AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[TheBurningRed]

10 minutes ago, Mr.Showtime said:

Except that bloody "Jones" stuff,

Hate it too. If he insists on doing a joke to death, then Taz would love this place. 

[Supremo]

I didn’t jive with the opener.

Don’t get me wrong. The action was great and the pace they kept was ridiculously impressive, but I dunno. There comes a point in all these Broadway TV matches where you can smell them going long and the drama and excitement just falls out of my arse. Every time. That 40 minute mark. Might as well signpost that the next 20 minutes aren’t worth shit.

Danielson vs. Hangman, FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold, and now here too. The moment I can sense them working to the time limit I start drifting off. I suspect, similar to Danielson and Hangman, I’ll enjoy the rematch a million times more for it not being bogged down on filling time and stretching stuff out.

Still though, credit where it’s due. MJF is a fucking beast. Nice to be reminded. When he turns it up to eleven like this, he looks like the best wrestler alive. Phenomenal chemistry with almost everyone, able to do pretty much every style as good as anyone. Bonus points for the crowd work. I always, always get a kick out of him throwing drinks at fans and knocking their hats off their head. I know it’s cheap. I don’t care. Always pops me. This just went to the next level when Will had that little girl beating him up. Brilliant. Thank fuck he’s a proper heel again. So much better.

Also, fair play doing that finish. I was so convinced it was going to be a time limit draw. It was awesome when they subverted it for Dickhead, Know-It-Alls like me. MJF stealing the victory and the belt with a few seconds left was a genuine thrill.

You assume they rematch at Wembley, and Will hits the Tiger Driver to a huge reaction, but didn’t PAC win an International Title shot last week? And then immediately call his shot for Wembley? Have I missed something?

Let’s bunch the negatives together. Taz, Tony and Excalibur are getting dangerously close to Shark Jumping Jones. I can’t quite put my finger on it; but the charm has gone and they’re starting to genuinely grate on me.

The Acclaimed being confirmed for Blood and Guts was the biggest boner killer of all time. Fuck off, you ice cold losers. Caster especially. Absolute whopper. Don’t even want him on my screen, never mind in a match of this supposed importance. Half of it is my own fault though. I started fantasy booking Cassidy and Moxley as the final two participants, which would have absolutely ruled. Swerve, Briscoe, Darby, Orange and Mox. Literally the ultimate all-star AEW team. Plus, letting Mox be stupidly violent with Swerve and Hangman would have been exactly what his career needed after the whole lot of fuck all he’s done for ages now. Shit or get off the pot, Mox. Get good again or just go be Dean Ambrose, already.

Jericho also needs to fuck off. The absolute worst. Every week. Death.

Back to the positives; I loved Mercedes vs. Nyla. Great chemistry, great banter from Nyla, I hope they have a longer feud one day because they seem tailor made for each other. Fun little angle with Britt in the Sting mask, too. I love how the mask always fools the people on the show itself. Long may that trope continue.

Okada remains the funniest wrestler alive. Not entirely convinced this is what Tony Khan expected when he offered him millions, but I enjoy it all the same.

American fans WHAT’ing Mariah May after that angle last week. Unforgivable. Less deserving of pro-wrestling than ITV.

Solid, if unspectacular promo from Mariah. That angle last week was so good though, I’m not sure anything could have followed it.

But yeah, best thing on this show was the same as was on last week’s show. That one clip of Toni Storm’s haunting, lifeless selling as her head gets smashed in by the shoe. All-timer moment. Genuinely looks like Mariah has ripped her head off her body by the end, holding it by her hair. I’ll never recover.

Main event was fun, and Darby coming from the rafters was brilliant, but I’m baffled as to why they spoilt him being the fifth man both last week and with Jack Perry’s promo earlier on this show, too. What was achieved by showing your hand early like that? Wouldn’t it have been far more impactful if we had no idea he was coming back until that final moment?

Still, the cocktease of Hangman and Swerve was perfect. I can’t wait for them to mix it up. Still seems bizarre that that isn’t the Wembley match, but we’ll see how things play out.

So yeah. A good, if not great show. They were on such a run that it would have been nigh-on impossible to keep to the standards of the last few weeks.

Madness they didn’t air this montage though. Fantastic watching all the highlights back. When it’s good, Dynamite is the greatest pro-wrestling TV show of all time. Imagine where this business would be now without it. Christ.

Here’s to 250 more, lads.

Edited July 18 by Supremo

[The King of Old School]

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

 

The Acclaimed being confirmed for Blood and Guts was the biggest boner killer of all time. Fuck off, you ice cold losers. Caster especially. Absolute whopper. Don’t even want him on my screen, never mind in a match of this supposed importance.

 

Out of interest, I don't know if I have missed anything, what is the importance of this match? What are the stakes?

[Supremo]

I meant supposed importance as in it’s one of their signature matches of the year.

There are no stakes. It doesn’t matter who wins. Christopher Daniels is here to stay.

I never want to see another power struggle or authority figure angle for as long as I live.

[Factotum]

MJF on form, hell yeah. Him and Ospreay with some superb chemistry. If max can stay away from the E Fed bollocks he's an absolute superstar. 

Good show, and a nice way to mark 250. AEW definitely in the groove now

[LaGoosh]

I love that Hangman's music got that "oh shiiiitt" type of pop from the crowd. The perfect type of pop he could have got. He's only been back a few weeks and he already feels like the biggest deal on the show. God bless Hangman Page.

[RedTwoster]

4 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I love that Hangman's music got that "oh shiiiitt" type of pop from the crowd. The perfect type of pop he could have got. He's only been back a few weeks and he already feels like the biggest deal on the show. God bless Hangman Page.

He does, doesn’t he? He’s the heart and soul of AEW; even if that heart is currently dark. I really wish he was the one facing Strickland at All In, that feud deserved to have a match take place in a setting as grand as Wembley. 

Separate to this - Mariah May’s promo was really good, but fuck the people who have her the ‘what’ treatment. What, exactly, do people get out of that in 2024? 

I know that Danielson is retiring soon, but I would love to see Storm/May close All In. Maybe I’m in a minority in feeling this way, but I think this is the right match to close the show with, in the absence of a Swerve/Hangman match.

Edited July 18 by RedTwoster

[thatvinylgeek]

12 hours ago, Supremo said:

You assume they rematch at Wembley, and Will hits the Tiger Driver to a huge reaction, but didn’t PAC win an International Title shot last week? And then immediately call his shot for Wembley? Have I missed something?

I was thinking this, surely they did the change so Will can win it back to a massive home pop.

I seem to remember Pac saying he was going to get his "Wembley moment" and not specifically say he was going to challenge for the title there, I might be wrong though. So they COULD do something else, just not sure what...maybe Pac v Garcia for the International Championship match opportunity as Garcia was promised a shot at MJF...just thinking out loud though, no real reason for Pac to put it on the line as of yet.

Oh god...I just brought Pac and Jericho into my head....make it go away!!!

Edited July 18 by thatvinylgeek

[thatvinylgeek]

1 hour ago, RedTwoster said:

Mariah May’s promo was really good

She was great, however, I skipped the bit where they announced it was Mariah and thought for a second Toni had made a miraculous recovery. She was very convincing

[mim731]

I'm glad they had the sense to save the Darby Allin rafter descent spot til after the Owen Hart stuff was done. Still probaby a bit too soon in all honesty, but at least it wasnt on the same show. I always feel uncomfortable watching that spot though.

[JLM]

Dynamite 18/07/24

One of the many very impressive things about the opening match was the crowd remaining hot for almost the entire thing. Maintaining heat for an hour is almost as remarkable a feat as the physical/athletic one. On balance I loved it. I totally get the criticisms re: the 40 minute lull. I certainly had a 10 minute spell where I wasn't as engaged as I had been because I knew it wouldn’t end until closer to the 60 minute mark. However, I was so captivated for the first 40 minutes and so invested in the final 5 that the match overall  hit for me. 

So much good stuff in there. The crowd brawling section highlighted by the kid getting some licks in on Max, the incredible shot/angle for the hidden blade to the outside, MJF at his shithousing best for the duration, the two just generally having amazing chemistry, the classic Ospreay closing stretch formula with incredible counters made even more impressive because they'd been at it for an hour, the superkick on the Oscutter, Max's elbow through the table. I even liked the DIamond ring finish. One of the most dastardly ones yet and a brilliant subversion of expectation. The match was announced and many were thinking "oh it'll be some bullshit finish with shenanigans from MJF to set up the Wembley rematch". Then they spent 59 MINUTES convincing you that wouldn't be the case, then the bastard did exactly that anyway! I laughed out loud at MJF gasping his lungs out and spluttering "EASY DUB". What a prick. 

Have seen a wide range of opinions on this match and I can see why it wouldn't be for everyone. I didn't think it was as good as Swerve/Ospreay at Forbidden Door but it was still a spectacular showing and a marvel to watch. Crazy to use a 59 minute epic on free TV to set up a rematch on PPV but it worked for me. Controversial MJF take is that he's an overrated promo and an underrated in-ring performer. 

Briscoe really got my hopes up for a second when he said it wasn't his call re: The Acclaimed joining the Blood and Guts team. Then Swerve confirmed the worst. Very lame. 

TV Time was awful again. Just the absolute shits. 

Mone and Nyla Rose was fun. Would have liked Mone to be a bit more sneaky and heelish though. Nyla is a very likeable babyface but she is so physically dominant over Mone that her stretching Mercedes at the beginning made for an odd heel/face dynamic and the crowd ended up split. "Have you lost your mind?!" on the DDT attempt was very funny. The Lockjaw and custom CEO gloves were a great touch. Absolutely textbook, by the numbers build for this Britt/Mercedes match so far but I am perfectly fine with that.

Jack Perry beating up Brandon Cutler himself in response to Darby's attack was brilliant. Taking out your own goons like a Bond Villain is underutilised by wrestling heels. 

Mariah completing the eras of Toni cosplay run was a perfect choice. She sounded good, promo was simple but said what it needed to. "What?" chants make me embarrassed to be a fan at this point. Excruciating drone behaviour. At least they switched to booing by the end but yeah, Mariah deserved a much better reaction than that. 

Swerve/Okada was a lovely little appetiser for a future rematch. Was juuust moving up a gear when The Bucks ruined it and left me wanting more. As LaGoosh says, the crowd reaction for Hangman's music was perfect. Incredible tease, the whole mood in the building changed for a few seconds there. It was such an electric moment that those two getting physical during Blood and Guts instead of another big singles match feels like a waste to me.  Darby descending complete with Schiavone’s "It's Darbyyyyy!" actually gave me a little lump in my throat. That Sting retirement match really did a number on me it seems. 

Not the episode I expected at all, they're definitely keeping things hard to call at the moment. Not as good as some of the all-timers they've put on lately but still a good show. The opener worked for me and that was half of the show, Mariah May's follow up was good despite the crowd, all the other ongoing stories ticked along nicely, Jericho needs to fuck off but he just won't.  

 

Edited July 19 by JLM

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 hours ago, mim731 said:

I'm glad they had the sense to save the Darby Allin rafter descent spot til after the Owen Hart stuff was done. Still probaby a bit too soon in all honesty, but at least it wasnt on the same show. I always feel uncomfortable watching that spot though.

As has happened before Tony Khan ran the idea by Martha Hart to get her blessing. It's a weird one because I do agree on the one hand, but on the other, it was also more of a Sting act and Darby is obviously taking ques from his wrestling Da so I get why they have used it. 

[WyattSheepMask]

After a bit of a break from Dynamite I’m catching up on the last couple of weeks. 
Osprey opening the show with his promo. Last time I saw him do he was all “Bruv bruv bruv bruv bruv”, which thankfully seems to have been tonnes down. But I’ve finally realised who he sounds like and why I find him a bit grating.

He’s Simon Moon from Frasier. I can’t unhear it now

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Nyla Rose... I'd rather she was in Blood and Guts than Max Caster. And that'd not meant as negative to Nyla. If the Cowboy wasn't about I'd by Nyla for champ.

[BomberPat]

On 7/18/2024 at 5:07 PM, RedTwoster said:

Separate to this - Mariah May’s promo was really good, but fuck the people who have her the ‘what’ treatment. What, exactly, do people get out of that in 2024? 

Completely disagree with this, I thought it was an appalling promo and got the "What?" treatments precisely because it was a bad promo. She repeatedly left long pauses for a reaction that wasn't there, and that's all but inviting those chants. It makes the whole promo seem mechanical, and like she's just remembering a script rather than speaking her mind. People did start to react more by the end, but that would have been more effective if she hadn't been leaving those pauses the entire time, and waited until there was an actual reaction before stopping to soak up the heat.

It's a feud that needs Toni to carry the mic work, because based on that, Mariah can't be the one doing the heavy lifting promo-wise.