AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[TheScarlettChad]

8 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Did you skip pass the bit where I said he quoted Mussolini? He's also made it known that Romper Stomper is a current influence (apparently said this to Alvarez) , like I'm not saying he's a Nazi but he's playing off neo Nazi chic. I'll be honest, when I first watched that as a edgy yute I thought everyone looked cool as fuck but this is an old arse man who should maybe not.

He does come across as the kind of lad who would watch it and think it's the highest of art though.

I don't know why I had to re say all that but yeah.

Ah yeah, If I had to guess, most fans wouldn't even know he was quoting Mussolini, I sure didn't. Its defo him being edgy but I doubt it'll cause any contoversery. Hell, How many Yanks know of Romper Stomper? Not many I'd imagine.

[Merzbow]

I honestly think that's a part of it, it'll escape much notice. Plus he can blame the quote on The Office.

[LaGoosh]

2 hours ago, Tim Healys Chutney Spoon said:

Just one slight observation here, if Ospreay gets injured, AEW would be fucked! He seems to pop up in everything at the moment!

Every wrestling promotion is always 2-3 injuries away from everything being fucked really. AEW is in a better position than most in that they've got quite a decent bench of guys who you can put in top spots if you need to.

[digforvictory]

There were some sloppy moments, the Danielson vs Mcguinness announcement should have been done better for example and of course all the Jericho stuff was shite, but overall I enjoyed the show. Things definitely seem much more focused and plotted out than they have in a long long time. The main event scene seems a little chaotic with Darby and Mox and Christian and McGuinness all wanting title shots but I'm fine with that, there should be lots of guys desperate to challenge for the World Title. There's a lot of compelling guys on the roster now.

Outrunners should be the ones to beat the Bucks for the title. They are very very over and it's very organic too, they've got themselves over.

Edited September 12 by digforvictory

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

I forgot all about the allegations and I expect most people have. I think how he's currently perceived is based on him being boring and shit.

You might be right, but the allegations is really when the overwhelmingly negative reaction really rook hold. So even if people have forgotten what was alleged - it's the genesis of where he is now. Had this not happened, he'd probably still be babyface, and maybe he'd be a midcard legacy act for the company that people reacted warmly to, even if they weren't particularly bothered about watching him wrestle. 

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Oh yeah, can we talk about Jon Moxley and his potentially really fucking bad idea? I'm not talking the bag spot, I liked that but more his recent nods to Romper Stomper and this week straight up quoting Mussolini?!? I get he's an edgy cunt but come on, neo-nazi chic in 2024 is too much.

I have to be honest, I completely missed him quoting Mussolini, and I don't see much chat about it online either so I think he's managed to do this without most people even realising. I thought he was a pretty intriguing character today, but there's obviously scope for it all to go south depending on what it is he's actually trying to achieve. 

[JLM]

Dynamite 12/09/24

I absolutely loved the opening Moxley promo/vignette/recap thing. Cracking promo and the clips of the aftermath with the ominous music made it feel unlike anything else on the show. That followed up with the arrival of Darby riding into town and strutting into the building without a shred of fear made him look like the baddest motherfucker who ever wore a giant fluffy pink jacket. Very cool start to the show. 

Christian promo was fine. We've already had a teased cash-in, so it did seem a bit late to do a promo establishing this premise. However, it  was worth establishing at the start of the show that any of the following World title related stories have the "but Christian could steal it all" caveat attached. 

Already mentioned this, but Takeshita looked like a total dreamboat on this episode. What a hunk.

I *hated* Ospreay and Fletcher being added to the tag gauntlet. It told me who was going to win an otherwise unpredictable match, and I don't want two singles guys going for the tag gold when the division itself has new/newly over teams and needs a reboot. Also thought it was funny that Fletcher said there isn't a single person he'd rather win the titles with. Aussie Closed. Credit to Ospreay throwing in "I'm no Davis" presumably out of pity/guilt. 

Rush/Perry was good fun. Again, have consistently enjoyed all of Lio Rush's work on this run. Made for a solid underdog babyface challenger here..

Hangman  the highlight of the show. Completely unsatisfied with All Out, as was evident at the end of the show. Still chasing the catharsis he'll never have, seeking vengeance when he's already had it because it didn't make him feel any better. "Then I would have burnt ONE THOUSAND HOUSES to ash". He is so bloody good. The face to face with Jarrett and The Last Outlaw's promo were both phenomenal as well. He would be wise to listen to Double J but he is too far gone. 

Private Party and Komander vs Jobbers was the most hilarious telegraph of a Mox and co. attack. Even Rampage wouldn't put that on the card. So happy Pac has some sort of direction thanks to this group. 

Every minute of Jericho screen time had me mentally shaving off minutes from the Casino Gauntlet I was looking forward to. The Conglomeration is such an amazing, organically created, feelgood act. You could do sooooo many amazing things with them, instead they're doing this. 

Ricochet vs Sammy was a fine spotfest but, again, Ricochet didn't feel particularly special coming out of it. Utterly insane to me that Sammy was the one who had the massive highspot of the match. Was better than the Fletcher match, but nothing outstanding. Mortos will have a banger with him at least. Impossible not to have a banger with Mortos. 

So very excited for Takeshita vs Okada. 

Darby/Mox promo segment was tremendous too. Darby is not a perfect promo, but the roughness and rawness of his delivery works to his advantage in situations like this. It felt like he'd been stewing for two weeks over what he'd been seeing and just had this big built up stream of consciousness rage explosion to throw at Mox. The big long pre-amble ending with "SO WHAT DO YOU WANT JOHN?" right in his face was awesome. 

When I saw Nige talking to Daniels I thought "ooh they're sowing the early little seeds for THAT match. The clammening. It's finally going to happen at some stage". Little did I know he'd be announcing it on the same show when, as Supremo says, they'd just told us Danielson wasn't fit enough to wrestle. 

May/Aminata was better than the Nyla Rose match. May has lost a lot of momentum though. This teasing of the title celebration and the low hanging fruit heel promos have been very weak follow up. No direction, follow up feud or any sort of build for a proper next challenger either. She's just been spinning her wheels for a couple of weeks and doesn't feel like the head of the division at all. That said, my fantasy booking scenario of Mariah taking out Shirakawa with a champagne bottle is looking more likely than ever. 

Iron Savages vs Learning Tree was such a hilarious telegraph of a Mox and Co. attack. Even Rampage wouldn't put this on the card. Oh no. Wait. That is the match. I was worried the Casino Gauntlet would be ten minutes long at this point and was silently screaming at the screen for this to be over. As has been said, the only worthwhile bit of this was Bill's look at Jericho. Him and Luchasaurus should run away together. Briscoe's role on the show being lightly sprinkling some change on Jericho's rental car is one of the worst uses of him in months. Hate it. 

Nigel announcement was so confusing and got a very muted reaction live as a result. Such a shame to see this huge deal being met with a bit of bewilderment, especially when Nigel could barely contain his joy at being able to announce it. He was bursting with glee but the whole thing was so messy. Then the classic "The ball's in your court" "Will you accept my challenge?" IMMEDIATE GRAPHIC CONFIRMING MATCH IS OFFICIAL. Pfft. 

Casino Gauntlet was a bit flat for the first half. Also, as I mentioned earlier, my interest had been slashed considerably by now knowing 100% who would win the thing, which hasn't been the case for any of these. That said, the big pop for MXM was lovely, and the gigantic multi-man pinfall break up into MONSTER pop for The Outrunners made the whole thing more than worth it. Glorious moment for the youngest men alive. Plenty of other good action and fun moments in the match too, but yeah, the shine was taken off it from me when I knew none of the actual tag teams were going to win it. 

Real mixed bag of an episode there. Hangman/Mox/Darby the highlights, the other stuff was OK and/or a bit muddled/disappointing. 

Edited September 12 by JLM

[Hannibal Scorch]

I don't think Danielson shows up at Grand Slam. As sloppy as it was, I think this is to give Nigel McGuiness a victory over Bryan so he can claim himself a title shot later on. 

[RedTwoster]

10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I don't think Danielson shows up at Grand Slam. As sloppy as it was, I think this is to give Nigel McGuiness a victory over Bryan so he can claim himself a title shot later on. 

I think he kind of has to, they've advertised the match and not even hinted that he won't be there by having the announcers question it. If they were going to do this, they should have had the announcers aghast, calling Nigel opportunistic, and questioned if he was even in a fit state to wrestle since he'd just withdrawn from a title match. Then have Nigel come out, just as he's about to declare victory, Bryan's music hits. Having him confirm that Tony Khan OK'd everything was a bit odd too, there was no reason to throw his name in there. 

Ultimately, I thought the show was really compelling - but little details like that, messes that would have been easy to clear up, are a bit frustrating. 

[Infinity Land]

54 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

You might be right, but the allegations is really when the overwhelmingly negative reaction really rook hold. So even if people have forgotten what was alleged - it's the genesis of where he is now. Had this not happened, he'd probably still be babyface, and maybe he'd be a midcard legacy act for the company that people reacted warmly to, even if they weren't particularly bothered about watching him wrestle.

The Ocho was a sign of how desperate he was to find the next character to keep him relevant. By the end of 2022 he already had the bad reputation of being a vampire, clinging to younger/hotter acts without getting anyone else over. Fortunately he was the leader of another faction with Garcia or even Sammy at a push. He could put together a well-crafted storyline break-up and finally put someone over, right? Instead he plucked Action Andretti from Dark. Got Ricky Starks after the MJF feud and Adam Cole's first feud after returning from injury.

The allegations wouldn't have changed anything. We'd still have ended up where we are now. The only real 'What If' scenario to change things happened to be Kenny Omega being ruled out by diverticulitis. As at least we'd have Kenny carrying him through a Tag Title reign.

Jericho's shown who he is and he doesn't want to be a mid-card nostalgia act and is going to stick to whatever cheap heat tricks he can to pretend he's still got it.

[RedTwoster]

Just now, Infinity Land said:

The allegations wouldn't have changed anything. We'd still have ended up where we are now. The only real 'What If' scenario to change things happened to be Kenny Omega being ruled out by diverticulitis. As at least we'd have Kenny carrying him through a Tag Title reign.

 

They absolutely did, though. Listen to the reaction he got and was getting in the weeks before the allegations broke - fans were still enthusiastically singing along to his theme song, and he was getting a very positive reception. There was absolutely an online narrative as you've said, but it hadn't affected the reaction. The allegations did - and things fell sharply from there. He had to pivot sharply into his current character. 

3 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

The Ocho was a sign of how desperate he was to find the next character to keep him relevant. By the end of 2022 he already had the bad reputation of being a vampire, clinging to younger/hotter acts without getting anyone else over. Fortunately he was the leader of another faction with Garcia or even Sammy at a push. He could put together a well-crafted storyline break-up and finally put someone over, right? Instead he plucked Action Andretti from Dark. Got Ricky Starks after the MJF feud and Adam Cole's first feud after returning from injury.

4 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

Jericho's shown who he is and he doesn't want to be a mid-card nostalgia act and is going to stick to whatever cheap heat tricks he can to pretend he's still got it.

God, I don't want to cast myself as the defender of Jericho as that's certainly not my intention - but ultimately, when is the last time he even flirted with the main event? He's been a midcard legacy act for a long time, whether he's intended to be or not (I suspect not). The people you've listed - he was beaten by Andretti, but he also lost to Starks and Cole. He lost to Hook at Wembley - he's been losing to younger wrestlers, but for a variety of reasons it's not really benefitted them. It's probably a sign of a fall in Jericho's value, but it's also partly a symptom of limitations the wrestlers you list have. 

[Chili]

Jericho became a midcard act once he dropped the ROH title at the end of 2022 in what was arguably his last very good in-ring run before time caught up a bit.

[DavidB6937]

37 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I don't think Danielson shows up at Grand Slam. As sloppy as it was, I think this is to give Nigel McGuiness a victory over Bryan so he can claim himself a title shot later on. 

Would that be a good idea though? A massive show like that and they basically fake advertise a title match?

Feels like something WWE would've pulled in the past maybe but as AEW are trying to win audiences - both live and on TV - it would be a bit mad to pull something like that wouldn't it?

[The King of Old School]

I just don't get the clamour at all for a Danielson/McGuiness match in 2024.

The live crowd couldn't have cared less either.

Danielson probably hasn't got many matches left in this run, don't waste one on a commentator that hasn't wrestled a proper match in a decade.

[Merzbow]

I doubt most of the AEW live fan base were watching Ring of Honor during those glory days anyway, fuck, remember when Punk came out to AFI and the crowd didn't get it?

[Cousin Jim Bob]

McGuiness was very, very good back then though and if he has a short run left in him it could be fun.

 

If it it is just a one off Danielson match and back to commentary it would feel a bit of a waste of time though.