AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[JimmyAnderson]

Another show that was enjoyable to watch.

Opening match between Osperay & Cassidy v Strong & Beretta wasn't one I liked the idea of. I've never liked you're fighting him on pay-per-view and this lads fighting someone else on the same pay-per-view so we'll have a random tag team match with the four of you beforehand. But I guess with Callis trying to bring Orange Cassidy into his family, this match had a bit more logic to it as well as the fact that it was Cassidy who Strong took the International title from. Surprising win for the heels as well. No sign of the Callis Family coming to help Ospreay while he's been beaten down four on one - just get Osperay away from both stables at this point.

Bucks backstage segments remain funny to me. And Sonjay Dutt struggling to break a pencil, wether intentional or not, also got a laugh.

Austin Gunn looking pissed off that he didn't have a nickname also got a chuckle out of me. It's the Mike Bassett scene all over - "how come I haven't a got nickname Boss?". Nice to see Death Triangle back, for how long though is always the question with them. Seems like every few months something happens that takes them away as a trio. But I'm sure their match against the Bang Bang Gang at Double or Nothing will be a belter. Is Juice Robinson anywhere near a return?

I reckon if it was anybody other than Chris Jericho doing the shit he's doing, I'd be enjoying it especially with Big Bill copying him. But because it is Jericho, it's just like fuck off mate. Given the ending of the match between Hook, Shibata and Keith we could end up with a submission match at Double or Nothing, which I wouldn't be against. Something a bit different at least. 

Willow and Mone has been built so well. Now it's all about them getting the end result right as well.

Takeshita and Sydal was what it should be, a good match for Takeshita to showcase his skills ahead of his match with Mox. Moxley's showing after the match was also a nice change of pace for him. It didn't need to be a 10 minute promo, just a simple twat over the head with a microphone and letting everybody know he's fighting Takeshita at Double or Nothing.

Nice little interaction backstage between Swerve and The Bucks. I really enjoyed how the Bucks treated Swerve, as champion, with that level of respect. Telling him he can sit wherever he wants because he's the champ, berating somebody for not playing Swerve's music quickly enough as well as them showing signs of fear when they saw him. Too often babyface champions get shit all over in situations like this, so it was good to see this wasn't one of those moments.

And very glad to see another victory for Swerve. Again, too often, champions get booked to lose non-title matches but AEW are doing a fine job with Swerve. The post-match stuff only further highlighted how great a job they're doing with the champ. It'll be interesting to see what plans they have for him after Double or Nothing.

The match between Black and O'Reilly was a good match but probably could have the same outcome with the Copeland bloodbath without the actual match. Best part of it all was Taz sulking that he got hit with the "blood" and how the team had to clean him up as well as the ring. 

Women's tag match was another good match but it felt as if Storm & May had been turned face but that might just be because Saraya is so dislikable. But even the post-match stuff with Deeb seemed as if Serena was doing the heel work. And people are talking about AEW doing early 2000s shit, what could be more early 2000s than four birds kissing each other in the middle of a match? Was waiting for Taz to shout "puppies" and Excalibur to start a "HLA" chant. 

On a more serious note though one of the biggest gripes right now,with the womens division, for me, is that the World title feels secondary to the TBS. And that's not really anyone's fault because Toni is doing as good a job as she can and AEW obviously want to highlight Mone in the best way they can. But it does feel as if Willow/Mone is a much bigger deal that Storm/Deeb. 

Danielson & Satnam had one of the best moments I've seen in wrestling. Sonjay Dutt, who earlier in the night struggled to break a pencil, then breaks the announcers table by throwing a couple of drinks off it and gets a "you fucked up" chant aimed at him. The match itself was fine, Darby's big return with TK driving the car was outstanding and the flamethrower visuals were spot on. 

Overall, another show of mad, daft shit that I enjoy in pro-wrestling. 

[JLM]

18 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

This has been one of the major issues that AEW has had in the past year. A-B towns used for the 2nd show. 

Yeah 100%, that Vancouver crowd for Collision was absolutely rabid, clearly been desperate for a show almost like a European crowd and I did think “why the hell didn’t they get Dynamite?” 

Edited May 24 by JLM

[JLM]

Dynamite 22/05/24

Nice hot open to the show with the Ospreay/OC super team up. Fun tag match and effective post-match beatdowns. 

Sonjay Dutt's suit was quite something. His promos are beyond ridiculous but I do enjoy them in the right doses. 

BCG promo started off fine. Austin not getting a nickname works for me every time, they had the people on board, then went in too hard on the "how to pronounce Pac" bit which did not land AT ALL. Was cringing a bit when he went back to it. Enjoyed the Pac Promo once again and always happy to see Death Triangle. 

Big Bill is a really fun prick heel and a more than capable giant in-ring, it's sad to see him doing this. Was also disappointed in the three way match. I thought these three should have just full sprinted at each other like nutters until the finish, but it felt ploddy and disjointed and didn't really come together. Unexpected and somewhat interesting finish though. 

Solid squash for Takeshita, always a pleasure to see him wrestle, don't see it nearly enough. Mox anti-promo was excellent, really sold it like he decided to do it on the fly as well. That's going to be a belter of a match. 

Swerve looked cool as fuck lording it over The Bucks backstage. It's not the main direction but I love that they're constantly reminding us he has no time or respect for these pricks at all. It's the most wonderfully pro wrestling thing that Swerve is now the babyface in a match against Nick Wayne. Tony Schiavone trying to do a "something something Jones" on commentary and getting roasted by the AEW Dark bros for his failure was gold. Post match was loads of fun. Particularly enjoyed Swerve getting one more shot in on Killswitch in the middle of the chase, and was so happy to see Prince Nana return. Christian got away again but Swerve still looked strong here, defeating Nick Wayne, thwarting the standard Killswitch surprise attack *and* getting some digs in on Christian when he usually gets away unscathed. 

Black/O'Reilly was a really good match, another perfectly matched opponent for O'Reilly. Spooky Copeland is the definitely the worst AEW Copeland. I miss the Cope Open. 

Women's tag was great fun. The commentators confirming that Terry Funk was definitely not "on-kilter" also got me here. I do love this announce team. Glad they've completely dropped the idea of Deeb being a babyface. Toni still sometimes plays sort of heel but in practise in front of crowds she is always a babyface, Mariah has been a babyface for a few months now as well. Here the whole match was the classic heat on the babyface leading into hot tag. Deeb is a natural heel, I'll pretend she didn't do the promo about her seizures and I'll shut up about it now they've pulled the trigger on the full heel turn. 

Casino Gauntlet match next week will be amazing. The one for the International Title shot at Daily's place the other week was a belter, this one for a world title shot with bigger names and presumably a bunch of surprise entrants from other promotions. Just book it for the whole two hours I'd watch it. 

Short and sweet promo from the Gunns backstage. Again I'm impressed with how good Colten sounds these days. 

That staredown between Singh and Danielson was just marvellous. I've seen giants vs little guys before, but the difference here seemed completely surreal. It's shame we didn't get to see what they had planned for the table. The match was Satnam Singh's best as far as I can recall, certainly a memorable spectacle and Danielson got as much out of him as could be expected. Lovely to see Double J back and the punch through the guitar was a brilliant spot. Tony Khan being the one to get Darby back on site was a nice touch. The flame thrower looked great, what a ridiculous way to end the show. 

As nutty as a lot of this show was, pretty much everything was in service of the Double or Nothing build and I thought it all did the job on that front. I don't want flamethrowers every week but it was a cool novelty spot and I had a good time with the episode. 

[JimmyAnderson]

7 hours ago, JLM said:

Casino Gauntlet match next week will be amazing. The one for the International Title shot at Daily's place the other week was a belter, this one for a world title shot with bigger names and presumably a bunch of surprise entrants from other promotions. Just book it for the whole two hours I'd watch it. 

Do you think this a chance for them to get to Hangman v Swerve?

[LaGoosh]

4 hours ago, JimmyAnderson said:

Do you think this a chance for them to get to Hangman v Swerve?

Doesn't really make sense as a Forbidden Door main event. Personally I'm hoping for it to be the All In main event. Can't think of a bigger singles match for them from a storyline perspective.

[JimmyAnderson]

11 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Doesn't really make sense as a Forbidden Door main event. 

Aye I agree with that but I think that's why I'd go for it because it might at least add some intrigue to Forbidden Door. In the first two editions of Forbidden Door, it's been Tanahashi challenging for the AEW World Title. First against Mox, then MJF. Admittedly last year it wasn't the main event. But did anybody think he was going to take the title with him to New Japan? At least if it's two AEW main eventers fighting each other, there's some doubt over the result.

17 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Personally I'm hoping for it to be the All In main event. Can't think of a bigger singles match for them from a storyline perspective.

Again,I agree with this. But I do think there'll be something big for Jack Perry at All In as well because that's where this storyline all stems from. Whether that's a World Title match or not, I don't know.

[DavidB6937]

On 5/24/2024 at 1:14 PM, The King Of Swing said:

The Jericho stuff is easily the worst thing in AEW right now. Bad on every level and making everyone else involved look shit by association. 

 

On 5/24/2024 at 1:36 PM, LaGoosh said:

The thing with the Jericho stuff is that it's not just bad and hurtful to the product on a surface level but that it also has the stink of someone who knows their time in the spotlight may just be up and is desperately clinging on for dear life. 

I'm glad they're listening to us.

 

[LaGoosh]

Jon Moxley vs Rocky Romero booked for a title eliminator match on Dynamite. I hate bullshit matches like that. Waste of time and a waste of the roster. 

[JLM]

Yeah that is pretty shit. Wonder if Trent will take Romero out or something. At DON he had the look of a man at the end of his rope, so I’m anticipating unhinged Trent. 
 

On the plus side I am well up for the Casino Gauntlet and another Kris Statlander villain outfit. 

[The Gaffer]

I'm fucking it and sending the wrong signals out into the universe, I know, but there's usually one of two things in most of Jericho's gimmick re-inventions that give me an on-the-nose chuckle. 

TV time's a brilliant name for a segment. 

[Merzbow]

1 hour ago, The Gaffer said:

TV time's a brilliant name for a segment. 

[LaGoosh]

Mark Henry, Arn Anderson and Jake Hager done. Seems like alot of the old contracts are coming up and AEW won't be renewing some of them. Probably for the best. Dark Order probably feeling nervous right now the poor lads.

[DavidB6937]

Mark and Arn would probably be useful backstage somewhere. Still not sold on Jake after all these years. Just not someone I really have any interest in watching anywhere.

[Chili]

6 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Mark Henry, Arn Anderson and Jake Hager done. Seems like alot of the old contracts are coming up and AEW won't be renewing some of them. Probably for the best. Dark Order probably feeling nervous right now the poor lads.

I read that Arn was going to focus and helping train more with his son, good for him. Mark Henry I'm sure did good stuff for their out of the ring PR, now he's leaving he can bitch openly on Bully Ray's pod so good for him too. 

Gutted they never had Hager team up with Orange Cassidy the one time and had him dress exactly the same. Fucks sake Tone.

[Lorne Malvo]

Isn't Mark Henry quite close with Jade Cargill? Wouldn't be surprised to see him back in WWE as a manager for her. I've always had a soft spot for him even if his stint as a commentator on Elevation was dire, so I'll be gutted if he goes the Bully Ray paid shill route. 

Arn Anderson hasn't had anything to do since Cody left really, I'm surprised he lasted this long. And Jake Hager is one of those guys that AEW sadly outgrew. I wouldn't mind seeing him pop up in Impact where he might get some focus.