AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[Devon Malcolm]

55 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

this is a disappointing take for me, because I love Jack Evans, and think that he's a much better heel than a babyface, and one of the most fun heels of the last few years for me.

He's always been a heel with me, BombPat.

I haven't seen enough of the Young Bucks to be able to refer to a database of experiences of whether they do the same match / moves every time. What I've seen of them in AEW, that hasn't been my takeaway from them and their matches. So I wouldn't criticise them for that, especially as wrestling has always had a heavy element of repetition to it.

They're just not for me. They're at the head of a generation of a particular brand of wrestling that I don't care for, and that is the endless near falls and ridiculously convoluted and idiotic escalation of big moves, with almost no selling beyond the instant impact of a move. It doesn't bother me too much though because I accept their style and influence is hugely popular. There's a lot of wrestling out there. They're easily avoided. I really believe there's something out there for everyone in wrestling now if you look hard enough that you don't have to be exposed to what you don't like. Or you can just subscribe to WWE Network and watch old NWA and AWA stuff.

And in fairness to the Bucks, this new look and attitude could be great and very funny if they match it to a style that works with it. That was the problem with their previous heel run. They still wrestled the same way, from what I saw. I doubt whether they can dampen things down but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.

[CavemanLynn]

The Bucks' obvious strengths unfortunately are weaknesses for what I enjoy in my wrestling.

They're so self-aware that I always feel like they're one moment away from stopping to wink at the camera, but it'll be in an "ain't we great" way after a complex athletic spot, rather than at a point of nasty heel dominance.

I know that's a perception thing on my part, but it stems from the biggest issue I have with them, which others have already stated is what they like about them, which is that they do so fucking much in their matches that I just don't care anymore. I got told by an old pro on the UK circuit that, at best, an audience will remember two or three moments from a two to three hour show, so the best you can do is try to be one of those moments, and choose what type of thing you want that moment to be. If you're doing 101 things in a single match, like I feel the Bucks do, how the fuck am I supposed to remember it, and if it doesn't get a pinfall or something else match-shiftingly critical, why should I care? Their fans can point out how great they are pacing and escalation, but the best pacing they ever showed me was the first Stadium Stampede where they literally cut away from them once they had done their next bit.

[Duke]

They're also really, really good at making others look good. Private Party have never looked as good as they did on that first episode of Dynamite and nor have Top Flight.

I think that's also part of the reason Sting picked them for his final match, that they're the best placed to make him look great on the way out and put Darby over huge. 

They're obviously not for everyone, a bit too meta for many and like Devon said, they personify a change in the style of wrestling over the past 10 years that isn't to everyone's taste, but a lot of the criticism of them, including in this thread, just feels so far from what they're like these days.

 

[LaGoosh]

I can totally get not being a fan of the Bucks but they are very good wrestlers when they need to be. They are the only team to get something watchable out of the Hardys in years. I find their week to week TV matches pretty poor and repetitive but when it comes to delivering in the big, important matches there are few better. 

Anyways, HOOK vs Joe was awesome. The type of ass kicking that made Joe look like a absolute killer but also made HOOK look great for taking it and leaving on his feet. Joe is the best and him as Champion is a breath of fresh air. Certainly an argument to be made for Joe being one of the best ever.

Rest of the episode was pretty meh outside of a good Swerve promo and Toni being hilarious. 

Obvious highlight being this man looking more beautiful than ever:

What a man. Push him to the moon.

[JLM]

6 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

He head of a generation of a particular brand of wrestling that I don't care for, and that is the endless near falls and ridiculously convoluted and idiotic escalation of big moves, with almost no selling beyond the instant impact of a move... I really believe there's something out there for everyone in wrestling now if you look hard enough

See I can get behind a near fall fest with an absurd escalation building to the finish, but I definitely feel the near fall fatigue sometimes too and it's great that, as you say, there are so many options and varieties of wrestling available right now. Alexander Hammerstone vs Josh Alexander at TNA's Hard to Kill this week, I singled out for praise the fact that neither of them kicked out of the other guy's finisher, and the match ended on a finishing move. With my current steady diet of AEW (and WWE PPVs) it felt novel and refreshing, but weirdly it took some adjusting to as well, like a couple of the matches felt as if they'd stopped prematurely because they ended on the first ending rather than the fifth one. But yeah, there really is something for everyone right now, the problem I have above all at the moment  is finding the time to keep up! 

Edited January 18 by JLM

[RedRooster]

4 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

What a man. Push him to the moon.

I feel similarly about the prospect of Hangman turning heel to the way I felt about Daniel Bryan turning heel during his final WWE run and Eddie Guerrero turning heel. I just don't want it to happen! Bryan/Guerrero were tremendous babyfaces, and I think I enjoyed rooting for them far more than I ever could rooting against them; even though both played the heel role really well. 

Hangman would probably be a fantastic heel...but I think there's money in Hangman chasing after the title as a babyface again. He's still the best babyface in the company, and he's one of the best babyfaces in all of wrestling in my opinion. 

[LaGoosh]

Long build to Hangman vs Swerve the Champ in Texas Death 2 is the way to go.

[DavidB6937]

Heel or Face I just want Hangman to get something sustained and consistent. He deserves it. Just give the guy something proper to work with.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Loved the opener, Christian is just utterly perfect right now. 

Hangman and Swerve were both brilliant, as always. 

The Bucks look to be interesting going forwards, but how are ridding the place of Sting if its already his retirement match?

Joe and Hook was exactly how it should have been, and both came out of it looking better. And the announce table spot... wow that looked nasty.

 

However. The bit that stood out for me was the tribute to Jay. Bringing out the niece was a great moment, and I admit I teared up somewhat. 

[Chili]

Toni Storm feeding Ian Riccaboni macaroons until he couldn't talk on the pretence she believed it was Tony Schiavone after shaping up was wonderful silly. I like wonderful silly.

[HarmonicGenerator]

5 hours ago, Duke said:

I think that's also part of the reason Sting picked them for his final match, that they're the best placed to make him look great on the way out and put Darby over huge. 

I’m not sure I can count on this. Nothing to do with the Bucks though. Chris Jericho has VERY SUBTLY said “seek and destroy” in his last two promos and, unless I missed it, commentary didn’t confirm that it’s definitely Sting & Darby vs The Bucks. I think Jericho’s going to squeeze his way in there.

Anyway, add me to the fans of Joe vs Hook, and for the really touching segment with Mark Briscoe. Lovely stuff.

[Lorne Malvo]

Joe vs Hook was a great little match. 

Really enjoying AEW since Worlds End and that continued on this show. Joe vs Hangman vs Swerve for the next few months will do me nicely.

May have shed a tear at that Briscoes segment. Imagine seeing Mark Briscoe, with that connection he has with the crowd, the inbuilt emotional title-chasing storylines you could do with him and instead choosing to drown him in The Hardys Lake of bullshit. 

[Duke]

9 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I’m not sure I can count on this. Nothing to do with the Bucks though. Chris Jericho has VERY SUBTLY said “seek and destroy” in his last two promos and, unless I missed it, commentary didn’t confirm that it’s definitely Sting & Darby vs The Bucks. I think Jericho’s going to squeeze his way in there.

I like that Jericho has become our bogey man on AEW.  "Be careful with this story, or Jericho will come in and ruin it!" Flinching at every electric guitar riff in case it's Judas. Walking quickly past every Wetherspoons with our collars up.

Is that was it was like with Hogan in the late 90s?

[Loki]

What wasn't addressed on Dynamite AT ALL this week was that our Texas Chainsaw Massacre Champion hasn't defended his belt for nearly 5 months!!  Come on Sniff, where is my obligatory contender tournament and regular Jarrett defences?  Sports presentation my arse.

[RedRooster]

I’ve just watched the Joe/Hook match, and I think there’s a real argument to be made for it being one of the best TV matches they’ve ever done. Hook definitely gained something from that, and I hope they follow this up rather than move on as if this hadn’t happened to him. 

A logical next step is surely Christian Cage, particularly when you consider Christian’s patriarch gimmick; and Taz being an on-screen character for AEW. However they were to do it, there’s potential there - and Hook could absolutely be the wrestler to end Christian’s TNT title reign, potentially unifying the belt with the FTW title to get rid of that albatross.