AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[Supremo]

“I’m the best fucking wrestler in the world and I have been for twenty years.”

Let’s fucking go. He’s gonna do it!

Saw the absolute best idea from someone online the other day. Nigel McGuinness commentates on the All In main event, getting his usual digs in, welcoming Schiavone to Danielson’s leaving drinks, etc. But at some point during the final third he gets sucked in, drops the hatred, and starts supporting Danielson. All leading to the big crescendo when Danielson wins and he leaves the desk to shake his hand and gives him a hug. I’ll cry my eyes out.

[Mr Kennedy]

 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

28 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Triple H has shown a willingness to stick with people, sometimes to his detriment (see: Karrion Kross)

You make my point for me with your example. They had already invested time in Kross, winning streak on NXT, NXT Champion, got injured NXT champion again, main roster, got released, came back, pushed like a star to no reaction, still pushed. Yes it is to H³'s detriment and to my eyes detriment but they are only doing it because they've invested that time. If Ricky comes in on the main roster, does not get the reaction they want straight away he will get tarred with AEW stink and have no credit in the bank to keep him afloat. 

[Matthew]

42 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

His weaknesses are no more significant than the weaknesses of very many people across the WWE roster. Is he any more limited than LA Knight, Miz, Dominik Mysterio, Tama Tonga, Dexter Lumis or Karrion Kross, for example? 

Yes, although he seemed confident on the stick in AEW, nothing I saw him of him doing so, came across authentic or as though he truly believed in what he was saying or doing. I don’t get him at all. 
 

I think in the minority in saying that, so hopefully some time polishing his act in NXT, will provide some authentic-ness to him.

[RedTwoster]

13 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

If Ricky comes in on the main roster, does not get the reaction they want straight away he will get tarred with AEW stink and have no credit in the bank to keep him afloat. 

Is 'AEW stink' even a thing? I don't see Starks as more than a midcard act for either company, but WWE needs more strong midcard acts right now - particularly on Smackdown. They've also had great successes with wrestlers at a much lower level than Starks. And frankly, how often can you point to someone's NXT career and say that being part of the show has helped add 'polish' to their act? Unless they're brand new to the wrestling industry, I'd argue the instances of that are few and far between. 

But anyway...

This was a show of two promo battles to me. Before I discuss those though, Storm/Saraya might have been Saraya's best match in AEW. It wasn't perfect, but it was really enjoyable; and who needs perfect, if you're enjoying what you're watching? 

As far as the promo battles go - I've seen Ospreay/MJF get praise online, but I didn't particularly like it. MJF's heel jibes are so lazy - he always goes for the low-hanging fruit with his heel lines; and it just becomes predictable. Now, you can go for the obvious heel lines in a way that is clever - Christian Cage has made a whole gimmick of that. But there's clear thought behind what Christian does. It fits the character, and everything ties together in a way that benefits everyone. What MJF does at the moment just feels a bit lazy. A bit 'I'm saying this because I'm a heel' rather than 'I'm saying this because it benefits the story'. 

On the other hand, Swerve/Danielson was excellent. I really like how Swerve has comfortably settled into the heel role in this feud, simply because he's still the same person he was when he broke into Hangman's house, or assaulted Nick Wayne. He's become a babyface simply because the fan's started cheering for him - he didn't redeem himself, and he didn't see the need to. Why would you change as a person, when who you are has brought you success?

It means he's easy to root against when he faces Danielson - and if he loses, there's still a story to tell as far as his redemption is concerned. 

I have no idea what's going to happen on Sunday. I go back and forth. Immediately after watching Dynamite, I was convinced Danielson was going to lose. Then I remembered, the winner will face Darby at Grand Slam. I could see Danielson putting over Darby on the way out, as much as I could see him putting over Swerve. 

But I think, on balance, Swerve probably needs to lose. He's a babyface who has not atoned for his sins - it's harder for him to do that as champion. Perhaps he does that through, eventually, winning the belt from a deranged Hangman whose obsessive, manic behaviour evolves into the kind of actions that made him hate Swerve in the first place - a role reversal, I suppose. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

12 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

'Is AEW stink' even a thing?

Not in anywhere other than WWE creative I'd imagine. Of the AEW guys to come to WWE only Jade hadn't been there before. She got treated like a megastar because she has name value outside WWE because she is married to a pretty good former baseball player and she looks like a Marvel superhero. Ricky doesn't have either of those things and he's going to NXT for myriad reasons. 

While there may not be AEW stink I am aware of the thread stink that I may be playing a part in. Want to talk about ratings to clear the air? 

[JLM]

Dynamite 21/08/24

Live notes! 
 

Dynamite live was tonnes of fun. No dickheads in my immediate vicinity. One guy at the back of my block tried, on his own, to start a “where’s your selling?” chant at one point  and absolutely nobody joined in. Other than that it was a good mix of enthusiastic chants, cheers, boos and a family sat next to me with two kids who were exploding with excitement to be there. More on that family during my Collision write up later, they were excellent.

 Saw Don Callis wandering about outside the venue on his phone several times. He was wearing the outfit he wears on TV but he was decidedly less orange. He didn’t end up appearing on either Dynamite or Collision, so he must live  the loafers with no socks gimmick 24/7.  
 

I was sat third row opposite the hard cam. Building appeared to be pretty packed. Also everyone from the first few rows was invited to stand up and come up to the guard rail for entrances etc. so the difference between the insanely pricey front row seats and my third row seat I ended up getting for less than 100 quid was negligible.

Serpentico vs Michael Oku was the dark match. Oku was very over. Not much else to say about that. 
 

Tony Khan’s wonderful bizarro energy was palpable whenever he was on the mic. Between Dynamite and Collision he goes “this is taping today but will air on Saturday, so you guys will be in two places at once. How you gonna be in two places at once? It’s like my favourite movie! *PAUSE* I think some of you know what it is! That’s right! It’s TIMECOP!” He bloody loves the Timecop bit. 

It’s quite funny live how abruptly they cut between segments. People still in the ring or half way up the ramp and they turn the lights off them and we’re onto the next bit. Took a bit of getting used to. 

The show then… 

Heartwarmingly loud reception and sustained chants/songs for Uncle Tony Schiavone before the show went live. Glad everyone else loves him too. 

Mone/Baker was a very standard contract signing. I thought Mone’s “you have a plan B so are you really All In?” was a solid attack. I noticed Kamille had massive heels on and towered over the other women this time. I know I keep bringing it up, but she’s being advertised as an enforcer and they’re calling her The Brickhouse so this perception matters. 

Jericho/Billington was fine. “Cardiff, England” is cheap heat but sometimes the classics are classics for a reason. Billington vs MJF with cheating and a post match attack, then a follow up save from Ospreay would have made more sense though. Hook looked like an idiot here. He needs Joe back to stop him making tactical errors like this. When Hook’s theme started the young lad next to me looked up for the Hook Signal and was disappointed it wasn’t there. Nice to see stuff like that getting over though. 

Saraya/Storm was loads of fun. Harley Cameron is even more of a joy to watch live. She never, ever stops. A ball of chaotic energy, responding to individual fan heckles and chants, reacting to every single thing that happens. Definitely one of Saraya’s best in-ring efforts for AEW, she went the extra mile for the UK show. Toni incredibly over with the live crowd, the comedy WOS spots were great. 
 

Briscoe promo was outstanding once again. Love him so much. 
 

The Ospreay/MJF bit was probably too long and the content was a mixed bag, but the heat for it in the arena was out of this world. I might have enjoyed it less on TV but it was electric in the building. The most interesting bit for me was MJF’s almost involuntary  “they loved me until you turned up and ruined it!” That’s always the most interesting bit of MJF, when we see the insecurity and vulnerability at the root of his dastardly schtick. Would like that to be explored more. 
 

Hangman/Uno bit was bloody brilliant. Gutted that’s all the Hangman we got on the night but it was perfect. 
 

Okada/Claudio was a cracking match. Particularly loved the exchanges showing how well matched they were, highlighted by Claudio flipping through the back body drop. No chance of Okada getting this crowd to turn on him, though in my block at least the support was about 50/50. I know the slow burn Okada style isn’t for everyone but I enjoyed this a lot. 
 

Six man tag was tremendous. I think it was probably quite a “normal” AEW six man tag match, but I haven’t seen one of these so close up before so it was a marvel to watch. Also there were plenty of fellow FTR enjoyers in my block so we were loving it. Oh, also some kids in my block with Darby face paint and signs who lost their marbles when his music hit. Aww. 
 

Once again I liked The Acclaimed’s bit. The slightly angrier/chip on their shoulder/borderline heelish approach to this feud is working for me. Also for the millionth time, I like seeing tag teams feuding over tag team supremacy and have been deprived of that for too long. 
 

Danielson/Swerve bit justified the ticket price and travel expenses on its own for me. Utterly amazing. My block was split 50/50 here. Huge reception for Swerve and he projects that superstar aura so well in a live setting. Inspired move to have Nigel host this too, as he obviously thinks him and Swerve are on the same page here. Swerve being too hardcore and dangerous even for Nige really added extra emphasis. The stuff about hunting Danielson down to make sure he honours the retirement was brilliant. 

However, when  Danielson reminded everyone he’s the best fucking wrestler in the world and my entire block and most of the arena flipped in an instant, maaan I had the biggest lump in my throat. So, so close to bawling my eyes out on the spot. If that man loses on Sunday I’ll need to be carried out of the arena. 
 

Very enjoyable live show experience, and I am so glad I was there for that closing segment. Will treat Collision as a separate show and post about that a bit later. 

 

Edited August 22 by JLM

[theringmaster]

1 hour ago, Mr Kennedy said:

 

The fact that Saraya blew the spot, boggles my mind they would post this.

 

Really good episode of Dynamite though, pretty much everything hit. I thought opening segment was in the wrong place until i heard the crowd chanting DMD and realised that maybe they do know what they are doing.

Even though there's not a All in in UK next year I hope they come over for some tv tapings.

[RedTwoster]

5 minutes ago, theringmaster said:

Even though there's not a All in in UK next year I hope they come over for some tv tapings.

Yeah, same - I'd love to see them hold a taping in Glasgow, and somewhere north north of London - maybe Manchester or Liverpool. I don't see any issue with them taping a a couple of week's worth of television, and giving the wrestlers a bit of time off after, because...

1 hour ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

While there may not be AEW stink I am aware of the thread stink that I may be playing a part in. Want to talk about ratings to clear the air? 

...I, uh, can't imagine it would affect the ratings...

[King Mal the Glorious]

TK has already confirmed they'll be back in the UK next year, just not for all in: 

 

Edited August 22 by King Mal the Glorious
Forgot you can just imbed tweets

[RedTwoster]

I'm glad I watched the clip - for those who didn't, the summary in the tweet isn't accurate - he doesn't say we'll be back in 'London' in 2025, he says 'England' - so here's hoping it's more general, and we'll see AEW somewhere other than London. And also, here's hoping he thinks Glasgow is in England. 

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

2 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

And frankly, how often can you point to someone's NXT career and say that being part of the show has helped add 'polish' to their act? Unless they're brand new to the wrestling industry, I'd argue the instances of that are few and far between. 

Rhea Ripley is the best example, and I say that as someone who worked with her pre wwe. Her transformation from "competant with great potential" to what she is now is amazing.

[Hannibal Scorch]

4 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

The current average WWE fan barely seem to know who CM Punk is let alone Ricky Starks. 

 

3 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

Is that really true? Punk gets some of the biggest reactions almost every week. There probably are younger fans who weren't aware of him, but it's hardly an arena full of people scratching their heads every time he comes out.

Both statements can be true. Punk always gets a great pop, but I guarantee a lot of those fans have little knowledge of Punk in his last run or even AEW run. But he’s over which is all that matters.

i was at the taping last night. Only bought tickets Monday and sounds like I was a couple of seats back from @JLM. Cracking atmosphere all night and glad I went in the end. Bring on All In!

[unfitfinlay]

God, that MJF and Ospreay segment was awful. I hated it.

I've been really buzzing for All In but that was just like having cold water dumped all over me. It turns out that the company I'm spending a good bit of money to see is actually a joke and the Promoter needs to beg wrestlers who are injured or don't work there to "save" shows. Apparently, everyone else on the roster is dogshit, I guess?

Ospreay was even playing down last years Main Event. What kind of logic is that? Imagine WWE promoting Wrestlemania by having a babyface talk about how last years Main Event wasn't really that good? 

I'd been grinning through the early segments, even through Jericho's stuff, but all that shite just destroyed my mood. 

Thank fuck for Hangman. He immediately turned things around and got me excited again. He's such a great character and it's such a great story. He's managing to carry a feud with Swerve without Swerve even acknowledging it. There's so many ways you can go with it too. Imagine Hangman wins the title shot but Swerve loses the title? Would he even try and help Swerve retain just so he can get his hands on him?

I enjoyed the rest of the show but the Main Event segment was just incredible. Swerve is just so good at being a scumbag and Bryan really is the best wrestler in the world. I had been thinking Swerve needs more time with the belt but I've changed my mind. I'm fully behind Bryan now. There's still so much good stuff left for him to do. Perfect go home segment.

[JLM]

Oh god I hadn’t even thought of that. Hangman interfering to cost Swerve the title was obviously a fairly likely one, but Hangman winning the gauntlet and costing Danielson the match to make sure Swerve is still champion. Especially when Danielson was the one who beat him in the Owen so it’d be revenge as well. I am terrified of how much sense that makes.