MrKothoga

It’s wednesday night and you know what that means. I really appreciate AEW continues using tag catchphrase to honor Brodie Lee. I still miss “wrestling has more than one royal family” and really don’t like that Snoop Dogg remix theme of Cody. Dark Order behaving like overwhelmed teens in love (especially Silver) every time they meet Hangman is just fantastic. And while I really don’t wanna see Matt Hardy in the ring anymore, I think he’s fantastic as a money-hungry manager. Though I doubt it’s a good business strategy to acquire talent like that. Yeah, really, what were Kip, Penelope and Miro thinking was gonna happen? Haven’t they watched any wrestling? Thinks like Sammy saying he needs some time away from this place really makes me wonder how AEW will handle their various partnerships in a pandemic-free future. Would Sammy go on a tour with New Japan, go to Impact a few weeks (well, that would still be possible) or travel to Mexico a little? Alex Marvez is everywhere! Okay, now I’m two for five with Sting entering, Taz interrupting and cut to something else. This time I even got my original prediction of cut to commercial right. Yeah. And next week Sting will call out Team Taz. Wohoo! What a drag. Ultimately, that was a really fun show (well produced as well, the difference between live and taped was obvious once again). The first three matches (Darby-Janela, Cody tag, Pac squash) were fine but nothing special, but I really enjoyed the second half of matches. The Acclaimed looked great against MJF and Jericho, I enjoyed Hirsch and Rosa a lot and the main event was a stupid-fun garbage brawl and made Archer look great in defeat.

Like it or not but AEW clearly doesn't care that much about what faces or heels are supposed to be like and you can be 100% right and still be a bad guy. The new eco-friedly Daniel Bryan was right and a fantastic heel. Every evil foreigner criticizing racial prejudices was and is right. So, either way, I see no problem in Taz being right. And Darby doesn't think Janela is overlooked, Darby things he's better than what he's shown so far. That's a difference. And I won't argue that Hobbs brings more to the table than Janela who maybe has some kind of unknown backstage role which justifies his spot. I really don't wanna defend Joey Janela. And clearly Hobbs first weeks as unsigned talent falsify his "true" record and Dark in it's current form is a detriment to the win-loss records. Coming back to the greater theme of this thread, I really like things like Taz beeing right despite being a bad guy in theory. Most of the time AEW feels more like people coming together playing characters they wan't to play, even if that makes their stories chaotic and muddled at times. FTR vs. Young Bucks is a great example of things not really coming together from a storytelling view for me. WWE drove me away because you feel that people are playing a role someone else imposed upon them (even though some people are fantastic in their roles). I don't have that feeling with AEW (even though some people suck with their characters). And it's really not all milk and honey. Darby just deciding Janela is his next challenger feels like something the character would do. Meanwhile, Darby standing next to Sting in awe like a young boy and leaving without saying a word because Sting has said everything that needs to be said feels like a written role without getting the character.

Well, the point of the story is that Joey has no business of getting that shot, but Darby wanted it anyway because, like you said, he elevated that garbage era and is flabbergasted why Janela hasn’t. That’s a simple story. The champion knows his “buddy” is better than his record shows. He’s the first one to challenge despite a bad record (obviously leaving Cody’s open challenge aside). And all this feeds into Taz lamenting about nepotism several times (while Hobbs and his 10-10 record doesn’t exactly scream legitimate challenger anyways). Ricky Starks should be the one challenging for the title, yes, and Taz will probably cry about a lack of respect once again after the champion simply handpicked a “buddy” of his for the next title defense. Twitter and YouTube make that part of the story from Darby’s and Janela’s side clear – and herein lies a problem with AEW, because they probably won’t do a good job of telling you on Dynamite why Janela isn’t a random nonsensical choice of a challenger. Yes. Austin and Colten Gunn are a prime example of the problems of having a win-loss record but no clear idea of what you really wanna be doing with all your wrestlers.

Well, there's a reason for that match that has nothing to do with the win-loss records. Janela's challenging because champion Darby wants him to challenge because of their shared history. That's no abandonment of the win-loss records. That's just a convenient excuse to disregard them (and a great excuse for heels to cry about). AEW would be foolish to scourge themselves by the records. And who really thought they would follow them no matter what? But they are a fine way to use for storyline purposes and in my opinion haven't devalued them until now. If you really wana criticize the way the records work you should look no further than Austin Gunn standing at 18 wins to 1 loss and Colten Gunn at 9 and 0. That's a problem. Not Janela challenging by wish of the champion.

Well, let's hope Hangman isn't Danny in that comparison. That would be a major letdown for Hangmans story arc. Hangman vs Brody was probably the road planned and kinda explains why Hangman has been quite directionless for a few weeks. Brodie would have been a great build-up for Hangman and a nice meaningful victory. Hardy will hopefully stay a short side quest before he finds another opponent. I'd probably go for Kingston (with Butcher and Blade) or Team Taz next, some clear heels. He'd be outnumbered either way and Dark Order can help him out. I wouldn't relegate Archer down just yet. Considering how Archer against Ospreay went, there's some potential in programs with the likes of Darby, Pac, Fenix, Guevara or Jungle Boy. He's quite old, yeah, but it's not like he's slowing down like Jericho or Daniels noticeable do.

Sure, Jericho really isn’t an example for avoiding the imminent problem of finding spots for some talent, but I do think that his career arc is worth reminding for in the long run. When people complain that person X isn’t featured enough and hasn’t been seen in weeks, they should always remember that the shark in Jaws is awesome because he’s not there all the time. But, clearly, this is a thing for the future. And the build up of the shark was pretty much flawless, too… There definitely was and still is fat to be trimmed, sure. Cardona was completely pointless. I get why they wanna give their backstage handyman QT some shine, but, come on, he should not be taking these minutes. Matt Sydal feels completely redundant to me and his spots in the last weeks (losing to Cody in ten minutes and losing together with Top Flight against Hardy Party) probably should have been given to Scorpio Sky. Cody should either go three minutes with Avalon or go ten minutes with someone else. I also don’t really know why Ryan Nemeth was brought in, but the match was kept short so I’m okay with that. But, yeah, basically I’m agreeing. Maybe Hardy vs. Hangman will be just that kind of a little feud you’re talking about. Although I’m fearing that we’ll see Hardy vs. Hangman at the PPV and I don’t really wanna see singles Hardy anymore. Then again, if they put Silver and Reynolds in there and make it a six men against Hardy Party, I’m down for that. And I do appreciate AEW giving indy talent a payday per Dark in tough times, but instead of 14 squash matches, maybe just 8 squashes and two or three meaningful matches with storyline implications? Cutler and Avalon had a nice story going. Give me more of that.

The great thing about Jericho was always how he wasn’t there all the time and altered his persona pretty much every time he came back. This way he hasn’t gotten stale like so many other WWE characters. Dolph Ziggler is exactly the kind of character he was ten years ago and sadly not the only passenger on this tiresome boat. Granted, Jericho has the luxury of Fozzy and other side adventures. On a smaller scale and if done right, the booking of AEW can be a quite effective way to avoid people becoming stale through overexposure. Take Orange Cassidy, who’s character so far has been kind of a one trick pony. Orange was a sideshow character the first few months of AEW, rose to prominence with the feud against Jericho, fought Brodie and Cody for the TNT Title, lost to MJF for the Dynamite Diamong Ring and has since taken a backseat. Yeah, he’s still has his appearances on Dynamite, but has wrestled only once and that probably wasn’t even planned (main event of the Brodie memorial show). I don’t think being relegated to a (featured) background character has hurt Orange the past two months. Scorpio Sky and Jungle Boy weren’t handled that well. Clearly. But then again, who do you relegate down to get them up? I really don’t need Joey Janela, Luther, Michael Nakazawa, Peter Avalon or Sonny Kiss on Dynamite – but they are not taking away minutes from Scorpio Sky and Jungle Boy. Jobber minutes filled by jobbers. Even Matt Sydal is really only winning on Dark to lose on Dynamite. Though, with these jobber appearances then being kinda too competitive, maybe Scorpio or Jungle Boy could have taken that spot. But it kinda comes down to the question if you rather would see Jungle Boy lose on Dynamite or not see him on Dynamite at all (or Scorpio Sky or whoever is not featured enough for your taste at the moment). Same with Miro. Who do I take out to get him in? Hangman (who’s not getting enough minutes himself)? Kingston? Archer? Hardy? Pac? Penta? Fenix? Team Taz? Darby? Jericho, Cody, Kenny, Moxley and MJF aren't going anywhere. Okay. Take Matt Hardy out and give me Miro vs. Hangman. But then again… I don’t wanna see one of them lose. QT Marshall hasn't won on Dynamite for nearly three months. So that' something. PS: I didn’t get the cut to commercials right, but I’m still counting me one for five for my prediction of getting five more shows of Sting entering, Taz interrupting and cut to commercials. What a drag.

No need to talk about, John Silver is obviously the right choice. Okay, if we wanna talk about it... Adam Page, Eddie Kingston, Miro and MJF would be my picks, maybe even Wardlow. Hangman could play into the whole Omega storyline and I just wanna see Hangman in some more high profile singles matches. Miro and Wardlow could bring the intensity although I'm not quite sure they would be up to the task - I'd be interested to see them, but I'm not sure I'd be the right call. Kingston and especially MJF would interest me primary for the character work. Kingston as the scrappy veteran who's clearly outmatched by these god-tier physiques in NJPW or MJF as the greatest douchebag in the world getting his ass beaten. But John Silver could really be a lot of fun.

I don’t really watch WWE anymore. I kinda follow what’s happening by reading results and watching some clips on Reddit, but it’s getting less and less. I didn’t even knew Royal Rumble was on tonight until seeing about it on Reddit a few minutes into the show and figured I could look into it while playing Playstation. Missed the Women's Tag Team but considering I never enjoyed anything with Nia Jax and don’t care for Charlotte, maybe not my biggest loss. I liked Shayna in NXT though and Asuka is fantastic and one of the few people I sometimes miss watching. Also didn’t really get anything of Sasha and Charlotte because I played Persona 5 while watching and WWE lost that battle for my interest. I hate the finisher-only match formula WWE started using in the last few years. Watching WWE sporadically at best in the last years, I haven’t even seen that many of these matches and still, ugh, just go away. Add Sami Zayn to the list of people I miss watching. Awesome of New Day to wear Harper/Brodie-gear. Is Bad Bunny a legit star? I have never heard of him in my life (over here in Germany). And WWE still does great video packages. Seeing Shotzi Blackheart for the first time, I gotta say I kinda like her and I was bummed she was the first to go. Loved all the shenanigans by Billie Kay and her accent is just the best. Handspring offense can fuck off. Bailey being eliminated offscreen is bad. Loved Rhea just eliminating Alexa instead of standing around stupid. Belair and Ripley as the final two was a good choice. Even though the screens shouted it, this was not awesome but somewhat okay in stretches. Still, nothing I would watch if I wasn’t doing anything else at the same time. That contract signing sure makes Roman look like a big idiot. Add Kevin Owens to the list of people I miss watching. Someone clearly watched Sammy getting run over in AEW. For a moment I thought that Owens would be clever enough to pin down Reigns with that forklift. Owens rolling of the stage to stand up was nice. Fantastic how the Referee just stopped counting because Heyman couldn’t get the handcuffs open. Come on, man. Just continue counting. Reigns could obviously stand up and did so seconds later. Aside from the botch, still a bad finish. Match dragged on way to long and had way too much downtime. Last Man Standing matches, at least they way WWE books them, just aren’t for me. Getting thrown out by a New Day reunion is a fine way to go but, man, I wanted to see more of Sami. Add Daniel Bryan to the list of people I miss watching. Corbin eliminating Nakamura was a bummer. Edge, Christian, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan together in the ring (with Cesaro, add him to the list, missing by a few seconds) is some EWR fantasy booking from many years ago. Stupid Riddle jumping over the top rope. One competitor going away for the whole match and coming back to win it (even if it didn’t pan out here) can fuck off. I really like Edge, but Edge and Orton should not be the final two in the Royal Rumble in 2021. So long WWE. I will be back for Wrestlemania. Well, not sure. Maybe skipping through, I don’t know. Who really cares anyway, let’s be honest. There’s wrestling I enjoy a lot more, no point in watching more of WWE, even though I really miss seeing some people.

From a business standpoint I get why AEW shoehorns Cody into every possibly celebrity crossover. You wanna expand. You wanna get the mainstream fans who don't know there's wrestling outside of WWE. Cody is your man in the mainstream talent casting show. I get that and in the end I can kinda live with it being subpar to all the rest because, well, money - and it's not overshadowing the rest of the show. But it's so painfully obvious that business comes before creative in these segment while every other part of Dynamite makes you feel that creative fun is the driving force before all.

Hunter, Stephanie and Vince will be the first to come down to the ring and promise you that everything's going to be better from now on.

So five more shows of Sting entering, Taz interrupting and cut to commercials?

The opening twenty minutes were just the right amount of wholesome goofiness all up until the heart-wrenching ending of Hangman opting to stay alone (for now) out of fear of losing friends again. Great stuff. AEW obviously wants to spread out the appearances of Sting. All of his gigs after the debut could probably have been compressed into one segment but I guess they just want to have him on every week even if he's not doing anything of note. Come on, just do something! I liked the silly ending of Cody and Avalon but why not just make it short if Cody wins anyway after being interrupted? I would have loved to see Cody loose here. If you wanna go the route of the stupid wrestler and referee being completely distracted by music, then just let Avalon go for the low blow and quick dirty roll up win. It wouldn’t hurt Cody, further the storyline with Storm and would give Avalon something to heelishly brag about in the future. Hanging in there for a few minutes after getting the unfair advantage and loosing does nothing more for Avalon a quick squash wouldn’t have done anyway. I kinda like new heel Matt Hardy and maybe Private Party can become a bit more interesting with this heel turn but I really don’t care that much about any of these six men. Also, some really rough spots. Kip might not be the most interesting wrestler so far but he’s one of the best managers in wrestling. Minor nitpick: Penelope should not be wearing purple and black when you have the Dark Order on your roster. Leyla Hirsch is great and should be a fantastic babyface ass kicker in the future. Passive aggressive super friendly Miro entertains me. Sammy showing up Jericho and his overall performance was nice. Hager stomping Jericho to the ground was nice. Hager punching out MJF was nice. Jericho getting closer to killing himself with the Lionsault every time he hits it is frightening. Santana and Ortiz getting overshadowed by Sammy, Jericho and MJF sucks because Santana and Ortiz need more time in the spotlight but from a storytelling standpoint it’s probably the best call to have MJF win it dirty. Not one of the strongest weeks of Dynamite. The opener was the highlight of the show, Penelope/Hirsch and the Inner Circle main event was fine as well, but everything between was lacking or just kinda uneventful. PS I: The look of Butcher and Blade was fantastic. Oh, and Archer with the Suzuki Gun jacket! PS II: I can now spend one week thinking about Hangman maybe saving Dark Order from a beatdown by The Bullet Club/The Elite.

Beating Brodie Lee was special because only Moxley and Cody did. Beating Chris Jericho is special because only Moxley, Orange and MJF did. Beating Cody is special because only Jericho, MJF, Brodie and Darby did. Beating Darby is special because only Jericho, Cody, Brodie and PAC did. Beating Kenny is special because only Jericho, PAC and Moxley did. Beating Lance is special because only Cody and Moxley did. Beating PAC is special because only Hangman, Moxley and Kenny did. Beating Moxley is special because only Kenny did. Beating MJF is special because only Moxley did. AEW is clearly building up an upper class of wrestlers you have to beat to be meaningful (I only looked up singles matches). Sure, Archer and Jericho will probably fall in these standings in the future, but Cody, Darby, Kenny, PAC and especially Moxley and MJF are tough to beat. I will second though that AEW often is to giving to the loosing side and could use a few more emphatic squashes on Dynamite here and there. Kinda takes the impact away of a hard fought loss against the upper echelon of star when everyone gets ten plus minutes. But a Jungle Boy beating Cody, Kenny or Moxley would be nothing less of a shock to me than Jericho beating Hall in the late 90s. And I will always accept Kenny going toe to toe with a jobber since his whole deal is beeing the best bout machine. Even in kayfabe, Kenny isn't just looking to win, he's looking to entertain, show-off and win.

Maybe AEW wanted Deeb and Rosa and had to promise Corgan to feature the Championship to get them?

This somewhat explains the lackluster weeks of Bucks (and really only Matt and some other guy's leg off-screen) superkicking people without much story around. Now we can blame it all on Covid and not on stupid creative decisions... phew.

To be honest, I think pretty much every year of WWE has enough moments to make a great highlight video like this. The (remaining) strength of WWE is to generate some really great (short) moments, but watching 2 hours and 59 minutes for the chance of one good minute is just painful. I mean, yeah, that video was great, but there's probably also a WWE highlight video that could make you think a WWE had a banger of a year. The difference for me is that I know that I'll have fun pretty much the whole two hours with AEW.

But do they feel pity, remorse or fear?

Is it just me or did the Brodie-inspired gear make John Silver look even smaller than he is?

I like Miro as a dork who we know can absolutely wreck you. I like that contrast. But it sure would be nice if he would wreck more people more often. Austin Gunn, Brandon Cutler, Joey Janela, Marko Stunt, Matt Sydal, QT Marshall and Sonny Kiss are just waiting to be obliterated.

Well, most people outside of wrestling have no idea who anyone in wrestling is. And I don't know how you define the spectrum of pro wrestling fans here, but most pro wrestling fans probably only know WWE guys or guys from whatever promotion they choose to follow. So, what exactly is the point here? The thing with Orange Cassidy is that YouTube and several board members own experience seem to point out that he's a pretty good guy to get non-wrestling fans into wrestling. He's selling a good amount of merch, too, so that's nice. I really don't see a good reason for AEW to not feature him.

It really became a running gag that I tell my girlfriend stories from wrestling when she has trouble falling asleep because she just has zero interest in wrestling altogether, but even she likes Orange Cassidy from the few times I watched AEW and she wasn't sleeping next to me. He's one of a very few she could tell by name if I showed her a picture, besides maybe (maybe, not sure) Omega, Moxley, Bucks and Jericho. We incorporated the half-assed thumps up into our daily life. Five of the top ten AEW videos on YouTube are somewhat related to Orange Cassidy. People get Orange Cassidy. Inside and outside the wrestling world.

Yeah, sure. I'm all in for more Miro and less Janela. But unless you wanna see Miro losing everytime he's seen on Dynamite, that's probably not the best trade. To be honest, I like AEW only having two hours of important tv time. I'm okay with people beeing on the sideline from time to time. They should use Dark more like before Covid.

AEW filmed a dark segment after the show with the Elite and Dark Order where Brodie Jr. defeated Kenny Omega to win the championship. So it was probably the son of Brodie under that mask.

I really don't see why I should have a problem with the way Marko Stunt is featured. Yes, he gets some offense in, but he's a "cult" jobber and sometimes tag team attraction by beeing a projectile to throw around. I don't have to take him seriously and I really don't feel like AEW wants me to take him seriously. I mean, he won two singles matches against an unsigned unknown and against Nakazawa (who sits in the same boat with Stunt) and both matches were on Dark. He's not beating people he shouldn't beat. Same with Joey Janela. I don't think he's won a single match on Dynamite. Yeah, I thought Janela looked a bit to strong against Kenny Omega, but, come on, these are jobbers who haven't beaten anyone. If you think Jericho looking like shit shouldn't beat pretty much everyone, that's something I can understand more. But even here, in kayfabe he's still one of the best wrestlers off all time so he should able to overcome physical shortcomings by virtue of experience. Vince Carter was still a great basketball player even when he was nothing like his former Air Canada self. I'd like to second the idea that Jericho should incorporate falling off into his gimmick more. I had the same idea about Christopher Daniels, who has somewhat the same problem. Daniels should start to cheat more and more to keep his (future) winning streak with Kazarian alive and realize that he just can't beat most opponents clean anymore.