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AEW Dynamite - 1/25/2023

The Natural

By The Natural
in ALL ELITE WRESTLING

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DEAN

DEAN

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My wife brought my laptop so I can now watch DYNAMITE on QUESTIONABLE Chinese websites.  I am attached to all kinds of things- ivs, monitors, blood pressure thingy- so this may turn out odd- this, the last day of my big toe.  A bit of advice,  get correct footwear when you start walking.  I got a blister, it got infected, I am in hell.  Enough about DEAN's hilarious travails of middle age,  LET'S WATCH WRESTLING!  The Action Andretti/ Ricky Starks vs Chris Jericho/ Sammy Guevara match was a harbinger for what could becomea lifelong feud between Starks, Andretti, Sammy and Garcia.  I love the dynamic.  Starks and Andretti are building up babyface steam and Garcia and Sammy are perfecting becoming total HEAT MACHINES.  You could see Jericho glowing with pride on the apron for having set up this feud.  Jericho crying while being hoisted on his proteges' shoulders was one of the finest visuals in modern day wrestling. That was some quality pro wrestling.  I'm trying not cry in the hospital but AEW is making it hard with the commemoration of Jay Brisco.   The House Of Black theme song sounds like Mastodon! That's how out of it I am!  Darby Allin is on a very large roll and he is now an INTERNATIONAL superstar!  I await Kitomiya vs Darby Allin for the GBH title.  Buddy Matthews is the best wrestler in AEW who doesn't get enough TV time.  He is like Brodie King but slicker.  Buddy Mathews should be in the Takeshita/Bandido/Jack Perry rising star category.  This match is fucking great.  It was one half Allin/King and one half Allin/Kushida- in that was an early complete assbeating but moves into more elaborate style of assbeating.  The Cannonball into the corner was fucking gnarly.  The Toprope Scorpion Deathdrop needs a little work.  Overall, I WANT MORE BUDDY MATTHEWS!  ETHAN PAGE DANCES ON TV!  FINALLY!  A nation turns it's eyes at you! This match was cool because the average wisdom is that Jack Perry will work the body of the match and he tags in Hook who demolishes everyone and that's that.  The conventional wisdom is that Matt Hardy would wrestle as reluctant heel.  EN LIEU!  Jack Perry works the body of the match AND finishes the match with his great submission.  AND Matt Hardy wrestles TOTAL heel, not by cheating but by beating the hell out Perry using great old school heel tactics.  Matt Hardy IS Dennis Condrey.  Ethan Page is such a GREAT flaming asshole.  We are truly blessed.  Brian Cage is a good luchadore.  He is a good version of Cibernetico.  Here he has an old school US pro style psychology match assuming the roll of someone Terry Funk would hire to take out Cowboy Bob Ellis.  It was a good match but not the best style match for Cage, because he is so much more than basic power moves.  Danielson wanted to do a match where was the overwhelmed babyface underdog and have Cage be Kain.  It was good, just different- he went all angle this week and not all workrate.  KONOSUKE TAKESHITA!  Saves AmDrag!  Machine vs Lard Lad will RULE!  JESUS CHRIST, RUBY SOHO AND TONI STORM BEAT THE LIVING DOGSHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER!  WAS THIS THE STIFFEST MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF AEW WOMEN'S WRESTLING?  I can't think of one.  Toni Storm is GREAT heel.  Ruby Soho is GREAT babyface.  DOUBLE DANGEROUS BACKDROPS!  SOHO! SOHO! SOHO! GREATEST WRECKEM EVER! TONI STORM! TONI STORM!  I totally LOVED that they used a five second distraction to replace a crappy three way into the stiffest match until we finally get Jamie Hayter vs Athena.  BRAVO, LADIES!  Jesus! JAMIE HAYTER vs EMI!  THAT may be stiffest match.  That main event was emotional.  Man. AEW rules the motherfucking world.

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Steventon

Steventon

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Great tribute to Jay, really couldn't have asked for more. This was the wrestling death that's hit me harder than any other in years so seeing Mark get such a pop and come out fired up was wonderful. Lethal in pieces was a massive gut punch but god bless them for that match.

 

Both Darby vs Buddy and Danielson vs Cage were the worst match Darby and Danielson have had in a while. I've come to the opinion Matthews isn't that good on his own. He's a spot guy who's spots are all stolen from Seth Rollins of all people and he doesn't offer much in between them. Cage has been a known hack for about 10 years now and didn't impress at all. Booking a match around him working an arm doesn't really play to his strengths, but seeing him do flimsy Adam Cole superkicks instead of actual big man offence is painful. Danielson had a better match with Big Cass. I did like Takeshita making the save (minus that awful exchange with Cage). Hopefully we get MJF vs Takeshita at some point, that could be a fun clash of styles.

JAS beat Starks and Andretti so that feud obviously now has to continue until the PPV rather than letting Starks move on to something more exciting.

Storm/Saraya doing an 'WWE superstar' schtick against 'AEW originals' feels pretty hackneyed. Granted Saraya has been super unlikeable since debuting but I don't think Storm has the personality for this role. Is Britt a babyface now as a result?

Basically this was the weakest Dynamite in ages, save for the main event which still made it feel special. Next week's card looks cool - Danielson vs Thatcher and Darby vs III let's gooooooo

Edited by Steventon
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Pete

Pete

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2 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Hard agree @Craig H and @Log - I figured we were going to get like a WWE-style 'recurs-throughout-the-night' style segment. More alone the lines of Kane/Danielson group therapy (maybe the only legit LOL- funny thing they've done in 20ish years)

I'd put the R-Truth acrophobia/arachnophobia bit at #1, more for Cole's reaction to it than anything else. And certainly not planned, unlike their other attempts at "comedy."

 

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Log

Log

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1 minute ago, Infinit said:

Was it just a TSN thing or was Buddy's entrance in picture in picture on TBS too? I don't remember an entrance ever been done in PIP before 

It seemed like there was a little confusion with production on that. Excalibur started saying something out of the video package, then he stopped, Murphy's entrance was starting, then Ex said the same thing he'd just said and they went to break as Murphy's entrance was still happening.

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DEAN

DEAN

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3 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Was it just a TSN thing or was Buddy's entrance in picture in picture on TBS too? I don't remember an entrance ever been done in PIP before 

So y'all couldn't hear the Mastodon?  MASTODON!

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HarryArchieGus

HarryArchieGus

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@DEAN best wishes. Your regular reporting is easily my favorite wrestling writing going on. This week in particularly I love your review of the opener…

17 minutes ago, DEAN said:

The Action Andretti/ Ricky Starks vs Chris Jericho/ Sammy Guevara match was a harbinger for what could becomea lifelong feud between Starks, Andretti, Sammy and Garcia.  I love the dynamic.  Starks and Andretti are building up babyface steam and Garcia and Sammy are perfecting becoming total HEAT MACHINES.  You could see Jericho glowing with pride on the apron for having set up this feud.  Jericho crying while being hoisted on his proteges' shoulders was one of the finest visuals in modern day wrestling. That was some quality pro wrestling. 

Very nice and touching Jay Briscoe commemoration video. Great thanks and love to Jay Briscoe.

Odd follow-up with the House of Black. Buddy Matthews in ring movement is incredible. I too think I might prefer him better in a tag team. I kept thinking during this match what he and Westin Blake might look like as a tag team in 2023. Note: I never saw them in NXT, but I've only heard good things. Buddy here with Darby looked like a potential threat and it says something for what he and Darby put together. This was the kind of solid wrestling that easily gets overlooked due to the ridiculously high bar. I liked this match, and I loved the King of Television's challenge that followed. Joe just fuckin' kills it every week! All the video packages were really good to great this week. The Mansury signing continues to show strong (if quiet) improvements. Nice to see Ethan Page get his Dark intro on TV. Although, his scatting over the classic Hardy theme, as seen on recent Darks, is more effective. I love the 'Million Dollar Corporation' era Nikolai Volkoff-Matt Hardy comparison a page or so back. Matt Hardy is still a very good tag team wrestler. As per @DEAN

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Matt Hardy IS Dennis Condrey.  Ethan Page is such a GREAT flaming asshole.  We are truly blessed. 

Jungle Boy and Hook are a terrific duo. I was fully expecting to need a skim of the Family Therapy, but they played it so well. It also ended up being a lot funnier than the previous comedy segments. I really like this Renee interviewing Hangman scenario. Yuta-Page, right on. How does Moxley-Page 3 play out? I'm intrigued. Man, people hate Brian Cage. Pretty harsh for a guy that kinda always has fun matches in AEW. @DEAN nails it here... 

Quote

Brian Cage is a good luchadore.  He is a good version of Cibernetico.  Here he has an old school US pro style psychology match assuming the roll of someone Terry Funk would hire to take out Cowboy Bob Ellis.  It was a good match but not the best style match for Cage, because he is so much more than basic power moves.  Danielson wanted to do a match where was the overwhelmed babyface underdog and have Cage be Kain.  It was good, just different- he went all angle this week and not all workrate. 

Takeshita-Cage will indeed rule. As will any Takeshita-Danielson tags we might find ourselves wandering into. The post match beatdown and save was nicely executed. The Danielson promo was top notch too. Thatcher-Danielson is such a fun booking. What I saw of Ruby-Toni was excellent. Incredible Hip Attacks. Lame finish, but I like as somebody previously pointed out that she didn't get rolled up, but rather lost after her opponent used the distraction to hit her finisher. I'm going back to this after DEAN's great review...

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JESUS CHRIST, RUBY SOHO AND TONI STORM BEAT THE LIVING DOGSHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER!  WAS THIS THE STIFFEST MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF AEW WOMEN'S WRESTLING?  I can't think of one.  Toni Storm is GREAT heel.  Ruby Soho is GREAT babyface.  DOUBLE DANGEROUS BACKDROPS!  SOHO! SOHO! SOHO! GREATEST WRECKEM EVER! TONI STORM! TONI STORM!  I totally LOVED that they used a five second distraction to replace a crappy three way into the stiffest match until we finally get Jamie Hayter vs Athena.  BRAVO, LADIES! 

It's nice to see some more ppl this week giving Jay Lethal his well deserved flowers. He's had nothing but fun matches since his signing. Lethal's tears in the pre-match brought such humanity. Then Mark strolls out like the goddamn pro he is! I felt such deep love for Mark here. Truly inspiring seeing what these guys did in this match. The post match really cut in deep. Jay is clearly such a huge loss, but Mark carrying their legacy foward is kind of an extraordinary and exciting thing to see grow.

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Dolphman 3000

Dolphman 3000

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I appreciate that Ospreay is inspiring countless young wrestlers, but to have one of his clones pushed in the same promotion that Ospreay competes in (while still in his prime) is weird

Nick Wayne showing up this summer when he turns 18 isn't going to help things

 

Edited by Dolphman 3000
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NoFistsJustFlips

NoFistsJustFlips

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2 hours ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

I appreciate that Ospreay is inspiring countless young wrestlers, but to have one of his clones pushed in the same promotion that Ospreay competes in (while still in his prime) is weird

Nick Wayne showing up this summer when he turns 18 isn't going to help things

 

krule-john-c-reilly.gif

Huh? Ospreay wrestles for New Japan. Action Andretti wrestles for AEW. Not sure I follow.

Why can't AEW have a clone of a New Japan guy? (Not that I in any way agree that Action Andretti is an Ospreay clone mind you).

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EVA

EVA

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It’s early but I am not a fan of Backflip Jones so far and, frankly, I’m puzzled what AEW even thinks they have there.

Like, I think Ospreay is a really generous comparison. He’s really more like Worse In-Ring But Presumably Less Problematic Flip Gordon.

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DEAN

DEAN

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10 hours ago, Craig H said:

I don't have much to say about the Danielson match, but it's all building to him losing to the Salt of the Earth so whatever. At least we get mostly banger matches leading up Danielson vs MJF. For a brief moment when MJF started talking about Danielson's next opponent, I really thought they actually got ZSJ. I'll take Timothy Thatcher as Danielson's next opponent though. The final opponent is going to have to be someone big.

I still hold out hope for Zack Sabre Jr as the final dude.  The best Gotch/ Volk Han style guys from two feuding Japanese companies in back to back weeks is the nerdiest booking in the history of pro wrestling.  I mean, THAT'S WHY THIS BOARD HIRED TONY KHAN TO RUN AEW!

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Go2Sleep

Go2Sleep

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Andretti had to take the L because otherwise he'd be #1 contender.

I do agree they need to take a step back with him, though. The win over Jericho was great, but no way he should've beaten Garcia. Andretti is extremely average (which puts him in like the bottom 10% of the AEW roster) and they need to figure out something sustainable for him long term besides leeching off Starks. Seems like a guy that could really use a developmental ROH right now.

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matwarz

matwarz

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Clearly the persistence of @DEAN in the face of hospital food to give the people what they want settles the ‘who defends the belts with Mark’ debate? I feel sure Toni and Ruby laid it in just for you fella.

Not a time for debate about religion, but the post from Coleman was certainly an advertisement for the power of faith. Mark Briscoe I salute you squire.

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Matt D

Matt D

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I was going to write a navel-gazing post about how, unlike certain of my peers (of a certain age, length of following wrestling, and prolific-ness in being out there), because of my lack of a social media presence and not being a part of the indy scene and not seeking it out due to other aspects of my life, I don't have any real personal one-on-one connections with wrestlers. I wasn't chatting with anyone on Prodigy. I wasn't hanging out in the DVDVR chat room with anyone. There are no DMs for them to be up in. I'm not discussing old French footage with Chris Hero or Ricky Starks or whoever. Yet despite that, because of the nature of the AEW locker room and the amount of interviews done, and how open everyone is, I feel pretty sympathetic towards almost everyone there as human beings. Even the ones I don't care for in ring. I want nothing but good things in life for Adam Cole and Adam Page. I'm not going to say I feel like I know any of them, because I don't, but you hit a certain age and you pay enough attention to human beings and you pick up on things. In this day and age with how out there everyone is, it's hard not to. So that would have been a ten paragraph post and I just shoved it into one.

Point being, the post-match at the end of the show was touching, from Sonjay being out there first to hug Jay to Mark getting hugged by Daniels and RUSH, etc., but what got me was the music looping and Joe, who was just, just about to get a hug, leaning in as Mark turned away from him and giving that wry smile of his, since he knew Mark was going to get his pop with "Reach for the Sky Boy" and the two belts and all the emotion, and just Joe sort of living and being present in that moment.

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Shartnado

Shartnado

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Bittersweet episode, but boy did we ever get some amazing stuff here! Action Andretti (and later Darby) solidified their stance as great wrestlers by hitting poison ranas. Opening tag got a LOT of time, but that's ok, it was exciting.

I don't want to see Buddy Matthews losing, but I'll take him losing if that means that I get to see him, period! Great showing by both men, but looks like Samoa Joe is coming to collect. Well, it was good while it lasted, Darby! You made it count.

The Family therapy went way better than I expected, but if The Gunns use this as a launching pad into an AEW tag title reign, it has been quite the rise into the contention for them. They beat FTR and talked their way into a title match from there. Quite a feat, that is, IF they actually win the titles.

Toni Storm's heel make-up certainly worked. Looked very heelish. With all the talk about Toni's arsenal, all I've got to say about that is, that this is a very literal case of "working with what she's got". Huge win for Ruby, but I was yelling "don't fall for the hurt nose thing, it's a trap!" And it was. C'mon, Ruby.

Ok, so Brian Cage couldn't do that much of the exciting flying big man stuff here, so it wasn't terribly exciting, but hey, good enough. He lost, so he tried to at least get the bounty. Thatcher should be great. They are really going balls out here, I couldn't have realistically picked more interesting (for me) opponents for Bryan, if I tried.

Main event was emotional and great, with the bittersweet ending of Mark finally getting a win over Lethal with Jay's finisher (a beautiful one at that). The tribute video was heartbreaking, but really nice.

Next week and Rampage should both be awesome!

Edit: Fogot to say that JungleHook rules and Ethan  and Hardy got some good character work in there. Also, DEAN is being quite the trooper providing that much text despite being in the hospital! Let's see others try that! Although, hopefully nobody needs to go to a local medical facility just in order to accomplish that!

 

 

Edited by Shartnado
There were 6 matches...
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