellent. 

Good scrap in the main event, I know Dax isn't a popular man round these parts but I always enjoy his work. Genuinely surprising return and a great choice of substitute for Kingston with a true AEW original. 

Thoroughly enjoyable episode that. 

Edited May 20 by JLM