5 years of AEW Dynamite - reflections, fave bits etc

[Chris B]

One of my favourite moments is a fairly subtle one, from very early on.

The Dynamite following the Unsanctioned Match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega. It had been a pretty brutal match (although not my favourite from either of them), and early in the episode, they show Omega being checked out by the Doctor. Omega looks bashed up with a black eye - and the Doctor tells him to take the week off to be safe.

Omega is disappointed, but makes the point that after that match, neither of them was going to be cleared that quickly.

DOCTOR: "No, Mox is wrestling tonight. He's cleared."

And Omega just goes silent.

It was a great, subtle moment, and the first time it seemed like longer-term and slightly unusual storytelling was something we could expect. They weren't going to smash us over the head with everything, because they trusted that we knew how much that would sting. It was almost throwaway, but it really made me excited for an alternative approach than we'd been used to.

Oh, and Kenny losing had consequences. It wasn't shrugged off. It tied into his obsession with Mox and desperation to prove himself in more extreme matches, before becoming the Belt Collector eventually. 

And while they're not always subtle, those small, genuine character moments are still there at times - and we wouldn't have got the Hangman story without it. I still remember someone scoffing at the idea that they might do a 'Hangman overcoming his insecurities and his own self-sabotaging' kind of storyline. And we got it. We actually got it. 

That's what was the real alternative to me. Actually treating the characters and stories like they matter. 

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

So fantastic Cody did the exact same thing with Malakai Black about six months later. But yeah this one was brilliant telly. So tragic, Brodie would have been one of their biggest ever stars.

There was a point when I would have disagreed with this and suggested he’d have settled at a similar level to Lance Archer, but watching all of this back, and taking into account his popularity, I feel differently. When he died, he seemed to be heading into a storyline with Hangman Page, and the thought of a match between the two is very exciting indeed. He’d absolutely nailed his character at that point, and it’s both interesting and sad to consider what might have come next for him.

This guy began to grate on me towards the end of his run, but he deserves a mention here…

On the whole, his work was very good - and although I think he left at the right time, I’d have no objection at all to seeing him return at some point.

And although it’s not exactly one of the greatest Dynamite moments in the sense of it actually being good, but no Dynamite anniversary thread is complete without the inclusion of this clanger…

 

[tiger_rick]

23 minutes ago, Tim Healys Chutney Spoon said:

'right place right time'

I'm not sure I'd ever call losing 100% of your attendance, losing a massive chunk of your revenue, losing all of your overseas roster, having to adhere to severely mandated workplace restrictions and having to present pro-wrestling in a way no-one has ever done before in your first year as a business "right place, right time".

[Supremo]

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

51 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

I'm not sure I'd ever call losing 100% of your attendance, losing a massive chunk of your revenue, losing all of your overseas roster, having to adhere to severely mandated workplace restrictions and having to present pro-wrestling in a way no-one has ever done before in your first year as a business "right place, right time".

I mean more in the sense of they had all they needed in one place to make it work right there and that having your much bigger and more powerful rival doing stupid shit with CGI birds during entrances and that. I think it also helped they had people who knew how to put on a story rather than just a wrestling show. 

 

It's possibly not worded right but I know in my head how I'm trying to say it but it may not be coming out right. Maybe having a group of seasoned wrestlers rather than 'sports entertainers' helped them to get their product established in very difficult times rather than say having a WCW type roster going up against WWE.

[Supremo]

I think Dynamite’s greatest legacy will be the return of the warm, fuzzy, feel-good ending. Those punch-the-air, “fucking-get-in!” moments. Hometown heroes winning big in front of their friends and family. Fireworks. Confetti. The lot.

Darby and Sting winning the Tag Titles. Orange Cassidy winning the International Title. The Elite doing Avengers Assemble. Best Friends winning Arcade Anarchy and giving Sue the big thumbs up. There’ll be dozens more.

It sounds like promoting pro-wrestling on Easy Mode. Give the fans a big, happy ending. But it was lacking for so, so long. WWE made it their mission for decades to do anything but. Somehow, doing the basics completely revolutionised the entire industry and re-taught everyone that not everything needs to be endless, relentless HEAT.

That thing last week where Jey Uso won the Intercontinental Title? Yeah, that doesn’t happen if AEW Dynamite never existed. Let’s not forget, before AEW Hunter was this guy.