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Dynamite - 8/24/2022


The Natural

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So let's talk about this 4 way for the title. I know Dave is all like, well, um, uh, you have to put your title on the biggest character, and, you know, that has to be, umm, that's gotta be Baker.

To me, and it's not because I'm a fan of hers, but I think the smart move is to put the title on Hayter. Toni doesn't lose anything by not winning the title now, Britt is going to stay over regardless, and Hayter seems like she could be a hot hand given that Kris is on the shelf. Then you build to Hayter vs Britt.

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1 hour ago, Jiji said:

For those saying this is setting up a world title rematch, in what world? Punk, according to the story they told us very clearly, came back too early and also got his ass kicked decisively as a result. Why would I be interested in a rematch a week and a half later? That match effectively killed an immediate rematch in my opinion and sets one up later down the road. How is Punk going to be any better in 11 days after theoretically reaggravating his injury yesterday? Where is the logic? This would have worked if it were a month ago, not so much now imo. 

No idea exactly how they get there, but if they run it back at All Out then I think last night's match went a long way toward setting up a rematch that's more unpredictable and has a lot more questions surrounding it than if they'd just done it on the PPV. Would Punk really take back-to-back decisive losses? Would Tony really have two back-to-back champions lose in their first defense? How would people respond to the optics around Punk losing the belt and then immediately being crowned in his hometown? Where do people expect Punk's health to be after the weirdness of last night? What kind of far-flung scenarios will people go in imagining (heel turns, MJF, etc)? What could have been the simple formality of Punk just coming back, picking up his win, and carrying on where he left off is now so much more. 

Is he desperate for a quick turnaround? Does he think last night wasn't truly reflective of where his health really is? Does he bust out the "if I lose, I never challenge again" proposal? Who knows. He's generally pretty smart about this stuff and good at talking people into it, so I'll wait for him to do his thing. But we now have a more interesting All Out match coming out of the craziness of their first match. I'm here for all of that, and I'm here for lots of foot selling. 

Now of course I realize some people will hate all of this, even some who aren't inclined to dislike Punk by default. But I think that "anything can happen" feel is worth it. 

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I'm pretty into all of this. I like being surprised, I like not knowing what's happening next, I like when the dirtsheets don't quite know what's happening next and nobody is precisely sure what's a work and what's not. I don't like not knowing what's happening next and then what happens is nothing, or what happens is the same thing that everyone thought would happen but then convinced themselves it wouldn't because it would be too obvious. And, of course, the danger in working the dirt sheets is that it becomes your main, increasingly weird niche focus and you lose the larger plot entirely, but that doesn't feel like what's happening here. This isn't "GOLDBERG WON'T FOLLOW THE SCRIPT, SO THIS WILL BE A REAL FIGHT" territory, and it's not even close. I feel like some people are severely underrating how sharp and clear the death of WCW was. 

No idea what the main event for All Out is, not even sure I could make a reasonable guess, but it's not like that'll keep me from watching. Jon Moxley is maybe having the best year in all of US Wrestling and it's really fun to watch him get to enjoy it. I tend to buy the boringest explanation of all this, which is that Punk isn't actually ready to come back but they wanted to unify the belts and doing a squash match at the PPV seemed risky in a bad way. 

I like Interim Titles. To me, it just feels like a (slightly complicated, slightly nerdy) way to build up a match between the person who won a tournament for the vacated belt and the person who never got pinned to lose it in the first place. This is something that already happens all the time. The visual of someone holding two belts is fun, and it elevates someone as a legitimate world champion (and tests how the crowd responds to that) without taking any momentum away from the person on the shelf. I get why people don't like them, though -- there are certainly enough fucking belts as it is in this company.

Weirdly, I am not really into Kenny or the Bucks, but something about how clean everything Ospreay does, and his smarmy little prick act is growing on me. I will also say,  I think a lot of this go-go-go high spot no sell back flip choreography style of wrestling is WAY better in person than watching it by yourself in your living room. While that trios match was super fun to watch on my laptop, I can only imagine how hype it is getting to see a bunch of performers do so many insane things back to back while surrounded by a hot crowd. Yeah, it can be a little cirque du soleil, but that's fun! Who doesn't like Cirque Du Soleil!! As long as that is not the only style of wrestling happening on the show. Another reason why I am enjoying Mox as champion.

Everything does feel a little chaotic, though, and everything could absolutely end up disappointing and fucked but I would rather have wrestling I am invested in break my heart as a grown-ass man than to watch Karrion Kross and Johnny Gargano be the exciting new direction of a company (with all due respect!).

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1 hour ago, DEAN said:

Eh, folks can have their opinions.  I'm just trying to remember the downfall of WCW and for me it was the introduction of Vince Russo, who ruined WWE before he showed up in WCW, I thought.  I dig that AEW can book all this shit on the fly and the work gets it over.  As long as people keep watching, buying tickets and getting the PPVs, I'll be happy.  I like that AEW has to produce in the ring to stay alive and can't just coast like the WWE does.  I mean the WWE is making money whether Mandy Rose is over or not. The fact that they TRY to put out a good product is heartwarming, but it's really unnecessary from a bottom line sense.  The rubes are showing up no matter how many good matches Kevin Owens has, pretty much. AEW has to worry about quarter hours and buyrates and ticket sales.  It makes it a lot edgier.  Actually, as long as the Jaguars money, the Ford/Chevy money and SOCCER~! money keep pumping in, they probably don't need to worry either, but I dig that Tony Khan is TRYING to not make this a vanity project.  It's a REALLY good time to be a wrestling fan.

I the last couple months, the tv shows I've kept up with the most were Better Call Saul and Westworld.  Now, I thought BCS was wonderful throughout. Westworld (IMO) had some high highs and some low lows. Going into the last episodes of their respective recent seasons, I wasn't sure where either show was going. The difference was, I trusted the people behind BCS to take things somewhere good. I did not have that trust in the Westworld people. I ended up feeling correct in both of those assumptions (again, IMO).

In my experience, when I've wondered where something is going, I've felt that the people behind AEW have taken it to a good, or even just interesting (in the case of Punk/Mox last night) place. The booking leading up to Forbidden Door was a little wonky, but it turned out great, for example. I have trust in them to do that. It may not always happen, but it's happened enough to earn my trust.

On the other hand, WWE has had me wondering where they might go next with something, and almost always, have left me unsatisfied with where it ended up. That's why I stopped watching. Sure, there may be some great matches, I'm not doubting anyone who says there are. It's just that nothing is ever going to go in a direction that I find to be all that interesting. I just don't trust them.

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To give him his dues Khan really did turn Fulham around. They went from being a carnival outfit to be a well-run, competitive side with a clever manager handed the reins after some very dubious exec decisions previously. Gives one a lot of hope that he can get this horse back on track too

Edited by A_K
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20 minutes ago, SprintingFromAmerica said:

What's Samoa Joe up to? He can have a good match with Moxley right?

Edit: If we're counting Dean Ambrose, then I think Joe may well be 1-0 against him (Raw, 12/11/2017).

That's not the worst idea I've ever heard.

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25 minutes ago, SprintingFromAmerica said:

What's Samoa Joe up to? He can have a good match with Moxley right?

Edit: If we're counting Dean Ambrose, then I think Joe may well be 1-0 against him (Raw, 12/11/2017).

Now I want to see Dustin challenge for every ROH title.

Dustin vs Joe

Dustin vs Yuta

Dustin/... Brock Anderson vs FTR.

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Fucking terrific show! On the FITE version JR brought back his ridiculous Sternum first Bret/Dax comparison. Fun listening to Excalibur/Taz quickly cover. Then JR makes a (Grand)Dad joke about Lethal and Harwood and referee Remsburg (or Knox?) not qualifying for hair matches to which Taz explains the lame joke to the team and they in turn share a quiet reserved laugh at Jim's expense. Jericho-'Danny'-Danielson talk segment was wonderful. That's how you reel in a melodramatic story and make it fun, funny and awesome! After the Mox bout I'm game for Lionheart-Dragon. Lethal-Harwood was just wonderful! It's great to see Jay Lethal at this stage of his career really put it all together. I love this heel character and everything he's doing in the ring. The Motor City Machineguns, yep! That'll do! Rosa promo was awkward as per usual. Nice to see this reign of terror (kinda sorta) ends at the PPV. I'm fine with Interim Champions, but why not drop the 'interim' talk until the Champion returns? Hmmm, Swerve and Lee vs the Acclaimed, ya say? With Swerve and Lee cooking like they have been, I can see this one working. I like seeing Kilynn King back, but at her size she needs these ladies, Baker included, to be selling better for her Big Lady act. Britt's weak strikes should not have her going toe to toe with King's. Fantastic sneak attack by Hayter on Toni. I gasped! Rebel is a true beaut! Absolutely fucking loved the Punk-Moxley squash. I love the continuing build of unpredictability. Totally game for Punk-Moxley II! Christian's 'not malice/tough love' promo was another notch in this fabulous heel run. JB-Christian is gonna be a total darkhorse showstealer. Ricky Starks has the emotion, the crazy, and the flow! Kinda obvious stuff, but well executed. What's the explanation of 10 not being in that trios match? I mean, I'm all for Hanger subbing in, but did I miss something? Death Triangle-Ospreay/Aussies was pure joy! On this Ospreay talk, I'm certainly not with the haters, but I do find his NJPW work against the same opponents I've already seen him wrestle to be a real bore. I recognize the quality of work going on in that G1 final, but I just did not care to see Okada v Ospreay again. That's kinda the story of NJPW for me right now - I did however love the fresh matches like Jonah-Okada. Ospreay in the US has been such a thrilling run to me. I love everything he's doing. I even love his underrated promos. He feels fresh and like a huge rising star. He clearly was always meant to be a character driven TV wrestler. Get him out of NJPW ASAP. Even his overtly goofy facials in NJPW seem completely spot on in AEW. I loved everything he did in this match. And I loved everything Pac, the Luchas and Aussie Open did too. So very much looking forward to Ospreay/Aussies-Elite. And the next PPV. I love this incredible 'chaotic' death of AEW era!

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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Re: "backstage turmoil" - I don't think any of this is a work at all (at least not in the traditional sense) but donning my tinfoil hat for a moment, if it were ever discovered that the stories were false/exaggerated or planted by a bad actor, I could definitely believe it.

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12 minutes ago, S.K.o.S. said:

This is a bit of a disappointing number imo. A ratings bump for the unification match, but not all that much of one.

 

I can't tell if you're joking or not.

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3 hours ago, Jiji said:

Again, Kingston did nothing wrong. This sounds like a scorpion and the frog scenario lmao.

Bullsh*t.  Dude’s a 40-year-old man acting like a 14-year-old.  He could have just ignored Sammy or talked it out like an adult.  Instead he punched the guy (sucker-punched him, from the sound of it).

Would you be saying the same thing if Sammy punched King?  I’m skeptical.  

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8 minutes ago, Dog said:

So what you're saying is, they'll be canceled by November?

I'm saying that all of us at the assisted living center LOVE AEW.

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I'm coming to the conclusion that Me and Tony K have different wrestling tastes. I agree with some of the questions about which talent he chooses to highlight.

Enjoyed the World Title Squash

Danny being the kid stuck between divorced parents

Penta & Fenix getting kicked in the chops after the taunts 

I was worried that Dutts pencil was going to put someones eye out

late run of shows have been a bit all over the place

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3 minutes ago, zendragon said:

I was worried that Dutts pencil was going to put someones eye out

Ha!  Me too.  I keep thinking they should really use a duller pencil or really one that's not sharpened at all. That worries me every time he gets physical with someone.

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