AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[JLM]

I heard she's on 6 billion pounds per minute and she travels between towns on a steam train run by shovelling piles of cash into a furnace. I don't know if it's true but IF IT IS, that TK, what a mug. What are we doing here. 

[Supremo]

Streets are saying Tony paid her half a million to watch Takeover Brooklyn with him.

[DavidB6937]

Oh god. You just know he was chanting CEO! CEO! backstage and probably doing that weird little dance with the hands.

[Keith Houchen]

10 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

doing that weird little dance with the hands.

#CrabTwat

[JLM]

Dynamite 13/03/24

Ahh AEW in front of a sizeable and noisy crowd again, delightful. 

Thought the Mercedes debut did the job just fine. Bit of a rambling promo but it didn't matter in the slightest what she said really. The place was rabid for her and she felt like a huge deal. 

Effortlessly superb promo from Joe. Appreciated them doing a thing with the Adam Cole Promo but can't get past how incredibly dumb the whole direction is. 

Wardlow and Joe was about as expected, a solid TV match. I don't think Wardlow can do much better than this, particularly against an opponent of Joe's size. I was absolutely thrilled that the victory for Joe was so clean and definitive. Swerve's expression of pure murderous intent walking down the ramp was tremendous. Joe kicking the guy off the ramp was even better. I want Swerve vs Hangman for the big belt but I also kinda want King Joe to be champion forever.

I bloody love Elite Okada. I liked the direction in the first place, his arrogant jobber bullying on Collision only cemented it further, but forcing Alex Marvez to sing sealed the deal. Six man tag was fun. Wonderful to have Pac back, and to see Penta back on Dynamite in a significant match. Having Okada tag out and refuse to fight Kingston was definitely the way to go. They're still fighting the natural babyface reaction, and if Okada continues to be this much of a prick I think they'll get there. 

Osprey promo was brilliant. Best I've ever heard him sound. Content, delivery, screen presence, it was all gold. The "OSPREY! OSPREY!" thing during his entrance in front of a crowd this hot made him seem like a megastar. 

Short and snappy promo from Purazzo, thought she sounded very good too. "I suggest you watch for the shoe cos it's heading straight up your ass". Good stuff. 

Darby and Jay White was a solid match. Have missed Jay White since the Continental Classic, wasn't surprised when Excalibur said it's his first singles match of 2024, felt like it had been ages. Unfortunately the crowd was dead for it. A shame as I thought Darby's promo last week was actually one of his better ones. So, so glad Bang Bang Scissor Gang is done. It didn't help The Acclaimed and it diminished Bullet Club Gold, who were already excellent without the team up. Get the trios titles unified and forget about this whole affair. Be fine with The Acclaimed just entering the tag tournament as a duo again. 

Fuuuck oooffff Jerichooooo. I'll stop whining about it after this episode, but maaaan Hook defending the FTW title against Toa the beast in a nutty hardcore match here would have been sooooo much better. The people wanted to cheer for Hook but Jericho is bloody toxic. 

Kyle O'Reilly vs Bryan Keith sure will be a singles match up on the wrestling TV show Collision between two pro wrestlers Riccabone, I promise you that much. 

Quality main event. Excellent run of performances from Riho lately and Willow rarely disappoints. Got the crowd fully on board by the end and the finishing sequence was very cool. Post match was effective. The booking and handling of Julia Hart has been consistently excellent for a long time now, a real AEW original success story. 

AEW feels fresh and exciting at the moment. Up for the tag tournament, lots of interesting new characters and potential new directions on top of the existing stuff like Copeland/Cage, the rise of Swerve, Toni Storm etc.  On a roll definitely. Happy with most of what's going on right now, but please do not forget about Danny Garcia. All these shiny new toys makes me fear for the boy and it would be a tragedy if he got lost in the shuffle. 

Edited March 15 by JLM

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, JLM said:

I heard she's on 6 billion pounds per minute and she travels between towns on a steam train run by shovelling piles of cash into a furnace.

Please, that’s so inefficient.

In ya go!

[FUM]

The CEO nickname is so TNA after a WWE release. It’s very like The New Age Outlaw and Kahoneys. Just absolutely terrible.

Despite actually rating Mercedes myself, I’ve always found her ridiculously overrated by the fanbase and in her own head. She’s not the top two of the horsewomen for me never mind the greatest woman ever that some have her as. I don’t think she’s going to be much of a game changer as her fans expect.

Ospreay is someone I never thought I’d love but I honestly find myself checking out the show just to see him. He’s been a great addition to the roster and I’m massively excited to see him take on Danielson.

[LaGoosh]

Finished the show. It was mostly good! And it felt like a lot of stuff was going on which is very important.

-  Firstly, as everyone knows Jericho needs to fuck off. On a show which felt full of stars in top programmes when he turns up it feels weirdly embarrassing. Like when your a kid playing footie down the park and then your mates dad joins in and he's fucking old and crap and everyone wants him to leave but is too embarrassed to ask. Toa Liona is cool but the Gates of Agony are a dud of a tag team and shouldn't really be getting TV time on their flagship show. Apparently Takeshita and Kommander had an absolute banger on Rampage - imagine if they had put that on here instead of Jericho's bollocks? 

- Kyle O'Reilly doesn't really look like a wrestler right now. More like a guy in his late 20s who is currently going through a tough divorce and his wife took the dog. Am I supposed to be excited he's wrestling Bryan Keith, the world's smallest cosplay wrestler? Everything Undisputed Kingdom related right now is the absolute shits.

- The Mercedes Mone stuff I'm in two minds about really. It's good to see AEW get behind someone and present them as a top star and hopefully this will raise the division up. But at the same time, I'm not a big fan of her and I wish they just used these resources to get behind Willow and present her as a the top star.

- Swerve coming out with the chain looking like pure murder was good stuff, especially followed up by Joe hilariously kicking the security guard off the stage. I would have liked to have seen a follow up backstage promo with Swerve later in the show but hey gotta' find time for that vital Jericho/Hook segment I suppose.

- Elite 6 man was tons of fun and felt like an old school Dynamite trios match. More of this please! The new Elite already feel like a complete and fresh act. The backstage stuff with Marvez was really funny, especially the cut during Happy Birthday. This stuff has given a new life to the shows, they're really onto something with it.

- Darby/White was a great match which the fans were weirdly quiet for. The shows will miss Darby, I think he's probably one of the best wrestlers in the world. Has he had a single bad match in the past 4 years? I can't think of one. Brilliant ending with the bgi dangerous spot leading directly into the finish.

- Like everyone I'm pleased the Bang Bang Scissor Gang have split but this felt a bit rushed. I reckon the story beat they ran through quickly here in about 3 minutes you could have probably expanded on and spread out over 2-3 weeks to tell a decent little story. Alas. 

- Ospreay promo was surprisingly good. As a Brit I find some of his turns of phrase and slang ridiculous and annoying but at the same time it actually feels pretty fresh and new for wrestling so I think I'm just going to go with it. I've got to give props to the man, he has absolutely carried himself like a star since his arrival and he feels like a big deal. Top marks. I'm excited for the Danielson match, it feels like an obvious result sadly but personally I would go with a Danielson win. Danielson needs to win at least one of his big headline matches and if done right I don't think Ospreay loses anything from it. You've also got to slow his rise down a bit, if he beats all the top stars straight away he might as well be World Champ but it doesn't feel like his time yet. It's Swerve's time.

- Willow/Riho was fantastic. Some of the wrestlers seem to struggle with wrestling Willow because she's so much bigger than them and they don't really know how to get any heat or proper offence on her. Riho didn't struggle with this, the key is to just really lay it in. Top match that most importantly felt like a proper main event match. Get that TBS title on Willow sharpish!

- Weirdly no hype at all for Collision on this episode. Apart from Kyle O'Reilly vs Bryan Keith but if that interests you then I think there's something wrong with you.

Edited March 15 by LaGoosh

[Lorne Malvo]

Thought that was another cracking Dynamite. I'm a big Mercedes fan so excited to see what she can do in AEW.

The company is in a good place right now. A loaded roster, the vast majority being used well and it seems they are slowly picking up steam and momentum every passing week.

Ospreay is incredible.

 

[Snitsky's back acne]

If history has taught us anything it's that Mercedes Mone's debut will be the peak and then it will be all downhill from here. 

I hope I'm wrong. 

[DavidB6937]

I see the Mercedes signing as hopefully a statement of intent. I feel like she's got a chip on her shoulder - in a good way - and she'll be pushing Tony in the right direction. I don't see Mercedes as a game changer by herself but she can be a catalyst in bringing that division together and driving it forward. Hopefully.

[Merzbow]

So when's Jamie coming back to clothesline her head off? That's the biggest match I can see them having, get it on All In.

[Snitsky's back acne]

That's reminded me - Where the hell has Britt Baker gone?

[RedRooster]

3 hours ago, FUM said:

Despite actually rating Mercedes myself, I’ve always found her ridiculously overrated by the fanbase and in her own head. She’s not the top two of the horsewomen for me never mind the greatest woman ever that some have her as. I don’t think she’s going to be much of a game changer as her fans expect.

Based on her reported pay, I imagine she will be; in the sense that I would expect women’s wrestling to get much more of a focus on AEW television, with better storylines and better positioning on the card. I’d hope that this will lead to better pay too, for female wrestlers who reach that next level. AEW has the female wrestlers it needs for a division that competes with, if not surpasses, rival companies; and I hope they now get the chance to prove that.

[69MeDon]

I have never, ever rated Mercedes. Her dance is stupid and makes me cringe every time. Her promos are meh. Her wrestling is fine. But let's see how this goes. I'd be gobsmacked if she's getting paid $10m a year. There's just no way.

Other than that, another good episode of Dynamite. Why, though, is Takeshita pottering about on Rampage when he should so clearly be on the main show every week?

Edited March 15 by 69MeDon