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AEW Dynamite - 4/7/2021


Dolfan in NYC

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Jericho promo was good and I like the idea of Tyson being the Inner Circle's second for Blood & Guts to counter Tully, assuming that's the direction they go. My only concern is this feud just being Jericho & friends vs MJF & friends, I want to see the rest of the guys in this get some moments and spotlight.

Darby vs Drake was darn good, especially for a B-level defence. I was never too impressed by Drake in EVOLVE, but he stepped up to the plate. I really liked how diverse his offence was while still being all quite basic and hurt-y.

Is Archer going to go back to babyface with Sting's words of encouragement? The guy might be AEW's Kane soon. Hopefully it just leads to him vs Darby.

Another Britt Baker promo and no sign of Thunder Rosa. Makes you wonder why they had Rosa go over.

Skimmed through the main event. The Matt Jackson - Kenny Omega friendship drama is the most lame and boring story in wrestling. Didn't care for it pre-AEW with their Elite wankfests, don't care for it now. Even dumber considering they had a high profile match against each other last year when they were still bros in storyline, but now Matt is hesitant to superkick Kenny? These guys are all far better away from each other rather than living out their masturbatory 'high art' wrestling fantasies. The worst thing about the Flair-Michaels retirement match was how it's lead to so many teary eyed 'I love you' crybaby wrestling programs after it. This guy turned his back on you, kick his fucking head in. Bucks joining the Bullet Club 2K21 is the most uninteresting angle they could have gone with.

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I'm surprised everyone enjoyed the Bunny/Conti match.

Thought it was terrible and was actively counter productive to what was trying to be achieved.

If you're wanting to elevate Conti to the next big challenger to Shida, having Bunny no sell all of her stuff, and only barely go over a non-wrestler because Shida helped her was not it. I did wonder if Bunny got knocked out on that judo throw early on, as things fell apart from there a little.  

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Yeah, Bunny looked legit loopy. 
 

There were parts of this show I really liked, but the whole time I was watching the main event all I could think about is how much better this company would be without Omega and the Young Bucks, and this self indulgent horseshit is the exact reason why. Ugh.

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Having the Inner Circle come out for a promo and then cutting to a commercial break is a perfect example of throwing away TV time that can go to anything more productive. Baffling decision but I guess we need everybody singing that song, right? 

Rest of the show was decent, skipped the main frankly because I was tired but also I really don't like the Bucks and reading on here it sounds like I made the right choice! The Drake/Allin match was the highlight for me. The last time I saw Drake he was in Evolve and wearing little red trunks that were incredibly not complimentary, so I'm digging the singlet. Everything else was just kind of there but mostly served a purpose. After watching about 45 minutes of raw this week I'm glad we have a wrestling company that doesn't completely fill the screen with needless bullshit, graphics, lighting, etc because it's just ugliest shit and I'd rather see an arena even if it's half empty. 

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It was really funny, Sammy came out with the Cue cards for the first time in ages, but the big screen was just showing the Dynamite logo, so nobody who was there live could read them. But then it cut to the PiP/Fite live camera and they all popped.

I was worried Bear Boulder had torn his bicep on the missed crossbody catch spot (he usually does a simultaneous powerbomb/ World's Strongest Slam on both opponents out of that, but Luchasaurus was too big). But he seemed OK later.

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This week was mostly a swing and a miss for me, honestly. Enough interrupting promos!! I'd watch USA if I wanted that shit. Nothing was terribly offensive, but this show could have been much, much tighter. Darby/Drake brought it though, big respect to Drake. I went from "Why isn't this on Dark?" to "Holy shit!" pretty quick, so kudos to those guys.

Edited by Zakk_Sabbath
I added a positive!
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How many more weeks of NXT opposition? Was that it? Going to be interesting to see the ratings once they have a clear run — obviously there’s been a pretty sizeable drop off of late on early last year.

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7 minutes ago, A_K said:

How many more weeks of NXT opposition? Was that it? Going to be interesting to see the ratings once they have a clear run — obviously there’s been a pretty sizeable drop off of late on early last year.

Yup, that was the last one as far as I'm aware. 

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10 hours ago, DreamBroken said:

Hangman/Caster was a real good opener. Nice finish in Darby/Drake. Loved Tay vs the Bunny, great hot start with the brawl angle beforehand and then both were nailing some solid moves and strikes throughout the match. Thought the Tyson save was pretty fun and enjoy his involvement here. Glad that Blood and Guts will finally be happening, should be epic.  Really dug the Sting/Archer/Jake segment.

Did not care for the Bucks drama in the main. Thinking back to the Bucks vs Omega/Page classic last year, did they not do plenty to hurt Kenny then? But now the BTE Trigger was going to severely injure him. Preferred the Bucks remaining faces rather than finally going full heel after the months of back and forth. 

Next week looks loaded up nicely. Looking forward to Darby/Hardy falls count anywhere

 

 

Caster/Page was sloppy, but I was impressed by both of them knowing how to cover for the botches really well, outside of the top rope spot.  Got the impression they were really off, but knew how to handle having an off-night.  I'm still pretty high on Caster.   I like the gimmick, though I'd like to see him go more into the ballshots- he does those as well as Naito.   I'm going to say Caster had an off night at the worst time.  (Also, Bowens is supposed to be the Billy and Caster the Road Dogg of the group , and Caster is a lot better than the Roadie)

 

Tay made the Bunny look awesome.  She is money, and I'd really want to see her beat Britt for the Brit (and Shida before that to show she's ready)- she's gotten good in the ring, and comes off as such a great babyface.  Also a Tay/Anna feud is going to be money down the road.  I feel bad a bit for Riho as she's lost in the shuffle during all of this.

 

I wouldn't mind a double turn in Archer/Darby and have Sting turn on Darby and align with Archer, who then jettisons Jake, leading to Jake teaching Darby the "true"  DDT as a final revenge.  Would give Darby a credible 2nd finisher to extend his career, and Archer would get the title run he deserves.

 

Edited by alstein
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Seems like the main event angle was universally rejected and disliked. I wonder how they react, as they've been good trying to learn from (most) mistakes but I feel like the Bucks and Omega all have pretty big egos so I'm not sure. The only part I didn't dislike was that they made it seem like Omega had to really try to win over the bucks throughout the match and that it was spontaneous rather than the even lamer "we planned this from the start" bullshit but the execution still sucked. I think the world of both but they need to leave the melodrama behind permanently and especially during matches. Omega has shown he can do it in more subtle ways and I'm fine with a look here and there in the dramatic finishing stretch of a match but Matt in particular is the world's biggest ham. Stop. I'm assuming they are going to get trounced in the ratings too, maybe even lose the demo, which may be a strong message even they can't deny. 

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I think NXT is definitley going to be able to call scoreboard on them, after 18 months of largely getting their asses handed to them, which is going to be hilarious and make for wonderful online discourse for all eternity.  The NXT/AEW Ratingz Warz will end just like #ReleaseTheSnyderCut ended...which is to say never.

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2 minutes ago, EVA said:

I think NXT is definitley going to be able to call scoreboard on them, after 18 months of largely getting their asses handed to them, which is going to be hilarious and make for wonderful online discourse for all eternity.  The NXT/AEW Ratingz Warz will end just like #ReleaseTheSnyderCut ended...which is to say never.

I dunno... NXT clearly whooped their ass but this is typically their biggest show of the year. For AEW, it was a Wednesday... no real importance attached to it besides the Degrassi High BS to cap the show.

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The Bucks trying to straddle the line started way, way too early going back to last Fall.  If it started after Kenny won the belt then it could have made for a more focused story to follow.  And while it's clear they're heels now I'm hoping they almost immediately go into super cocky Bucks mode and quit the melodrama.  I'm sure looking back it will maybe make sense but the problem with long-term stories is that sometimes you sacrifice things in the present to get the point across.  It's tricky for sure but I'm hoping they can find ways to better balance the timing of some of these stories.

Speaking of stories their announcement of Hangman being number one contender is cool but that means we're looking at a likely Double or Nothing title match for him.  I still would have saved that for All Out at the earliest as they need to somehow cycle out Mox/Kingston and build up Hangman's title match in the process.  There's time for that and at the same time not enough but hey I'm just playing armchair booker here.

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What did people expect from the Young Bucks and Omega? This melodrama really isn't coming out of the blue. Everyone who watched some BTE in the last years (or simply followed them over the last few years) knows they like to do some cringey soap opera stuff. This isn't Adam Cole-Shawn Michaels-Performance Center stuff, this is quintessential melodramatic Omega-Young Bucks stuff. For better or worse.

And in the end, this is just the Monkeys Paw for all the people complaining about the Bucks and Omega not putting themselve over enough in the first few months and playing sideshow characters on their own show.

Edited by MrKothoga
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1 hour ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

Britt for the Brit? 

The Being Britt Baker Championship.

1 hour ago, Jiji said:

I'm assuming they are going to get trounced in the ratings too, maybe even lose the demo, which may be a strong message even they can't deny. 

Nah. Up against a TakeOver, this would be an easy loss for them to rationalize away, if they're so inclined. 

44 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

I'm sure looking back it will maybe make sense but the problem with long-term stories is that sometimes you sacrifice things in the present to get the point across.  It's tricky for sure but I'm hoping they can find ways to better balance the timing of some of these stories.

Dingdingding. ???

33 minutes ago, MrKothoga said:

What did people expect from the Young Bucks and Omega? This melodrama really isn't coming out of the blue. Everyone who watched some BTE in the last years (or simply followed them over the last few years) knows they like to do some cringey soap opera stuff. 

One of the many reasons I don't watch that shit.

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19 hours ago, Infinit said:

I think that Jungle Boy/Harwood singles match was more a chapter in the JE/FTR feud than the beginning of a big Jungle Boy singles push.

Oh yeah, I feel the same way.  I was just making fun of the blistering HOT TAEKS I heard re Jungle Boy.

About the show:

Oof, that Bucks semi-heel-turn went over like a popcorn fart to me.  I did enjoy how it didn't come out of nowhere and wasn't a "now we're eeeevil heels" thing, that it was instead "we're Kenny's friends and we're torn."  Like it's cool they tried to make it make sense, but it still flopped.  Just so blah.  I don't exactly care what happens next and that sucks.  If they were going to do a slow burn semi heel turn, then why did they do all the "superkick Alex Marvez" shit a few months ago?  And then they teased a turn to join Kenny and then didn't.  Only to finally turn last night?  Maybe?  Christ, I'm rambling.  Fuck it, this sucked.

Why and when did JD Drake change his gear?  "Fat guy in trunks" is perfect for his old school gimmick.

Jericho massacring The Pinnacle on the mic was so, so great.

I with everyone else on the "less Luchasaurus, please" train.  Just put him in a tag with Stunt on Dark and let's get this Jungle Boy push going.

I actually love Bunny's crazy act.  Her yelling at everyone, over and over, to clear off the announce table, was hilarious.

Damn, QT actually did something really good.  I liked that promo.

AEW needs to call a moratorium on guys interrupting in-person promos.  If you include the Jericho beatdown, that's four on tonight's show (Christian/ Taz, Death Triangle/BF, Sting/Archer).  The only way to improve as a writer/booker is to figure out your crutches and challenge yourself by getting rid of them for a bit.  Also LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL at that pre-scored dressing room door breaking in a perfect crisscross pattern.  Come on, guys.

Oh man, Matt Jackson went to the same spray tan guy as Guiliani.  Shit was running so bad I could hear the director frantically screaming to get away from that close-up.  Call a moratorium on spray tans while we're at it.

When did the Bunny get half decent in the ring?  This isn't on the same level as when Baker came back from injury a totally different wrestler, but it's somewhere up there.

So they're calling attention to Page being the #1 contender AND his past drama with the Elite.  Page and his new friends vs the Elite, culminating in him finding self confidence through friendship and winning the belt, is going to be awesome.

Someone to tell Mox to dial back his weird gesticulations out there.  He looked like Bugsy McGraw at times.

Digging Ortiz's "3rd guy in the gang in GTA: The Lost and Damned" look.  Also, who said Santana looks like he's gearing up for the next Jacksons Victory Tour?  That shit was hilarious and on point.

Loved Butcher's NIN shirt.  Hopefully he's a fan of older NIN and not whatever emo-singsong shit Trent did after Downward Spiral

 

 

 

 

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I thought the main event angle was contrived. For a bit, I enjoyed the psychology of Matt Jackson not wanting to do Kenny wrong, which was a bit of a continuation from the Bucks/Omega and Hangman match. Matt had no problems talking shit and being a dick to Hangman, but he just wouldn't do that to Kenny. And then the end of the show happened where they made it look like that was the plan all along. It's just poor booking. I'm sure it looked better on paper or it sounded better in discussion, but it was just meh in execution. 

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I'm definitely in the minority here, but I have enjoyed most of the Bucks/Kenny story, but I'm also a regular BTE viewer and am invested in their characters from that. Now, I would argue that the Bucks should have gone full heel on the New Years show this year for maximum impact, but the story of being torn between their friend acting like an asshole and being the good guys in the company makes sense in real-life (where things are rarely black and white). Also, this feels like a rare case where the board here and the live AEW audience have strong differences in opinion, as the live audience was fully invested in the Bucks turn and reacted loudly against the Bucks. Also, looking forward to the Bucks as heel champs, as you have a good number of face teams (Death Triangle, Jurassic Express, Best Friends, any combo of Inner Circle) to challenge them, and hope for the Best Friends to get a big moment by dethroning them.

Disappointed that Blood and Guts will not be on Double or Nothing, but still happy to see it confirmed nonetheless. Have strongly preferred Jericho as a heel for vast majority of his career, but think that they needed to have a fairly clear delineation with Pinnacle in this feud (and this basically cements Inner Circle as the Chaos of AEW).

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All Out should be Bucks vs Silver/Reynolds, Good Brothers vs Uno/Stu, and Kenny vs Hangman to blow off a DO vs Elite feud.

have -1 cane Callis as part of the blowoff as well.

Also maybe have Colt beat up Nakazawa on the pre-show.

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JD Drake and Bear Country were both debuting new gear (in their first big TV matches) last night. Although Bear Country just went from black and red to black and brown, as opposed to Drake's extreme makeover deal.

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I was wrong they did align Tyson with the Inner circle. He can combat Tully on the outside I’d have went with Jericho’s father Ted but Tyson is cool. 

The Bucks soap opera stuff is eye rolling cuz it’s stupid nobody is torn between the Bucks being faces or heels just turn heel already we want to boo you. Last night didn’t feel like a heel turn as much as it felt like the Bucks proving to Kenny that they are still his friends which is stupid. Either join or don’t, stop trying to please everybody.

I thought in ring wise it was a really good show. Good showcase for upcoming talent like Max Caster, Bear Country and JD Drake. Tay Conti vs Bunny was my match of the night. Plus that Jericho promo was a lesson in how to fucking do it holy shit.

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26 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

So they're calling attention to Page being the #1 contender AND his past drama with the Elite.  Page and his new friends vs the Elite, culminating in him finding self confidence through friendship and winning the belt, is going to be awesome.

I think that's the whole point of this Bucks bullshit. They need to have Hangman's old friends together for him and the DO to conquer on the path to Hangman beating Omega for the belt. So while I think it's important we got here, the way in which it was mishandled was not good at all. I've enjoyed Callis' part in this and Kenny's unhinged promo a couple weeks ago but that's about it. However, if this ends with the Bucks turning on Kenny during or after the Hangman match and joining Page, that shit will be unforgivable.

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