AEW Dynamite Week 4 - 10/23/19

[gordi]

On 10/25/2019 at 4:52 AM, Mad Dog said:

What I really loved about that brawl is that everyone that came out to stand with Cody were guys that were in his video package the week before. I love the little details that they pay attention to. It really feels like you get rewarded for paying attention.

Hell yeah! It's almost as if this pro wrestling company likes and appreciates their fans and wants to make them happy, as opposed to troll booking and treating their fan-base with utter contempt. What a novel concept!

On 10/25/2019 at 5:59 AM, Stiva said:

Another fun show but there was almost too much wrestling, all full of wild-ass flips and dives. I feel like this could have used a Nyla squash or a couple more video segments to break things up slightly. 

A squash here and there! That would be another good way to avoid burning us out as viewers with constant go-go-go-.

7 hours ago, El-P said:

Loved Private Party vs Lucha Brothers, Janela vs Omega, Young Bucks vs Best Friends and Mox vs PAC. The angle was terrific, they are really doing a great job with the build of their main event.

Four good, long matches that let everyone involved shine and a compelling angle that puts over the characters of the good guys and the bad guys while building toward something. To me, that is worth two hours of my time. It's an ample reward. And so far, they have yet to do anything on their TV show that makes me feel ashamed for watching. There is room for improvement and there are changes I wouldn't mind seeing.... but AEW Dynamite, four weeks in, is damned good pro wrestling television. 

5 hours ago, goodhelmet said:

One encouraging sign from AEW... they recognize misfires and don't shove them down the fans' throats. The Librarians gimmick was shit on (and rightfully so) and they haven't really appeared on TV in any meaningful capacity. They tried building up the Dark Order leading up to the TV debut but the fans responded with groans/ apathy. Instead of forcing them into a championship spot, they kept storyline continuity (after Dark Order won the bye) but also made the correct booking decision in not allowing them to advance further. In WWE, regardless of his improvement, nobody wanted Baron Corbin to be pushed. The company pushed him anyway and made him KOTR. If Dark Order would have won, they would be the tag team Baron Corbin.  Kudos for not giving us more Corbins. 

 

Hell yeah! It's almost as if this pro wrestling company likes and appreciates their fans and wants to make them happy, as opposed to constantly  troll booking and treating their fan-base with utter contempt. What a wild idea! Hope it works out for them.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, gordi said:

Hell yeah! It's almost as if this pro wrestling company likes and appreciates their fans and wants to make them happy, as opposed to troll booking and treating their fan-base with utter contempt. What a novel concept!

Not to mention presenting Dr. Baker, no matter how not-very-good she is, as the biggest star in front of her hometown audience and having her win to a huge reaction. So she *comes off* as a star on TV. Crazy, how did they think of something like that ? So creative.

[War is Raw]

Uncle Dave said Dark Order vs SCU gained viewers, even before Jericho came out.

The Brawl gained viewers.

Riho gained teenagers Weeks 1 and 3.

Main event killed NXT's.

[Superstar Sleeze]

On 10/24/2019 at 3:31 PM, MoS said:

How many tickets did it end up selling? The crowd that was there was definitely hot, but I am curious because this was the first of the shows that did not immediately sell out, and that general region has seen a lot of AEW events over the past few weeks.

Boston was far from a sell out. Only 3/4ths full. Hard cam side was very empty.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The best part of AEW is that everything is over. It is a positive feedback loop. The fans want the company to succeed and they actually go along with the storyline. They aren’t actively fighting against it or “hijacking” the show. It is so refreshing. It is because AEW has goodwill and delivers a product for the audience. So the positive feedback just grows and grows.

It was most evident when Britt Baker came out. She got a huge pop! The crowd leaned into the Pittsburgh love. WWE does that and no doubt in my mind she gets booed out of the building. WWE gets accused of pandering and trying to force a not over star down on our throats. One of the many ways the WWE’s machine is critically broken. The negative rep they have built up stops them from working with the crowd. That’s why I like AEW just because the crowd goes with the flow and doesn’t fight against.

The style of wrestling isn’t really for me. I find it mindless and too easily digestible. It goes in one ear out the other so to speak. There’s no hook. There’s no stickiness. I was at Young Bucks vs Pvt Party live in Boston. Loved the match! I’m not anti-spotfest at all. I just think a good spotfest is a lot harder to do. I have become a big Young Bucks fan actually! I think they are the best spot monkeys of all time because they go balls out, their spots are actually eye-popping, they pace & escalate well. They carried the Best Friends to the best match of the night. The Best Friends are a perfect example of serviceable spot monkeys. Lots of modified slams ala Dragon Gate Ooooo Aaahhh who cares? They hug!?! Okada Rainmaker Go Wide! That’s it! The best part was Bucks not selling Orange Cassidy’s bullshit and kicking him out.

Oh yeah so my point was I was at Young Bucks vs Pvt Party and when I saw star making performance. I was scratching my head. The one With the cool hair had an ultra hot dive sequence during the shine. During the finish run the Frankenstein’s into an Ace Crusher was fire and the finish was great. But I didn’t see anything super special. This was not Benoit vs Eddie on Nitro or Rey vs Psicosis on Bash at the Beach when you thought you seeing something original. Pvt Party is just another act. They were totally exposed against the Lucha Bros...sloppy...green...very little character work. I love Pentagon Jr & Fenix both are breath-taking but they also kick ass. The difference between the Bucks & Luchas is the Luchas are going to get themselves over and they always do. The Bucks try to make sure their opponents look good too. I think that’s a huge feather in the Bucks’ cap they got so many people into the Pvt Party.

Theres way too much running in pro wrestling. Why is Omega always running away from his opponent? It is fucking stupid. Yes he gets caught 50% of the time but why keep doing it! This is a WWE, AEW, Beyond, you name it, less running and more body on body. I remember Rousey vs Nattie on a random December RAW we need more of that. Actual wrestling that leads to more wrestling and builds to a satisfying finish. 

The pro wrestling in the middle show was easily the best show. Jericho vs Cody was pure fucking old school. It was pitch perfect. That’s the stuff that will keep me watching. Loved how fiery Cody was! That’s the babyface energy we need! I can’t believe Cody Rhodes is the best Ace Babyface since Cena in the US but he is! He is great! Jericho rules! I love his Seb Bach look. Growing his hair back out has helped so much. Loved the sparkle jacket. I popped for MJF and DDP. I hope they don’t turn MJF at the PPV. If you want to talk star making performances the one that happened in Boston was MJF. I still they should have closed with MJF not Darby. Everyone and their mother (my mom was literally there!) thought MJF was turning on Cody and when he officially turned Face and stayed with Cody. The crowd erupted! The way he let the crowd in and motherfucking vibes with us in Boston that’s motherfucking pro wrestling! Loved the mid-show angle. I wish they went all the way with their version of the Concession Stand Brawl but that would have been the A+ the way it was still an A.

So I have my favorites Jericho, Cody, The Bucks and Luchas. AEW >>> WWE, but I think AEW is still playing it safe. More angles and more character development is needed. As long as those 6 are featured, they have me as a loyal viewer. 

Also im a huge Tony Schiavone Mark. He was the voice of my childhood on Nitro. AEW announce team blows every WWE team out of the water. They actually talk about strategy which can be hard at times with the wrestling they are talking about but they make do. Love that too!

[goodhelmet]

6 hours ago, El-P said:

Not to mention presenting Dr. Baker, no matter how not-very-good she is, as the biggest star in front of her hometown audience and having her win to a huge reaction. So she *comes off* as a star on TV. Crazy, how did they think of something like that ? So creative.

Yes... i was just about to post this exact same thing. 

[goodhelmet]

12 hours ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

Wow. Did the Khans buy PWO? Way to deflect criticism of AEW into ""But but but The WWE! Corbins!"
 

Here's the thing, the King Corbin gimmick has been exactly what his tired act needed, and he actually gets heat. Not just from the neckbeards, but from everyone. Boos are boos, it doesn't matter why. Indifference is the true enemy.

And another thing. I actually want to check out AEW, but I'm a cord cutter. The Khans seem to be just as vigilant as The McMahons as far as YouTube goes. Is DailyMotion an option?

I am not deflecting criticism at all. I am making a direct comparison. Corbin was pushed and elevated into positions that the crowd didn't want. He gets boos. That doesn't mean he's over... and he really isn't over. Most of the time, he wrestles to silence... just like the Dark Order. 

 

Anyway, I am not a fan of everything AEW does. I have made that clear in this forum. But as far as entertainment goes, they are doing more than enough to keep me happy as a fan. 

[Coffey]

My favorite thing about AEW so far has honestly been that they have given fans optimism again. It's refreshing to see people being positive about professional wrestling again. That goes for NWA Power as well. Between Dynamite & Power each week, it's fun to read about & discuss wrestling again. With WWE, for years now, I have been so down, negative & pessimistic toward the product & I feel like I've been a Negative Nancy about them since like 2003 or some shit. AEW & NWA have made wrestling fun again, reminded me of why I've been a fan for so long & rejuvenated my interest as a viewer (and potential customer). And that's not just unique to PWO, you see it on social media like Twitter or even the normally WWE-centric SquaredCircle on Reddit.

I don't love everything that AEW does but I do like more than I don't. I could nit-pick the show, like we did before with The Librarians on the PPV preshow but honestly, now that they're doing weekly TV that stuff feels a lot fewer & farther between. I get that not everyone will dig The Young Bucks or Orange Cassidy but they have a lot of acts going right now & there's something somewhere for fans to sink their teeth into. 

Another big thing for me is that in WWE everyone feels the same. Even though they're all their own unique, individual characters, they're not all that distinguishable. Like Seth Rollins is going to do the same sort of WWE-main event stuff that anyone else in his position, be it Miz, Dolph or whomever would do. The same match, the same promos, the same angles, the same outcomes. Nothing feels different. It's that "WWE style." In AEW, despite only being on TV for a month, people feel different. Like no one is going to say that Darby Allin is anything like Luchasaurus or Jon Moxley. Granted I think a lot of that is because everyone in WWE is overexposed due to the sheer amount of TV time they have to fill every week & in AEW we're still in the infancy phase or learning who each person is.

I'm totally out on Britt Baker. I think it's time to pull the plug there. I agree that her getting to shine in her hometown was cool but I came away from that match, which I thought was just going to be a Britt Baker showcase match, thinking that her opponent was better & wanting to learn more about her instead of the person being showcased! Even when Brandi attacked her backstage, I was thinking "oh, I hope she gets her revenge for that." The women's division as a whole in AEW so far has felt pretty weak, so I see that as a positive - making me care about a new, different woman. Like El-P has said a couple of times now, even if she's not a great worker, they need to get Allie on TV too. Just more warm female bodies & see if anything connects with the crowd.

If AEW just tells good, old school pro-wrestling stories & don't constantly bait-and-switch the angles or disappoint the fans, I think they can go a long way. Just don't insult the intelligence of the viewing audience, deliver on promises made & keep the Dusty finishes to a minimum & those few things alone will feel super refreshing in 2019 going into the twenties. 

[Slasher]

Baker was over in her hometown, but it seemed pretty obvious they were pandering to the crowd on her behalf. She wore a jacket with the Steelers logo (but with teeth) and doing the Brittsburgh deal. Is that sustainable? I don't think so, unless they want her going down the Mick Foley route of getting cheap pops. I guess how the next crowd with zero attachment to her reacts will tell the story on whether that worked or not. Compare that to someone like Riho who has actually roused every crowd that she performed in front of. 

[sek69]

I'll say one thing, the Dark Order gimmick still sucks (are they supposed to be BDSM sex dungeon masters?) but they got themselves over with the match. No one was expecting Stu Grayson to do that dive over the ringpost, and it got a huge reaction. Evil Uno doing a fat guy senton will always score points with me, and they even managed to get the crowd back after the Inner Circle did their walk-in.  

[Slasher]

I just read Coffey's post and it reminded me to ask a question- why did Brandi Rhodes attack Jamie Hayter? It seemed out of nowhere. Did I miss a segment or something to set that up?

[Mad Dog]

1 hour ago, fakeplastictrees said:

Baker is a mediocre wrestler with zero charism and zero promo ability. Despite this, she is plastered all over AEW media. It's insane and I don't get it.

I think a lot of this stuff was meant for Rae and they are using Baker in her place.

[sek69]

18 minutes ago, Slasher said:

I just read Coffey's post and it reminded me to ask a question- why did Brandi Rhodes attack Jamie Hayter? It seemed out of nowhere. Did I miss a segment or something to set that up?

She announced on social media she wouldn't be accompanying Cody to the ring anymore and she wanted to focus on other things, and apparently that meant she's going to focus on her in ring career instead.

[paul sosnowski]

Here is the extended ending with the 5 extra minutes.    

 

[gordi]

10 hours ago, Coffey said:

My favorite thing about AEW so far has honestly been that they have given fans optimism again. It's refreshing to see people being positive about professional wrestling again. That goes for NWA Power as well. Between Dynamite & Power each week, it's fun to read about & discuss wrestling again.

 

This. So, so, very, very much this. 

 

The contemptuous attitude toward the fans and horrible, horrible booking on RAW and SD have soured me so much that I decided it was better for me to just stop commenting on it. I literally had nothing nice to say any more, despite the fact that wrestlers I love are on those shows. (like Bryan, Samoa Joe, KANA, el Generico, Shinsuke, AJ Styles, Io Shirai and on and on...) It made me furious to see their talents being wasted. 

I regularly hate-read the recaps on With Spandex partly out of schadenfreude and partly in the almost-always-vain hope that there might be something I want to seek out and watch.

 

Man... watching, reading about, and discussing pro wrestling used to be a thing that brought me so much joy...

 

...and now, maybe... maybe it can be again!    

[El-P]

7 hours ago, sek69 said:

She announced on social media she wouldn't be accompanying Cody to the ring anymore and she wanted to focus on other things, and apparently that meant she's going to focus on her in ring career instead.

That's too bad. She's been such a great valet for Cody. And she isn't a particulary good pro-wrestler. Then again, Cody really can walk on his own now, and I say that considering she was a big part for me to help make Cody a much better act and worker. She's a great promo, so maybe that will be enough to make her feuds character centric.

7 hours ago, Mad Dog said:

I think a lot of this stuff was meant for Rae and they are using Baker in her place.

Yep. Plus she's a dentist (did you know ?). That's a pretty cool story to tell.

It's not like she's gonna be thrown the title yet though, apparently Emi Sakura is gonna be the next challenger.