AEW Dynamite Thread 2024

[no user name]

I'm thinking of doing a weekend away for all in. Do the rev pro 12th anniversary show on Saturday and all in on Sunday.  Don't fancy going to London and back twice in two days 

[quote the raven]

4 hours ago, Nick James said:

Where is the 'Dax Harwood is a twat' thread? He has got to be the least likeable person in wrestling.

 

Having attempted to listen to his podcast I’d agree. 

[TheBurningRed]

Dax is insufferable. Turn the gun on him, Cash. 

[garynysmon]

 

[air_raid]

4 hours ago, no user name said:

Don't fancy going to London and back twice in two days 

I imagine @Matthew could sort you out with a bus route for that.

[Supremo]

Funniest thing about the footage is that in an attempt to prove CM Punk slightly wrong in his recollection of the fight on the MMA Hour (I think he throws one punch more than he described with Helwani), Khan has accidentally proved Punk’s assessment of Tony as a boss to be one hundred percent accurate.

Tony is too nice to be a proper boss and he doesn’t run a tight ship, all of which is clearly evident in the clip. Two guys with heat are arguing right in front of Tony’s monitors for a solid twenty seconds or so and he doesn’t even attempt to break it up before it escalates. Probably sat there shitting his pants. There also appears to be approximately ten to fifteen people doing fuck all around them, like idle Sims characters. Any boss with any type of spine would either step in or get one of the dozen useless pricks under his employment to do something. It’s laughable how long nobody does a thing. Won’t someone do something already, before Chris Hero starts crying?!

I’ve got more time for Tony than most. When AEW is clicking it’s my favourite pro-wrestling TV show of all time, and I dread to think what this industry would look like if he hadn’t decided to bring his e-fed to life.  Fuck me though. This idea of him being an internet shitposter with more money than sense has never felt more fitting. He’s that type of internet wrestling fan who’s so desperate to win the argument and get the last word that he can’t even see when everyone has given up and stopped caring. 

Massive props to my man HOOK though. Didn’t break kayfabe once. Pure bedlam, fists thrown, dweebs fearing for their life, and HOOK couldn’t look less bothered. Just watching, completely aloof, probably day dreaming about grabbing a pack of Monster Munch when everyone calms down.

But yeah, on the subject of HOOK, the Vortex claims another victim.

Rather leave the territory than keep working with the Wetherspoons Dementor! At this point, WWE are going to have a bunch of lads coming in at the same time, similar to the Radicalz, only it’s exclusively wrestlers who couldn’t be arsed with Chris Jericho anymore.

Edited April 12 by Supremo

[Merzbow]

I'd imagine it's more that Tony is too starstruck rather than nice, but that's probably for the other thread..

Hook leaving though, has NXT had a turn around yet since Vince leaving? I could definitely imagine him as someone who'd thrive there, he'd have killed it in the black and gold era.

[BomberPat]

we don't know that Tony Khan was sitting there in silence, though. He's on a headset, he could very easily have been giving orders to production, I don't think little Tony getting up and stepping in himself was going to be much help. He also still had an enormous wrestling show to run, so was juggling a lot of balls in that moment, and it should fall to the Chris Heros and Jerry Lynns to sort this stuff out, not the boss stepping in directly in the first instance.
 

Jonathan Snowden - who is admittedly no fan of Punk - takes exception to the idea that the footage confirms Punk's version of events. https://hybridshoot.substack.com/p/stop-please-cm-punkyoure-telling 

He makes the point that Punk tries to claim that he was the calm and cool customer who was goaded into a fight, but the video looks very much like Punk steps up to Perry, and waits until Perry is tying his hair up, so doesn't have his hands free, before punching him and choking him, and that Punk's version of events leaves out that he needs to be physically dragged away. I don't think this video changes anyone's perception of events, but I do think it's not nearly as simple as "the video confirms what Punk said happened".

The more interesting thing Snowden brings up, which I've not seen suggested anywhere else, leans into Tony Khan saying that the plan had been to air this footage on this episode even before the Punk interview aired - that this angle wasn't a response to CM Punk's interview, but that CM Punk got word that AEW were going to air the footage and arranged the interview to get his story in ahead of it. 

[LaGoosh]

59 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Tony is too nice to be a proper boss and he doesn’t run a tight ship, all of which is clearly evident in the clip.

I've said this before but Tony needs to hire an absolute fucker to be his bearer of bad news. Just have a complete cunt on the payroll to keep people in line. Vince always had a total bastard whose job it was to be the bearer of bad news, listen to all the complaining and draw all the heat from the boys. That's why you'd get released wrestlers complaining in shoots about Johnny Ace, Jim Ross or whoever fucking them over while at the same time saying "Vince was a nice guy, we were cool" and completely oblivious to the fact that the absolute fucker was always acting on Vince's orders. That solid as a rock, loyal, pain sponge figure is essential when dealing with a bunch of headcase wrestlers.

Edited April 12 by LaGoosh

[Loki]

3 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I've said this before but Tony needs to hire an absolute fucker to be his bearer of bad news. Just have a complete cunt on the payroll to keep people in line. Vince always had a total bastard whose job it was to be the bearer of bad news, listen to all the complaining and draw all the heat from the boys. That's why you'd get released wrestlers complaining in shoots about Johnny Ace, Jim Ross or whoever fucking them over while at the same time saying "Vince was a nice guy, we were cool" and completely oblivious to the fact that the absolute fucker was always acting on Vince's orders. That solid as a rock, loyal, pain sponge figure is essential when dealing with a bunch of headcase wrestlers.

I nominate Chris Jericho.

[Devon Malcolm]

2 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I've said this before but Tony needs to hire an absolute fucker to be his bearer of bad news. Just have a complete cunt on the payroll to keep people in line. Vince always had a total bastard whose job it was to be the bearer of bad news, listen to all the complaining and draw all the heat from the boys. That's why you'd get released wrestlers complaining in shoots about Johnny Ace, Jim Ross or whoever fucking them over while at the same time saying "Vince was a nice guy, we were cool" and completely oblivious to the fact that the absolute fucker was always acting on Vince's orders. That solid as a rock, loyal, pain sponge figure is essential when dealing with a bunch of headcase wrestlers.

I honestly think such a hire could be a huge turning point for AEW in terms of viewership and a more consistent level of product when looked at from a neutral perspective, if there is such a thing in this daft sport.

The question is, though - would such a hire damage the type of product that most AEW fans, from what I've seen, seem to like? In a way, AEW distinguishes in a major way from WWE precisely because it's run by a guy who's competely ill-suited to being in charge of a wrestling company - but a guy who's giving his audience what they seem to want. And Chris Jericho. It's an e-fed brought to life. There's never been anything like it on this scale.

Even as someone who only watches the PPVs, a big part of me doesn't want him to change anything at the top. The PPVs are fast-moving with a lot of action and a decent range of matches, compared to the WWE's much slower style that allows stuff to breathe. Yet it's looking inevitable that he might have to.

[LaGoosh]

Just now, Devon Malcolm said:

It's an e-fed brought to life. There's never been anything like it on this scale.

I know, it's brilliant!

There's always this weird criticism of Tony Khan that he's just a "kid playing with his toys" or whatever that I've never really understood. What part of a billionaire spending his fortune on creating his own completely mental wrestling promotion which has resulted in some of the best wrestling in history is a bad thing? Would people rather he invested his millions in hedge funds or stocks rather than blowing it on wrestling, giving hundreds of people well paid jobs that they wouldn't have been able to have otherwise?

I wish every billionaire was as bonkers as he was rather than just sitting on their piles of gold. 

[RedRooster]

25 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

There's always this weird criticism of Tony Khan that he's just a "kid playing with his toys" or whatever that I've never really understood. What part of a billionaire spending his fortune on creating his own completely mental wrestling promotion which has resulted in some of the best wrestling in history is a bad thing?

While there’s definitely criticism of Khan with very little nuance, I think it’s more the idea that AEW only exists so that he can ‘play booker’ that some (including myself) find frustrating. @IANdrewDiceClay worded it better than I will; but Tony Khan seems unable to do much more than identify good matches. At this point, I think it’s apparent that AEW probably needs a change of approach from a booking perspective; and to be very vocal about that change to encourage people to give it another chance. That doesn’t mean Khan can’t steer the ship as far as what matches they’re building towards goes, but it may allow for more coherent and consistent storytelling. It’s not like AEW hasn’t done that before - but it’s been a while since they were firing on all cylinders. I think they’d benefit from a new creative lead, providing fresh ideas. 

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

Tony is too nice to be a proper boss and he doesn’t run a tight ship, all of which is clearly evident in the clip.

What about him do makes you definitively say that he’s too nice, as opposed to not being want to be viewed as ‘the bad guy’; or adverse to potential confrontation (eg. when he’s actively avoided people whose contracts are expiring)? I’m not saying you’re wrong - I don’t know Tony Khan; just that I’m more cynical about the idea of his niceness based on his actions.

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

wish every billionaire was as bonkers as he was rather than just sitting on their piles of gold. 

100% this. If I had Tony's money I'd start my own football league full of old players/out of contract players, playing in classic shirts every week.

 

[organizedkaos]

46 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

There's always this weird criticism of Tony Khan that he's just a "kid playing with his toys" or whatever that I've never really understood. What part of a billionaire spending his fortune on creating his own completely mental wrestling promotion which has resulted in some of the best wrestling in history is a bad thing?

It can pay some great results but it doesn't install much confidence in the audience - we're completely at the mercy of the what Tony Khan wants and whilst he wants an audience he only wants them on his terms...

That feeling when a TV show is hitting on all cylinders, the excitement of "oh my god, I can't wait to find out what happens next"? That's often because the writers have instilled a trust in the audience. That confidence that the person has the abilities and ideas is a powerful one be it in TV or live music, standup, whatever - knowing the captain of the ship is sorted allows the audience to relax in the confidence/hope that they're going on a journey and it's going to be excellent.

Tony Khan has some good ideas but there's also clearly flaws in the way he writes. To some extent when he's just writing normal wrestling shows it's less obvious because he has so many good performers that much of the experience is coming from the wrestlers more than the bookers. That's great fun, lots of us like good wrestling and it's awesome to have it weekly, for free, with high production values.

But this latest thing is a reminder this isn't someone who's honed their craft, there's no reflection on their process, whatever they want to do they're going to do because the reason they have this position is because of the money they have. If the child suddenly decides they don't like a toy, that toy isn't TV anymore. If the child suddenly decides they want to re-enact some vendetta against a school bully, we have to watch that.

This analogy is extra when it comes to TV as the creator is supposed to be invisible. I'm not watching a fictional reality with AEW, suspending disbelief and getting invested in the story. I'm simply seeing Tony Khan and hoping his writing creates a good performance...

It also makes it hard to get invested because there's a sense we're just experiencing the whims of the emporer. They might bestow on you favours because of their mood but conversely they might decide to burn everything down. It might produce something entertaining, it might not and I can't trust Tony Khan to consider what's entertaining to us only what entertaining to him. It reduces any excitement in the future of the product and that's a less fun experience even if the product may still produce good things.