AEW Dynamite - 3/17/2021

[The Natural]

Love Eddie Kingston. AEW have to put the AEW World Championship on him at some point.

[Technico Support]

God DAMN, that main event.  Baker and Rosa absolutely brought it and left it all out there.  They deserve all the kudos in the world.  They were relied on to be the main and they absolutely delivered.  A million billion stars.

I don't know if Older Vince has the motivation or wherewithal to do it, but Younger Vince would have someone screencapping that match and sending concern trolling messages to AEW sponsors and TNT brass.

When I saw Cody's kelly green shirt and blonde hair, I thought it was Hornswoggle for a sec.  Not a great match.  You know Cody's going over but trying to keep Penta strong...he let him kick out of 3-4 death moves and then won with a rollup.  That, and the beatdown, was some WWE layout right there.  And Cody pinned him by holding him down with both arms, including the bad one that had been snapped seconds before.  Jesus.  I'm really liking the Cody Hate Train picking up steam and picking up passengers.  All are welcome!  All are welcome!  Step into the light.

Has it ever been explained in kayfabe why Cody has his own dedicated entrance tunnel?  Nevermind kayfabe, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he was pitching that to TK and the other EVPs.

Mox and Kingston continue to be wonderful on the mic.  Match was okay; could have done without another rollup finish.

Another Sting interview, another series of interruptions.  Come on, dudes.  It's crazy how AEW isn't shy about not needing to give every single person screen time every single week.  Except Sting, who they trot out with no new creative ideas every single week.

I like the Bear Country/Jurassic dissention instead of "all the good guys are buddies and get along."  Dinosaur and Jungle Boy being kinda pissed about the Bears hurking their little buddy at the heels?  Yes, please.  And Butcher saved that little dude's life.  I swear my six year old daughter might be as tall as Marko.  Decent match but please please please Butcher get some different gear.  I was watching a match from mid 2019 featuring B&B just an hour before and he just looks like a mess now vs then.

I didn't want another horsemen group but I'm willing to see where this goes.  I wished MJF had put over Cokedick Ronnie as a pure scumbag instead of as "the chairman" who's been "held back."  He just looks like the grossest dude.  He looks like the main bad guy's coked out, fuckup henchman on Miami Vice. Lean into that.  Also, LOL @ the Jindrak comparison.  Spot on, especially considering his ill-fitting, off-the-rack suit.

Splitting off Brian Cage on his own as a face?  That's cool.  Give the guy a character and something to do and see where it goes.

Christian's promo was really good!

Excalibur said something like, "Don Callis continues to show that he is a trash human being" and I LOL'd.

I'm liking unhinged Miro, and confused Kip not exactly knowing what to do.  

FUCK YES to Darby being pissed about his lack of defenses and challenging the Dark Order.  NICE.

Points lost for Shida doing something close to the WWE 3/4 TV watching angle.

The Pinnacle shirt looks like a minor league hockey logo

Ross: "the first light-out match I ever called was in 1970 between Cowboy Bill Watts and Bob Sweetan!"  Namedropping racists and child abusers.  Niiiiiiice.

  

Edited March 18, 2021 by Technico Support

[Jiji]

18 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Has it ever been explained in kayfabe why Cody has his own dedicated entrance tunnel?  Nevermind kayfabe, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he was pitching that to TK and the other EVPs.

No, but Nakazawa has clearly become a parody of what QT Marshall was originally. He was even eating an apple on Elevation, haha. Even the biggest heel in the company recognizes how big of a dickhead Cody is. Thinking of this, the grandiose entrance could be another nod to that. 

[NikoBaltimore]

7 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Has it ever been explained in kayfabe why Cody has his own dedicated entrance tunnel?  Nevermind kayfabe, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he was pitching that to TK and the other EVPs.

They never officially explained it but since Cody doesn't see himself as a heel or face he figured to literally straddle the line by having his own entrance.  Which makes it frustrating as while I think he really is a nice guy his ego gets in the way too often.  The only way I can see the point of last night's finish is if it means that Penta "flips the switch" on the rematch and nukes Cody's shoulder causing the time off.  If that doesn't happen then it's just a big ol' pile of bullshit.

Now with that said I liked this episode a lot and it made being at home for St. Paddy's Day worthwhile.  They're starting to make sense of all that happened last week and the new "season" is off to a good start so far.  I would also like to think that after that main event AEW deserves to be forgiven for the issue at Revolution.  It's kind of weird to think that I first saw Rosa as Cobra Moon and she just wan't good then.  Didn't expect to see her improve so fast and get to this point but I'm glad she did.  And I wasn't sure about Britt for awhile but when she first had blood he reactions to it made me think that she gets it more than some may realize.  Cool to see her up her game so much and I'm really ready for her to be champ for awhile.

[Technico Support]

Cody is such a frustrating case.  When he's playing a pure babyface, he's excellent.  But his match layout is ponderous.  He wants to do indy darling flippy doo shit like the Cody Cutter, Canadian Destroyers, and whatever, I guess so he can come off as a guy who innovated his style beyond OVW and WWE, but he clumsily forces it all into this sports entertainment style because it's all he knows.  And don't get me started again on the rest of his presentation.  I really do feel like he doesn't understand pro wrestling on a fundamental level.  Which makes sense, as his only background from start to 2016 was pure WWE along with whatever Big Fish stories Dusty fed him, so his views of what wrestling is and is not are very skewed.  It was so telling in the Young Bucks book where they mentioned Cody was torn between starting AEW or just going back to WWE.  I feel like he'd be better off there.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Technico Support

[Curt McGirt]

Them constantly saying this was the first lights-out match in AEW when Moxley/Omega was instead was weird. 

You know as much as Penta irritates me these days he has nice flow with his tattoos. Very busy, but everything looks well-integrated. Not every wrestler has that (there's one WWE guy I can't remember who looks like his body is a teenager's Trapper Keeper drawings, for example. I wanted to say Aleister Black at first but he's got the Japanese thing going on instead). 

[Chaos]

I turned on in time to see Rosa/Baker, and I'm glad that's all I got to see from this show because I popped like crazy and enjoyed all of it. For me, it totally had the insanity feeling of watching Tanaka and Awesome in ECW for the first time but with a lot more blood and the complete addition of thumbtacks. People want Britt to be champ for a year, but Rosa feels like a complete star to me also. Incredible match.

[Technico Support]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Them constantly saying this was the first lights-out match in AEW when Moxley/Omega was instead was weird. 

They qualified it with "on Dynamite."  That one was on PPV, right?

Edited March 18, 2021 by Technico Support

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah, it was Full Gear. I guess I missed them adding that part because I was too busy losing my shit during the match. I actually said out loud to myself "if there's juice in this match I'm gonna lose my shit". I got what I wanted haha

[A_K]

Weirdly I think Cody could be fun in ‘01 heel-SCSAustin mode, where he becomes this hyper-insecure corporate-schmoozer type, trying to curry influence with other leading acts & berating other members of the NF for not being on his level while having an ultra aggressive switch that gets flipped every so often. He’s such an utter cliche that playing a hyper intensive parody of himself could actually be incredibly effective work. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by A_K

[Casey]

13 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

The qualified it with "on Dynamite."  That one was on PPV, right?

Yeah, it was Full Gear. Before that, Moxley/Janela was at Fyter Fest, and then Omega/Janela had one on Dark.

So they've had a Lights Out match on every kind of show they have. PPV, cable TV, and the internet/streaming service.

[HumanChessgame]

I could tolerate Cody's asinine schtick if he just went full heel. The gimmick he was playing in ROH fit him much better and it really played to his strengths and overall presentation. It isn't exactly great optics to have one of the owners of the company portraying some rich entitled douche character, not to mention the heel owner angle has been done to death, but I think it would be fine as long as he stayed out of the title picture.

[Steventon]

Holy fuck that main event was awesome. Hats off to both women, they both brought it, bled a bunch and ate a tonne of punishment. The powerbomb on the tacks maybe should have finished it, but honestly I was shocked to see Britt Baker of all people take a tacks bump and bleed a gusher on TV. Hands down the best AEW womens match ever, really satisfying grudge match that delivered among all the forgettable vanilla workrate stuff. If they don't give Britt the belt they are dropping the ball.

Enjoyed most of the rest of the episode. The Pinnacle is a crap name but I thought this serious MJF promo was the best he's done in a long time.

Moxley/Kingston vs Good Bros was good and I really hope they give us Kingston vs Omega before Christian gets his shot. That finish made me think they are having Kingston sit out for a while with the injury.

Cody vs Penta was mediocre, what a shock.

Bear Country are a team I'd like to see more of.

Darby is probably the only guy I'd be interested in seeing Archer against at this point so I'm down with that as a feud. Cage potentially going face away from Team Taz is interesting, hopefully it leads to more focus on Starks though.

All the 'you weren't as good as you were in New Japan' stuff is so wanky to me. I know these guys love that shit in real life but it just makes the whole promotion feel second rate when you're constantly masturbating over a promotion they all used to work for years ago half way round the other side of the world.

[Valcourt]

Still watching this episode, but Eddie and Mox just did the carnie/worker handshake roasting the Good Brothers, and my day is made.

Amazing.

[A_K]

4 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:

I could tolerate Cody's asinine schtick if he just went full heel. The gimmick he was playing in ROH fit him much better and it really played to his strengths and overall presentation. It isn't exactly great optics to have one of the owners of the company portraying some rich entitled douche character, not to mention the heel owner angle has been done to death, but I think it would be fine as long as he stayed out of the title picture.

Wouldn’t even mind him being in the title picture as a heel - it’d actually make sense. Late 90s/early 00s McMahon-Helmsley work was often great faction work. The babyface presentation at the moment however is patronising, self-aggrandising dirge. 

[The Natural]

Great seeing the reception given to Rosa vs. Baker. Well earned!

Edited March 18, 2021 by The Natural

[Niners Fan in CT]

it came off as Thunder Rosa talking trash after the pin but i feel she may have actually said some nice words to Britt and shared a moment? 

[The Natural]

2 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

it came off as Thunder Rosa talking trash after the pin but i feel she may have actually said some nice words to Britt and shared a moment? 

I thought the same, @Niners Fan in CT.

[The Natural]

I'd say top three:

3. Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker. AEW Dynamite, 17th March 2021. *****.

2. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley. WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015. *****.

1. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks. WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect 2015. *****.

[For Great Justice]

Coach TK is the king of the mid card feud blowoff match. Last night's main event and the parking lot brawl are probably my two favorite AEW matches ever. 

I still hope they go back to an Allin/Starks singles feud, because they never REALLY blew that one off properly. Put them in a cage. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by For Great Justice

[Craig H]

I don't want to hate on this episode, but if I had one complaint, it's that Penta is in more of a "phone it in" mode than Nakamura. Here's Penta on offense:

• Move
• Taunt
• Move
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Move
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Move

I'm all for these men and women not killing themselves every night, but holy shit, Penta is out there every fucking week not doing a fucking thing and spamming the taunt button to cheese his way to a special move. 

I still think Cody is fine and the match was fine, but Penta brought that match down for me way more than Cody did and I fucking love Penta. Maybe he sees his brother killing himself every other week and thinks, "nah dog, I'm good, now watch me mug for the camera."

[The Natural]

1 minute ago, Craig H said:

I don't want to hate on this episode, but if I had one complaint, it's that Penta is in more of a "phone it in" mode than Nakamura. Here's Penta on offense:

• Move
• Taunt
• Move
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Move
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Taunt
• Move

I'm all for these men and women not killing themselves every night, but holy shit, Penta is out there every fucking week not doing a fucking thing and spamming the taunt button to cheese his way to a special move. 

I still think Cody is fine and the match was fine, but Penta brought that match down for me way more than Cody did and I fucking love Penta. Maybe he sees his brother killing himself every other week and thinks, "nah dog, I'm good, now watch me mug for the camera."

Said it before and will now, I want to slap Pentagon with how frequently he does that fucking taunt.

[Sex Machine Gun]

The only thing that killed the main event even 1% was Tony saying Rosa was crying after she won. I didn't notice if that was the case and just rewatched the YouTube clip they posted of the final 7-8 minutes. Let us enjoy knowing they put up a brawl that was beyond worthy of "for a women's match" caveats. This is my second favorite women's match behind the Bayley/Sasha IronMan. Everyone loves the Brooklyn match and it's awesome but I liked the IronMan more because of Sasha being the biggest shitty heel that ever heeled. But back to Britt/Rosa, I agree that Britt was talking about star ratings and making Jericho proud and shit because it was a candid segment. In the same few minutes she talked about her mother fondly, not really heel stuff.

We almost saw Marko Stunt die. I can't stand that he's involved so much (RUGRATS GEAR, fuck me) but thank goodness whoever slowed down his fall did so. That was a real split second from at least paralysis.

I went to the corner store and was gone for all of twenty five minutes (~9:10-9:35) yet managed to miss three segments apparently. I'm guessing Miro's being built as a bigger heel in his pairing with Kip, the latter of whom will likely be crushed into a small cube by the former in a couple of weeks. Totally missed the Darby stuff as well as Brian Cage teasing a face turn. Missed a Scorpio Sky thing too. Sheesh. I WASN'T GONE THAT LONG YET THE WHOLE MIDCARD DID SHIT

Can someone please clue me in on why everyone shits on Shawn Spears? I don't think I've even seen him wrestle on TV in a year and can't remember at all if he's any good. He hasn't gotten any promo time and they've barely remembered he had Tully working with him. In terms of visibility and record he's the weakest member of the Pinnacle sure, but in my eyes I see him that way because I have absolutely nothing to work with. He hasn't been doing anything! Still, he's got good size, looks like a threat in a promotion of sub-6' guys, and has one of the best mouthpieces working for him. I don't get it. He could very well suck but there's so little data from which I can draw. I never watched him in NXT or anything. Way I see it, that motherfucker already won the game by marrying Peyton Royce. Why should I be making unflattering comparisons to Mongo or Roma or whateverthefuck?

Edited March 18, 2021 by Sex Machine Gun

[Sex Machine Gun]

9 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Said it before and will now, I want to slap Pentagon with how frequently he does that fucking taunt.

I actually looked for this last night given the scuttlebutt on here over the last couple of weeks and... wow. I need the Spanish word for "shoehorn" because that's all he was doing with his genuflecting last night. Even in close quarters where the cameras pick it up but the crowd doesn't (which I always thought was the real reason for vivid taunts) he was still doing it.

[Dog]

I don't know how anyone can say Omega isn't a great heel. Between last week and tonight's finger-snapping entrance, I've never wanted to see someone get beaten up more in my life. I've literally never punched a person, but I might even take a swing at him if we walked up to me like that.