Go2Sleep

Yeah, kinda. Singles Kenny is like a final boss for heels in AEW. What you described was the finish to the AITA match, which was still huge for Wheeler since he can always claim he pinned* Kenny in a ppv main event. In a singles Dynamite main, though, you protect Kenny not Wheeler. Wins like the one Ospreay got at Forbidden Door mean a lot less when a midcarder like Wheeler can beat Kenny with some light cheating or lingering injuries.

The MJF/Cole team is hilarious. MJF's reaction to Adam Cole doing the old school abdominal stretch cheating spot was the comedy spot of the year. I know MJF loves playing the jaded loner heel, and I think he enjoys the challenge of how far he has to go to crowds to boo him, but he should really be AEW's top face. Crowds are dying to cheer him, he's a got the look, the personality, and is actually a zoomer which makes him stand out in a good way among top acts in wrestling today. Every time he teases going full face no matter how disingenuous, the crowds eat it up. The gym segment was also great and more evidence that AEW books to DVDVR with the body-shaming dialogue. The creative editing of Adam Cole doing like 12 reps at 315 on bench was brilliant. I also like the way they're handling the JAS breakup (which is overdue), so far. The reversal roll-up with all of the Outcasts hanging on for dear life was their best cheating finish yet. Kenny and Wheeler had a nice match, and I like how they protected the seatbelt pin by not having it all the way in.

Get the same guy who made the Braden Walker DVD set on it.

Hasn't All In already been advertised as a ppv?

There are two problems with the "Pain Maker." 1. The name itself sucks. "Rain Maker" sounds cool, but is overused across media, and there's a pretty established guy that's been using it for a while. Pain Maker sounds like something a 10 year old would come up with for backyard trampoline wrestling. This would make it a good name if the gimmick was supposed to be ironic, but when it's supposed to be serious escalation, it falls flat. 2. The presentation isn't different enough from his regular appearance. Finn Balor spends hours getting elaborate paint jobs to be the demon. Jericho smears a couple streaks on his face. Music is basically the same, no special entrance. Doesn't have a long history of winning or extreme stunts to give the fans a reason to expect something different than any other Jericho match.

Ospreay vs. OC was the best match on the card at last year's Forbidden Door.

Agreed, the whole fun of these things is to get matches like Keith Lee and Johnny TV vs. Swerve and Komander. That said, I won't be upset if we get MJF/Cole vs. OC/Darby at some point.

Most of Mick Foley's career is insanely stupid from a personal health standpoint. Luckily for him, pro wrestling and insanely stupid go well together, and this match was an all-time spectacle. Also features JR's best commentary ever.

Mentioning the Jackyl made me realize what a missed opportunity there was when his "private security" wasn't Recon, Sniper, and Kurrigan.

Could they actually tell that to Kojima and Okada, though? Not sure what the inter-promotional etiquette is, but I don't think it involves telling a former and current ace not to do a move that one of your midcard tag team guys does. Punk does the top rope elbow as well. Yeah, Danielson is made of glass at this point, but that's a fluke injury. I wouldn't overreact to it.

I'd say the Shield would be the kings of such a category.

Anyway, the Omega/Ospreay match deserves its own post, but the rest of the show was fine. Tanahashi is Jeff-Hardy level washed, but MJF is capable of working a slower match and playing the crowd, so it wasn't too bad. Punk/Kojima was a sleeper second place MOTN. Punk was in top form and worked his tweener status just right. Kinda shows why TK puts up with Punk's bullshit, because the man gets pro wrestling, love him or hate him. Sanada/JB was kind of underwhelming, but made sense to hold them back as a catalyst for Perry's turn. The 4-way and 10-man both seemed fun at the time, though I can't remember much about them specifically. The women's match and the 6-man were the worst matches. The women's match lacked interest because literally everyone knew how it would go start to finish. The 6-man seemed to lack chemistry between several combinations of guys, Sting's limitations were front and center, and the mind-boggling videogame sell (act like death after it happens, start hitting your regular moves again 30 seconds later) of the 630 through the table was bizarre. The idea that he was supposed to move makes a lot of sense. Minoru losing to a shoulder block and a bad roll up was not befitting. Danielson/Okada was going along fine, but obviously hampered by Bryan's injury down the stretch. The "I beat Okada with a broken freakin arm" lines will make for great guest heel commentary lines for the next 6-8 weeks, but it was sad to see in real time. Credit to him for doing as much as he did and Okada for being a pro and adapting with it. They still managed a credible finish despite everything. The seizure thing struck me as more silly than offensive, reminded me of D-Von Dudley. Didn't really fit the match either way. Hopefully Okada will get a Forbidden Door match that isn't ruined by injury one year. Hearing the Final Countdown was wonderful, though, and I kind of like how for Bryan's big matches they just drop all the BCC shit and let him be "Big Match Bryan" and the crowd eats it up. Hopefully he'll be good for All In.

Ospreay/Omega was fucking awesome, just the absolute shit. This was such a late 90s AJ/early 00s NOAH match, but with Crockett hate, blood, and heel manager shenanigans. Magnum/Tully meets Misawa/Kobashi. Were they fishing for stars? Yes, and I will give them all the stars for this masterpiece. Overkill is bad when it's happening every week, but these are the matches where a dozen finishers and new super finishers are not simply justified, but essential. Ospreay and Omega were obviously at their top of their games, but the Don Callis expertly played an important role during the final third that held it all together. Yes, Will and Kenny each want to prove they're the best, but Callis needs Will to win this match. He's the one that abandoned his long-time moneymaker. He's the one that stabbed his "son" with a screwdriver. If Kenny wins this match, Don is done as a credible kingmaker in wrestling. He looks like an absolute moron. Kenny and Will and can win or lose and still be top guys, but Don is nothing if he isn't attached to a top guy. He has the most at stake in this match, and his presence is what motivates Kenny to find a new level, which seems unthinkable. The announcers even made a point early in the match that Don was always trying to stay in Kenny's line of sight. So Don desperately needs Will establish himself as someone who can out-Kenny Kenny, and Kenny has extra personal motivation to not let Don be proven right. All that leads to an escalation beyond what was thought possible. Don passes Will the trusty screwdriver, followed by his regular 1-2 finisher sequence. Kenny has just enough to get a foot on the rope, perhaps not even consciously. Crowd goes apeshit. Will follows with more bombs and ok, here's a coup de grace, I'll beat him with his own unescapable move. Except Kenny kicks out at one because he is NOT losing to Don and Will like that an is extremely offended at the idea they'd try. Crowd goes even more apeshit. Kenny fights back to near equal footing, but in reality, he's not close to winning. The damage is adding up, and he's running on pure spite. He can't secure the OWA any more, and Will is ready to go deeper. Ripcord Hidden Blade, TD 91 (holy fuck), then the "no elbow pad" hidden blade, and one more unnecessary stormbreaker just to punctuate that it's his time and he's doing it his way. True MOTDC, and a rare match that captured the magic of 90s AJ since the 90s despite many trying. This is what pro wrestling is all about.

Any word on how long Jamie Hayter is gonna be out? I'd hate for her to miss the Wembley show.

I'm sure they could get away with "chicken shit" once per show. Regal could've totally pulled off "lily liver recreant," but that's about it. Someone with enough clout to stay on TV like Punk should try to sneak in "dickless" some time. Tribute to Ghostbusters.

Pretty sure that's the WM 22 triple threat with Orton.

I liked them going through the trouble of explaining the logic of Eddie Kingston's allegiances. Eddie's "no bullshit" promo style was great for that. The name "blind eliminator tag team tournament" sucks, but I'll forgive it since it's actually the Lethal Lottery, one of my favorite guilty pleasures.

He was the first member of the NWO, but also the one that jobbed the most of the originals. I love Scott Hall, but he was a Nitro title shot filler guy not a ppv title shot filler guy. If WCW any balls, Rey would've been a hell of winner for a Sting filler defense. I don't know if was feasible because Rey needed one of his many knee surgeries a couple months later (I remember the injury angle that cemented the Jericho heel turn), but match where Rey "earns Sting's respect" in a competitive loss and being free to move out of the CW role would've been sick.

Scott Hall winning the 97 WW3 was a little surprising. Not sure who else of note was in there, but it always seemed like an odd choice for a world title shot at that time, even as a filler defense. Hall was in a spot where no one above him would look any better for beating him and he himself wasn't elevated by being in a title match. Off the top of my head, DDP or Raven would've been more compelling winners. It's tough to get surprise winners in high profile battle royals because there's usually something at stake beyond the match itself, but I liked AEW giving Top Flight and AR Fox the win in their random Christmas $300k battle royal. Didn't have to overpush them, but it gave them a nice highlight to set up a few good TV matches over the next couple of months.

"Ortista" sounds like Ortiz doing a Batista parody as a low-card comedy act. Might get him on a show once in a while.

Batista did alright. I'd actually point to Kidman as a success too, oddly moreso than Saturn who was the one really feuding with Raven. The secret is getting a strong, consistent push. You also have to consider if the lackey has real singles potential or is primarily getting over because the shitty boss has all the charisma, which I would say was definitely the case with Virgil and Mizdow. Wardlow seems to be on the Orton path where he clearly has potential and will probably get there some day, but the booking in the months after his big moment clearly isn't working to his strengths and is holding him back.

Dug the show minus Luchasaurus winning the TNT title. He's already been a tag champ, he doesn't need the career accomplishment and Wardlow should be a big part of their future plans. Overall, it was just another Dynamite, but AEW has the roster depth to pull that off. Buddy and Andrade put on a show. Both guys using their SO's submissions was cute. Punk did what he was supposed to do. He can fire up a crowd like no other with a promo, even if it's pretty routine by his standards. Given that they didn't actually show what was in the bag, I'll be a little disappointed if it's actually the old AEW title. I'm not sure what it should be, but there is serious creative potential there. Treat it like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. If it is actually just the title, they almost have to be thinking double turn with MJF down the road. Punk was obviously leaning way into the Bret tribute act, and I could see him really wanting to do a WM 13 style match for his legacy.

Wait, so the biggest feud in the company is between a guy who comes out to Cult of Personality and a group that comes out to Carry on My Wayward Son, and we're supposed to believe AEW is missing the mark using one of Elton John's biggest hits?

That might have been the best episode of Dynamite ever. Big match MJF always delivers, and Cole avoided most of his pitfalls in long singles matches. He was great fighting from underneath and had the crowd behind him the whole way. The overbooking stuff all worked great to protect everyone and leave the door open for a rematch. I loved the fake-out on the Eddie spot with the belt, then the ref actually being proactive and sensing the diamond ring, which led to a reasonable setup for the Panama Sunrise. I figured they were hitting the time limit when Roberts made an announcement earlier that went untouched on by the announcers, but the execution and utility of the finish made it work. The Darby/Sammy/Jericho was fine and set up some fresh matches for the future. Sting/Jericho should probably happen at Wembley. The 8-man was pretty much perfect. Great pace, everyone got a little shine. Wardlow/Hager went beyond expectations. Wardlow controlled quite a bit of the match. The women's match was alright. I thought Skye might have a chance with Saraya out, and I bit on the spray paint false finish. This was the only segment that didn't have that extra wow factor, but it was still good. Main event was great chaotic 6-man. I liked that it was more out of control than the 8-man to differentiate the matches. I love Hangman in the "difference maker" role whether it's with Dark Order or the Elite. Post match was just killer with one big moment after another. New matches for Forbidden Door are solid too. JB/Sanada and MJF/Tana both have obvious results, but should be incredibly fun. I think they'll circle around to ZSJ/OC which will be a banger as well.

I think MJF did something like this in AEW. I think it was during either the Jericho or Wardlow feud. One of those where the opponent has to jump through a lot of hoops to get a singles match with MJF. Also, it was rampant during the attitude era as a couple other posters have mentioned. The Austin/Dude Love match with Vince as the ref was super fun.