AEW DYNAMITE!- 3/15/2023!

[Belgian_Waffle]

As long as when Hangman finally rejoins the Elite he does it by handing Omega a card with a picture of a train on it that says "I Choo Choo Choose You", I'll be happy. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Belgian_Waffle

[tbarrie]

2 hours ago, Belgian_Waffle said:

Do we think they're rebuilding the Dark Order just so they can turn heel on Hangman when he chooses the Elite over them (I really really hope not)?

That scenario would make Hangman the heel, not Dark Order.

[StuntmanCrowley]

I feel similarly about splitting Hangman from the DO and breaking up the Best Friends.  It just shouldn't be done.

[Log]

They should do a novel thing in wrestling where someone is friends with more than one group of people.

[Zimbra]

There's a funny generational divide in the Twitter responses to the JJ/OC match between "Jeff is out there doing Memphis stuff" and "Jeff is out there doing TNA stuff"

[Belgian_Waffle]

27 minutes ago, Log said:

They should do a novel thing in wrestling where someone is friends with more than one group of people.

Exactly. My introduction to AEW was the All Out 2021 pre-show that culminated with the Dark Order and the Best Friends all hugging. Retroactively it summed up everything I came to love about the company. 

Maybe the slogan for the rest of 2023 should be "AEW: Less Turns; More Friends". 

[Phantom Lord]

Last night's show was good as usual.

I was shocked they opened up with the show with the MJF Bah Mizpah. The other pillars of the company coming out to interupt was a nice touch. Out of all of them I'd want to see MJF/Jack Perry. Maybe MJF/Darby. Those would both be good matches to see.

The BCC's heel turn continues and  Wheeler Yuta is such a dick it's great.  

I thought for sure Jarrett would win the new International title through shady tactics. It's not a main event title so I could live with Jarrett being a champion again. But OC justs keeps on rolling so good for him. 

The only part of the show that was a let down was the Jade open challenge. I would have rather seen them skip the squash match and just have Taya come out and Jade decline to face her. Also didn't care for The Outcasts promo either.

Main event was really good. Loved seeing House of Black win. I was surprised to see Jericho take that Dante's Inferno move that Brody does. It all led to a nice brawl at the end and I hope we get Hangman back with The Elite. Let things come full circle for AEW.

[Greggulator]

Man, I can see a path where OC can make a claim that his belt is the most important one in the company and we get him against MJF. Dare I say if they went that way it might be the biggest main event they could possibly do? 

[Go2Sleep]

Put me in the "show was good" group.

The opening promo segment was a good reset for the future of the AEW title, even if it was clunky at times. The lesson learned from the MJF/Danielson feud is that no matter how good the match ends up being, people are going to tune out of a feud with a predictable heel win. At least JB and Darby could both believably beat MJF. Sammy was the only weak link here. All wrestlers should be given a cheat-sheet thesaurus for when they want to use insider terms in promos. Sammy could've easily said "lackey" instead of a "job guy" and his promo would've instantly been 100x better. Although, his real problem is that he's still, ya know, Jericho's lackey so everything said was hollow anyway. It would've been especially hilarious if he took the fall in the main. Nevertheless, the idea was good, and I won't begrudge AEW from making their unique stars the focus of the title picture.

BCC/DO 6-man was awesome. Yuta reminds me of Dean Malenko in the Radicals. He can switch between a technical killer and a cheating motherfucker in a second. Mox and Claudio haven't changed too much beyond attacking guys after the bell, Yuta is the soul of the new heel BCC.

OC/Jarrett was everything you'd want from such a match. Jarrett's Memphis tribute act is perfect balance for the AEW midcard, as long as he loses his big matches, which he does.

Not sure about QTV, but I wasn't instantly repulsed by it as some. It probably isn't good for Wardlow to be involved with this for too long, though. As little sense as it would've made, I would've preferred Wardlow taking Sammy's spot in the opening promo and forgetting about Hobbs and QT altogether.

Women's stuff was in a holding pattern this week. Taya beating Jade with help from the Outcasts would be the ideal outcome I think.

The main event was a fun modern-style clusterfuck. I liked that Jericho wasn't afraid to work face for one night. HOB retaining is the right call, and the ending finally gave me reason to believe in Mox/Hangman still going on. If BCC goes after the Elite, that's something. Imagine if they brought Punk back as the fourth...

 

[Craig H]

Uh, was the video feed fucked up for anyone else? I kept getting a lot of digitization and artifacting all show long.

[TheVileOne]

10 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Always interested to see what grown adults are seething about and centering their violent fantasizing over, just four hours after the whole gimmick debuted. We're all emotionally scarred by Russo-ism and I understand the urge to recoil from things that resemble it but when did we become enemies of goofy midcard acts that get people on screen? And after watching Wardlow's heat dwindle every time he tried to cut a serious or sincere promo I'm a-ok with Hobbes being slotted into something sports entertainment-y. Outdated cultural parodies are pro wrestling as hell.

So many times I watch something on TV and go "eh that's fine" only to find entire armies are assembling against a segment and swearing death upon them. I feel like we just went through this with Jarrett.

If those who remember and endured Jeff Jarrett in TNA, it's understandable. 

[DEAN]

Thursday Reflections:   Sooooo, Yuta Wheeler is best heel in AEW now.  He was fucking ELECTRIC in the opener.  He's the actual hatable member of the BCC now and is leaning into it.  I agree with @Matt D about Evil Uno.  He should deeply become the Kendo Nagasaki of AEW- an old guy who beats the fuck out of people.   The Orange Cassidy/ Jeff Jarrett match is 400 times better on the International Feed.  The fight through the crowd is KEY to the match and the Memphisness of it.  Jarrett is fucking awesome beating on Cassidy on the floor and through the crowd and Cassidy has punches twice as good as Jarrett's.  The main event kinda drags on second viewing, like folks were trying not get in each other's way, so it kinda morphs into a battle royal.  I didn't understand why Jake Hagar tried to take on House of Black.  Are they setting up Hagar/King?  That would be good.  Saraya breaks the "twat" ceiling!  She said on Twitter she was fined for it.  I'm going against BOARD LOGIC and digging Saraya.  She kicks folks like an old school heel.

[Infinit]

11 hours ago, elizium said:

Road Report~!

Made some coconut shrimp for dinner and then walked over to the arena with a couple friends who parked near my place. On the way they mentioned that their buddy Colin was not going to be able to make it because he had "a work thing he couldn't get out of." Another of their friends joined us, trust me, this is important.

We got there a few minutes late and missed 2 Dark matches, Jake Hager against Adam Knight (who knows where they found him, I haven't seen him in years) and a Skye Blue match. Athena had a really great match where she got to be an asshole. Brandon Cutler wrestled and got a surprisingly great pop. There is a Hardy/Page/Kassidy six man (the night of trios), Mo Jabari was one of their opponents, it was good to see him. Between Dynamite and Rampage they taped a Dustin/Lee tag. I think I'm missing a match or two but it was several hours ago and that was a loooooong show.

Anyway, show starts, we get the Re-Bar Mitzvah segment, you all saw it. Anyway, the guests come out with the chair and who is with them? Fucking COLIN. He's the Jesus looking dude that was holding MJF up camera right. He kept it a secret for an entire week. I'm going to break kayfabe here. MJF himself contacted a local rabbi looking for people for the segment and somehow through the grapevine, Colin ended up being asked if he wanted to do it. Not all the guests were Jewish, keep that on the down low. Apparently, and I'm really breaking kayfabe here, but MJF was super nice with all of them and coordinated the scene. He told them that he really wanted all "shoot Jews" but he's thankful that they came out. They got together this afternoon in the ring and he helped teach them how to do the dance. The BCC and some other wrestlers were hanging out ringside and giving them encouragement. One thing they really worked on was getting into the ring, as some people apparently have trouble with that if they've never done it. I am so fucking jealous, they all got to chill backstage during the show. He was psyched to meet Claudio, who's his favourite wrestler.

Best match of the night for me was Jarrett-OC. After the match, Jarrett stayed in the ring during the commercial and got a really great ovation from the crowd.

I don't know how it looked on TV, but the pinfall for the main looked fucked up from our perspective. After the show, Omega took the mic to thank the crowd, talked about the journey from wrestling local bars to getting to wrestle in the arena. Just really sweet and it was great to see him get his moment.

Rampage is a fun show, but the crowd was pretty tired out and was definitely not too as into it. Spoiler for the opponent of the Taya match:

  Reveal hidden contents

It's Ava Lawless. I literally just saw her wrestle Jody Threat a week ago

Not too much post show. Jericho talks this time, talks about the Omega match from New Japan. He brings out Omega and Callis, they each say a little spiel. Roll Judas and we're out.

Fun show. Main complaint is that things stop dead during commercial breaks. Justin talks a lot and they would sometimes show video packages (an Acclaimed rap for instance), but was mostly just silent. At least during Dark, the ring announcer (can't remember her name) counts down until the next match starts to get the crowd up for the entrance. No Hayter match or Briscoe appearance was a bit of a bummer, but you can't have it all. Also no merch stand at all.

Biggest Pops:

1. Jericho

2. Omega

3. Matt Hardy for Dark

4. Stu Grayson - really, crowd was hyped for him.

Wait...so these aren't all "shoot Jews"???

 

[elizium]

I’m also pretty into The Outcasts, except that Toni has yet to find her voice. She just seems too nice 

[elizium]

2 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Wait...so these aren't all "shoot Jews"???

 

Apparently not. Colin definitely isn’t. From what understand it was a few from the temple and then they just asked friends that they thought would be into it. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

He wanted to leave though? I don’t see how last night changes that.

Youre exactly right, but my recollection was that he just wanted to be used more - so the thought behind my post was that he was so awesome with Claudio that it might lead to a re-signing and expanded role/push in earnest for he and Uno.

[odessasteps]

Does Stu still work as a baker/chef IRL ? 

[Gorman]

15 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Does Stu still work as a baker/chef IRL ? 

If so, they should have teamed him with The Butcher.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

6 minutes ago, Gorman said:

If so, they should have teamed him with The Butcher.

As long as we're fantasy booking, I say we open the Forbidden Door to Okada and make it a trios: The Butcher, The Baker, and the Rainmaker

[Steventon]

MJF doing light-hearted, fun promos >>> MJF screaming and yelling about drunk driving. None of the other pillars really belong getting a title sniff right now but I can get into it as a B-level title defence for Max in between now and his next major program.

BCC vs DO was fun. I think we can all get behind the BCC as heels, though agree that them vs the Elite is very uninteresting idea. BCC vs any number of younguns is infinitely more exciting than them in the trios title picture or facing any of the other Star factions. 

I have zero opinion on Tara Valkryie but Jade's act is pretty ice cold right now. They have left it too long and missed their window for a really satisfying payoff to her reign. Now it just feels clear they created a belt solely to give her air time without her having to eat any losses and they now have no idea what to do with her and her pointless title.

OC vs JJ was everything we wanted it from it and I bit on the false finishes. I still can not get with OC using a superman punch as his finisher though. Hopefully this leads to Jarrett vs Aubrey doing a 2023 re-enactment of Bill Alfonso vs Beulah McGillicutty.

The Outcasts vs Originals continues to be the biggest drizzling shits on AEW TV. I know she was part of a group but the visual of Riho running people off is laughable, the pipe is bigger than her arms!

Personally I have zero interest in Page back with the Elite. His character feels much better defined as a guy who stands alone than as a quarter or third of a group (friendship with DO notwithstanding).

Edited March 16, 2023 by Steventon

[Log]

I think the issue with Jade's streak is that, due to having only one or maximum two women's segments per show, you don't get time to build up a threat for her.

Ideally, it would be great to be running someone climbing the ladder, getting more and more wins against tougher competition in a different segment of the show. Then, later, you can have her and Jade cross paths.

I suppose this could be done on Dark/Elevation, but it'd be nice to have it running parallel on Dynamite/Rampage.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 minute ago, Log said:

I think the issue with Jade's streak is that, due to having only one or maximum two women's segments per show, you don't get time to build up a threat for her.

Ideally, it would be great to be running someone climbing the ladder, getting more and more wins against tougher competition in a different segment of the show. Then, later, you can have her and Jade cross paths.

I suppose this could be done on Dark/Elevation, but it'd be nice to have it running parallel on Dynamite/Rampage.

This sums up my feelings pretty well. I kind of wondered last night during the Outcasts promo, when the other Babyface women made the save for Britt/Jamie, if the idea is to heat one of those three up to transition and challenge Jade.

I know I've beat it to absolute death that I think an underdog Willow would be a great challenger/choice to end Jade's streak, but after yesterday, I'm thinking there may also be a wonderful David/Goliath story to tell with Riho challenging. 

Skye, I'm a little less confident in as a Jade challenger/streak ender - despite her star presence/ physical charisma, she's still kind of putting it together in the ring; it seems like there's still some awkwardness to her movement at times, almost like she either got hurt or hurt someone, and has a little case of the yips (totally unfounded speculation/observation). Plus, I believe we've already seen her eat Jade's finish about 1,723 times at this point, so it's not exactly the freshest matchup.

[Zimbra]

Here's my problem with the opening segment: If you have a little cake and a big cake out there you have to use the small cake to tease the idea of somebody getting hit with cake before you have the bump into the big cake.  This is like 3 Stooges 101.

[Belgian_Waffle]

19 minutes ago, Steventon said:

MJF doing light-hearted, fun promos >>> MJF screaming and yelling about drunk driving. None of the other pillars really belong getting a title sniff right now but I can get into it as a B-level title defence for Max in between now and his next major program.

 

Agreed with the first sentence. Not sure how anyone ever gets elevated beyond "B-level" if they don't get title shots on ppvs as part of a major program though. Not to mention by this logic then pretty much Jericho, Hangman and Omega are the only viable next contenders. 

[Steventon]

7 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

This sums up my feelings pretty well. I kind of wondered last night during the Outcasts promo, when the other Babyface women made the save for Britt/Jamie, if the idea is to heat one of those three up to transition and challenge Jade.

I know I've beat it to absolute death that I think an underdog Willow would be a great challenger/choice to end Jade's streak, but after yesterday, I'm thinking there may also be a wonderful David/Goliath story to tell with Riho challenging. 

Skye, I'm a little less confident in as a Jade challenger/streak ender - despite her star presence/ physical charisma, she's still kind of putting it together in the ring; it seems like there's still some awkwardness to her movement at times, almost like she either got hurt or hurt someone, and has a little case of the yips (totally unfounded speculation/observation). Plus, I believe we've already seen her eat Jade's finish about 1,723 times at this point, so it's not exactly the freshest matchup.

OR how about the idea of the Outcasts crossing Jade and Jade joining the uneasy alliance of AEW originals? It seems unlikely as they want to keep the titles very separated away from each other, but would honestly be the most exciting move they could pull for either side right now.