AEW Dynamite - 4/12/2023

[tbarrie]

19 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

"Mogul Embassy" is the stupidest name for a faction I've heard yet, and that's a pretty low bar.

Have we forgotten "Undisputed Era" already?

[DreamBroken]

I thought Silas looked awesome when he had his first AEW appearance last year in a competitive match with Hangman where he did get his entrance (great theme music!). Thinking back to that had me taken aback by the instant loss here.

While he may not be a signed guy, he did at least get to get a win in a squash of his own last month on ROH to build him up for the fun little match with Shane Taylor, which is more the kind of match those advocating for Silas were expecting here (a 5-6 minute match where Silas still loses decisively but just gets some offense in). Especially considering even Cutler & Nakazawa got a couple minutes with Moxley & Claudio.  Silas is definitely someone I'd like to see stay a regular on the ROH shows.

[DreamBroken]

20 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

I love the fact that Keith Lee gets distracted by DANIEL GARCIA DANCING
 

That cracked me up good. Diversion Tactics~!

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1646330369019457544   fuck the embed

Garcia later shouting "I didn't do anything!" repeatedly after grabbing Keith's foot and then yelling at him "You know you want to give up!" in the Walls. All classic. 

[The Green Meanie]

2 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Have we forgotten "Undisputed Era" already?

Still worse! Mogul Embassy is the Team Hell No of factions.

Re: Hobbs
Does this mean the whole "Book Of Hobbs" era is over? Good, that did nothing for him.

[Fighting a man with a perm]

3 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Have we forgotten "Undisputed Era" already?

For any RuPaul's Drag Race fans on the board - picture Mistress declaring she's in her "undisputed era"

[ExcellenceofAirPollution]

I remember the match Silas Young had with Hangman a while back, also in Wisconsin IIRC, and thought he got way, way way WAY too much against one of their top guys.  That match had a commercial break and a lot of nearfalls IIIRC

I wasn't a fan of that at all at the time, reminds me of some other Hangman matches where he'll go close to 50/50 when it should be more 75/25 in his favor, but it also doesn't make sense to have SY take Hangman to the limit and his next time in get zeroed against Hobbs. 

That said, Hobbs should absolutely be squashing people right now and Silas Young is a guy who has friends in the company who they toss a bone to when they're in WISC.  He shouldn't be getting more than barely there token offense in.

I'm someone who finds QT very entertaining in his role when it's lower card comedy for babyfaces to get over on.  He's a great stooge and he puts it together well in the ring mixing his actual technical talent with his chickenshit comedy.  Hobbs should be knocking on the door of the main event at this point, not palling around with a guy who's pretty much been a geek since day 1 in AEW.  Don't like this pairing at all.  I find this to be the case more often than not in AEW when I'm down on stuff, where I like the talent but I don't like how they're being used

Speaking of geeks, I f'n loved the BCC squash of Nakazawa and Cutler.  Loved the crowd getting behind them and actually booing the BCC.  Shoutout to Nakazawa's shoes falling off when Claudio dropped him out of the swing, what a great spot.  That was my MOTN.  Mox and Claudio murdering people with Wheeler being a little dickhead on the outside has been a highlight lately

 

[zendragon]

Who those two opening matches where bangers! Darby is your top babyface in the company, best sting promo ever? Mr Gmsi is perfectly fine as swerves muscle 

Cody Daycare 

nice continuity in Kenny having the portrait of him and don 

the outcasts continue their bit with the spray paint Which reminds me of the time on Nitro where Tony did the L on his forehead and said the NWO was 4 losers

Spoiler

Spoiler

[Just Dave]

I mean, I figured Hobbs & Young went how it did bc the MJF/Allin segment went long.

[The Natural]

 

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

15 hours ago, just drew said:

Yeah, but you think adam Cole is a top guy, so I’m not sure I’m gonna lend any credibility to your opinion. Watch that promo Starks cut on MJF and tell me there’s not much to him…

So being Great Value Rock counts as good character work? That’s what that promo was.

Plus Cole is (and has been) a top guy in multiple promotions at the same age as Ricky Starks. If Starks was such a find he’d have got a push somewhere that isn’t Corgan’s NWA before now. 

[Just Dave]

12 minutes ago, LF2 said:

So being Great Value Rock counts as good character work? That’s what that promo was.

Plus Cole is (and has been) a top guy in multiple promotions at the same age as Ricky Starks. If Starks was such a find he’d have got a push somewhere that isn’t Corgan’s NWA before now. 

How’d that go for the shows that Cole was “top guy” of? Hemorrhaging viewers, knocked off their night of broadcast by an upstart…. 

My guy, there’s not a thing Adam Cole has that Rick Starks doesn’t have at least 3x as much of. “Great Value Rock” was a line levied at him by a heel, who he then proceeded to destroy verbally. That promo he cut on MJF surpasses anything I’ve ever heard adam Cole say into a microphone, even that pretentious “they ring the FREAKIN bell” phony tough guy nonsense from nXt. I’m sorry it hurts your feelings that there are at least a half dozen young baby faces in AEW with a ceiling miles and miles above Cole’s. And not just because he’s a teeny little guy cosplaying as Master Chief. Seriously, he looks like that angry little bird that follows Foghorn Leghorn around. Adam Cole ain’t him. Never has been. You not liking it doesn’t make it less true.

[Just Dave]

7 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Have we forgotten "Undisputed Era" already?

This is the way.

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

1 hour ago, just drew said:

How’d that go for the shows that Cole was “top guy” of? Hemorrhaging viewers, knocked off their night of broadcast by an upstart…. 

My guy, there’s not a thing Adam Cole has that Rick Starks doesn’t have at least 3x as much of. “Great Value Rock” was a line levied at him by a heel, who he then proceeded to destroy verbally. That promo he cut on MJF surpasses anything I’ve ever heard adam Cole say into a microphone, even that pretentious “they ring the FREAKIN bell” phony tough guy nonsense from nXt. I’m sorry it hurts your feelings that there are at least a half dozen young baby faces in AEW with a ceiling miles and miles above Cole’s. And not just because he’s a teeny little guy cosplaying as Master Chief. Seriously, he looks like that angry little bird that follows Foghorn Leghorn around. Adam Cole ain’t him. Never has been. You not liking it doesn’t make it less true.

How many times do you need to be told and shown the ratings for the weeks Cole main evented NXT? He wasn’t what killed them being on Weds nights, but hey paint whatever false narrative you desire. Just like how you’d have us believe Kenny and the Bucks don’t draw either. 

Did I say it hurts my feelings that young baby faces have a better future than Adam Cole? Nope. I just said he’s got a ceiling that’s higher than one that’s his own age (which Starks is). 

As for the half dozen who are you counting that’s currently a baby face? I’m assuming it’s Darby, JB, Adam Page, Takeshita, and maybe Hook. Since everyone else is a heel or older than him (Orange Cassidy has much more upside, but he’s five years older than Cole).

[JLowe]

Maybe it's from reading Smelly's Nitro recaps in the WWE folder but I would absolutely lose my shit if Daniel Garcia did the Alex Wright dance during a match. I bet Jericho would break, too.

[Just Dave]

2 hours ago, LF2 said:

How many times do you need to be told and shown the ratings for the weeks Cole main evented NXT? He wasn’t what killed them being on Weds nights, but hey paint whatever false narrative you desire. Just like how you’d have us believe Kenny and the Bucks don’t draw either. 

Did I say it hurts my feelings that young baby faces have a better future than Adam Cole? Nope. I just said he’s got a ceiling that’s higher than one that’s his own age (which Starks is). 

As for the half dozen who are you counting that’s currently a baby face? I’m assuming it’s Darby, JB, Adam Page, Takeshita, and maybe Hook. Since everyone else is a heel or older than him (Orange Cassidy has much more upside, but he’s five years older than Cole).

Once, apparently. I know he popped one rating on nXt in 5 or however many years. I know no one at his old job thought he was worth putting on a show that matters. I know Bill Reegs wanted to hire Starks to fill that spot until the pandemic hit. Adam Cole got where he did by having the friends he does and by being a really likable guy away from wrestling. There isn’t a single thing he gives you performance wise that you can’t get more of from Starks, Takeshita,  Hook, Darbs, Jungle Boy, Hanger or Mox, who’s still only like 37. Cole is the definition of “mid,” and the very real drop in viewers every time he’s on AEW tv bears that out. I’m sorry you don’t like it.

[Technico Support]

13 hours ago, Brandon Bones said:

I didn’t hear a damn thing Omega said during his promo in his living room.  That fucking beefcake painting was in the background out of focus.  
 

I’m a whore for continuity.

Yes!  I kept expecting the promo to take a goofy turn because holy fuck how do you cut a SANGRE POR SANGRE promo with that looming over your shoulder?

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, JLowe said:

Maybe it's from reading Smelly's Nitro recaps in the WWE folder but I would absolutely lose my shit if Daniel Garcia did the Alex Wright dance during a match. I bet Jericho would break, too.

This has to happen.

[Brandon Bones]

21 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Yes!  I kept expecting the promo to take a goofy turn because holy fuck how do you cut a SANGRE POR SANGRE promo with that looming over your shoulder?

I loved it so much.  You know Omega put it there for the camera shot just for the shitz.  Rats off to him!

[The Natural]

 

[SturmCRF]

I'm not an Adam Cole fan at all, and could probably list 50 guys I'd rather seen pushed at a main event level than him, but it's not really fair to blame him on AEW beating NXT. NXT is a developmental show/indy wrestler storage facility that was put up against AEW to disrespect the competition and set up HHH to fail at something.

As soon as NXT went head to head with AEW it was doomed, because it trapped your Ciampas, Garganos and Coles in a stagnant treadmill of bullshit, forcing them to pretend they were part of a viable third brand. It gummed up the works, undermined the headliners' characters by making them look like losers with no ambition to go to WWE proper and fight for the big boy belts.

Pre AEW, NXT always had some mix of novelty, with a regular churn of new wrestlers and gimmicks (which is the main thing keeping it watchable now, for all the bad acting and Shawn Michaels over emoting), and indy dream matches. Once AEW was on the scene, anyone with more of an interest in the wider world of wrestling could go elsewhere for their dose of work rate, and even the WWE die hards must have been confused by the sudden end to main roster ascension, and new wrestlers finding their feet no longer being trusted to draw a rating now there was a war on.

The happiest I ever was to see Adam Cole was when he debuted, as part of a CM Punk and Bryan Danielson debut sandwich. He's perfect as a roster depth guy, who's good enough to meet the level of his opponent and over enough to be a credible sometime main eventer. He just shouldn't be allowed to turn every match into a neverending finisher and kickout exchange, and no wrestling show should be allowed to become the Adam Cole hour, solely focused on the travails and doings of Adam Cole.

[The Natural]

I'm no Adam Cole fan. Never seen anything in him. Hated the Johnny Gargano NXT 2019 trilogy with a passion and Cole vs, Ciampa there in 2020 as well. I turned the air blue when fucking Adam Cole debuted at AEW All Out 2021 when expecting Bryan Danielson. I said it was the equivalent of getting coal from Santa (still real to me damnit!) but thankfully Danielson showed up a few minutes after on same show. Having said all that, I am glad that he's back from the concussion putting him out for 9 months at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2022 as I wouldn't wish ill will on the fella even though as noted he does knack all for me.

[The Natural]

So glad Sting is going out on this run after his bad treatment in WWE.

[Just Dave]

Oh I don’t wish ill on Cole either, other than not wanting to see him anywhere near the main event…

[supremebve]

It hurts my heart to say this,  but I agree with @LF2. I think Cole has become someone people like to hate more than being someone who has done anything remotely hateable. He's not prime Ric Flair, but he's above average to good at everything you want in a pro wrestler,  but not quite great at anything. He's exactly the type of guy you need in the upper midcard. I think his biggest flaw is that he works the HBK/HHH over dramatic main event style in matches that don't need all that bullshit, and that's too much week in and week out. 

[Matt D]

12 minutes ago, supremebve said:

It hurts my heart to say this,  but I agree with @LF2. I think Cole has become someone people like to hate more than being someone who has done anything remotely hateable. He's not prime Ric Flair, but he's above average to good at everything you want in a pro wrestler,  but not quite great at anything. He's exactly the type of guy you need in the upper midcard. I think his biggest flaw is that he works the HBK/HHH over dramatic main event style in matches that don't need all that bullshit, and that's too much week in and week out. 

Traditionally, a lot of my issues with Cole stem from the fact that I didn't believe in his heel offense when he was in control of a match. He didn't come off as credible for me there. And the parallel issue that despite him claiming in interviews that he was excellent at turning the crowd against him after they chanted along to his theme song, that really didn't play out in practice. He's had one match as a babyface so far, so we'll see how he develops in this way as time goes on.

Oh and some of the problem is a push problem too. I agree that, as a heel, he can be your Model Rick Martel, a  #3 to #4 feud in the company sort of heel. And he was often pushed above that. As a face? Well, let's see.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Matt D