Casey Posted January 1 Posted January 1 I hope it’s okay that I started this. But AEW’s entire 2019 library (Dynamite + the 3 PPVs) are now on MAX, including the free shows (Fyter Fest & Fight for the Fallen). Not sure yet if the Buy-In preshows are included. EDIT: pre-shows aren’t included, watching DoN right now. 2024 episodes of Dynamite/Rampage/Collision from the week of October 30th up until the December 21st episode of Collision are also up. I’m doing a proper watch-through, starting with the Road To (DoN) on the Nightmare Family YouTube channel. 6
username Posted January 2 Posted January 2 I just want to put this on record: I am waiting for Max to claim like 3 million views for Dynamite and Netflix to claim 10 million or so for Raw, streamers always claim the most absurd numbers so I am curious to see just how kooky they get. 2
Niners Fan in CT Posted January 2 Posted January 2 It'll be something like "10 million people watched at least one minute" and all anyone will report is "wow! 10 million!" Lol. The Max deal is off to a great start to me. Dynamite being presented in Dolby Vision was a fucking W 3
AxB Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Apparently it was broadcast in 4K on Max. The Fite stream, some people reckoned it looked better than it previously had, but I couldn't see a difference. 1
Casey Posted January 2 Author Posted January 2 My only complaint with the backlog on Max is that they don’t include the Buy-In shows for the PPVs but they’re still up and free on YouTube so I just made a playlist with those + the Road To episodes they used to upload. It’s been fun, I just got done with Double or Nothing and the Road to Fyter Fest. I forgot how rough the early days were. Alex Marvez shitting the bed for four hours, lots of bad wrestlers and problematic people (Havoc, namely) and production wasn’t anywhere near the level that it’s at today. Say what you will about the “WWE style” of production and stuff but it’s infinitely better than what we started out with. I’m still baffled that Cody proudly says in the Road to DoN that Marvez was his choice. And I get the decision to bring in JR, but he can’t keep up with Excalibur most of the time throughout that night and just repeats things Ex says most of the time. It’s rough, and it’s stayed rough with JR to this day IMO. 3
JLowe Posted January 2 Posted January 2 I decided to start with the first Dynamite, since it was such a big deal. I didn’t make it very far before the UT game started, but I had no idea Brandon Cutler was more than a comedy Bucks stooge.
Niners Fan in CT Posted January 2 Posted January 2 I was at the Boston Dynamite. I think it might have been the second ever episode. Great time. 4
tbarrie Posted January 2 Posted January 2 47 minutes ago, JLowe said: I had no idea Brandon Cutler was more than a comedy Bucks stooge. The Dragon Master! He had an epic feud on Dark against "Librarian" Peter Avalon over who was the worst wrestler in AEW. (They both had like 0-15 records by that point.) It was great. 5
Technico Support Posted January 2 Posted January 2 51 minutes ago, Casey said: My only complaint with the backlog on Max is that they don’t include the Buy-In shows for the PPVs but they’re still up and free on YouTube so I just made a playlist with those + the Road To episodes they used to upload. It’s been fun, I just got done with Double or Nothing and the Road to Fyter Fest. I forgot how rough the early days were. Alex Marvez shitting the bed for four hours, lots of bad wrestlers and problematic people (Havoc, namely) and production wasn’t anywhere near the level that it’s at today. Say what you will about the “WWE style” of production and stuff but it’s infinitely better than what we started out with. I’m still baffled that Cody proudly says in the Road to DoN that Marvez was his choice. And I get the decision to bring in JR, but he can’t keep up with Excalibur most of the time throughout that night and just repeats things Ex says most of the time. It’s rough, and it’s stayed rough with JR to this day IMO. Don’t worry, JR made up for his inability to keep up by being inappropriate about women, shitting on the product, and making fun of Excalibur’s calls. It’s a wild ride. 3 2
Casey Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 JR taking a dump on what the wrestlers choose to do in-ring was already a thing at DoN 2019. He hasn’t done the other two yet, but the guy who isn’t Goldenboy on the preshow for Fyter Fest was being creepy about the women on stage who had just been “fired”. Until Schiavone comes along, Excalibur is the only bright spot on commentary. Tony isn’t the best or anything, but hearing his love of wrestling come back in real time was fun. Then we eventually get Taz and the dream team is formed once they work out their chemistry. JR is just pretty bad in general and that’s another Cody move supposedly that he shouldn’t have done. Name recognition and shit, sure, but Excalibur outshines everyone and it’s SO noticeable. He put in the work big time to sound more “professional” from All In 2018 to DoN 2019. 4
Death From Above Posted January 3 Posted January 3 56 minutes ago, tbarrie said: The Dragon Master! He had an epic feud on Dark against "Librarian" Peter Avalon over who was the worst wrestler in AEW. (They both had like 0-15 records by that point.) It was great. This was unironically one of my 10 favourite things ever in AEW. 2
Technico Support Posted January 3 Posted January 3 (edited) 17 hours ago, Casey said: JR taking a dump on what the wrestlers choose to do in-ring was already a thing at DoN 2019. He hasn’t done the other two yet, but the guy who isn’t Goldenboy on the preshow for Fyter Fest was being creepy about the women on stage who had just been “fired”. Until Schiavone comes along, Excalibur is the only bright spot on commentary. Tony isn’t the best or anything, but hearing his love of wrestling come back in real time was fun. Then we eventually get Taz and the dream team is formed once they work out their chemistry. JR is just pretty bad in general and that’s another Cody move supposedly that he shouldn’t have done. Name recognition and shit, sure, but Excalibur outshines everyone and it’s SO noticeable. He put in the work big time to sound more “professional” from All In 2018 to DoN 2019. I’m watching DoN 2019 right now and JR has referred to the OWE team (wrestlers from Japan who started a company in China) as “the team from China” and “these men from China” and it’s clear he thinks CIMA, T Hawk, and Lindeman are legit Chinese. Edited January 3 by Technico Support 2
Casey Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 (edited) The more I watch early AEW, the more I’m so surprised that this company became a contender. They truly punched above their weight class for a pretty good while. Lots of good wrestling, don’t get me wrong, but outside of a handful of guys it’s true unknowns on a national scale and they succeeded and continue to do so. That’s amazing. Their second ever show (it was free, granted) had Joey Janela in the main event. I mean, it was Mox’s first match there too, but still! Insanity. Makes me wonder how the first year would’ve went if TK took control from the get go. Edited January 3 by Casey 3
Nice Guy Eddie Posted January 3 Posted January 3 17 minutes ago, Technico Support said: I’m watching DoN 2019 right now and JR has referred to the OWE team (wrestlers from Japan who started a company in China) as “the team from China” and “these men from China” and it’s clear he thinks CIMA, T Hawk, and Lundeman are legit Chinese. Considering JR worked with Lawler's unfunny, racist ass for years, we're lucky we didn't get worse reagarding the OWE team. 5
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted January 3 Posted January 3 5 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Considering JR worked with Lawler's unfunny, racist ass for years, we're lucky we didn't get worse reagarding the OWE team. He called Emi Sakura "Oriental" a few weeks into Dynamite's run, and refused to learn how to pronounce Hikaru Shida's first name, to the point where AEW shortened her name just to "Shida" for a couple of weeks. The only reason it probably got changed back was because he had no interest in learning how to pronounce "Shida" either (he always called her "Sheeder"). If anything we're lucky he didn't drop his "where I'm from we call sushi 'bait'" like any time he called a Japanese wrestler in WCW. 3 1
Gordi the BJW fan Posted January 3 Posted January 3 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Technico Support said: I’m watching DoN 2019 right now and JR has referred to the OWE team (wrestlers from Japan who started a company in China) as “the team from China” and “these men from China” and it’s clear he thinks CIMA, T Hawk, and Lundeman are legit Chinese. 14 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Considering JR worked with Lawler's unfunny, racist ass for years, we're lucky we didn't get worse reagarding the OWE team. Just wait. I think it was on the 5/18/22 Dynamite (Takeshita vs Hangman match) where he straight up said Takeshita is "from The Orient." That became a running bit for me for a couple of months (It's OK, you see, because I live in the mysterious Orient myself, and my beloved wife is Oriental...). I remember praising JR for not announcing Tana as being from The Orient when he dropped by and just trusting that people here would get the reference. I am very curious if they will edit that out when that ep goes up for streaming. Can someone please check that for me, if and when? If memory serves, that was a predictably excellent match that everyone but our boy Matt enjoyed. I joked about it so much that I legit can't remember if that was the only time JR referred to a Japanese wrestler as Oriental. I had forgotten about the "these men from China" thing. Dang! That's bowling shoe racist EDIT: JINX! Yeah! I forgot about Emi. That was probably the first time. Thanks, Sparkleface, for remembering that. Edited January 3 by Gordi the recovering AEW f 2
Technico Support Posted January 3 Posted January 3 We need a separate thread just for historical AEW watching. Just call it “JR puts his foot in his mouth: old AEW on Max.” I’ll never forget the time it became obvious that someone chided him about discussing women of size and clearly told him to substitute adjectives for “power” instead of using size descriptors. He said something nonsensical like, “she’s having a hard time lifting someone so…uhh…POWERFUL!” 1 5
Nice Guy Eddie Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Well, I feel like an ass. I completely blanked on the above mentioned instances. I guess I'm a fool for expecting some degree of decorum from a 72 year old man from Oklahoma. 3
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 3 Posted January 3 34 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Considering JR worked with Lawler's unfunny, racist ass for years, we're lucky we didn't get worse reagarding the OWE team. Re: This + all the other examples being mentioned Judging by Bruce's antics of making up Japanese names on early STW episodes and his Mr. Yunioshi-esque impressions, that seems like a whoever worked in WWF creative in the 90s and was around Vince type thing. Ross, Cornette, and Prichard don't exactly have the most sterling records when it comes to racial stuff. 3
SovietShooter Posted January 3 Posted January 3 30 minutes ago, Gordi the recovering AEW f said: That became a running bit for me for a couple of months (It's OK, you see, because I live in the mysterious Orient myself, and my beloved wife is Oriental...). Question for the room... why exactly is the term "orient/oriental" now politically incorrect? I understand that it is considered offensive, but why is that exactly? Is it just because it is the term of the colonizers, or is there something more specific than that? Or, is it just an American thing, because I thought in other parts of the world where "Asian" means from the India region, "Oriental" was the preferred term for the fine people further east?
Infinit Posted January 3 Posted January 3 AEW Plus (which I got using a VPN) has a Wrestlekingdom and Wrestle Dynasty bundle for only $30! Sweet deal. 1
tbarrie Posted January 3 Posted January 3 56 minutes ago, Gordi the recovering AEW f said: I had forgotten about the "these men from China" thing. Dang! That's bowling shoe racist God knows JR has said plenty of objectionable things over the years, but being mistaken about what country those three guys doesn't seem racist to me. You could say that he should have done the research and known where they were from and I wouldn't argue, mind. But "racist" seems a bit strong in this case.
Niners Fan in CT Posted January 3 Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Infinit said: AEW Plus (which I got using a VPN) has a Wrestlekingdom and Wrestle Dynasty bundle for only $30! Sweet deal. I'm pretty sure you can just subscribe to NJPW World and get both for like ten bucks 1
dorfus malorfus Posted January 3 Posted January 3 It's been years now and I still have a hard time not thinking Jim Valley is super racist for saying Kento Miyahara "is maybe a little too much like Tanahashi." They literally look and wrestle significantly different from one another. On a slightly less sordid note, Double J put over TNA pretty hard on Dynamite. I know nobody here wants to see it, but do we think some of the recently released TNA lifers like Rhino are going to show up to work with Jarett en route to his quest for Moxley's title? This is the same company that's booked Gangrel twice now for two different programs.
Technico Support Posted January 3 Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said: Re: This + all the other examples being mentioned Judging by Bruce's antics of making up Japanese names on early STW episodes and his Mr. Yunioshi-esque impressions, that seems like a whoever worked in WWF creative in the 90s and was around Vince type thing. Ross, Cornette, and Prichard don't exactly have the most sterling records when it comes to racial stuff. This is like shooting fish in a barrel at this rate, but Ross also referred to Scorpio Sky on this show as one of the best pure athletes on the roster (yes, the very same way he talked about Shelton). If you know, you know. If you don’t, go ahead and Google the study on how sports commentators talk about white quarterbacks as opposed to black quarterbacks. 2 1
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