AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[DavidB6937]

29 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Penta’s short run against Cody showed me how good he can be. He pissed charisma and personality without having to utter a word of English. I reckon he’ll end up being a massive singles star for WWE, I really do. 

And that's what might play a massive part in their potential success in WWE. If they've got a guy like Cody going to bat for them - and I imagine he'd have a lot of good things to say about them - then I think that'd definitely help. Especially if he got to work with them directly and put them over.

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Is WWE's in-ring style even really that different? Yes there's a formula they like to stick to but both guys will still be pulling off that mad shit.

That's a decent debate all on it's own. For me, I think there is some difference. Both styles are mostly spotty as fuck these days. WWE never really get criticised for this unlike AEW does for some reason. NXT in particular is so high spot focused that it feels like watching some dodgy six man tag from CZW in 2001 but with crossfitters rather than crackheads.

I think AEW generally uses matches to tell a story within that match and the best AEW matches are structured and laid out that way where the matches themselves reveal the wrestlers character, personality and motivation. While with WWE's matches the story is essentially what happened before the match took place and what happens afterwards therefore matches are structured to have moments that highlight the story beats rather than being vehicles to actually tell the story of the match itself. Often the stuff in a match is really just filler in between these really big and clear character beats and moments. Unlike in AEW the wrestlers don't develop because of what happens in the matches themselves, they develop because of whatever wider stories they are involved in.

This difference between the two styles and presentations of wrestling matches is why WWE could never pull off anything as good as the Continental Classic but also why AEW could never pull off anything like Cody's big title win. 

Note: I'm not saying one is better than the other - it's individual taste and also why it's so good to have two major promotions who can cater to both.

Edited August 6 by LaGoosh

[Infinity Land]

End of the day, this is what most of the talents were hoping would happen when AEW started. 

A legit financial #2 that would drive salaries up. Rather than stagnate under the Main Roster - NXT - NXT globalisation/NJPW/ROH/IMPACT/indies 

Lucha Bros been there 5 years. Done almost everything under the glass ceiling they're seen by AEW management. Either pastures new with a payday or AEW pay up with a possible new ceiling to justify the pay bump. 

More interested in the Daniel Garcia contract talks and Takeshita booking after the G1. 

---------------

Someone in their social media actually has their pulse on current events for a change and the youtube channel is streaming a Lucha Bros timelines special.

 

Edited August 6 by Infinity Land

[LaGoosh]

I'm not sure Jim Ross should ever be on TV again. He looks like he's about 5 minutes way from keeling over.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

23 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I'm not sure Jim Ross should ever be on TV again. He looks like he's about 5 minutes way from keeling over.

I think that is unfair Gooshy, I'd say he's got 6 minutes at least before they put the screens around him and call for the vet. 

[DavidB6937]

It's a tough one. He loves what he does and I'm sure TK thinks he's doing the right thing by allowing it but yeah maybe it's time for him to step back.

[LaGoosh]

I didn't think this week was a particularly good episode except for these things:

- the six man tag. AEW midcard is pretty stagnant with no one really having much going on but they have been putting out these reliable and incredibly fun six man tags each week. I loved the finish with Rush single handedly taking on all three men and battering them left right and centre before being taken out by team work. Rush vs Cash Wheeler is a low key dream match of mine - they'll smash each other to bits.

- Despite JR rotting away, the Swerve interview was really good. I love how Swerve's character walks the line between heel and babyface in such a natural way that fits his character.

- Hangman going increasingly mental week to week.

- Danielson/Jarrett did not disappoint. Jarrett is so fucking good. 

I found the rest of the show pretty rubbish.

[BomberPat]

I was a big old CHIKARA nerd, so mad Trios matches are very much my jam and have been the most fun part of AEW for a while. What I find baffling about it all is that the rise in fun Trios matches seems to be completely divorced from the Trios titles, which seem to be contested between the same three or four teams in rotation on Collision. 

You've had The Coalition and Shibata/Hook/Joe both emerge as reliable and fun feelgood babyface acts, with the Undisputed Kingdom, Don Callis Family, and The Learning Tree on the heel side of the bracket, yet none of them have troubled the Trios champions or showed any interest in going after those titles. Some of the most fun matches I've ever watched were Trios matches, and they're something that WWE don't have a division for, so AEW could do so much more to make those matches and the Six-Man Tag Titles the centrepiece of the midcard.

 

And just for my nitpicking "make it make sense" wrestling brain, I get annoyed how often these matches are Roderick Strong teaming with The Don Callis Family, or with other heels. In kayfabe, Don Callis as a manager should want his guys teaming together far more than teaming with other people - if only because that way he takes home more money than when it's just one of his guys booked. But also, what's the point of a faction if you're not getting booked together? Why is Roderick Strong tagging with two other guys while Taven and Bennett stand around at ringside? On Dynamite, Strong has teamed with the Don Callis Family more often than with his own faction in the last few weeks. What's the benefit of being in a faction, then, if you're not tagging with your team-mates? 

The Callis Family needs a refresh as it is, having lost Ospreay and presumably eventually losing Kyle Fletcher, while the Undisputed Kingdom have been pointless for almost their entire run - they were a stable formed to attack MJF, only he took months off immediately after they were formed, and then squashed their leader and made it clear he wouldn't be working with them as soon as he returned. Similarly, the main impetus for the Don Callis Family existing was to take out Kenny Omega, and Takeshita should have been built up as a generational rival for him, but now Omega's big feud on his return will be with The Elite, not them. And then Mortos is knocking about but not really part of the group; I love him and Rush being paired together, so maybe bring him into the Callis Family?

I would sack off The Undisputed Kingdom, let Taven & Bennett knock about in ROH, Adam Cole can go back to being a babyface if and when he ever returns, and Wardlow can be on his sixth repackaging. Bring Roderick Strong into the Don Callis Family to pay off them having teamed together so often anyway, and Kyle Fletcher can leave and reunite with Mark Davis whenever he's back from injury, which gives them a time-filling programme of Ospreay & Aussie Open vs. some combination of Rush, Strong, Takeshita, and possibly Mortos. And they could even have one of those teams with the Trios belts while they're at it.

[unfitfinlay]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

The Callis Family needs a refresh as it is, having lost Ospreay and presumably eventually losing Kyle Fletcher, while the Undisputed Kingdom have been pointless for almost their entire run - they were a stable formed to attack MJF, only he took months off immediately after they were formed, and then squashed their leader and made it clear he wouldn't be working with them as soon as he returned. Similarly, the main impetus for the Don Callis Family existing was to take out Kenny Omega, and Takeshita should have been built up as a generational rival for him, but now Omega's big feud on his return will be with The Elite, not them. And then Mortos is knocking about but not really part of the group; I love him and Rush being paired together, so maybe bring him into the Callis Family?

I've been thinking that the MJF vs Ospreay feud is leading towards MJF joining the Family, which would give both of them a much needed refresh. Aside from anything else, it just seems like something they'd both do.

I agree completely about the Undisputed Kingdom. They've been a complete waste of time since even they before they formed. Imagine giving them all that air time, letting them actually get characters over and then just abandoning them, for.....pretty much nothing? 

[LaGoosh]

Kyle Fletcher is a pretty decent babyface wrestler but he is afflicted with Asshole Face where no matter what he just looks like an asshole.

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, unfitfinlay said:

I've been thinking that the MJF vs Ospreay feud is leading towards MJF joining the Family, which would give both of them a much needed refresh. Aside from anything else, it just seems like something they'd both do.

Yeah, I’ve also been thinking this. I don’t know how to feel about it. Callis grates on me more than MJF does, and he’s been of little benefit to the acts he’s been associated with. MJF, however, was in a good place when he led The Pinnacle, and he certainly elevated Wardlow and Spears, while they were part of the stable at least. 

On the other hand, has being part of a second (or in some cases, a third) stable ever worked for anyone in AEW? Its generally more of the same, with much diminished returns.

[BomberPat]

MJF with Callis feels reductive, though I could see things going that way. I get the logic of trying to pile as much heel heat on one act as possible, but instead you end up taking two heels and making them one. And MJF doesn't need anyone to speak for him, or cheat for him, nor should a former World Champion be looking for guidance from a manager who only achieved that with Omega, unless the plan is to highlight that Omega was Callis' golden goose and he's trying to replicate that. But that's a story for Takeshita, not MJF.

Whereas Callis managing Rush and potentially Mortos is at least giving a voice to people who aren't traditionally good promos (or, in Mortos' case, don't cut promos at all)

[ReturnOfTheMack]

A few months back I thought Taz was an incredibly good announcer, his whatever Jones' bullshit has annoyed me beyond what I thought. 

Mone is still a shit talker, but at least her act works as a heel. And those 2 women Kamille faced, I assume they were told to look as disinterested as possible. ? 

Main event was great, the trios stuff was entertaining, and Toni Storm is about the best she's ever been.

 

Edit: Kyle Fletcher, he's won me.over for sure.

Edited August 8 by ReturnOfTheMack

[Duke]

34 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

MJF with Callis feels reductive, though I could see things going that way. I get the logic of trying to pile as much heel heat on one act as possible, but instead you end up taking two heels and making them one. And MJF doesn't need anyone to speak for him, or cheat for him, nor should a former World Champion be looking for guidance from a manager who only achieved that with Omega, unless the plan is to highlight that Omega was Callis' golden goose and he's trying to replicate that. But that's a story for Takeshita, not MJF.

Whereas Callis managing Rush and potentially Mortos is at least giving a voice to people who aren't traditionally good promos (or, in Mortos' case, don't cut promos at all)

Yeah I completely agree with this. Putting Callis with MJF would denigrate both of them. 

I think there's  a very good chance that Fletcher turns heel on Osprey leading to him fighting the Family again, but I think that's distinct from the MJF feud. He's obviously already beaten Takeshita and Hobbs, but seeing as they're out,  it would potentially lead to a match with Rush, which you can just beam directly into my brain.

Agree with the others about the undisputed Kingdom, unfortunately it now feels that if Cole comes back, it'll be as a babyface, so the other three are completely redundant.  (I assume Wardlow perished on the way back to his home planet)

I'm frustrated with the trios titles too, as they definitely feel like they have more life to them than the tag division does right now. Both could do with a boost, but the natural options with the trios titles are so much clearer. Was glad to see them actually appear on dynamite for a change!

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Duke said:

Agree with the others about the undisputed Kingdom, unfortunately it now feels that if Cole comes back, it'll be as a babyface, so the other three are completely redundant.  (I assume Wardlow perished on the way back to his home planet)

Wardlow is someone who is probably better off jumping to WWE at this point. I’m not certain he’d succeed there, but it seems clear that he isn’t a great fit in AEW; outside of in the initial set of circumstances he found himself in, in his relationship with MJF. I just don’t know what AEW would do with him at this point, or what value he adds to their roster.

Cole would definitely be better off returning as a babyface. He worked fairly well as a face in AEW, and his heel runs have been nothing short of disastrous. He just doesn’t seem capable of portraying a compelling heel character, it’s all very generic.