Dynamite - 1/26/22

[Brandon Bones]

6 minutes ago, J.T. said:

Brandon Bones is awesome.  It never dawned on me that we may have just witnessed the break-up of 2 Fast 2 Fuego.

It also would not break my heart if Danhausen was restricted to comedy relief at the commentator's booth and never set foot in an AEW ring.

Thank you, brother, brother, brother.

 I enjoy your posts as well.

[EVA]

I have deep tape study available here for Danhausen. Back when he got on my radar for the first time, I went on a dive through YouTube to figure out what the deal was all about. To me, this match is the perfect summation of everything good and bad about Danhausen’s act. The comedy stuff here is actually really funny IMO. It takes what starts out as a simple, dumb premise (Danhausen thinks “Psycho Mike” is actually “Psychic Mike”) but goes SO FAR over the top with it that, by the end, I couldn’t help but be kind of impressed.

But ultimately, it’s a comedy sketch taking place in a wrestling ring, and the wrestling portions don’t really have much to do with it. Even worse, any time they transition to the wrestling bits, the crowd just DIES. The comedy doesn’t succeed in drawing people into the action.

This kind of the fundamental flaw in his act right now. One of the many reasons to be disappointed in whatever happened to ROH is that I thought it was giving him a venue to work on that before getting called up to one of the big time promotions (sorry latter-day ROH). ROH actually had a pretty good idea to put him in a tag team with PCO, who could carry the wrestling bits. They also had some fun double teams that mixed PCO’s power with Danhausen’s comedy. It was just a much more cohesive act.

I would recommend that AEW find him a good straight-man partner to help him with the transition.

[J.T.]

Danhausen / PCO might be a great team to throw against other big guy / smaller guy teams like Butcher & Blade or Jurassic Express.  I know they are clusterfucks on paper, but they might turn out to be decent matches. 

PCO's Frankenstein gimmick has good synergy with Danhausen's Dr. Madblood's Groovie Movie late night shock theater host gimmick.

In my heart, I don't want Danhausen in the ring, though.

Edited January 27, 2022 by J.T.

[Gorman]

It looks like Danhausen's application to A&W Root Beer landed on AEW's desk after all!

[paintedbynumbers]

How wild would it be if Cabana cost Punk the match against MJF next week?  MJF has made so many "shoot" comments but never mentioned Punk being a shitty friend.  They say Punk could be bringing backup. I could see him bringing Colt out for the massive pop only for Colt to turn on him. 

 

Fantasy booking 

[StuntmanCrowley]

11 hours ago, EVA said:

I’m kinda jaded to ladder spots after all these years, but this one got me.

1000000% with this.  Something about that one was just a genuine "Holy shit" from me.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

14 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

How wild would it be if Cabana cost Punk the match against MJF next week?  MJF has made so many "shoot" comments but never mentioned Punk being a shitty friend.  They say Punk could be bringing backup. I could see him bringing Colt out for the massive pop only for Colt to turn on him. 

 

Fantasy booking 

I wouldn't hold my breath (though yeah, I'd be very pleasantly surprised). Punk did commentary on a Dark Order match which featured one of the more beautiful moonsaults I've ever seen Colt pull off, and he didn't even acknowledge he was in the ring.

[eikerir]

26 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

How wild would it be if Cabana cost Punk the match against MJF next week?  MJF has made so many "shoot" comments but never mentioned Punk being a shitty friend.  They say Punk could be bringing backup. I could see him bringing Colt out for the massive pop only for Colt to turn on him. 

 

Fantasy booking 

I thought MJF was gonna say Cabana when he was announcing Punk's opponent for next week.

[(BP)]

4 hours ago, Pete said:

I have no idea what the WON reporter guy means by that.

When the guy you’re talking to is very nice, very evil, and all about becoming rich and famous those red flags start to look pink fast! 

[EVA]

I wouldn’t hold my breath for it either, but I would say that, if Punk and Cabana had patched things up well enough to at least work together, both guys are smart enough to keep that under their hat as tightly as possible until the time came. And the AEW locker room is historically very good at keeping secrets.

[HarryArchieGus]

53 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

How wild would it be if Cabana cost Punk the match against MJF next week?  MJF has made so many "shoot" comments but never mentioned Punk being a shitty friend.  They say Punk could be bringing backup. I could see him bringing Colt out for the massive pop only for Colt to turn on him. 

 

Fantasy booking 

Sounds like the podcast line had a few of us assuming an allusion to past 'good times, great memories'. I'd rather they go in the direction of the old AEW saying 'got to give the people what they want'.  Simply put - old friends reunited. And, if they wanted to, I wouldn't complain about a Second City Saints tag run.  A one off's good too.

That said, I'd welcome the return of an arrogant Cabana shuffling down the ramp to a Barry Manilow classic. Colt's skillset is one of the more underrated in the industry.

Edited January 27, 2022 by HarryArchieGus

[JLowe]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sammy wasn't pissing blood last night after the ladder senton.

It's funny, my wife was half-watching with me and was certain that those ladders were cheap wood painted black, or heavily gimmicked. I conceded that with 5 ladders, it was possible that they had a couple of them gimmicked to break or at least more flimsy, and then a couple for actual climbing. Then that spot happened and I rewound it to make sure she saw that the ladder not only didn't break, it barely had any give at all, and made a huge sound.

[paintedbynumbers]

I have to think that Tony is smart enough to sit Punk and Colt down when Punk started and have them at least be professional with each other.  Both guys have been in the business for what now 23-24 yrs?  Maybe I'm dreaming because of the location but it would make me mark out more than anything that could possibly happen this Saturday at the Rumble. 

[Krone]

Can we please talk about that hometown pop for Wardlow. The crowd was begging for him to turn in that CM Punk beatdown, and I'm ready for the big man to take off. Assuming it happens either next week or during this Punk feud, I'd have to guess that means MJF's next feud might just end up being Wardlow himself.

[HarryArchieGus]

3 minutes ago, JLowe said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Sammy wasn't pissing blood last night after the ladder senton.

It's funny, my wife was half-watching with me and was certain that those ladders were cheap wood painted black, or heavily gimmicked. I conceded that with 5 ladders, it was possible that they had a couple of them gimmicked to break or at least more flimsy, and then a couple for actual climbing. Then that spot happened and I rewound it to make sure she saw that the ladder not only didn't break, it barely had any give at all, and made a huge sound.

One of the most brutal and scary looking bumps in the history of this program.  My back and stomach were aching watching that.  Anybody see a GIF of that floating around? What an incredible spectacle that match was. Rightfully so, the Cody haters seem to be absent this week.  

[chriskbrown50]

I was reflecting on the Julia Black vignette. First, unlike the TNT title with the open challenge, we have the champ calling out her opponents - interesting reverse. Then Julia is now not wearing the cheerleader outfit - loving the booking here. 

[Craig H]

Regarding Danhausen, like Orange Cassidy, I'm totally wrong. Before AEW got on TV I really didn't think Orange Cassidy would work and he's part of the heart and soul of the company. I thought the same about Danhausen, and yet, when he got pulled out from under the ring, I had a huge smile on my face and then you had 1000s of people chanting for Danhausen.

So sure, I'm cool with this signing, and I think AEW having acts like this is part of what makes them special.

I think the only thing I didn't like on the show was Red Velvet vs Layla Hirsch. First, I don't think Red Velvet is that good and there's a bunch of other women in the division I'd rather watch. Second, I also don't think Layla is that good, but at the very least, put her with Team Taz already. Third, it felt like the match went on for forever. The match felt like a mess at times and as good as Kris Statlander is, it doesn't give me much hope that she'll have a good match against Layla. Honestly, Nyla Rose powerbombing Velvet and Layla through the mat would have been more preferable. 

[Technico Support]

The ladder man was wild, man.  At first, I thought Cody had set it up to be a more old school match because they didn't touch a ladder for the first maybe 8 minutes.  But damn, they went to the nutso spots and kept the foot on the gas.  The Crossrhodes off the ladder setup was kind of contrived but overall, damn.  Meltzer says Cody has disk issues and a bad back.  As someone who got over a major disk issue last year, I sure as hell wouldn't be fucking with that shit.  Man, what a match.

Schiavone was so on point on color commentary in that match.  Calling out why the ref would move the ladder in that one spot, then calling out how Sammy climbed the wrong side of the ladder if he wanted to keep Cody down, which was EXACTLY what I was thinking in that moment.  Just perfect. 

JR was over the moon at the idea that a match FINALLY had two refs.  Big multiple ref guy, that JR.

Will Hobbs wearing a pimp-ass fur coat, airbrushed overalls, and sunglasses is your spirit animal.

PnP getting fed up with Chris Shoepolishhairico using them and stealing their overness is the best.

Good on Hirsch and Velvet recovering from the first move of the match being a blown spot, but this was an ugly match.  

Kris Statlander running to the ring in her normal human clothes sent a few hundred kids directly through puberty.

Julia Hart's slow turn continues and it's excellent.  She's this close to just saying HEY GRIFF FUCK OFF WITH YOUR CHIVALRY.

Holy sweet baby Jesus was that Britt promo rough.  You have to be clever, have some sort of angle or joke, when shitting on Home Town Sports Team or else it's just really weak cheap heat.  Funny she started the promo calling out how she doesn't get enough promo time, then she stepped all over her dick and proved why she doesn't.  This was long and bad.

MJF's promos are amateur hour and that dumb face he puts on, mugging for the crowd and camera whenever he gets in a "zinger" is bush league.  

I need Nyla to beat Soho and get back in contention.

Loved the streetfight though it felt like it had about 3-4 spots that should have been the finish.  But overbooked insanity is the reason these matches exist.  Did OC gig his hand?  HEY JR, just say OC turned his back out of disrespect or whatever.  Don't shit on the babyface.  Damn.

Sammy needs to make sure he gets the spray tan onto his forehead and the sides of his shaved head.  That shit was distracting.  Also, he hits that GTH in a new, ugly, very dangerous way seemingly every time he does it.  He got Cody right on the side of the head and it looked real hurty.

Really fun show!

Edited January 27, 2022 by Technico Support

[Brandon Bones]

1 minute ago, chriskbrown50 said:

I was reflecting on the Julia Black vignette. First, unlike the TNT title with the open challenge, we have the champ calling out her opponents - interesting reverse. Then Julia is now not wearing the cheerleader outfit - loving the booking here. 

She even wears the eye patch when they do bits on Sammy’s vlog.  Committed!

[chriskbrown50]

1 minute ago, Brandon Bones said:

She even wears the eye patch when they do bits on Sammy’s vlog.  Committed!

Julia is so young - She just turned 20. I assume she is getting some serious coaching/advice in the back. But yep she is living the gimmick off camera which is pretty unusual these days. 

[paintedbynumbers]

11 minutes ago, Krone Meltzer said:

Can we please talk about that hometown pop for Wardlow. The crowd was begging for him to turn in that CM Punk beatdown, and I'm ready for the big man to take off. Assuming it happens either next week or during this Punk feud, I'd have to guess that means MJF's next feud might just end up being Wardlow himself.

He works well as a face. Check out some of his IWC run on youtube.  The guy has a bunch of aerial moves up his sleeve that have never been seen in AEW.  I compare it to Orange Cassidy.  The diehards all knew he was more than just the comedy guy.

 

With Wardlow they have barely scratched the surface of what he could do.  The issue is he always needed a mouthpiece with him.  When he turns face I am curious as to who speaks for him.  Then again they could go the silent Goldberg route too. 

[HarryArchieGus]

6 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

The ladder man was wild, man.  At first, I thought Cody had set it up to be a more old school match because they didn't touch a ladder for the first maybe 8 minutes.  But damn, they went to the nutso spots and kept the foot on the gas.  The Crossrhodes off the ladder setup was kind of contrived but overall, damn.  Meltzer says Cody has disc issues and a bad back.  As someone who got over a major disk issue last year, I sure as hell wouldn't be fucking with that shit.  Man, what a match.

Schiavone was so on point on color commentary in that match.  Calling out why the ref would move the ladder in that one spot, then calling out how Sammy climbed the wrong side of the ladder if he wanted to keep Cody down, which was EXACTLY what I was thinking in that moment.  Just perfect. 

JR was over the moon at the idea that a match FINALLY had two refs.  Big multiple ref guy, that JR.

Will Hobbs wearing a pimp-ass fur coat, airbrushed overalls, and sunglasses is your spirit animal.

PnP getting fed up with Chris Shoepolishhairico using them and stealing their overness is the best.

Good on Hirsch and Velvet recovering from the first move of the match being a blown spot, but this was an ugly match.  

Kris Statlander running to the ring in her normal human clothes sent a few hundred kids directly through puberty.

Julia Hart's slow turn continues and it's excellent.  She's this close to just saying HEY GRIFF FUCK OFF WITH YOUR CHIVALRY.

Holy sweet baby Jesus was that Britt promo rough.  You have to be clever, have some sort of angle or joke, when shitting on Home Town Sports Team or else it's just really weak cheap heat.  Funny she started the promo calling out how she doesn't get enough promo time, then she stepped all over her dick and proved why she doesn't.  This was long and bad.

MJF's promos are amateur hour and that dumb face he puts on, mugging for the crowd and camera whenever he gets in a "zinger" is bush league.  

I need Nyla to beat Soho and get back in contention.

Loved the streetfight though it felt like it had about 3-4 spots that should have been the finish.  But overbooked insanity is the reason these matches exist.  Did OC gig his hand?  HEY JR, just say OC turned his back out of disrespect or whatever.  Don't shit on the babyface.  Damn.

Sammy needs to make sure he gets the spray tan onto his forehead and the sides of his shaved head.  That shit was distracting.  Also, he hits that GTH in a new, ugly, very dangerous way seemingly every time he does it.  He got Cody right on the side of the head and it looked real hurty.

Really fun show!

No wait, you're mostly right, but that Baker promo was awesome.  Yeah, okay, went to the well a few times on the Browns shit, but worked just fine for me.  I needed a little reminder or refresher of how much I love Britt on the mic.  I also loved seeing a PWI award ceremony straight up meant for bragging use by a heel with no chicanery.  

[Jiji]

That Baker promo was the worst thing she's done since turning. Awful, long, meandering, lacked confidence at times (you could hear her voice crack, she was understandably nervous), and accomplished nothing. Not to mention she buried the division. Just as bad as the Hirsch/Velvet match. Not a good week for the division other than Nyla with the cool interruption (and Excalibur with the nice adlib). Oh and Julia's promo was good for reasons mentioned. She's showing a lot of personality lately. Impressive because she didn't seem like she had much other than potential early on. Maybe she can really pull off the House of Black stuff if this is indeed where we are headed. 

Sorry to be a pedant, but can we please not casually use the term "spirit animal"? Indigenous people have been asking/telling non Indigenous people to cut that out of their lexicon. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by Jiji

[HarryArchieGus]

14 minutes ago, Jiji said:

That Baker promo was the worst thing she's done since turning. Awful, long, meandering, lacked confidence at time (you could hear her voice crack, she was understandably nervous), and accomplished nothing.

Thanks for your opinion.  Is there room for an alternate?  One that says she was funny, confident (voices can crack, there are a few flus and such running around) and had her coming off as a top heel celebrating her greatness and looking for a challenger?  I loved that segment, is that okay?

I really like Nyla Rose as a promo, and liked the impromptu interruption, but why was she talking directly to Jim Ross and Excalibur?  Are they making the matches?  Felt a bit awkward, especially the ending.  But again let's try and accept 'to each their own'.
 
And nice simple and effective Christian/Jurassix-HFO promo. I'd love it if Matt Hardy were given more regular promo time with his crew. And more than happy with it happening on Youtube. The Privates need more promo reps.  They're a fun team with fun energy that could really benefit from more promo time.  Anyway, looking forward to that bout.

So great seeing Starks and Hobbs cutting promos out in the cold. More of those pre-tapes for everyone please.

Edited January 27, 2022 by HarryArchieGus

[The Natural]