AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[The King Of Swing]

I'm actually really enjoying Hangman/White. Just a nice simple feud between two guys who don't like each other.

Christian picking Kip as his new favourite son got a chuckle out of me.

Hayter/Ford was better than I expected. A good hard hitting sprint.

As stale as Jericho can be, at least he's actually working. MJF on the other hand has serious fuck off and get a new routine heat right now. 

Best use of Mercedes in a while.

Good main event and aftermath. I genuinely think they have something in Fletcher, just needs more work. 

I was actually enjoying Cole/Black until the stupid finish. I like Black more than most on here but if he wants out then let him go, he's not worth the headache. 

Strong opening promo from MVP. 

[LaGoosh]

One of my favourite wrestling writers (and one of the smartest wrestling reviewers out there) Matt D put out a piece on AEW's booking which sums up a lot of my feelings and why AEW can feel so cold at times. Worth a read:

 

 

[RedTwoster]

For me, I think, the main issue is that AEW often feels like a collection of wrestlers living in their own separate worlds, and the drive to divvy up TV time means that the biggest storylines can feel very separate. It’s rare that a storyline plays out throughout a show, or that the big storylines have more than one segment devoted to them in an episode of Dynamite. 

I’ve said it before, but the Moxley storyline illustrates this perfectly. Here you have a wrestler claiming to run the joint, yet he makes his presence felt in a very limited way for someone who thinks he’s in charge. The storyline is good, but it could be great - and to me it’s blatantly something that could heat up the whole promotion if done correctly. 

Someone on here (was it you, @LaGoosh?) suggested that Hangman should, eventually, be the person to ride in to save the day - and I love that idea, tying his descent into madness with Moxley’s rise to the top. Of course Hangman becoming deranged and taking his eye of the ball would create the conditions for something like Moxley’s group to exist - alongside the absence of Kenny and cowardice of The Bucks. But the two storylines feel very separate. They don’t have to feel aligned to work, but a bit more of that kind of thing would be brilliant.

They need to get better at taking the good ideas they have and using them to make the show feel hot - and also, I suppose, ensuring good storylines and acts don’t become terrible (MJF/Cole, The Acclaimed, Wardlow etc).

 

[LaGoosh]

https://nypost.com/2024/11/11/sports/jon-moxley-unplugged-on-ambitious-aew-hard-reset/

Cool interview. Sounds like Mox may have actually shoot taken over the booking since his return. It's definitely been more cohesive and focused from when he turned back up. Excited to see where he's taking it. He's the best signing they ever could have made.

Edited November 12, 2024 by LaGoosh

[Supremo]

A fundamentally good show, where once again you can acknowledge and appreciate the effort and directions they’re going in, but fuck me if that wasn’t one of the worst crowds of the year. Deathly silent. Everything felt ice, ice cold. Pandemic Era levels.

Most interesting development was the Adam Cole result. A genuine surprise. Maybe everyone has realised and accepted that this MJF/Cole thing is absolute shit, Cole has looked rubbish since returning, and everyone is better off just abandoning the storyline entirely. Whole thing feels even messier than before now though. What beef do MJF and Strong even have? I can’t even remember.

Otherwise, the only thing I’ll remember about this show is Mina Shirakawa and Harley Cameron having a, “Tit Off.” Harley Cameron is brilliant. She’s got that Billie Kay quality where she’s genuinely funny. Almost too good for wrestling.

Frankly, the best thing that happened regarding AEW last night was this amazing fan photo of someone meeting Rhea Ripley in a supermarket. Not only is it funny in its own right for how much Buddy Mathews has been pied off, but look at the fucking size of his arm! In a normal, real-life setting he looks even more ridiculous!

Edited November 14, 2024 by Supremo

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

Most interesting development was the Adam Cole result. A genuine surprise. Maybe everyone has realised and accepted that this MJF/Cole thing is absolute shit, Cole has looked rubbish since returning, and everyone is better off just abandoning the storyline entirely. Whole thing feels even messier than before now though. 

MJF said they needed to win 3 matches in a row, what are the odds that Cole wins one on Collision, one on Dynamite and the final one on the kick off of Full Gear?

I am thrilled that they didn't sacrifice Takeshita on the altar of this storyline though. Common sense prevails. 

Edit: The crowd was dead, but let's not let that be the explanation for the lack of heat when they teased Cole, Strong and O'Reilly getting back together. No crowd would have popped for that. Air left the room.

Edited November 14, 2024 by Duke
You're only undisputed because no one cares, lads.

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

fuck me if that wasn’t one of the worst crowds of the year. Deathly silent. Everything felt ice, ice cold.

Yeah it was definitely very weird how quiet they were. I was thinking that maybe they weren't mic'ed up right because of how quiet it was. But at the same time I'm not convinced they gave them too much to get excited about last night.

Agree, that fundamentally as a single episode of wrestling TV it was solid and ticked all the boxes. But at the same time nothing in this felt can't miss or like something you would need to catch up on. The production of the show is just really bland at the moment and they fundamentally are not using their top guys to their full potential and everyone watching knows it. 

Takeshita vs Cole had such a weird vibe to it. Takeshita selling for that noddle armed toddler felt wrong in every way.

I thought the Ospreay/Fletcher segment was pretty decent. Fletcher is coming along nicely although he still needs to get ride of some of the more generic heel stuff he's doing. I saw Fletcher at some shitty BritWres shows years ago and I thought he was one of the crappiest wrestlers I'd ever seen. Amazing seeing how far he's come.

What was all that Mox takes over the SuperStation stuff all about? Was that actually on the show and I missed it?

Is there anything better than Darby fighting against a giant freak who just throws him around and tries to kill him? Incredible stuff with Claudio. Brutal.

OC having Rocky Romero as back up would have been like The Rock coming out with Essa Rios or something. Mind boggling.

Serena Deeb coming out and Britt Baker saying repeatedly into the camera "no one cares" felt a bit too on the nose! But she's right - no one fucking cares!

I liked the Statlander/Mercedes/Kamile backstage bit but the very casual way they just cut away from all three laying (dead, I assume) on the floor and went straight back to business and never mentioned it again was a bit ludicrous.

Edited November 14, 2024 by LaGoosh

[Hannibal Scorch]

My main take away from the episode was how it felt like watching a fight in Marvel vs Capcom where as soon as someone lost, someone came out and the next match started. It felt like there was no respite. As if they were trying to say don’t change the channel. I’ve never seen an hour of television scripted that way.

Also they made a big thing about Mox taking over the superstation and it was the same as it’s been for the last 6 weeks. What was that about?

I thought it was a decent show which is setting up the PPV nicely.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Has Pac been banished from the group because he refuses to wear long trousers?

[DavidB6937]

Yeah I'd say the Mox stuff was pretty disappointing considering they advertised him taking over. I could've done with something more substantial there. Didn't really feel necessary.

[Chili]

Mina and Harley being stopped having their 'Tit-off' by Renee only for them to subtly keep doing it was absolutely hilarious, bonus points for Harley Cameron gobbing that champagne. As pointed out Harley Cameron is too good for wrestling, got that Eddie Kingston vibe where she feels like a character from a different show, but her's is a whack sitcom Australian.

Edited November 14, 2024 by Chili

[LaGoosh]

40 minutes ago, Chili said:

Mina and Harley being stopped having their 'Tit-off' by Renee only for them to subtly keep doing it was absolutely hilarious, bonus points for Harley Cameron gobbing that champagne. As pointed out Harley Cameron is too good for wrestling, got that Eddie Kingston vibe where she feels like a character from a different show, but her's is a whack sitcom Australian.

This and the moment where Yuta shouted "I'm not a pawn" and Claudio immediately told him to shut up were all time classic Dynamite moments.

[Slapnut]

Adam Cole is the worst wrestler in AEW. I cannot take anything he does seriously whatsoever. There is no scenario where I’m buying him as competitive against somebody who looks like Takeshita.

Also, since he arrived in NXT in like 2018 or whatever, has there *ever* been a time where he hasn’t been associated with Lyle O’Reilly and/or Roderick Strong in some way? A few weeks when he first debuted in AEW perhaps? 

Edited November 14, 2024 by Slapnut
Not even going to bother editing the Kyle O’Reilly typo

[BomberPat]

49 minutes ago, Slapnut said:

Also, since he arrived in NXT in like 2018 or whatever, has there *ever* been a time where he hasn’t been associated with Lyle O’Reilly and/or Roderick Strong in some way? A few weeks when he first debuted in AEW perhaps? 

It goes back further into ROH. There's been some variation of The Kingdom/Undisputed Era/Undisputed Kingdom either teaming or bickering or feuding or teasing teaming or teasing feuding for ten years at this point.

I don't get Adam Cole beyond him seeming like a nice guy, but he's over and people seem to like him, and he's capable of a good match even if he has a lot of traits to his wrestling that put me off. There's clearly something there - the match and a lot of the programme was extremely Marmite, but he did main event Wembley last year, and didn't look particularly out of place doing it - but it's just not working.

I'm not normally an image guy in wrestling, but it's the first thing to sort out, surely? Get him in long tights at least.

[LaGoosh]

14 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I don't get Adam Cole beyond him seeming like a nice guy, but he's over and people seem to like him, and he's capable of a good match even if he has a lot of traits to his wrestling that put me off. There's clearly something there - the match and a lot of the programme was extremely Marmite, but he did main event Wembley last year, and didn't look particularly out of place doing it - but it's just not working.

I remember their being outrage when Vince wanted to bring him up from NXT to the main roster as a manager rather than a wrestler but in hindsight he might have been onto something. There's definitely a place for him somewhere but I'm not sure where. It's definitely not as a top singles act. I don't know if he'd ever consider commentary but that would probably be where I'd try sticking him if I was running things.