AEW Dynamite - 4/12/2023

[John from Cincinnati]

I can't imagine Cole never getting a chance to win the AEW Championship, so we've got years of this to look forward to. Bring on Cole being the challenger at Wembley!

[supremebve]

37 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Traditionally, a lot of my issues with Cole stem from the fact that I didn't believe in his heel offense when he was in control of a match. He didn't come off as credible for me there. And the parallel issue that despite him claiming in interviews that he was excellent at turning the crowd against him after they chanted along to his theme song, that really didn't play out in practice. He's had one match as a babyface so far, so we'll see how he develops in this way as time goes on.

Oh and some of the problem is a push problem too. I agree that, as a heel, he can be your Model Rick Martel, a  #3 to #4 feud in the company sort of heel. And he was often pushed above that. As a face? Well, let's see.

I'm not saying there are no valid criticisms for Cole, I'm saying that I fully understand why he keeps getting pushed wherever he goes. He is someone who you can put in a feud with literally anyone in the roster and he's good enough at everything that it does not matter what weaknesses the other person has,  Cole can fill in any gaps. Basically,  I'm saying that Cole is like WD40. I don't really think WD40 it's required for anything,  but once it's in your toolbox, you use it for everything. I get it,  when you need a hammer or a screwdriver, spraying WD40 on the shit isn't really going to help,  but anything with a many moving parts as a wrestling program WD40 helps a lot. They have 3 hours of programming to fill every week,  they have plenty of really good workers,  and a decent amount of guys who are good on the mic. Cole isn't the best at either,  but he might be the best guy in the roster to raise the floor on any segment from **1/2 to ***. I don't think he's a guy who raises the ceiling,  but only a few guys in any era can raise the ceiling. My biggest criticisms are when he's trying to elevate the ceiling instead of the floor.  I still think he should have dropped the match to Jungle Boy,  because his role should be to be the guy who stays near the top of the card to elevate the next guy to the top of the card. He'll eventually get run with the belt,  but for the most part he should be the stepping stone to the main event. 

[Log]

I really think the era when WWE first introduced a secondary world title, and people who would previously been viewed as upper-midcarders started becoming world champions changed the way we view wrestlers. The pool of talent that people see as world champions got much bigger than it had been before. Up until about 2002-2003, the world title picture was reserved for the tippy-top guys. I feel like before then, there are a ton of wrestlers most of us would never had thought of as world championship material. Guys like Starks, Cole, Claudio, Kingston, Jungle Boy, hell even Darby, really. Those guys would've been seen at the IC, US or TV title level. 

Now, personally, I sort of agree with that line of thinking. Maybe it's just because of the era I grew up watching? But I don't think everyone, even people who are very over, need to be world champ. I like there being a hierarchy on a roster. I do think that there needs to be mobility within that hierarchy, or things can get very stagnant. I just don't think every guy that gets a good pop or goes on a good run of matches needs to be elevated to world champ.

Please don't take this as me pining for a time when guys like Hogan held onto the top and never let anyone else sniff their status. I don't want guys to be held down. Like I said, there needs to be room for mobility. I just think there's nothing wrong with like Adam Cole being a multiple time TNT or International champ, but never world champ.

[zendragon]

I liked the main event however it was a bit of a lost cause due to the greatness of the two opening matches . Keith Lee continues to gain weight and I worry it’s going to lead to injuries now or health problems later in life

[Octopus]

Well, my great-grandmother used to love Adam Cole (and coincidentally the animated movie, Cars) so much. She knew he was a big star and a ratings draw. Great-Grandma used to always say to me, “You can’t spell ‘Ew, F Wallies! Authorities’ Craft Alamode is in the Icebox.’  without ‘Adam Cole, in AEW, is the true box office hit! Cars is, as well.’”

 

I miss Great-Grandma and her wrestling wisdom.

(I spent 3 hours on this)

[Just Dave]

8 minutes ago, Octopus said:

Well, my great-grandmother used to love Adam Cole (and coincidentally the animated movie, Cars) so much. She knew he was a big star and a ratings draw. Great-Grandma used to always say to me, “You can’t spell ‘Ew, F Wallies! Authorities’ Craft Alamode is in the Icebox.’  without ‘Adam Cole, in AEW, is the true box office hit! Cars is, as well.’”

 

I miss Great-Grandma and her wrestling wisdom.

(I spent 3 hours on this)

I hate you.

[AxB]

5 hours ago, SturmCRF said:

I'm not an Adam Cole fan at all, and could probably list 50 guys I'd rather seen pushed at a main event level than him, but it's not really fair to blame him on AEW beating NXT. NXT is a developmental show/indy wrestler storage facility that was put up against AEW to disrespect the competition and set up HHH to fail at something.

As soon as NXT went head to head with AEW it was doomed, because it trapped your Ciampas, Garganos and Coles in a stagnant treadmill of bullshit, forcing them to pretend they were part of a viable third brand. It gummed up the works, undermined the headliners' characters by making them look like losers with no ambition to go to WWE proper and fight for the big boy belts.

Before AEW was on TV, NXT was a WWE Network Exclusive. It was on TV on Wednesdays for like two weeks before Dynamite debuted. Any argument that NXT was a ratings success before AEW started is fallacious.

[SturmCRF]

10 minutes ago, AxB said:

Before AEW was on TV, NXT was a WWE Network Exclusive. It was on TV on Wednesdays for like two weeks before Dynamite debuted. Any argument that NXT was a ratings success before AEW started is fallacious.

You're right. I don't think I outright said it was on TV for any significant time before AEW, but I guess I implied it. I'd maintain it was a Being A Good Wrestling Show success though, and its decline largely coincided with having to compete for ratings with AEW. Less time for new acts to find their feet, while anyone who had a hint of potential star power got grounded there for an indefinite and storyline ruining duration.

Edited April 14, 2023 by SturmCRF

[zendragon]

@Octopusdont you have a young child at home that needs tending to?

[Jenalysis]

On 4/13/2023 at 1:37 PM, just drew said:

I’m not sure why everyone’s wanting Jay White to go over Stroke Daddy Starks…

 

Jay's an ace who could be as big as Mox or Omega, and is already capable of such.  Starks is great but hasn't shown that level yet.

I don't like the feud because it hurts Ricky, but you can't hurt Jay by having him lose to Ricky right out the gate.

 

[Octopus]

3 hours ago, zendragon said:

@Octopusdont you have a young child at home that needs tending to?

Type of work day where it was a long day within the first few hours. Fixed some issues so I knew I was alone and brain dead at my desk for a while. Time to try to get @just drew to like me the only way I know how - awkward moments and teasing. 

[Just Dave]

13 hours ago, Jenalysis said:

 

Jay's an ace who could be as big as Mox or Omega, and is already capable of such.  Starks is great but hasn't shown that level yet.

I don't like the feud because it hurts Ricky, but you can't hurt Jay by having him lose to Ricky right out the gate.

 

You’re not wrong about White not needing to lose. I don’t think I’d have booked this feud for either guy right now. Starks has to continue his ascent. I think you’re wrong about Starks not having shown that level yet, though. He’s knocked it out of the park against MJF & Jericho. He’d be my pick to take the title off of MJF in the fall. I’m slowly coming to grips with the fact that it’s probably Adam Cole, though. After all, who needs viewers for your television show, right?

[The Natural]

Don Callis. Very NSFW:

Spoiler

Poor bastard.