AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[BomberPat]

I think it was a big mistake to not have just had that match end by count-out. I don't think Darby looked any tougher for getting back in the ring and getting pinned off a clothesline that if he'd fought just as hard only to not quite break the count - and it would have meant every other potential count-out mean something when you know they're prepared to push that button, rather than every single time they tease one it ending up with the babyface doing a mad sprint to the ring on nine. Claudio just standing back and soaking it up, prepared to take the count-out loss after a huge murder bump, would have made him look all the more calculating and heartless too.

I just don't know how you get Darby to "level up". He's already done the maddest shit in company history, how do you signify him stepping up to the next level? Maybe if they'd held off on having him do the Sting descending from the rafters stuff until he was ready to challenge for the title again, but it's too late for that. The mention of him climbing Everest does make me wonder if they actually ever will bite the bullet on making him champion - it's a miracle how little injury time he has taken off, all things considered, but do you really want to put your belt on a guy who could always be one daft bump or bad decision away from disaster (acknowledging that this is the case for all wrestlers, admittedly)? 

At least the match was good.

 

Something that I think is an under-discussed part of why I don't think the Moxley angle is landing the way it should, and why AEW as a whole feels cold right now, is the stupid decision to have PAC carry the World Title around in a fucking briefcase. For one, I could gladly never see another briefcase in wrestling again after how done to death Money In The Bank is, and how much it's been ripped off by other companies already. But mostly, it means you never see the World Title on TV and, as far as I'm aware, they've never bothered explaining why either. A few times in recent weeks I've found myself thinking, "hang on, who even is the World Champion at the moment?", because Moxley isn't carrying the belt around with him. 

His promos aren't centred on him being Champion, and you never get the visual of him holding the title. None of the hype package footage for the pay-per-view World Title match main event will even show the World Championship belt. That's a mad decision to go with, with no explanation. And if they must have someone carrying the belt around in a briefcase, maybe have it be bullied lackey Wheeler Yuta, or well-dressed second-in-command Claudio - it looks ridiculous to have PAC in his pants and boots carrying it around with him (and I don't think he even had it with him at all this week).

On top of that, I keep banging on about Trios Titles, but you never see the Death Riders carrying them around with them either. It's a lot easier to get a group of heels over as a dominant faction on a wrestling show when they're carrying title belts around with them as a reminder that they're good wrestlers who win matches.

[LaGoosh]

Also it doesn't sell the group as a group when Pac seems to only turn up every two weeks (this has pretty much always been the case, I assume it's part of his deal). I still think this story would be better off in the mid-card and without the World title. It doesn't need the World title. It's seemingly a battle for AEW's soul rather than for gold. If this story was in the mid-card and they had someone/something else going on on top with the title I think AEW would be in a much better position that they are currently. At the least they could use the story to finally bin off the trios titles or retire them quietly.

7 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I think it was a big mistake to not have just had that match end by count-out.

Correct as ever. Sometimes it baffles me that AEW misses these obvious things so often.

Edited November 22, 2024 by LaGoosh

[DavidB6937]

I also think it's daft when they're advertising "Mox is taking over!". Yeah, you'd really be celebrating that wouldn't you. I mean at least show him beating up the marketing guy or something.

I know. I know. Stupid logic shit is all part of wrestling. I think it was more the fact they advertised it and then it was nothing. A lot of it has just been nothing. Mox is more than capable of feeling unhinged and dangerous and I thought they'd ramp that all up but it doesn't feel like it's really gone anywhere.

I felt excited about the potential. I don't anymore.

[LaGoosh]

It's also weird how a few weeks ago you had all these guys waiting in the car park with baseball bats and lead pipes for the Deathriders to turn up because they wanted to fuck them up but now all those people are seemingly not bothered anymore. Like the Dark Order went from ready to kill them to now just back in multi man tags on Rampage without missing a beat.

[DavidB6937]

1 minute ago, LaGoosh said:

It's also weird how a few weeks ago you had all these guys waiting in the car park with baseball bats and lead pipes for the Deathriders to turn up because they wanted to fuck them up but now all those people are seemingly not bothered anymore. Like the Dark Order went from ready to kill them to now just back in multi man tags on Rampage without missing a beat.

Yeah, for a company that does pride itself on being more logical and presenting storylines in a better way, it seemed like a good opportunity to have some sort of invasion/takeover angle done right. Especially after the Bucks power struggle stuff just sort of fizzled out for some reason. Yet this has gone exactly the same way so far.

[Chili]

I'm of the opinion no major TV promotion can carry off the hostile takeover angle because it requires so much of the product format to change. Stuff like that nWo car park attack is a rare win. A company being hijacked by a group is impossible on the basis of strength in numbers making the babyfaces just look completely inept, but if you have the mad takeover involve everyone else's angles they can just unite and wipe out the issue really quick, unless you built tension within the babyfaces. This angle like most doesn't seem to work because wrestling logic and real logic fudge up too much. Even AEW's prior big groups story in The Elite being top dogs involved multiple strands but not an actual company takeover.

It doesn't help that some seem conditioned on doing something different to doing a simple over the odds angle. You either have Moxley retain till Darby beats him and everyone goes 'well we knew that was the plan, so what next', or Moxley loses on the way and 'they've ruined it, some takeover eh, they thought Darby must have been too obvious'. Anyway, I think they've fucked it running this as a takeover when in wrestling they can't logically really go fucking anywhere. In retrospect the nWo angle has some proper shite in there, but it FELT like it was massive, the Bloodline isn't a 'takeover' for example and it works that way. Blah blah blah, but these angles never deliver or contain a logical payoff/follow-up so I personally never enjoy them and tend to drift from the product until it fucks off around 3 months from now.

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chili

[FLips]

What did Excalibur even mean when he said it was Mox vs OC for "control of AEW"?
Are we already in the late WCW stage already or was it just Excalibur being crap?

Speaking of crap on commentary, they desperately need a good talking to. Daddy Magic, Chris Jericho, JR. All rubbish and need to be kept out of the booth. The Tazz/Tony/Excalibur trio is fine but I don't find Excalibur that good and they've took the bickering with each other thing beyond the point of entertaining now and sometimes it comes across like they just love catching each other out on mistakes and showing each other up. The commentary team seems to change week by week as well. Schiavone deserves better than this.

Nothing against Cheezeburger but it's not a good look for a debuting Bobby Lashley when the jobber is getting a better reaction than him. Cheezeburger is a stupid name that's always going to get a sarcastic pop, so keep him away from your monster you want to get over. Especially if he's not even going to do a full or convincing looking job. Joe Keys has a better name but even for a jobber was cack.

Kyle O Reilly and Adam Cole was embarrasing. Who are these two vanilla chumps? Get them off my telly.

Hikaru Shida and Statlander was fine. I like Shida, I think she's one of the best on their roster. You'll always get a solid match with her. Statlander not so much and I think her injuries and flip flop booking has damaged her beyond repair to be honest. That being said she's better than both Mercedes and Kamille who managed to both look shocking here.

Darby vs Claudio was fair enough but if you're gonna finish with a lariat that makes Excalibur ejaculate in his undies then you need to actually connect with the bloody thing.

MJF and Roderick. Jesus wept.

Big Justice and Big Boom AJ just remind me of Stavros Flatley.

At this point I just stopped bothering.

I will scream this from the top of my lungs until they stop doing it and sort their roster out but they need to stop just signing everyone and letting everyone on the show. They need to cut that roster in half, use ROH as their version of NXT and keep the AEW roster as smaller, more over and with more character. I get "good matches" is their thing, but you could tell me Kyle Fletcher is the best wrestler in the world and I wouldn't tune in for him because he's just some bloke, ditto with half their roster.
I heard Speedball Mike Bailey is AEW bound and every time I hear something like that I just groan because where is he going to fit on an already stacked show, and what act is going to vanish because of it?

I probably picked a bad episode to try and watch to be honest, but it was the go-home for a PPV so figured it would be hot.

 

 

[Supremo]

The Death Riders have become my least favourite thing in wrestling. Interesting concept with loads of potential that goes absolutely nowhere and just exists as a constant riddle that’s never properly explained. Why is the belt in the briefcase? What do you even want from Orange Cassidy? Do you have an end goal beyond beating up jobbers? What the fuck are you on about, mumbling about Orange being a snake?

Malakai Mox.

[LaGoosh]

3 minutes ago, FLips said:

Kyle O Reilly and Adam Cole was embarrasing. Who are these two vanilla chumps?

Woah woah woah. You are completely and utterly wrong here. Cole is not vanilla.

He's yellow.

[Chili]

In addition to the prior post, I absolutely love Jon Moxley the character when he's on his own as this kooky hardnut with little friends like Eddie or the BCC as sort of fight brothers, but it's overlooked how bad he is almost as Jericho for some silly booking of himself. He absolutely gets a say in his work and if you don't reign him in he does vague shit like this that I'm sure has literally come from Moxley seeing a film, thinking that's proper hard and will make me look proper hard, let's do it, without explaining actually why he's become this riddle speaking 'everyone needs to step-up' vagueness. Show us he's pathetic and weak and desperate and this is why he's doing it, but I don't think Jon Moxley is someone massively keen on looking or assumed as weak in character. Basically Moxley is great stuff but his favourite TV show ever is that Britain's Hardest Man that Phil Mitchell hosted. He's got that vibe.

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chili

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, FLips said:

What did Excalibur even mean when he said it was Mox vs OC for "control of AEW"?
Are we already in the late WCW stage already or was it just Excalibur being crap?

Speaking of crap on commentary, they desperately need a good talking to. Daddy Magic, Chris Jericho, JR. All rubbish and need to be kept out of the booth. The Tazz/Tony/Excalibur trio is fine but I don't find Excalibur that good and they've took the bickering with each other thing beyond the point of entertaining now and sometimes it comes across like they just love catching each other out on mistakes and showing each other up. The commentary team seems to change week by week as well. Schiavone deserves better than this.

Nothing against Cheezeburger but it's not a good look for a debuting Bobby Lashley when the jobber is getting a better reaction than him. Cheezeburger is a stupid name that's always going to get a sarcastic pop, so keep him away from your monster you want to get over. Especially if he's not even going to do a full or convincing looking job. Joe Keys has a better name but even for a jobber was cack.

 

The "control of AEW" thing just comes down to a vague unspecified sense of power that comes from being World Champion - it's hyperbole, which, sure, this is wrestling, but I'd rather they stayed away from it. Especially when there's been a heel faction "running" AEW for ages, and even when they lost matches it never had any consequence.

The commentary team changing every week is a result of Taz being out of the picture. I'm not sure why Nigel hasn't been doing Dynamite more. I like Daddy Magic, but it was an insane decision to have him on colour commentary the same week they showed him kidnapping and torturing Jack Perry!

I'm honestly amazed by the amount of backlash against Cheeseburger I've seen on social media - he's a skinny jobber who played his part. That people have come away talking about him, or reacting to him, rather than the monster heel who squashed him reminds me of an old Tommy Young line when he was accused of stealing the spotlight for wrestlers - "if you're more interested in watching the referee than the wrestlers, they must be doing a terrible job". Bobby Lashley was fucking dreadful in that match, he was wrestling through molasses and practically nothing he did had any sense of urgency or impact to it. Contrast that to Shelton Benjamin's matches in AEW, where no one came away talking about his opponents. Sorry, but I'm not pinning the blame on the jobbers for this one. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Woah woah woah. You are completely and utterly wrong here. Cole is not vanilla.

He's yellow.

Adam Cole Ice Cream

Edited November 22, 2024 by Hannibal Scorch
"YOU KNOW ITS ALL ABOUT THE BRRRRRRRRRR! ADAM COLE ICE CREAM!"

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

"YOU KNOW ITS ALL ABOUT THE BRRRRRRRRRR! ADAM COLE ICE CREAM!"

I laughed at this AND Chris Jericho in the same week. I'm broken.

[Devon Malcolm]

3 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I'm honestly amazed by the amount of backlash against Cheeseburger I've seen on social media - he's a skinny jobber who played his part.

But he's called Cheeseburger! You bring in a major star and have him debut, unannounced beforehand, against a guy named after fast food. He might have done his job but there are other things at play here that I can understand people being critical of.

[BomberPat]

Just now, Devon Malcolm said:

But he's called Cheeseburger! You bring in a major star and have him debut, unannounced beforehand, against a guy named after fast food. He might have done his job but there are other things at play here that I can understand people being critical of.

And he's a daft jobber. I'd understand the argument if Lashley had a competitive match against him, but he didn't. I don't particularly like the name, but if the point is "how are we supposed to take this guy seriously", I don't really see it, because the outcome of the match makes it pretty clear that you're not, he got destroyed. It's not like if he had been called John Smith we'd be coming away talking about how great Lashley looked, because it wasn't the name "Cheeseburger" that made it a bad match to showcase Bobby Lashley, it was Bobby Lashley who did that.