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AEW Dynamite February 12


sek69

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Great 1st 45 minutes! 

Hot tag with the right result,and just a bit of doubt on the finish to keep the challengers credible.

Intense Santana promo.

Darby channeling his inner Bob Dylan video

Dustin vs. The Spanish God was booked perfectly and sets up Hagar vs. Dustin

WHATABURGER REFERENCE!!!! YOU DON'T DISRESPECT WHATABURGER!!!! The crowd goes nuts. 

 

 

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Adam Page should be the lesson every company learns from. ROH and to a lesser extent New Japan were trying so hard to make him a thing just based on matches, and it really wasn't working. AEW gives him a gimmick with personality and it gets over huge. It reminds me of the Gary Hart line where he said (paraphrasing) that while he respected anyone who can wrestle, the business is about making money and just being a good wrestler isn't enough.

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That was the strongest edition of Dynamite so far. Top to bottom, there wasn't a weak segment on the show and a lot of performers hit PBs in their run with the promotion.

I liked how the tag team match played on expectations. Before the match, the obvious direction would have been to have the Dark Order interfere, Page capitilises and Omega is left disappointed in his partner. I'm glad they ignored that nonsense and just let the guys go out there and have the best version of their match possible. Even through out the match, I liked how they played on Page being an unreliable partner and put into question his capacity to show up for the hot tag. I liked how they flipped it too with Kenny sustaining so much damage during that portion that he may not be able to return the favour. Then the finish where it seemed obvious they'd set up a miscommuncation with Omega/Page only for the champs to figure out and beat SCU by the barest of margins.

Good stuff and I liked how they took the time to build next week's tag team battle royal afterwards.

I thought Dustin may have had his best showcase match in his career against Guevara. I was so worried they'd give him 80% of the match only for Hager to interfere right at the death, but they actually took the home crowd into consideration and gave Dustin his biggest singles win in AEW so far. Good stuff and AEW Revolution is beginning to take shape with not one but two matches seemingly coming together.

I thought the Nyla/Riho match was the best women's match in AEW history. As well put together as the finish was, that table spot at the beginning was great. That was obviously Nyla's fall-back plan, so to see Riho use it against her was such a smart spot. Schiavone said it best, fans aren't cheering Nyla because they necessarily prefer her over Riho, they just appreciated the quality of competition they saw. Between that and Baker's Chubby Whataburger Faces line, it may have been the strongest showing for the women so far.

Just when it seemed like MJF had little to no credibility, they put him in with Jungle Boy and the two worked a PPV calibre match together. An excellent showcase for both men with both playing their roles to a tee and MJF actually getting to show off his power and athleticism. I think MJF needed this match and to his credit he smashed it out of the park.

Even the PAC promo was smart in the sense that he was able to take credit of Omega's scatterbrained booking.

Moxley/Santana actually started off as the weakest match of the show before it built and Santana was able to get some near-falls on Mox. The one thing I noticed is that despite having a few opportunities, Mox didn't go for a cover until he hit the Paradigm Shift which seems like a big league move. In the end I thought the match succeeded in making Mox's victory over Santana feel like an accomplishment and the post-match segment worked as well. I actually thought it was smart they had Jericho announce Cobb's signing ahead of time. Not only is Jericho the best guy for the job, but it gives the casual fans some background on Cobb so they know who he is and he isn't left dangling in the wind like The Dark Order and the Butcher and the Blade before him.

I thought it was a really positive step forward for the company and they're beginning to put all the pieces together. Jeff Cobb is an excellent get for the company and I think putting him with Jericho right away is a smart move that will ensure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle like he did in ROH. Next week's show is looking just as stacked and we've got PAC/Omega to look forward to on the go-home edition.

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After a so-so run of shows in December 2019, AEW has been hitting it out of the park so far in 2020. They've put on a string of really solid shows with at least one must-see match or segment every week, they are building up to the PPV in interesting and logical ways, they have found the right balance of humorous/entertaining and serious/dramatic, former weak points like Brit Baker, Hangman Page, and PAC's promos are gradually turning into strengths, Wrestlers like Cody Jericho Darby MJF Sammy and Fenix are all on fire right now, there's a lot of fun speculation about who might be coming in, and they are making the switch from "I'll catch up with that later" to appointment viewing. 

Next week they'll have:

- The Cody v Wardlow steel cage match, which if you are a wrestling fan at all you have to be chomping at the bit to watch after how they set it up last week.

- Omega and Pageg v Lucha Bros. for the belts, which will have tons of action and ongoing story-lines.

- A tag team battle royal that they set up nicely this week.

- Mox vs Cobb, which could be really good and which was also set up nicely this week.

They really seem to be in a hell of a good groove right now. I am loving it. 

 

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I can't help but think about the similarity between how they introduced Jeff Cobb last night as Chris Jericho's hired gun for the Inner Circle to how Samoa Joe was introduced in 2002 as The Prophecy's hired gun in ROH. History will tell what will happen next with Cobb and AEW but even if it's a short-term angle, they really made it feel like a big deal. I was tempted to say they'd go with Cody vs Wardlow in the cage next week for the main event but man, Moxley vs Cobb in the main event smells money to me.

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8 hours ago, gordi said:

After a so-so run of shows in December 2019, AEW has been hitting it out of the park so far in 2020. They've put on a string of really solid shows with at least one must-see match or segment every week, they are building up to the PPV in interesting and logical ways, they have found the right balance of humorous/entertaining and serious/dramatic, former weak points like Brit Baker, Hangman Page, and PAC's promos are gradually turning into strengths, Wrestlers like Cody Jericho Darby MJF Sammy and Fenix are all on fire right now, there's a lot of fun speculation about who might be coming in, and they are making the switch from "I'll catch up with that later" to appointment viewing. 

Next week they'll have:

- The Cody v Wardlow steel cage match, which if you are a wrestling fan at all you have to be chomping at the bit to watch after how they set it up last week.

- Omega and Pageg v Lucha Bros. for the belts, which will have tons of action and ongoing story-lines.

- A tag team battle royal that they set up nicely this week.

- Mox vs Cobb, which could be really good and which was also set up nicely this week.

They really seem to be in a hell of a good groove right now. I am loving it. 

 

I couldn't agree more. Ever since they have come back from the break, every show has been compelling. At the end of last year, I made the criticism that AEW felt like can-miss TV. Now, it feels like can't miss TV. That's a HUGE accomplishment in the span of a few weeks. 

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1 hour ago, goodhelmet said:

I couldn't agree more. Ever since they have come back from the break, every show has been compelling. At the end of last year, I made the criticism that AEW felt like can-miss TV. Now, it feels like can't miss TV. That's a HUGE accomplishment in the span of a few weeks. 

If PWInsider is to be believed, Tony Khan himself has basically taken over the booking of AEW since January when they came back from the holiday break.  He is being called the "primary creative force" behind Dynamite and is supposedly getting input from the talent (especially his Executive VP's) but Tony Khan himself is now the final word, unlike before when the talent were basically booking a lot of their own stuff. That likely explains the improved cohesiveness of the shows, the elimination of "The Nightmare Collective" and the scaling back of The Dark Order to just another midcard angle, rather than a major focus or main event level story.  Seems like the ratings are also reflecting the improvement.

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No idea about US TV but AEW have finally hit their stride where the excitement around who may be coming in and the work they’ve done in establishing guys underneath is all coalescing into a great product. Not to mention that a lot of the guys are becoming better big-stage TV workers and 2020 could be an all-timer year. 
 

Also, Broken Matt Hardy leading The Dark Order against Drunken Adam Page could lead to some pretty great segments.

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Also, being from Newcastle, I was popping at all of the landmarks in PACs vignette. Big props to him for cutting a promo in his ring gear down what appears to be the tight back alley near the cities Jazz Club. Also, the restaurant he runs past on Dean Street is Babucho's which I fully recommend if you're ever in town. 

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3 hours ago, NotJayTabb said:

This weeks show was down 100k viewers, which seems odd given the near universal approval that met last weeks show. Was there some big must-see TV on in America on Wednesday, or are AEW always going to have a fluctuating viewership for the time being?

Season debut of Survivor, maybe? 

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29 minutes ago, Cowboy Hats 4.0 said:

Best episode of Dynamite, absolutely, but...an ominous sign showing Arn in that three-quarters angle of him watching the Dustin match on a television. I suppose not every WWE trope is inherently terrible, but not a fan of seeing this one show up.

Considering Brandi specifically brought up how ridiculous it looked on commentary I doubt this will become an AEW standard.

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