AEW Dynamite - 4/19/2023

[Casey]

Bring in Ibushi after the inevitable Takeshita turn + Hangman save, and have the Golden Elite + Hangman versus BCC + Takeshita at DoN in Anarchy in the Arena... I'm into that.

This World title stuff is odd to me. It still feels like a four way match is going to happen, despite them running a weird ass tournament. And even if it's the four way, or Darby/MJF... that's a real weak main event (and rest assured, if the Elite/BCC stuff is indeed Anarchy in the Arena, the World title will main event).

I saw on Reddit that people are saying Hayter was hurt in the tag match? And what's with the Outcasts joining up with JAS? What is going on???

I'm just not feeling AEW right now. Bring me the saturday Night Punk Show.

[Just Dave]

First of all, I’m stumped as to why so many actively bad promos (Allin, Guevara, Cole, Omega) got to talk on this show while Starks & Mox didn’t. I sure did savor that prolonged ass whipping of Cole & Baker. I find them pretentious & insufferable and I cackled the entire time. Somewhere Thunder Rosa was smiling. I smiled too, thinking of @LF2 crying into his “adam Cole (is tiny like a) baybay” footie pajamas. We’ll see how many viewers Cole loses this week…

Edited April 20, 2023 by just drew

[porksweats]

The Outcasts joining the JAS gives an easy way to turn TayJay face again! Definitely planting the seeds for some rotation of the ever-present group.

Can't wait for the Varsity Athletes + Slim J vs Forever Total Nonstop Action Revival

[Niners Fan in CT]

This was a weird show.  There were some good things on here but a lot of questionable booking shit to go with it.  

Hobbs never had a real run with the TNT belt and to be honest that belt doesn't really mean shit right now.  It's changing hands every other week for months now.  Hobbs didn't gain a damn thing from winning it and then being saddled with QT.  

The Pillars segment in the opening was garbage.  Sammy and Jungle Boy cannot hold anyone's attention in a 15-minute promo.  The whole tournament makes no sense either. Why is Darby getting a bye.  If he makes it through to the PPV, ok cool.  You had an easy road.  If he doesn't, he looks like a goof. 

I enjoyed The Elite and BCC stuff with Takeashita coming out and saving them.  

I also liked the Jay White vs. Kommander match. 

[porksweats]

Just now, Niners Fan in CT said:

This was a weird show.  There were some good things on here but a lot of questionable booking shit to go with it.  

Hobbs never had a real run with the TNT belt and to be honest that belt doesn't really mean shit right now.  It's changing hands every other week for months now.  Hobbs didn't gain a damn thing from winning it and then being saddled with QT.  

The Pillars segment in the opening was garbage.  Sammy and Jungle Boy cannot hold anyone's attention in a 15-minute promo.  The whole tournament makes no sense either. Why is Darby getting a bye.  If he makes it through to the PPV, ok cool.  You had an easy road.  If he doesn't, he looks like a goof. 

I enjoyed The Elite and BCC stuff with Takeashita coming out and saving them.  

I also liked the Jay White vs. Kommander match. 

There was one really great thing about the Hobbs/Wardlow match. It gave a final resolution to The Factory storyline.

[Kevin Wilson]

Gordlow has a solid point, I still like AEW as they have some great wrestlers that I enjoy but it is very.... WWE-lite these days. I can't fault them really, WWE is successful so they are following their structure, but its not my personal preference. All the interference and 10+ minute promos can be a bit much. I thought Sammy was great, Wardlow/Hobbs was fine but not sure about another title change and adding Arn was weird. I dunno. I was generally entertained but this one wasn't as good as the last couple Dynamites.

[Cobra Commander]

feels like there's some out of context utility out of Cole saying "Stop doing that" on screen during the Britt beat down (possible I forgot the exact wording, but Cole was very "HBK if he never got into bad habits" in that segment)

[matt925]

Hey I got to watch live this week! I liked Takeshita standing up to Bryan and I liked Jay white vs komander. That’s all. 

[Kevin Wilson]

7 minutes ago, Casey said:

This World title stuff is odd to me. It still feels like a four way match is going to happen, despite them running a weird ass tournament. And even if it's the four way, or Darby/MJF... that's a real weak main event (and rest assured, if the Elite/BCC stuff is indeed Anarchy in the Arena, the World title will main event).

I'm 81% sure we are still ending up with a four way. That's been the story and MJF vs. (any of them) would be a tough main event PPV draw. A four way at least allows them to combine all the stories into one and try to get something out of it. Plus this may one of those AEW PPVs where the title match isn't the "real" main event if they do BCC vs. Elite in BLOOD AND GUTS.

[EVA]

I think I hated every single thing about the Pillars storyline tonight. Darby and Jack came off terrible in their promos. I’m certain they’ll work their way back around to the 4-way match, but the tournament definitely dampens my interest for the moment. And Sammy/Jack having a high spot exhibition when something nastier would’ve made more sense, given how “personal” this storyline is supposed to be…just a bad time all around. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I especially liked Jay White/Komander. My hope for Bullet Club Gold is for EL Phantasmo to come in next after being kicked out by David Finlay. 

[John E. Dynamite]

Weird one. Not even bad, just weird. I feel like they tried some stuff out. Some of it worked, some of it didn't. Takeshita as a member of The Elite is a no-brainer call and that feud is working. I liked the actual work between Hobbes and Wardlow and I'm fine accepting the TNT title as the sole hot-potato championship. Best night the Outcasts have ever had. The opening promo really exposed the concept of the "Pillars", or maybe just the guys who were bestowed the title - three out of four are short dudes with subpar mic skills. It's not what you build a company around. Although Darby somehow projects the most aura despite being the shortest and clunkiest. Why did FTR run TEN FEET TO THE RIGHT to check in on Mark Briscoe? Everybody gets to talk except Jay White. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by John E. Dynamite

[Niners Fan in CT]

3 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said:

Gordlow has a solid point, I still like AEW as they have some great wrestlers that I enjoy but it is very.... WWE-lite these days. I can't fault them really, WWE is successful so they are following their structure, but its not my personal preference. All the interference and 10+ minute promos can be a bit much. I thought Sammy was great, Wardlow/Hobbs was fine but not sure about another title change and adding Arn was weird. I dunno. I was generally entertained but this one wasn't as good as the last couple Dynamites.

WWE is way better right now at least with the stories at the top. Maybe they are dragging some shit out too much but I'd rather watch a cohesive story than constant shit being thrown at the wall.  

And here's the thing...  AEW doesn't HAVE to do it.  The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club feud could carry the show.  I get that Tony wants to be loyal to the pillars and give them chances, ok fine,  just setup a natual fatal 4 way with them and be done with it. Surely they can have a dope match with some cray spots or whatever. They don't need to be talking for 20 minutes every week.  They aren't good talkers aside from MJF and sometimes Darby. 

Also,  really don't care about Jericho and Adam Cole either.  It feels like the old WWE where they'd do shit just to set something up for a reality TV show. 

[Cobra Commander]

sucks that Darby had such shitty seats for the main event

[John from Cincinnati]

We've heard a lot from the "pillars" over the last few weeks and there wasn't enough fresh material here to merit another round of this. Putting this at the top of what was already going to be a show with some heavy talk wasn't setting anyone up for success. We're going to need to start hearing less from these guys about their journey to the dance if it's going to be this repetitive.

Don't know why people thought the Outcasts joined the JAS. They clearly wanted to do a big hometown angle for Britt, but Jericho wasn't going to lay a hand on her so the people she's feuding with got the illogical "hiding under the ring" spot rather than Anna Jay and Tay.

Takeshita was a nice surprise. Please don't make that match Anarchy in the Arena. Also: Danielson berating people for not talking well enough to sell tickets... he's come full circle, he's the Miz now.

Happy that Jarrett is getting another chance to be a mentor after Mark Briscoe rejected his wisdom. Maybe FTR will learn how to strut. 

[EVA]

Jay White came across like the biggest star on this show. Jay/Komander was a weird one on paper, but he laid it out perfectly.

I was way over him in New Japan, but I’m here for the King Switch Era in AEW.

Edited April 20, 2023 by EVA

[Matt D]

Hey, Rampage sounds fun at least!

[DEAN]

WHOA!

 

[Casey]

1 minute ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club feud could carry the show.

It is, though. Along with whatever MJF is doing at any given time, this is the 1B feud in the company. The problem is it'll suck either way in my opinion, because we've had the same story with the Elite since 2019 (and longer than that if you factor in Omega & Ibushi and the Bullet Club civil war shit).

I really do half wish the Elite would go to WWE, honestly.

[JLowe]

Just now, porksweats said:

There was one really great thing about the Hobbs/Wardlow match. It gave a final resolution to The Factory storyline.

And hopefully QTV.

That was a lot of WWE crap with a couple of good matches and a lot of eh matches. Darby won the battle of the promos but the fans were the real losers. Adam Cole-Chris Jericho was torture before and after the run-in/WWE bullshit. 

Britt was so visibly the worst worker in that tag match, like standing out like a sore thumb. She was never great but never this bad, right? BCC-Elite segment just makes the Bucks looks so small. Yay Takeshita, I like him and Kenny but hope it leads to a turn.

Wardlow has Arn! Hobbs has an albatross! Really fun hoss fight marred by a lot of nonsense.

White-Komander started rough and felt very WCW ‘97 but got good after the break. I laughed at Shawn Spears giving a 10 to Komander but good lord that was more WWE/WCW wrestlecrap and I really don’t need Spears or Juice.

Nice to see The Acclaimed actually wrestling! Bowens needs a singles run. Nothing special but the good guys won clean and all the comedy and fan service hit.

Was there another match in here? More talk? I don’t even remember already.

Main was a sloppy spotfest with couple of “oh my god” moments and while Jack Perry kinda sucks he will die for our pleasure.

This episode didn’t make me excited for the upcoming Austin show.

[John from Cincinnati]

7 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

The opening promo really exposed the concept of the "Pillars", or maybe just the guys who were bestowed the title - three out of four are short dudes with subpar mic skills. It's not what you build a company around. Although Darby somehow projects the most aura despite being the shortest and clunkiest. 

Darby has the most put-ons and gimmicks of any of them, but projects authenticity. 

But yes, they didn't need to commit to the "pillars" idea. At all. New people are coming into the company all the time, being in the plans day one shouldn't count for this much almost four years later. 

[Casey]

1 minute ago, JLowe said:

Britt was so visibly the worst worker in that tag match, like standing out like a sore thumb. She was never great but never this bad, right?

It's hard to even look mediocre when your partner is someone that's a world class wrestler like Hayter, and your opponents are extremely seasoned (Ruby) and very, very, very good (Toni). I commented on another forum that it's sad to see Toni Storm work at half the speed just to accommodate Britt Baker's sluggishness.

And to top it off (I wasn't paying attention to Dynamite most of the night) - I saw on Reddit that a lot of people think Hayter might have been injured somehow?

[hobo joe]

I don't know why they're either not doing a four-way, or setting it up in such a convoluted fashion. Either do a three-way time limit draw or a round robin ending 1-1-1. 

If it's gonna be Darby vs MJF, I'm fine with that, but don't tease a four-way first.

I don't think the Outcasts are joining JAS as much as it's them having a common enemy in Cole/Britt. Could be wrong. The Outcasts have gotten a lot better since adding Ruby to the mix and becoming a cohesive unit with a name and matching gear. I just don't know where this is leading. Hayter already beat all three of them (and she hightailed it out of there after the tag match and was absent for the Britt beatdown later, I hope she's not hurt)

I could give a fuck less about the TNT title changing hands every month. The International title under OC has taken the TNT title's spot.

[elizium]

Oof...I'm a big AEW cheerleader, but that was a rough one.

Why you start off the show with an ice cold promo segment, rather than the Britt tag is beyond me. No one came out of that segment looking good, probably shouldn't have two of your big, young babyfaces talking about why each of them are shitty people/unworthy to be here.

Opening tag was great. Wardlow-Hobbs was great and hopefully the end of Hobbs association with QT. I'd rather Hobbs continue his run, but if this is a quick reset for him, than all the better.

White-Komander was a good match, but seemed built to get Komander over, not Jay. So another strange decision there. But hey I got The Chairman, so I can't complain too much

We've seen Britt go through literal hell in her matches, but Saraya smacking her ass with a cane is too much for her and Cole to bear. I'm fine with the Outcasts being the one to do it, but they better explain that Hayter was attacked by Tay and Anna, otherwise all three of them come off looking bad.

Loved Konsuke coming for the save and I hope it doesn't end with him turning on the Elite, he is too good as a face. I would rather the Bucks revert back to heels and turn on him and Omega instead, if this is leading to some sort of split. Mentioned in the chat, but this version of the BCC is the best version so far. Just a bunch of psycho asshole killers.

I don't remember what else happened, pretty flat show overall. I don't blame that crowd for not being into it other than a few spots

[Just Dave]

11 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

WWE is way better right now at least with the stories at the top. Maybe they are dragging some shit out too much but I'd rather watch a cohesive story than constant shit being thrown at the wall.  

And here's the thing...  AEW doesn't HAVE to do it.  The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club feud could carry the show.  I get that Tony wants to be loyal to the pillars and give them chances, ok fine,  just setup a natual fatal 4 way with them and be done with it. Surely they can have a dope match with some cray spots or whatever. They don't need to be talking for 20 minutes every week.  They aren't good talkers aside from MJF and sometimes Darby. 

Also,  really don't care about Jericho and Adam Cole either.  It feels like the old WWE where they'd do shit just to set something up for a reality TV show. 

No. No they aren’t. Bloodline is dragging ass. Dom Mysterio is great. I can’t think of anything else that’s even decent on wwe tv. The wwe story is only “cohesive” in that every week is Romanwinslol.