AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[Nick James]

21 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

 

Seeing that picture, I now want Hangman and The Butcher to team up as a new version of the Smoking Guns. 

Just fine gentlemen and I'm sure they will have smashing blouses on should they do it. 

[Mr_Danger]

So hard to call. Can they keep Swerve hot to extend his chase? Keep building Joe as the killer guy on top? My personal favorite is Hangman wins with help from the Young Bucks leading to Swerve chasing the belt with the odds stacked against him. Stone Cold Swerve needs a bunch of dickheads to rail against.

[RedRooster]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:47 PM, LaGoosh said:

That sounds pretty boring. I'll stick with AEW.

Selective quoting to dismiss legitimate criticism is one of the most frustrating things in the AEW threads. By all means disagree with me, but heck, at least disagree with the point I’m actually making. I appreciate that may not have been your intention.

But if my point wasn’t clear, it’s that I think AEW is better when it has a long term direction. I’m referencing WWE because the promotion feels hot and is performing in front of sell-out crowds. There are clear long-term directions for the big characters, which obviously helps. When AEW was red hot, that’s the exact approach it was taking. Right now, far too many wrestlers I care about are spinning their wheels with no obvious end game. Changing that, I imagine, wouldn’t ruin your viewing experience, but it would certainly improve mine. 

[LaGoosh]

35 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Selective quoting to dismiss legitimate criticism is one of the most frustrating things in the AEW threads.

It was a tongue in cheek response about the quality of WWE. Yes, they may be doing great business but I hate their terrible, terrible product (just my opinion of course before anyone jumps in - I really don't like discussing WWE in AEW threads). My quoting wasn't dismissing your criticisms but a light hearted comment from me alone that long term booking based around Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Judgement Day bores me.

There's lots of legitimate criticism of AEW in these threads, I regularly do it myself and have never felt that other posters have been dismissive. It's a wonderful and incredibly frustrating promotion. The only selective quoting I've seen is when one poster misquoted about 12 people in a single post to prove his own point about Kenny Omega.

 

Edited March 2 by LaGoosh

[2Xtreme_lives]

31 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Selective quoting to dismiss legitimate criticism is one of the most frustrating things in the AEW threads. By all means disagree with me, but heck, at least disagree with the point I’m actually making. I appreciate that may not have been your intention.

But if my point wasn’t clear, it’s that I think AEW is better when it has a long term direction. I’m referencing WWE because the promotion feels hot and is performing in front of sell-out crowds. There are clear long-term directions for the big characters, which obviously helps. When AEW was red hot, that’s the exact approach it was taking. Right now, far too many wrestlers I care about are spinning their wheels with no obvious end game. Changing that, I imagine, wouldn’t ruin your viewing experience, but it would certainly improve mine. 

This exactly. WWE were obviously trying to get into the betting game which clearly fixes in shows and gives solidarity to the shows

AEW was a much better product as such too. I'm totally of the agreement my enjoyment of the product would improve

[RedRooster]

58 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

It was a tongue in cheek response about the quality of WWE. Yes, they may be doing great business but I hate their terrible, terrible product (just my opinion of course before anyone jumps in - I really don't like discussing WWE in AEW threads). My quoting wasn't dismissing your criticisms but a light hearted comment from me alone that long term booking based around Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Judgement Day bores me.

Fair enough! I enjoy your posts, so please don’t take it personally. I’m very conscious of tarring all AEW defenders with the same brush, but in a general sense I do find the narrative online (not on here, generally) unhelpful as it seems clear Tony Khan pays attention to the sycophants and dismisses most criticism as being made in bad faith. If AEW was failing completely, weirdly, it would frustrate me less. But given that it would only take a few easy changes to make things interesting again, it’s a bit harder to swallow. I’m glad most people here seem to get a lot more out of it, though. I’m probably in the minority on here at least in feeling how I feel about AEW.

[Infinity Land]

12 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Fair enough! I enjoy your posts, so please don’t take it personally. I’m very conscious of tarring all AEW defenders with the same brush, but in a general sense I do find the narrative online (not on here, generally) unhelpful as it seems clear Tony Khan pays attention to the sycophants and dismisses most criticism as being made in bad faith. If AEW was failing completely, weirdly, it would frustrate me less. But given that it would only take a few easy changes to make things interesting again, it’s a bit harder to swallow. I’m glad most people here seem to get a lot more out of it, though. I’m probably in the minority on here at least in feeling how I feel about AEW.

AEW's like your favourite football team racking up high scoring draws or 4-3/2-3 type results. Plenty of positives (scoring goals) and plenty of negatives (piss poor defending).

It's another PPV cycle coming to an end with the promise of change to come. Darby back in singles action, Okada & Mercedes Mone expected arrivals, clean slate for the tag scene. Just know there's going to be Jericho hogging the spotlight, OC/HOOK standing still, Deonna cooled off after her stint as a title contender.

[Infinity Land]

That's Mike Santana officially gone. Fightful reporting and off the roster page. Sad how it ended, but expected with the way things fizzled out when he returned. The AEW singles division is stacked (and mishandled) he was never going to get a proper look.

Don't know if WWE/NXT would have any interest. TNA and MLW's $20m slush fund absolutely should.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

4 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

That's Mike Santana officially gone. Fightful reporting and off the roster page. Sad how it ended, but expected with the way things fizzled out when he returned. The AEW singles division is stacked (and mishandled) he was never going to get a proper look.

Don't know if WWE/NXT would have any interest. TNA and MLW's $20m slush fund absolutely should.

Sadly he was done the minute he was above his tag team. Look at the monster names he's trying to compete with! It was never going to happen anytime soon.

[HarmonicGenerator]

3 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

Sadly he was done the minute he was above his tag team. Look at the monster names he's trying to compete with! It was never going to happen anytime soon.

It’s a shame. There’s something there, and you’d think having so many midcard titles would prevent a Santana getting lost in the shuffle. He was someone who might have actually benefitted from a Jericho feud or a random Owen tournament, but he was done for as soon as they decided the Ortiz feud would happen exclusively on Rampage.

Edited March 5 by HarmonicGenerator

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

It’s a shame. There’s something there, and you’d think having so many midcard titles would prevent a Santana getting lost in the shuffle.

Yeah, there were definite 'Eddie Kingston' vibes about him. He's a tremendous promo. It's a real shame that he fell out with Ortiz, they were a tremendous team and it's a crying shame that they didn't hold the tag belts at any point. 

But yeah, I think he has what it takes to be a tremendous addition to TNA - one of those 'Steve Maclin' type signings; someone who comes into their own and shows what they're all about when given the chance. He deserved more than he ended up getting in AEW, but there's definitely potential for him to become an important part of another company's roster. 

[DavidB6937]

Santana and Ortiz were two of the ones I was most excited to see in AEW as I'd really enjoyed their work elsewhere. Sucks that they've ended up where they are now. I think both guys have potential - more together than separately, but hopefully it'll work out for both of them wherever, even if it's as solo acts.

[Chris B]

I think Santana needs some time away to figure out who he is as a singles performer. In the feud with Ortiz, sure, it may have been relegated to Rampage, but it's not like he was generating responses that deserved much more than that. Ortiz came out looking more interesting too, because he changed some stuff up properly. Santana was left looking like a generic angry babyface, and they have a crowded roster.

He might have it, because he's shown potential. But he doesn't have it down, and he might not have it. Some time away to figure out what and who he is could do him the world of good.

Also, he's just hit a year sober, so fair play to him. I hope it works out and that the door is open.

[LaGoosh]

Damn shame. I love Santana but I love Santana & Ortiz together even more. I think he's over-valued himself and should have stuck as a tag team, together they are worth more. I think he had a pretty low ceiling as a singles guy. Sucks for Ortiz though, he's massively underrated but now basically pointless. Maybe he can try and reinvent himself in ROH or something.

[Supremo]

I think he’ll live to regret wanting to be a singles star. Proud and Powerful were not only a great team, but they spent so long as Jericho’s lackeys that it still doesn’t feel like they came anywhere close to reaching their full potential. Especially now, with this Tag Title Tournament on the horizon, and more TV time to fill with Collision, Santana and Ortiz could have had a great run.

Don’t get me wrong; Santana definitely has something, solid look, a good promo, loads of aura and great babyface fire, but allow that singles run to happen naturally. Don’t force it, especially when the company you’re in is brimming with the best singles talent in the history of the industry. These last few months, surely he’d have preferred wrestling tags on weekly TV than sulking on Twitter as a singles. A Trios Title run with Kingston and Ortiz would’ve been fun too.

Best of luck to him though. If Hunter’s willing to bring in Brian Pillman Junior and Tama Tonga, he may as well give Santana a call. He’s got more upside than both of them combined. Could have a cracking NXT run if he can find the hard cam.

Edited March 5 by Supremo