Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

AEW Dynamite - 3/4/2020


Dolfan in NYC

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Wyld Samurai said:

Was anyone else wondering what was up with Jake's hair? I couldn't tell if one side was shaved like he just had some surgery.

I asked this as well. It was distracting for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

Damn, that’s the biggest guy he’s hit it on yet. Wonder how he’ll it in the double ring at Blood & Guts.

Five in a row. Back and forth, ring to ring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Show suffered from too many Inner Circle gang attacks.  Once the Elite runs them off one segment, having them come back again and still beat down Moxley was a bridge too far.  I was on board for people not helping Moxley since he's a loner who has feuded with the Elite, but what did Darby do to deserve getting double teamed to oblivion?  Speaking of Darby, it did him no favors to put that invisible wall up to keep him from running to help his partner during the beat down in the back. Also he lost AGAIN to the 'real stars' of the company in order to put Jericho over who didn't need it. His performance outside of the booking, particularly tagging himself to go on a flurry, was effective and I have no issues with the actual wrestling of the match, just the booking.  The timing of Moxley's return immediately after the match was also very fake and would have been better served to have him try to come back in the middle of the match to get dragged away by EMTs or something.

Page was awesome again. It's amazing the amount of restraint they have with him because I'd have him out in front a ton.

I would also say there wasn't a lot of change coming out of the PPV.  A lot of the same stuff is going on with Jake being the new addition to the puzzle.  Really no other feuds ended and yet another group being put together is just more of the same faction based storytelling which is getting lazy and making the stables they do have less special because they are everywhere.  Unless this leads to a trios title which on this show would make a lot more sense than a TV title at this point due to the roster construction, its just a lot of the same thing.

Edited by Goodear
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keeping the same feuds going isn’t necessarily bad. PAC Vs. OC needed to keep going. Those two had a one week build, and they connected so well in the ring together, that you can’t pass up having that pairing again. Sammy Vs. Darby I always knew was continuing. AEW sees too much of a good thing there with them. Moxley Vs. Jericho is happening again, and I want it to be done, but it always seemed like a guarantee we would get a TV rematch for the belt. That’s an easy thing to fill up TV time for those two. Cody Vs. MJF looks like they are taking a break from. I just don’t think they have an idea for what to do with MJF yet, unless they are setting him up to be Mox’s next PPV challenger. The Inner Circle attacks, at least the first one looked like they were building to Blood & Guts. The 2nd seemed like it was made to make them look strong before the big showdown.

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I liked:

The PPV recap to open the show was shockingly abbreviated - I'm used to the padded sprawl of WWE recaps, which at least seem like they take 5+ minutes. If you MUST open the show with a recap - get that shit out of the way quickly and get to the exciting part of the program.

AN ACTUAL SQUASH MATCH!!!! I can take or leave Big Swole herself, but *this* is how a squash match is structured. The jobber is waiting in the ring (not getting an entrance and certainly not getting mic time), the match lasts a couple of minutes. The 10 minute "squash" matches are essentially 50/50 booking - no one gets over the way they're supposed to because for some reason the jobber needs to be capable of getting their shit in and going the distance. This match is what the matches on Dark need to look like.

Jake had a promo to cut, so what did he do? HE PUT HIS HAND UP TO MOTION FOR THE CROWD TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND THEY ACTUALLY DID IT. Still the master. If it were someone lesser, they would have (of course) paused for five fucking minutes so the mouthbreathers can get a few different "You've still got it/Welcome back/Holy shit" chants in. I don't have time or patience for that shit.

Lots of outside of the ring talk and angles this week, which is the wrestling show I'm looking for. I don't need four 20 minute matches that are laid out exactly the same and get nobody over.

TWO MINUTES for that MJF promo, and if it weren't for an all-time great promo showing up it would have been the best promo on the show. TWO MINUTES is all you need! The farther you go past that mark, the worse the promo is going to be.

 

What I didn't like:

Mox's entrance and milking of the stupid chants meant that he didn't even start talking until FIVE MINUTES into the show. That's not a hot opening! Pausing for bullshit chants might be fun for the live crowd, but it makes your TV show drag. And when he started talking, it was...telling the fans that they're the real star of the show? Talking about how happy you are to be RIGHT HERE in Broomfield? Boring, generic babyface promo that didn't seem to have a reason for being there at all. Isn't Mox supposed to be the rugged, crazy loner? Why does a character like that care about kissing the fans' asses?

Whoever's idea it is to be panning around the crowd looking for reaction shots: This is one of the worst things about watching WWE programming right now. I don't WANT to see what some guy in a Bullet Club shirt thinks about a near fall. I don't WANT to see some fat neckbeard mouth the words to "Judas" incorrectly. THESE THINGS DON'T MATTER. STOP FOCUSING ON THEM.

"Judas" itself. Jericho's a heel and his current heel character would absolutely change his theme music just to piss fans off - so do that.

The Dark Order chyron reading "first time [names] have all teamed together." Isn't that true of most of the teams in eight-man tags in AEW? It's certainly also true of the opposing team. I think the chyron stuff works sometimes with their Hangman jokes and stuff, but other times I wonder why it's even there.

Quoting dirtsheets saying things like "what a great story in that tag match" can fuck right off.

The amount of Excalibur "OHHHHs" in that Cody-MJF video stood out so much that it kind of seemed like a rib.

The Cody talk during commercial break - for someone who initially didn't want to use Dusty's death for an angle, he sure seems to refer to him during EVERY promo. We get it - you are the son of Dusty Rhodes. Let's get more chatter about how you are CODY instead of relying on the Dream crutch.

I watched the FITE version with no commercial breaks - if they're going to offer that as an option, they need to figure out a better way to utilize that time. Too many wide crowd shots and pointless banter from the announcers.

I didn't know who Shake Milton is until JR asked Excalibur to clarify. I know Excalibur is just a more-tolerable version of Mauro, but you shouldn't make references that you need to explain. Also - we're all going to jump down his throat for referring to basketball like we jump down JR's throat for football references, right?

That main event sucked. Why exactly didn't Darby run to the back to help his tag team partner? He just shrugged and was like "welp, okay, guess it's a handicap!" And I'm all for keeping Darby strong, but going almost 15 minutes in a handicap match involving one of the most important guys in the company? Ridiculous.

 

 

 

All this said - this episode was far more enjoyable than most have been, mostly because of the focus on angles instead of padded, boring matches. I'd like that to keep up.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colt's enthusiasm and happiness really shines through in his work. Someone on Reddit compared him to Mr. Peanutbutter and I am a dead man.

  • Like 4
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Some twitter doorknob tried to say March 15th was the day Caesar was killed and AEW is in Rochester on the 15th before looking at the calendar. Would be unbelievable levels of cool if true but it's the 18th. 

You sure about that? I googled March 15th just for the hell of it, and it is listed as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm gonna miss Jericho's promos so much when he takes time off, he adds an element of fun, silliness and self awareness to the main event scene which I'm not sure anyone else can match at the moment.

Jake's promo was intriguing, I think Brodie/Harper would be a nice "client" for him

NOOBODY IS SEFF!
Death Triangle vs Inner Circle, book it!
PAC and Lucha Bros might seem like a random team but it makes sense in that all are considered some of the best talent in the company but are somehow overlooked/ignored for the bigger storylines.
Hangman's casually walking down to save his "friends" was great.

AEW needs more smoke and flames during entrance instead of always using fireworks. Darby would look bad ass skating out of a wall of smoke (ala Edge) and Booker T-like fire would work with someone like Page.
Loved Sammy doing a most muscular whilst Jericho does his "Cmon baby!" pin. Look like a boy mimicking his dad.
Shield power bomb and fist pump turned into the middle fingers was great. 

Overall not my favorite episode but still a good "cool down" show to restart after the PPV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Mike Campbell said:

You sure about that? I googled March 15th just for the hell of it, and it is listed as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated. 

I think they were trying to say that the next Dynamite falls on the 18th not 15th... which is a Sunday.

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Mike Campbell said:

You sure about that? I googled March 15th just for the hell of it, and it is listed as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated. 

Should have clarified that it's Dynamite on the 18th, not 15th.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Goodear said:

Show suffered from too many Inner Circle gang attacks.  Once the Elite runs them off one segment, having them come back again and still beat down Moxley was a bridge too far.  I was on board for people not helping Moxley since he's a loner who has feuded with the Elite, but what did Darby do to deserve getting double teamed to oblivion?  Speaking of Darby, it did him no favors to put that invisible wall up to keep him from running to help his partner during the beat down in the back. Also he lost AGAIN to the 'real stars' of the company in order to put Jericho over who didn't need it. His performance outside of the booking, particularly tagging himself to go on a flurry, was effective and I have no issues with the actual wrestling of the match, just the booking.  The timing of Moxley's return immediately after the match was also very fake and would have been better served to have him try to come back in the middle of the match to get dragged away by EMTs or something.

Yeah, I'm with ya on this one.  I get that Darby is a loner but that was his partner who he apparently respects getting beat down.  If this were to happen then when it became apparent nobody was going to fill in it was just 15 minutes of the inevitable happening.  Kind of took me out of the match so maybe re-watching it again would help.  But I did love the "self hot tag" he did.

I'm knee-deep in the AEW fandom but this was not one of my favorite episodes.  A cool-down episode is one thing but I felt for two of its members getting beat at the PPV it was too soon for Inner Circle to establish dominance.  Maybe the Blood & Guts episode is putting them in a corner but if they had a week off TV to regroup then you could have just had some fun shit going on to play off of the "Hey, new champ!" story.  Add to it that people were expecting Archer since they announced him and it just added to the overall disappointment in how things played out.

That said I did enjoy the 8-man tag a lot and am happy for Colt.  Also might be worth hearing the first couple minutes of his podcast as he recorded it after this match.  Jake coming out was a wonderful surprise and damn did he deliver one helluva promo.  And damn do I love Adam Page segments.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

Jake as a manager is an intriguing role- and I think one that could be utilized like a Gary Hart.

He should definitely be speaking for Dark Order rather than Evil Uno who sounds like he has a helium pump installed in his trachea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saying the main event sucked is borderline detachment from reality. Yes, I agree that Darby not saving or attempting to save Mox made little sense. But, going 15 minutes makes sense for two big reasons: 1) Darby has proven multiple times he has an inhuman capacity to endure and suffer. The announcers put it over by talking about his skateboarding silliness. 2) the Inner Circle knew they could take their time in beating the shit out of him. They slowed the pace down and tried to savour the fruits of their plan/attack. It also gave Darby a chance to do what he does best: sell and provide hope spots. The crowd was into it and he came out an even bigger star in the making than he went in. Moxley got to show off his toughness by coming back afterwards (tbh I was hoping he'd come out for the save at the end but I get it). I thought it was pretty great and accomplished a lot despite the boner of having Darby standing there ringside watching his partner get his ass kicked. 

Edited by Oyaji
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eh, Mox and Darby are strange bedfellow style allies, but they aren't friends and both men profess to be loners.

Allin has no obligation to help Mox if Mox talks his way into an assbeating, even though they have a common enemy.  And Mox certainly doesn't give anyone the impression that he either needs or wants help from anyone.

I don't blame Darby for leaving Mox swinging in the breeze.  This is the guy who head planted Darby not to long ago in an AEW ring, and IIRC Darby teamed up with Mox later on under the stip that if their team won, Darby would get his hands on Sammy.   Each sees the other man as a means to an end for the time being. 

Now that Mox is the champ, I were Darby, I'd be, "Hey.  I'll help you against the Inner Circle, but I'm going to want a title shot later on down the road.  Just because we're working together doesn't mean we're brothers."

There is still time to tell the friendship forged in the fires of battle bullshit story in the white space leading up to the next PPV if that's the direction this shit is headed.

Edited by J.T.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plus, there’s nothing at all wrong with making Darby look incredibly strong before taking the loss in a handicap match. He isn’t QT Marshall, or the Librarian. He’s proven he is a burgeoning star, and needs to be treated with a certain level of respect by the booking, even if he has to take the pinfall. The beat down with Mox, and Allin not getting involved I can agree with. That’s timey wimey wrestling mumbo jumbo, that makes no sense, like the music guy having a surprise wrestlers music.

Also, they bait, and switched the main. So as an audience we deserve to be given some action before the heels get their big win of the night standing over Mox.

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Darby is legit hurt and out for a while, on one hand that would be awful timing given the rocket ship he’s riding in right now. On the other, something like a multi month absence only to return and finally get the huge win / comeuppance on Jericho in e.g. a cage could be the fuse to shoot him into Guy territory.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Colt's enthusiasm and happiness really shines through in his work. Someone on Reddit compared him to Mr. Peanutbutter and I am a dead man.

So does Punk = Bojack in this scenario?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, For Great Justice said:

If Darby is legit hurt and out for a while, on one hand that would be awful timing given the rocket ship he’s riding in right now. On the other, something like a multi month absence only to return and finally get the huge win / comeuppance on Jericho in e.g. a cage could be the fuse to shoot him into Guy territory.

Looks like he got knocked the fuck out. He did look like dead weight in retrospect. They should never do a spot like that ever again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

Saying the main event sucked is borderline detachment from reality.


Dial it back.
 

1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Eh, Mox and Darby are strange bedfellow style allies, but they aren't friends and both men profess to be loners.

Allin has no obligation to help Mox if Mox talks his way into an assbeating, even though they have a common enemy.  And Mox certainly doesn't give anyone the impression that he either needs or wants help from anyone.

I don't blame Darby for leaving Mox swinging in the breeze.  This is the guy who head planted Darby not to long ago in an AEW ring, and IIRC Darby teamed up with Mox later on under the stip that if their team won, Darby would get his hands on Sammy.   Each sees the other man as a means to an end for the time being.


So intentionally not saving Mox and walking into a 2-on-1 assbeating is somehow in Darby's best interest? That doesn't make him look tough, it makes him look stupid. Having a tag team partner in a tag team match seems like a means to an end to me. It didn't make sense and that's why the announcers tried to cover for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...