Dynamite - 6/14/2023

[matt925]

3 minutes ago, SirFozzie said:

How is watered down? He's pushed as one of the four pillars of AEW, and just came off a title shot for AEW's top championship (albeit in a four-way)

I saw him as an extremely weak lame duck challenger at double or nothing. I think most did but I’ll speak for myself. And I see him as a very weak lame duck challenger here (very quiet reaction from the crowd here as well).  I don’t want to dwell on this and be negative so I’m not going to bring it up again. I’m very excited for the show.

[Greggulator]

4 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

If you want a consolation prize, there's a James Beard Award-nominated experience in South Philly that takes very little time and effort called Essen Bakery. The babka is insane. They got this zaatar and egg breakfast sandwich thing that really spoke to me. Maybe not as much as Federal Donut's doublefried chicken but that's OK. (and yes I'm sure these are touristy picks but I do my best)

Wrestling opinions will happen after the 10:30 dinner I apparently need to have 

Essen and Federal are beloved local institutions. They used to have FedNuts at Citizens Bank Park, even. Nothing tourist about any of those. I actually have not had Essen yet but the real headz know the best Jewish delis are Murray’s and Hymies’s in Lower Merion. They’re decades long rivals across the street from each other in an Orthofox neighborhood. They bring it.

[Greggulator]

1 hour ago, SirFozzie said:

Going to be very interesting to see if they drop the Jungle Boy part of his name. I mean, would you be scared of the heel Jungle Boy? Jungle Jack Perry sounds a bit.. well.. more heelish.

I hope they call him Jungle Man.

[Go2Sleep]

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.

[Goitre]

5 hours ago, Gordlow said:

the "2.5" sign! Not even well-informed enough to understand it's 2.999

Maybe he's old-school. 2.99999 recurring is a relatively new thing. "One, two thr- nooo, two-and-a-half! So close!" is how it was for me back in the Pliocene era

[SirFozzie]

I will say this regarding Perry-SANADA match. If this was old school TEW, Perry would be floating around somewhere in the midcard-uppermidcard. If you'll forgive the mangling of a old school wrestling term, he's not a JTTS, he's a JTTH (Jobber to the Title Holders). I do agree he's not ready to hold either of the world championships (AEW or NJPW). Could he be at some point? Sure, he has a LONG career in front of him if he plays his cards right. But right now, he may get title matches, but you don't expect him to win them.

But putting him against SANADA isn't necessarily bad.  I mean, look at what we already have announced and rumored.

Okada-Danielson.

Tanahashi-MJF.

Omega-Osprey.

Not official yet, but OC-ZSJ.

 

In baseball terms, that's a bunch of Home Runs. We don't need more home runs. We need good solid matches outside them. To continue the baseball analogy, this is a solid single that can easily be stretched into a double. You have the indications that SOMETHING is going on with Hook. The most likely thing is Jungle Boy turns on Hook to start that next feud, which is good. It gets the NJPW champion on the card against a possible future star, and it gives AEW a chance to run an angle with him to move their programming forward once Forbidden Door 2023 is in the rear view mirror

Ok, I'm done trying to sell that match. Now, Dynamite thoughts:

Sooner or later, they really need to pull Guevara away from the JAS. You had it said multiple times, during Jericho's promo, that his "natural place" was behind Jericho. This is a guy who gets reactions, and just like Jungle Boy, was in a four way match for your top championship recently. They've pulled this thing several times before, only for Guevara to go back to his psuedo-Jericho lackey each time. It's time to fish or cut bait with it. Stop teasing it, DO IT.

I wouldn't be surprised if All Out 2023 features sting's last match, and Darby and Guevara get the rub by teaming with Sting against the JAS in his last match.

Honestly, any momentum the Strickland-Lee feud had is long gone. I still kinda want to see the match, in a "these are good wrestlers, who provide different styles and should be good" kind of way, but any chance that this makes Strickland OR Lee hotter is deader than disco.

I'm not sure where they're going with Wardlow-Cage/Luchasaurus. Does Brock turn on his daddy?

When Skye Blue won the title contender match I was like ??!?!?!?! I mean, she's a decent wrestler, but talent and push wise, she really shouldn't have been anywhere NEAR the world women's title picture. Except, in a bit less than 8 minutes, she showed that she had the talent to be there, and was getting the push. I would love to see an angle where she builds up to another title shot, 6-9 months down the road, and this time pulls through (perhaps in a fluke win). But that's just me, I'm a sucker for a good underdog makes good story.

And the main event? AEW has this thing, and I can't tell if it's great or horrible, where they put together multiple HOLY SHIT reaction moments back to back to.. well you get the point (remember Cole and Danielson's debuts?) You got a crazy-ass match. Then you got Kingston showing up again. Then you got Takeshita. Then you got Omega. Then you got Osprey. It's like at some point, you become numb to the OMG-worthiness of the moment.

[lostinube]

7 hours ago, Gordlow said:

So stoked! But I have to work Monday morning, so I won't be able to watch Forbidden Door live. I wonder if having a Saturday show means every PPV is going to be on Sunday now. Kind of fucking over all their fans in Japan and Europe who have to work Mondays. Cry us a f'n river.

 

I don't even know what Super Bowl Sunday is anymore. Super Bowl Monday Morning, more like.

It's our (well, my) punishment for rolling our eyes at the people complaining on twitter that they had to wake up early/stay up late to watch Wrestle Kingdom every damn year.

Excalibur tried to do the quick reading of Kazuchika Okada but fluffed it by putting the emphasis on the zu in Kazu when it should be on the chi in chika. I guess if you only ever hear the ring announcer call him Okaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaa Kazuchikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you might not catch that part. There's a reason why Kaz Hayashi works as a name in English and Japanese.

[Casey]

AEW should hold PPVs during the week, they’re kind of fucking over all their fans like me that work weekend night shifts.

Any day is going to be an inconvenience to some part of the fanbase. 

[Salads]

You can't end a show with Ospreay marching up the ramp towards Danielson like that!

After seeing ZSJ visibly struggling to put a promo together on US TV without being able to say dickhead, looks like an intern found out that bollocks doesn't register on the American censor scale so now he's finding his groove again.

I understand why Adam Cole would find the finish to his match frustrating, but why was the ref mad? You'd think it was Montreal II by his reaction. Dude was angry at his own timekeeper for keeping time. I guess calling for the bell is the best bit of the job so rules be damned.

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

I still have to watch the last half hour as I fell asleep, but based on what I’ve seen this felt like a classic episode of Dynamite. 

A great opening match (I’d still rank Omega-Bryan or Hangman-Bryan 2 as the best opener in Dynamite history), with my only nitpick being they really should have explained the finish better. I liked Taz questioning it, and suggesting Cole can’t get another shot, because a draw isn’t a win, but having Schiavone get clarification from Khan later on in the night would have felt important. How often does he get random messages from Tony Khan on air? And I’m sure that match will be the lowest rated segment (never mind that the opening segment never is). 

I thought the Sammy promo segment was strong too, and I can’t help but wonder who told Jericho those boots were a good look? Even my mom couldn’t believe how bad they looked. 

The 8 Man tag was certainly a spectacle too, and I honestly did buy The Mogul Embassy winning off of the triple powerbomb stomp spot. It’s always good to see Sting deliver too. 

I thought Wardlow-Hager was as good as we can get from the two big guys, and it offered the perfect setup for Collision. 

The women’s match overdelivered in my opinion as I’ve not seen a lot of Skye Blue, and they both did a great job of keeping the crowd involved. 

The additions to Forbidden Door have guaranteed AEW will be getting my $50 no questions asked too. When Sanada-Jungle Boy is the weakest match announced you know it’s a special show.

[hammerva]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

AEW should hold PPVs during the week, they’re kind of fucking over all their fans like me that work weekend night shifts.

Any day is going to be an inconvenience to some part of the fanbase. 

If they aren't going to run PPV monthly or bi-monthly,  the best option would be to run a PPV on weekend of holidays.  I mean wouldn't it be great if Forbidden Door was this weekend since probably half of the audience with regular jobs won't work this Monday.  Then you can make them 4 or 5 hour shows

 

[Coletti]

I'm the kind of guy where if the main event isn't something I'm super stoked about, I'm just going to go to bed early. If MJF and Adam Cole had wrestled for the main event, I would have skipped what ended up being a great fucking match. Cole is so much better as an underdog babyface and hopefully really leans into that shit going forward.

Awesome run for AEW lately, cannot wait for the next few shows and Forbidden Door!

Edited June 15, 2023 by christopher.annino

[HarryArchieGus]

 

I saw him as an extremely weak lame duck challenger at double or nothing. I think most did but I’ll speak for myself. And I see him as a very weak lame duck challenger here (very quiet reaction from the crowd here as well).  I don’t want to dwell on this and be negative so I’m not going to bring it up again. I’m very excited for the show.

Completely fair. I can't say I didn't feel a smidge of disappointment myself (and I like and have a lot of patience for young Perry), but the resulting Jungle Jack v Sanada bout will very likely be a darkhorse on an already stacked card. I also like where this is heading. Jack-o (like Foley doing a Rober Fuller impression) got a wee tiny bit smug there with Hook, and I suspect this is the beginning of something to look forward to. Also, Sanada seems to be on a run of facing up and coming challengers and Jack fits that bill just fine. My complaint if I had one is - how does an Open Challenge for the prestigious IWGP title end with one person, soon after, making a challenge and right away getting the match without any questions or considerations? Nobody else wanted the shot? Or were there others considered? Maybe it was the simple luck of Jack having allotted mic time and using it wisely? This calls for a wooden style Tony 'announcement'! It seems like the amount of wrestlers wanting that opportunity would kinda beg for one of their beloved battle royals. But, to be clear, I'm very very grateful there isn't another battle royal to ffwd thru. 

Re: Takeshita v Bandido and Uniteds v Besties plus 1
That is Rampage, baby! I can't imagine this will remain a two match show. Somebody else will be 'In Action', but a two match show with those two matches....!

Edited June 15, 2023 by HarryArchieGus

[HarryArchieGus]

1 hour ago, Salads said:

After seeing ZSJ visibly struggling to put a promo together on US TV without being able to say dickhead, looks like an intern found out that bollocks doesn't register on the American censor scale so now he's finding his groove again.

Wait a second. Where was the struggle? That also ended with the hilarity of 'Pack it in Daniel'! I dunno, ZSJ is on fire right now. It's like a lil' lad style Hulkamania '84 rise (in my mind)!

Shibata/Orange v Garcia/ZSJ is an incredible booking!

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

9 minutes ago, hammerva said:

If they aren't going to run PPV monthly or bi-monthly,  the best option would be to run a PPV on weekend of holidays.  I mean wouldn't it be great if Forbidden Door was this weekend since probably half of the audience with regular jobs won't work this Monday.  Then you can make them 4 or 5 hour shows

 

Don’t they usually run on Presidents Day (Revolution), Memorial Day (Double or Nothing), and Labor Day (All Out)? Meaning the only non holiday ones are Full Gear and Forbidden Door?

I’m not sure what holiday they could use for Full Gear as Thanksgiving isn’t until Thursday(s), and Forbidden Door could be the weekend of July 4th except for some years like this one the holiday falls on a Tuesday so most people won’t have the day before the holiday off. 

I’m with you that if they can figure out how to do it, I’d be in favor of it. 

[J.T.]

I don't think there has ever been as perfectly timed of an ending to a match resulting in a time limit draw as there was with MJF vs. Cole.  And as others have said, AEW has done the impossible and made me want to see a rematch.

It is true.  When you are a man and God wants you to reel in your lifestyle, he turns you into a dad and gives you a daughter to worry about.  Congratulations, Sammy Guevara.  Fatherhood is the ultimate face turn vehicle.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Cowboy Combat Club was a perfectly fine main event.  A bit overbooked with Kingston, Osprey, and Takeshita thrown into the mix, but at least AEW is courageous enough of a company to experiment with stuff and there is a PPV on the horizon that could use some build up. 

I like the idea of Yuta being the weak link of BCC as this gives him an out for a face run if he is ever ejected from the group in favor of giving his spot to another rising worker.  I don't, however, like the idea of him eating all of the pinfalls on behalf of his unit.   These things would feel much more epic if Mox or Claudio would lie down for a change.  "Let's target Yuta!" just seems too easy.

Edited June 15, 2023 by J.T.

[The Natural]

9 hours ago, Gordlow said:

So stoked! But I have to work Monday morning, so I won't be able to watch Forbidden Door live. I wonder if having a Saturday show means every PPV is going to be on Sunday now. Kind of fucking over all their fans in Japan and Europe who have to work Mondays. Cry us a f'n river.

Dammit, gotta go! TTYL!

 

1 hour ago, lostinube said:

I don't even know what Super Bowl Sunday is anymore. Super Bowl Monday Morning, more like.

It's our (well, my) punishment for rolling our eyes at the people complaining on twitter that they had to wake up early/stay up late to watch Wrestle Kingdom every damn year.

Excalibur tried to do the quick reading of Kazuchika Okada but fluffed it by putting the emphasis on the zu in Kazu when it should be on the chi in chika. I guess if you only ever hear the ring announcer call him Okaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaa Kazuchikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you might not catch that part. There's a reason why Kaz Hayashi works as a name in English and Japanese.

 

1 hour ago, Casey said:

AEW should hold PPVs during the week, they’re kind of fucking over all their fans like me that work weekend night shifts.

Any day is going to be an inconvenience to some part of the fanbase. 

It's great how NJPW usually starts around 7-8am UK time. So refreshing compared to:

• WWE RAW: 1am-4am Tuesday morning UK time.
• WWE NXT: 1am-3am Wednesday morning UK time.
• AEW Dynamite: 1am-3am Thursday morning UK time.
• WWE Smackdown: 1am-3am Saturday morning UK time.
• AEW Rampage: 1am-3am Saturday morning UK time.
• UFC PPVs: 3am-6am Sunday morning UK time.
• WWE PPVs: 1am-5am Sunday or Monday morning UK time.
• AEW PPVs: 1am-5am Sunday or Monday morning UK time.

You have to be insane/hardcore to watch live.

Forbidden Door is the 25th of June but the 26th my time. It'll be the 9 year anniversary of losing my much missed Mum.

[For Great Justice]

Two things I didn’t realize I wanted but now absolutely need in my life are OC/ZSJ and Lazy Shibata 

Tony Khan you madman 

[Fighting a man with a perm]

1 hour ago, LF2 said:

I thought the Sammy promo segment was strong too, and I can’t help but wonder who told Jericho those boots were a good look? Even my mom couldn’t believe how bad they looked. 

 

Big disagree with you (and your mother, sorry!). Those boots are incredible, like something Vince Noir would wear in the Mighty Boosh and sit perfectly with Jericho's faded rock idol/Rex Manning esque character.

Did anyone else see the word No appear on screen during the 8 man? Intriguing.

[Steventon]

Well, it looks like New Japan is all in on Forbidden Door.

fair play to Tony khan, his champion gets to go over Tanahashi, while Sanada gets Jungle Boy. Though I wasn’t expecting the IWGP belt to be defended at all.

is Kenny’s belt the same belt that Cody held before or the same international title they had previously which nakamura had a run with? I am so confused by how many belts one promotion can have 

[J.T.]

 

is Kenny’s belt the same belt that Cody held before or the same international title they had previously which nakamura had a run with? I am so confused by how many belts one promotion can have 

No.  Kenny and Cody are current / former IWGP US title holders.  Nakamura held the IWGP Intercontinental Title which was unfiied with the IWGP Heavyweight Title to form the IWGP World Title when Kota Ibushi beat El Desperado at the 49th Anniversary show.

Mox and Will Osprey are also a former IWGP US champions.

Edited June 15, 2023 by J.T.

[AxB]

Jericho was wearing heels because he was going to go nose to nose with Sting. Jericho is 5'11 and Sting is 6'3".

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

 

Big disagree with you (and your mother, sorry!). Those boots are incredible, like something Vince Noir would wear in the Mighty Boosh and sit perfectly with Jericho's faded rock idol/Rex Manning esque character.

Did anyone else see the word No appear on screen during the 8 man? Intriguing.

I’ll be intrigued if either tomorrow or Saturday night they have another word randomly appear during a Picture in Picture break. I’ve read it was a goof, but also speculation it means something (I’m leaning with the later myself).

[Pete]

MJF blowing off Tana makes me more hopeful they run him vs Yano at Forbidden Door. Like he picks the shlubbiest looking guy on their roster only to get put through the wringer by the sublime master thief because he didn't know any better.

[Salads]

 

Wait a second. Where was the struggle? That also ended with the hilarity of 'Pack it in Daniel'! I dunno, ZSJ is on fire right now. It's like a lil' lad style Hulkamania '84 rise (in my mind)!

Maybe it was a bit of an obscure reference but there was the below promo with a couple of staring into space moments which fans interpreted as him fighting his NSFW instincts.