EVA Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Godfrey said: Hey all! To celebrate the 5th anniversary and the new TV deal I wanted to check in on AEW and post a one-off review before I disappear for another 6 months or maybe forever. I haven’t watched Dynamite for almost a year and the only matches I’ve seen are when Ospreay, Danielson, and Swerve wrestled each other (I also keep up with some WWE people but not many). I’m not on social media but I’ve read things on various sites so I have a vague idea of what’s been going on angle-wise. Hoping to get re-engaged with the product! But let’s be honest, AEW rarely has what I look for out of wrestling or entertainment Good promo from Mox’s group to start, very ominous and confusing. I’m not sure why they’re declaring war on AEW and nobody else seems to either. The different camera shots don’t do it any favours but hey, maybe they need to splice takes together Why is Callis catching a flight at the beginning of the show? Is he flying to next week’s town? Sound was muffled so I may have missed something Ricochet vs Ospreay In a lot of ways this match is why AEW was founded, so matches nobody saw on the indies can have a wider audience and ex-WWE guys can pretend they haven’t hit their ceiling already. Standard flipping counters to start, a little sluggish if you ask me but it established the story of the match. Some weak strikes and bad fundamentals but they can fly really well so they get to that sooner than later. Ric busts out a couple of good clotheslines and they mirror each other again before the requisite apron spot. I didn’t catch all of it but the match seemed to slow way down during the break. Ospreay flips out of a top rope rana and leaves his back to his opponent for no reason so Ric hits an Oscutter. Dope piledriver from Ric gets 2. The New Japan finisher and counter sequence kicks in for some nearfalls. Not sure about the double pin false finish, if they were just going to do a DQ a minute later they may as well have just kept wrestling. Takeshita rules and should be built up like this Oh shit, I haven’t seen Sasha since she’s been Mercedes. I was dreading a promo (even I’ve heard how bad they are), the package was a good way to get caught up instead. Whoever designs her gear should be shot Oh fuck, I haven’t seen Jericho since he’s been the Learning Tree. Why are there high school play props in the ring? Big Bill deserves so much better than this. Mark Briscoe comes across really well, I wish he wasn’t opposite a guy doing an impression of someone pretending to be a bad wrestler who actually is. Bringing Jay into the promo sucked too, this was awful Is the crowd mic’d poorly or are they not paying attention or what? Pops happen at the oddest times and then don’t happen when they should, and the face-heel dynamic seems loose at best (WWE is guilty of this lately too). Weird stuff Darby Allin taking more dumb shit. Just because he can’t hack it at a real job doesn’t give him the right to preach self-harm for validation. Grow up, dork. He’s a good talker though, he needs someone to direct him Adam Page vs Juice Robinson Page is cooler now, better gear, body, attitude, and music. I had no interest in his and Strickland’s tryhard edgelord feud, glad I can see him on something else and Juice is what you would call a good hand. Fun match once it got in the ring but way too long for what they needed to accomplish. Cut the time of matches like this in half and do some character work with Juice so he can get a better reaction next time. Damn, Jay White more like Jay Tanned amirite? Bryan and AEW being proud of breaking everything wrestling is based on is not the flex they think it is Britt Baker vs Serena Deeb Back and forth grappling to start until Deeb finds an opening and takes control. Glad Serena leaned into heel work, that’s what the crowd needed. Baker is still getting back to her old level and hit a really bad slingblade. This match was too long for a foregone conclusion Christian happened Private Party vs Iron Savages Hey, the ass eating guy. These teams aren’t bad but desperately need an agent to lay things out for them especially one as short as this one If the Bucks are there, haven't they already wasted a date on that night? And thank the Buck’s God that they didn’t have the tag title match, I’m dreading the overrun as it is Hell yeah, Shelton Benjamin. Please let Mox try some of his unprofessional garbage with this man Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada I saw the first match live in Toronto and didn’t enjoy it due to the rest of the show, the arm injury, and the shit finish. Didn’t see the rematch and to be honest I’m not excited for this one since it's another foregone conclusion (Bryan wins after at least 20 minutes). Honestly, fuck Tony for starting this match only a few minutes from 10 for how long it took, learn how to time your show. Good limb work from Danielson, Okada moves slowly to run out the clock which is very exciting for an overrun. They worked in all of their highspots and hit each other hard(ish), I guess that makes a good match. Bryan won after at least 20 minutes. A commercial spot in the overrun makes no sense by the way but they bought an extra half hour so they needed to pay for it. By the end I just wanted the show to be over, I had to apologise to my partner for keeping her up late Overall, it’s still Dynamite. Better production, crowd was up, bigger stars. Fewer amateurish mistakes than before so at least I wasn’t distracted by those the whole time (just some of the time). But this was a boring show. AEW has made fast-paced, high-impact wrestling boring by reducing it to its base components and overusing them so nothing has any meaning anymore. It pains me to watch wrestlers get hurt for a forgettable product and all they need is a real writer/booker/whatever to make all the action feel important. Otherwise, well, it just doesn’t. Not exactly a new thought but it’s still as relevant today as it was a year ago. Until next time! I feel like this post is the DVDVR equivalent of one of those movies reviews you sometimes see, where a critic is like “I’ve never watched any of the Fast & Furious movies, but now I will review Fast & Furious 19.” Edited October 3 by EVA 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I enjoyed the show but I really like my wrestling being uh two hours-ish (or less!) for TV so it was a bit long for my tastes. This wasn't "bad timing" of the show as someone without knowledge may say, they announced in advance the show would have a significant over-run so this was the plan. I can't give a fair review since I was watching baseball at the same time but Ricochet/Ospreay was fun with the non-ending giving them an excuse to do it again and the main event was pretty good. Not great... but definitely pretty good. Deeb/Britt was better than I was expecting so I'll give them credit for that. It was an odd middle for such a big show and I may have cut out some of it but overall I was sports entertained. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Yeah I had the laptop open to watch the Mets game on ESPN at the same time as Dynamite. But most of what I saw was pretty good. Ricochet vs. Osprey was what you thought it would be. I would have been happy with the draw, but of course they needed a winner. Didn't expect Takeshita to run in and take them both out, but it added a nice layer to this feud. Takeshita would make a good International Champion. Hangman vs. Juice was a nice brawl and match. I liked the ending with Hangman trying to hang Juice only for Jay White to make the save. I missed him on tv and him vs. Page should be a good feud. Didn't really care about Private Party's match, but I guess they'll be good enough to drag a decent match out of The Bucks who have been phoning it in for a while now. Bryan vs. Okada was good. I just wish it had a proper build instead of being hot shotted onto tv with like 24 hours notice. Nice to see a backslide of all things be a match winner. Post match I dread Moxley being the hired goon for someone. People on the internet seem to think it's Shane McMahon. I can't even begin to imagine how that would work. I mean I like Shane, but a lot of things would have to go right for it to work. i don't have that kind of faith in Tony Khan at the moment. But overall this was a good show tonight. Looked like a full crowd which is a plus for them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 17 hours ago, The Natural said: Looking forward to Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada III. I think it'll open the show. The first match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 though great was marred by Bryan Danielson breaking his arm. Nobody expected Danielson to tap out Okada, only the second time he's ever submitted as the Rainmaker going 27:40. Gave it ****3/4. The NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 2024 match was better, won by Okada. I thought it would go longer than 23:30. Gave it *****. It's a MOTYC, it's also an underrated one. Don't see people talking it up as much. Like film trilogies, the third tends to be the worst entry. Hoping this won't be. Wouldn't be surprised if it goes 40 plus minutes or even an hour long draw. 4 hours ago, The Natural said: Great match though my least favourite of the three. 31:39 according to cagematch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita confirmed for AEW WrestleDream. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybonanza Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Doesn't feel like a very Inoki inspired card this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 56 minutes ago, barrybonanza said: Doesn't feel like a very Inoki inspired card this year. I'm probably skipping AEW WrestleDream unless it's on ITV in the UK like last year's was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Thought the thread would be busier for AEW 5th Anniversary Dynamite. The show felt a little lacking of something for me even thought it had Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada III. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodzillaPerez Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 2 hours ago, barrybonanza said: Doesn't feel like a very Inoki inspired card this year. Tony got his scarf so the Inoki inspiration is out the window. Show was ok. Thought Hangman vs Juice was far and away the best match. Haven't been feeling AEW in the past few months. Might take a break and check in later. Hopefully the Jack Perry push will be over by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 10 hours ago, Log said: Knightboat (Every week there’s a canal!) Is the canal played by Eddie Izzard? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Started watching late. Neat to see the Private Party got their groove back. I absolutely loved Danielson vs Okada. I loved the ending for it being for tv. Okada looks strong, Danielson still looks like a champ, Mox and the gang looks tough and mean, Yuta looks like a big deal to end their 5th year anniversary show. I’ll probably go back and watch the matches you guys hyped up but maybe not the full ep? Idk, I’m busy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 3 hours ago, The Natural said: Thought the thread would be busier for AEW 5th Anniversary Dynamite. The show felt a little lacking of something for me even thought it had Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada III. Not to pre-give any excuses but with two MLB playoff games on during Dynamite I wouldn't be surprised if a some of the 'regulars' DVRed it to watch today/tomorrow. I just hope they set it to record an extra 30 minutes. Also, one downside of AEW having so many 'special' Dynamites is it really didn't feel like a special Dynamite, I get doing theme shows but some restraint would probably help. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 4 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said: Not to pre-give any excuses but with two MLB playoff games on during Dynamite I wouldn't be surprised if a some of the 'regulars' DVRed it to watch today/tomorrow. I just hope they set it to record an extra 30 minutes. Also, one downside of AEW having so many 'special' Dynamites is it really didn't feel like a special Dynamite, I get doing theme shows but some restraint would probably help. I didn't know about the MLB playoff games. MLB is rounders ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 (edited) I hate to say this, because I know how hard Quen has been struggling to make it back from injury, but Zay is a future singles star—really, really underrated dude who keeps getting better in every area—and I think Private Party is kinda holding him back at this point in his development. At the very least, I hope they’re going to be legitimately pushed moving forward. Hate to see Zay wasting away his youth doing nothing. Edited October 3 by EVA 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IjWNsoU-CV8 Tony Khan and Bryan Danielson promos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 (edited) I think Bryan Danielson contracts Stupid Sting Syndrome next week with Wheeler Yuta turning on him. Edited October 3 by The Natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I think Wheeler is 110% turning on him next week. My hope is that he also turns on nuBCC and we get some Walkin' Tall Wheeler Yuta. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 (edited) To circle back to that video Gordi posted the more I hear it the more I absolutely love the song. It's a 6 minute song and they had speed everything up to make the time they had. It also makes for a much more exciting song to listen to compared to the original and while I didn't expect to dive into Focus I'm glad I did. As for Dynamite I thought it was fun and we got two PPV matches on TV. Which is great but also meant that it wasn't the epic Ospreay/Ricochet match that I was expecting. The slowdown during commercials plus DQ at the end hurt the flow of the match but the action that was there was great. The DQ stings a bit less after finding out about the 3-way at WrestleDream which should be bonkers. I also liked Okada/Danielson and while my prediction didn't fully pan out I loved the added twist of dickhead Okada throughout it all. Plus there were no fake or real injuries which makes me happy. The other matches were fun but for me this was a two-match show and I'm okay with that. 11 hours ago, Phantom Lord said: Looked like a full crowd which is a plus for them. It looked to me like they were doing some camera tricks to hide that it wasn't. If I were to guess it felt like it was maybe 65% full and the wide shots kept focusing on the full side. I could be wrong and I'll be happy if I am but that was my take on it. Edited October 3 by NikoBaltimore 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 45 minutes ago, Zimbra said: I think Wheeler is 110% turning on him next week. My hope is that he also turns on nuBCC and we get some Walkin' Tall Wheeler Yuta. It'd be cool if he turned into this monster that they created and now he's terrorizing them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I enjoyed the show. I thought Ospreay/Ricochet was great and the three way at the PPV will be even better. The main event was good while giving Okada an easy out, and setting up a possible trios title match for he and The Bucks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COLETTI Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 43 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said: It looked to me like they were doing some camera tricks to hide that it wasn't. If I were to guess it felt like it was maybe 65% full and the wide shots kept focusing on the full side. I could be wrong and I'll be happy if I am but that was my take on it. Somebody on Reddit posted a panoramic shot of the crowd and it looked very full in there, so that's pretty cool. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I wonder how much AEW fans ACTUALLY watch Collision/Rampage because seems to be a notable lack of heat for wrestlers mostly relegated to those shows (Save FTR and Christian). I'm mostly saying this in reference to Aminata's save because that crowd could not have cared less. But I have noticed it in the past with other wrestlers too (IIRC Mortos got a pretty lacklustre response until he started Mortos things which woke the crowd up pretty fast). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 7 minutes ago, COLETTI said: Somebody on Reddit posted a panoramic shot of the crowd and it looked very full in there, so that's pretty cool. Thanks. I've seen them do these camera tricks in the past when the crowd wasn't full so I'm not sure why that occurred last night. But glad to know it was full even if they were fairly quiet compared to past times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 3 hours ago, Stefanie Sparkleface said: Is the canal played by Eddie Izzard? She's mostly going by Suzy Izzard now. Although she's sort of keeping her former name too, for promotional purposes... and currently touring the USA apparently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sex Machine Gun Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Looked like the lower bowl was full at least. It was an all right watch. I like the main event scene right now and yes, I'm one of those mutants who wants Shane McMahon to be behind everything. Give me all the crazy. We really need to get rid of the Scapegoat bus. While typing this I just realized it makes me think of Wacky Races and I can't lose it. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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