69MeDon Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Loads of their bigger stars on the shelf or in Japan, and they put on - for me - the best Dynamite in months. It felt really fresh. Had great matches. Wonderful guest commentary. The decent sized crowd really helped, too. I'm not doing a 2023-in-review/looking ahead to 2024 thing, because other people have done that in here far better than I could. But I'll just say, if they can make most episodes of Dynamite as good as I thought this one was, it'll be a good year! I need Swerve vs Takeshita for the world title before the year ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 5 minutes ago, 69MeDon said: Loads of their bigger stars on the shelf or in Japan, and they put on - for me - the best Dynamite in months. It felt really fresh. This is a really good point. People always throw around the question as to what happens when AEW loses its big names - Jericho, Moxley, Danielson, Omega, MJF, The Bucks…maybe the answer is as straightforward as ‘the show improves’.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Takeshita v Allin was an early contender for match of the year - what a fantastic brutalisation. Â Darby takes a bump better than anyone, and those inside out suplexes were just awesome. Â Takeshita has an incredible sense of timing - he moves so smoothly and yet can still accelerate into every strike so it looks devastating. Takeshita v Samoa Joe please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Good episode of TV and very much what we've been crying out for. New directions, fresh faces. I know I'm in the minority thinking this, but Wardlow isn't very good. He's got a hell of a look, but he's still clunky as fuck on the mic and in the ring. A return to being the silent enforcer, pulling faces behind his boss feels about right. I'm not enthused with the idea of a push towards the title though or another baby face refresh. Are they moving towards Orange Cassidy turning heel? Having the International title again seems to be slowly making him unhinged. Could be fun, dunno what it looks like though. I like how Mother Wayne is basically a 'Family Values' version of Vickie Guerrero. It's incredible that the Christian/Patriarchy act keeps getting better. Mariah May looks like a good prospect apart from the worst chops/strikes I've seen in a loooong time. Be surprised if she got away with those in Stardom. I'm not huge on Donna Purazzo but bringing her in is another statement of intent towards building a strong women's division. Said 'Fuck Me!!' at least 3 times during Takeshita/Darby. Great stuff. Hangman and Swerve as forever rivals is class. They should never not be feuding. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I think the thing AEW does well is gives the lower/mid/young stars a chance to go out there and are told 'show us what you can do' and even though they haven't had a huge amount of time, they know that they have to take every opportunity with both hands. Love seeing some of the 'forgotten' guys of AEW given a bit of a 'ahh yes I forgot about them' moments.  Sometimes the best wrestling shows are simple 'scale back all the crap and just get in the ring and do what you're good at'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 (edited) Felt like a show of solid course corrections. Renewed focus on the young up and comers, the tag team and women's divisions. An in-ring promo from Eddie Kingston would really have put this over the top. Live promos from over babyfaces is a strange rarity on Dynamite. Takeshita/Darby was madness in the best way. More Takeshita please! Just a natural. Christian continues to be a godly heel and after a rough start Mamma Wayne has fit in perfectly. The Mercedes rumours tricked me into watching my first women's match in about a year and I'm glad I did. Maria May looks promising and a decent angle at the end. Decent main event. I love Swerve and his cool and presence but I don't quite see it in-ring yet. Him and Hangman is a feud for the ages though. I'm hoping that Kingston being in the Best Friends universe leads to a title unification match with Cassidy and we have one less useless trinket on the show. Adam Cole promo was his usual smooth, solid and boring self. Already a dud of a stable unfortunately. Roddy is great, but the tag team belongs on Dark and Wardlow is the most uninteresting wrestler on the planet. Toni Storm gets funnier every week. Edited January 4 by Mr Butternut Squash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 2 hours ago, BrodyGraham said: I know I'm in the minority thinking this, but Wardlow isn't very good. He's got a hell of a look, but he's still clunky as fuck on the mic and in the ring. A return to being the silent enforcer, pulling faces behind his boss feels about right. I’m not sure you are, I agree that he’s quite limited and I get the impression that others on the board feel that way too. I think - as far as facial expressions go- he’s one of the best in the company, maybe the industry. His ring work is average at best, and he’s very weak on the mic. That said, I think there’s still value in pushing him, he’s different enough to stand out. I don’t think he’s limited to the point you can’t book around his weaknesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 Wardlow is very much in the same category as someone like Ryback. There's a very low ceiling there for them and for maximum potential the iron needed to be struck while it was hot. Ryback passed the moment and died. Wardlow had his moment and that came and went and I personally don't think he'll ever reach that height again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Wardlow has nowhere near the physical charisma of a Ryback, especially with his shitty haircut. Closer to Snitsky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 Yeah, he's look at the moment isn't working for him at all. He looks like he fits in next to The Kingdom lads, and that should never be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 I always thought that for someone pushes and presented as a big powerhouse wrestler that he's not actually that big or powerful. In The Pinnacle he was in the role of the muscle but Shawn Spears was actually bigger than him. Regardless, he's not going to get over with that haircut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I'd have preferred an arc for Wardlow where he was hunting MJF the "right way". Racking up wins to become the number one contender. Where he would now become a proxy for MJF feuding with the Undisputed Kingdom for ruining it for him. If you take the best bits of Wardlow & Spears and MJF & Cole: MJF and Wardlow would have a fun babyface run as a tag team. He just doesn't fit with The Firm 2.0 Maybe they already know that with laying it on pretty thick with Cole and him coming to the eventual crossroads. I can do without the match with Joe having seen them try their best feuding over the TNT title. Nice to have Private Party back. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong. Mariah May v. Queen Aminata went a little longer than I was expecting. It was almost more of a showcase for Aminata than May's debut. Then somewhat overshadowed by Deonna Purrazzo's debut. Pretty much 3 completely new faces. Toni has a new challenger and Mariah. Queen Aminata i'd guess will be in the ROH TV title tournament if she isn't already. Darby might want to get back to training for Everest. Seems the safer option The Continental Crown/TC/Championship just confuses me. Seemingly everyone at this stage. I'm still thinking of it as the Collision World Title. Could have done with someone other than Trent as the first contender. There's a lot of possibilites for the new year. At the same time some of the acts feel quite stale. It is 5 years and while not everyone has been there the entire time. A good number haven't really changed things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 Say what you want about Wardlow and his crap hair but if they bring back the rankings to have him work his way to the Title then he’s single handedly saved this company and the business as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 Stuff I really liked this week: - Swerve and Garcia falling off the table when trying that Sharpshooter spot. Looked brutal and made everything feel chaotic. - Daddy Magic adding so much to Garcia matches on commentary. - Darby Allin. Easy to forget he's probably the most exciting singles match wrestler in years. I'm guessing he gave up his quest to climb Everest and is now making up for lost head drops. I don't know how he can even walk after that beating. - The Don Callis Family look like anime villians when they all stand together. They should really lean into that more. - Hangman's excellent porno moustache. - Private Party are back and have ditched the Hardys for good, finally! Bring back Men of the Year and tell Santana and Ortiz to be mates again and this tag division will be COOKING. - Random bonkers styles clash 4 ways. Feels like proper AEW that does. I would have replaced Bryan Keith with someone more established and exciting though: Santana, Lance Archer, Penta, John Silver or Ortiz. - some BCG/Acclaimed intrigue. Jay White and The Gunns getting a Trios titles run would be a good bit of business for the short term. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 (edited) Oh god yeah, Hardys + Brother Zay is one of the most skippable things I can read on a Rampage line up. So happy for Cassidy that it's over. I really hope they do revitalise the tag titles. It summed up how much of an afterthought the titles have been when Private Party didn't namedrop the current tag team champions in their promo. Edited January 4 by JLM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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