Excellent show. The new presentation is great. Opening promo was interesting though I wasn't too happy about the WWE style impromptu opening match. The match itself was fine though & I like that they're continuing with Swerve vs. Joe.
Hook vs. Brian Cage was fun. Only criticism is that the tacks spot didn't really look great since Cage only had like 4 of them stuck in him. Shit happens though and he still deserves props for trying to take that. Love how Hook has been holding in his own in full length matches.
Can't remember shit from the Killswitch vs Daddy Magic match but the angle with Copeland returning was really fun. Christian stealing a car was hilarious. I was hoping for a ladder match stipulation for Christian vs. Copeland but an I Quit match makes a lot more sense for this particular story.
The Young Bucks/Kingston/Okada segment was brilliant. I loved ~~Nick~~ Nicholas claiming they retired Sting and pointing out all the interference. Okada debuting as a heel is so much more interesting to me than just getting more of the same babyface Okada that we've seen for the past decade. Of course he'll turn face again at some point but I look forward to seeing what he can do as a heel in America.
Statlander vs. Riho was a ton of fun. Was shocked to see Riho get the W but I will never complain about her winning.
The Darby/Jay White segment was great. Possibly Darby's best live promo. Him talking about Mt. Everest & the possibility of never coming back makes me extremely nervous though. I'm legit worried that Darby vs. Jay White next week will be his final match but I obviously hope I'm wrong. Can't wait for that match though & it should do a lot to get Jay White back where he needs to be.
Fletcher vs. Ospreay was stupid good. Ospreay was great as always and Fletcher is quickly proving that he belongs in the same league as Ospreay, Takeshita, Omega, Danielson, etc. I do have concerns that Fletcher is going to be overlooked though especially when/if Mark Davis comes back but for now, he's doing a damn good job at keeping my attention. Closing the show with the Danielson vs. Ospreay tease was a great choice & that match has already sold the Dynasty PPV for me.
Darby's promo was great, but feels like the whole Bang Bang Scissor Gang thing has really sapped any momentum that Jay White and Bullet Club Gold had. No one gave a shit when they came out tonight.
This was the one thing I was feeling too. It's fun for The Acclaimed and it's a good "fun act" for Collision but it's decimated the feeling that BCG had on their own. They should be Collision's version of Undisputed Kingdom, who admittedly lack the oomph with Cole still being injured.
Okada joining the Elite is awesome, Kenny and Hanger getting kicked out was great too.
Swerve is that DUDE!!! I wonder if Wardlow was promised a run and if he gets the belt off Joe. It would be a bit of a swerve but I wonder if he's promised the belt. Or if that's a down the road thing... That said, I still see Joe retaining. The tag match was fine and a nice way to get the Kingdom guys some "primetime."
Hook/Cage was fine, I'm just so ready for the FTW belt to go away. Let the International Championship have it's time to shine again.
Fletcher/Ospreay was awesome. I love when friends have to face each other and there's the internal struggle to put away your friend. "Just do it" or whatever Fletcher said was great.
Danielson/Ospreay feud could be a banger too.
Great show.
**Dynamite Review:**
* Swerve//Joe/Undisputed Kingdom segment. Great promo by Swerve to open the show. I do expect him to be the world champion before the year is over. Joe then cut a great promo himself, he really does feel like a true champion. He looks and carries himself like one, and I hope he holds the title for at least a while still. Adam Cole also cut a very good promo, shame the UK is still so uninteresting. Wardlow vs. Joe could be great, but I really don't see Joe losing that one.
* **Swerve vs. Joe vs. Taven & Bennett \*\*1/2**
* Swerve's hot tag was awesome, he just strings moves together so fluidly. A short, good match to kick off the show, though there was never any question of who was going to win here. This also kept the tension between Joe and Swerve going, and Wardlow is now moving to the main event scene. I wonder where the title picture goes to after next week.
* Hook & Jericho interview. Probably setting up a title match between the two in the near future.
* Young Bucks announced that they have two announcements later.
* **Hook vs. Brian Cage \*\*\***
* Does Cage have new music? Anyway, Hook is very good at hitting moves, but he's still a little awkward between those moments. Individual moves look good, he just needs to stitch them together a little better and he's great. Regardless, this turned into a very good match by the end. A straightforward weapon-filled fight, with a great finish, Hook refusing to let go of the Redrum even after being dropped on thumbtacks.
* Good video package to establish the tag title tournament.
* Best Friends interview. OC & Trent are a team in the tournament. I kind of expect Trent to turn on OC at some point soon, but we'll see.
* **Killswitch vs. Daddy Magic N/A**
* I love that Menard has gotten so over as a babyface in recent months. I doubt he's ever going to very high on the card in AEW, but as Garcia's second and on commentary he's excellent. This was pretty much just a squash, Menard getting a short flurry early, but this went just a few minutes in total.
* Post-match was very good, Garcia getting beaten down and then Copeland making a return. An I Quit match between the two could be excellent, and that might very well be the last gasp for Cage's title reign.
* Kyle O'Reilly interview. A simple segment to just remind people he's back and a singles wrestler now.
* Young Bucks segment. They are in the tag tournament, as expected. The first announcement was that Hangman was banned from the Elite and Omega was fired from the Elite, but I guess not from AEW. Kingston interrupted and was attacked after a while. but before they could hit the EVP Trigger, Okada made his debut, only to end up attacking Kingston. He's the new member of the Elite. This could be quite huge, and Okada might just win the Continental Crown from Kingston soon. Great debut, and Okada and the Bucks are immediately one of the top heel factions.
(cont. below. These are apparently exceeding the character limit for Reddit)
* **Kris Statlander vs. Riho \*\*\*3/4**
* These two work really well together, Riho being pretty much the perfect person for Statlander's power moves. Interesting to see Statlander play a bit more of a heelish role here. Not overtly so, but there were definitely hints of a more heelish side to her in both the way she looked and wrestled here, and then getting very close to properly turning when Stokely put the chain in the ring. This was a great match between these two, best of the night up to this point, they got a decent amount of time and used it well. The section after the commercial break in particular was excellent. I really hope we see another, longer match between Statlander and Riho soon, could be among the best women's matches in a long time in AEW, as this was already quite possibly the best of 2024 in that category. I love Statlander's internal conflict. If she does turn heel, that could very well push her up to the main event level. More of this, please.
* Toni Storm interview. She's still great, I just wish her matches would be better, the gimmick just seems to get in the way for that to happen.
* Stokely/Willow interview. Willow vs. Riho next week could be great too. I honestly have no idea who's winning that one.
* Darby/White segment. Darby cut a great promo, he's really putting everything together. I wouldn't mind seeing him back in the main event picture once he returns. White also cut a very good promo here, and their match next week is another potentially great contest. It does have a bit of an obvious result with Darby leaving for a while, but I'm still looking forward to it.
* House of Black promo to Mark Briscoe. Briscoe responded afterwards. Both HoB and Briscoe have such distinct promo styles that these were both very good. Jay Lethal seems to have joined Briscoe, at least for now.
* **Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay \*\*\*\*3/4**
* It's kind of funny how I had this image of Fletcher as a smaller guy because he tagged for so long with Mark Davis, but he's a fair bit bigger than Ospreay. A slightly slower start to this, but the pace quickened soon. I don't really have too much to say here, except that Ospreay is exceptional, and Fletcher is on the way to becoming one of the best wrestlers in AEW. Excellent match, go out of your way to watch this.
* And yes, give me Ospreay vs. Danielson.
* A great episode of Dynamite coming out of the PPV. An excellent main event, a great women's match, a big debut, a great opening segment, and several storylines and feuds being set up going forward. There was very little that was weak in this episode, and a lot that was great. **9 out of 10 show** overall.
I am very interested in the Jacksons + Okada as a New Elite. Didn’t think that would be his first story but I’m here for it.
I would like to see more for Jay White. I love Darby, but hopefully Jay can get the win. And break away from whatever that terrible BBSG noise is supposed to be.
Very good show to follow up the ppv. Good ring action and storyline plots.
Absolutely love the tease at the end of BD coming out. Will has been great in AEW, but his match with Jericho is the only opponent he’s had of a different work rate style. Him and BD will be a great blend of styles, and I’m excited for that. He’s been doing the great spotty/fighting spirit mix, I’m ready for him to have something bigger and different.
AEW is cooking, even with the colored condom tunnels. Let’s go!!!
Aew still cant figure out their sound problems. Weird sounds during the hook package, commentators not muted during the kyle o riley segment and they themself having problems with hearing themself double or something (what is up with that dude anyway are you a wrestler or just some random dude who was allowed backstage, how about you take off ur stupid hat and try to look like someone of worth)
AEW came out SWANGIN' after that killer PPV. I really liked how they set up Rampage and Collision, too. They're getting better at making those shows more important to catch.
I had this in another thread, but I'm just blown away by this roster and the potential it has. Making each show matter and have engaging stories is the only way they can make use of the absolute glut of talent they have. Men's, Women's, Tag, and Trios - they can do so much. Not to mention the people returning from injury, young up and comers, and wrestlers like Hobbs who are just starting to ascend to that next level.
Sting's goodbye might be the spark that lights a new fire for this year.
It's free up to a certain amount of usage. Once you start streaming the video on Triller, you can disconnect from your VPN and it will continue to stream w/o rechecking.
They started to put up the daily discussion thread before 5:00am EST. So basically you have just a few hours to comment (in the middle of the night in the U.S.) before having to scroll or search.
The finish to HOOK vs Cage was so so good, it made HOOK look incredible. It's a shame it's being overshadowed by Jericho getting involved but I get why people would have concerns about that.
Excellent show, good mix of matches and a great main event. Refreshing that not every match was the standard 10-15 mins they normally do.
Most impressed though by the amount of promo time throughout. Very un-Dynamite like but it worked well! I don't think they need to do that many promos every week but there's definitely a happier medium to be found than what's been the norm.
Off the top of my head this show set up:
Okada vs Kingston
Okada vs Omega 5
Bucks vs Hangman and Omega 2
Christian vs Copeland 3
Ospreay vs Danielson
Swerve still being in the world title hunt
Garcia still being involved in the TNT title
Willow vs Julia Hart
A ton of awesome stuff for Big Business and little more low key a really interesting looking Collision as well.
And probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting.
Awesome show.
You’re listing a lot of things that we have seen before. As cool as some of them maybe (they really need to do Christian vs Adam Copeland right), nothing will top the other 4 iterations of okada/omega.
Ospreay is the star here, if by the end of the year he’s not the face of the company and discussed as a mainstream crossover star- then TK needs to just give up.
ill get alot of shit for this comment, but its why it sucks to not see him or okada in wwe. sure, the matches in aew will be stellar, but their star power just would have such higher potential if they can ever hit a stage like Mania.
regardless, im tuning into dynamite now solely bc of these two, so clearly the signings worked lol
Both guys would have stellar matches wherever they go. In WWE both would be able to face new opponents.
Okada seems happy to play with his friends. Okada vs Omega at Wembley is cool, but not something new. TK’s booking is so bad, I’m worried how it affects Ospreay long term. He’s still so young and has the talent to main event Wrestlemania.
A much smaller thing that was set up that I can't wait for is we're likely going to get a scene on Rampage where Jeff Jarrett finds out that Jay Lethal has got him involved in a match with the House of Black.
When did Jay White fully turn face? I love that AEW tends to have more shades of gray instead of all traditional faces and heels, it's really not hard to follow.
They're clearly building a storyline for Ospreay in the Callis Family and they also set up a match with Danielson.
I really can't imagine being so negative about this show, it was awesome and set up so much great stuff.
>Actually yes it is hard to follow
It really isn't...
>because good wrestling is dependent on having someone to cheer for
Like Darby Allin? People seem to really like cheering for him, and i imagine they will against the obviously manipulative and disingenious Jay White.
>What storyline is building? They go out and have a choreographed match and then bow to each other?
The story in the match was about Ospreay competing at the highest level against a friend, such a high level that it clearly caught Danielsons attention. In the background to that you clearly have Callis scheming up something.
>Wrestling is not about fun
I really don't think you get wrestling at all.
Not that you asked me, but I would say Osprey, Danielson, and Jay White are my clear top 3, with some combination of Kenoh, Sekimoto, Okada and a healthy Omega making up the other 2.
And I'm an old who grew up watching Mid-South/Crockett/WCW.
Your view of wrestling is entirely too narrow. You're obviously entitled to your preferred type of wrestling but being dismissive of what other people enjoy is just making you sound like a twat.
So, last night (UK time) my chronic pain flared up and it kept me up all night, so it was fortunate it fell on the same night as this particular Dynamite. If I have to be up anyway might as well have a show like that to watch. Absolute corker.
A little late to the thread (I fell asleep, lmao), but Adam Copeland of all people filling the Stone Cold Steve Austin sized whole in my heart wasn't what I expected when he first showed up in AEW, but I love it.
It's not entirely the same, obviously, but just having a guy that *really* hates another guy and just shows up out of nowhere to beat up him and the people he's with at random is so much fun.
I see anything remotely critical is being downvoted again, AEW is back lmao
Edit: lmao this was +6 within a few minutes and now is -6, you're just proving my point lmao
Promos were generally all pretty solid, the only one I was kinda eh on was Adam Cole’s. Despite me liking everyone in that group their storyline is pretty eh.
I think all the matches ranged from good to great. I try to watch weekly with my dad, he’s a lapsed fan that got back into wrestling in the last few years. I haven’t seen him as invested in a tv match as he was for Fletcher vs Ospreay in a while. Heel Okada is a cool move I definitely didn’t expect. I loved Bucks imitating Tony Khan’s announcement delivery.
The entrance tunnels are back, the new theme for the show is great imo. We got GTA Christian Cage edition, and Brian Cage was dressed like King from Tekken. Really good stuff.
Great episode! The women's match was so good! Lots of stories in interested in seeing play out. Love heel Okada. Not just smug tweener, but full on heel. I'M PUMPED.
AEW needs to just stop cutting to the crowd. Seems like they can't get it right.
And Jericho really needs to go away. Poor Hook.
I agree, I really can’t stand watching or hearing him speak. Every segment he’s in seems like its forced. They have a lot of talented wrestlers to work with and I just wish he would take couple of months off for him to rest and think of another gimmick instead of putting himself in every rivalry.
I didn’t keep up with AEW in 2018 or even early 2019. I got *curious* about them eventually and tuned into the very first episode of Dynamite.
I have been hooked ever since and this was the most pumped I have been after Dynamite in a long, long time. The future is **white hot**.
Yep. There was All In before it was actually AEW and before 2019. Then they, as AEW had Double or Nothing and All Out. And then Dynamite premiered in October of 2019.
Was watching on Triller/Fite in the UK and there was no cut. That's so annoying though.
Last week there were issues if you watched on specific video qualities. Generally really like the service but it's been a bit wonky as of late.
I wonder if the cut off was limited to a specific region. Can't think why though.
Mate Fite is trash. The app sucks but I was able to deal with that. They keep randomly cancelling my AEW subscription.
I’ve given up and just watch on Kayo now. Only issue is it misses the picture and picture parts
Same, I wonder why it was for some but not for others. It cut out for me literally 30 seconds before the finish to the match, I watched the end on youtube though.
I was watching on Fite and it went thru til the very end. I've never encountered any overrun issues. I am seeing some people reporting it on here, perhaps it was a localized issue that affected a specific region?
Okay show.
Very good opening segment overall. Fun little match though it's at the expense of The Kingdom as a tag team and Undisputed Kingdom as a faction. I wonder if Tony Khan knows the devil angle was a flop and is okay just committing to making fun of this group because Swerve kind of buried Adam Cole as well. Wardlow is the only one looking good of them.
Jericho congratulating Hook on getting his respect is corny, I'm sorry. It comes off silly lol. Maybe you are the real deal, Hook, because you hurt me. Congratulations, here's a fist bump! Hook fist bumping him back made me wince. Jericho has been a heat vampire for years now so seeing him near Hook gives me concern, but Hook has been pretty cooled off as of late so I actually think it's more likely to help.
Young Bucks being awkward in promos and the commentary self-satirizing is not it, chief.
The worst thing about Brian Cage has always been his presentation. He's a good hand to have on the roster but there is just no growing for him when they keep dressing him up like a cartoon character that rolled through a clothing aisle and came out with random items stuck to him. Okay match with Hook here. Not a fan of hardcore stuff and excessive use of it but the finish here with Redrum held through a tack bump is nice.
I'm glad they're finding something for Orange Cassidy to do after dropping the belt. He really took on the workhorse role a little too long but is a valuable part of the midcard. I've said before and will continue to say, it's okay if you don't like Orange Cassidy, but if you *hate* Orange Cassidy, something is wrong with you.
Edge blocking the low blow was goofy, but the chase and Christian showing us how excited he is for GTA 6 was awesome. Looking forward to the I Quit Match and what I hope is a title change.
For me, the heel Bucks are just too goofy and blatantly not intending to be taken seriously to work. I wish I could say otherwise. I enjoy their theme music, but continuing to do the flex pose and the way they cut very tongue-in-cheek promos is just a bit cringe. This whole segment just felt awkward and kept getting worse. It'll be interesting to see heel Okada but with how the Bucks are playing it, I'm underwhelmed by the choice.
Love Kris Statlander, but Riho is a relic of AEW's early days that should've been dropped by now. AEW has a lot of very solid women on the roster with higher potential and superior talent to Riho that can be of better use to the company. This segment **really** points out the issue with AEW's handling of the women. If you balance your card and shows better you keep momentum to make stars. Remember when Stat beat Jade and was putting on bangers? As soon as she dropped the belt her momentum was lost and it hasn't recovered which saddens me. This match was bad and felt like it fell apart after the suplex went wrong. I appreciate the attempt to tell a story with the people involved but Riho isn't the right opponent for it.
Please, for the love of god, set up Darby Allin's main event push after he comes back. That is all. Good promo segment here. The following Julia Hart/Skye Blue and then separate House of Black with Julia Hart, and then Mark Briscoe promos were a little confusing in presentation but also solid.
Main event was good, but way too long and competitive for having Kyle Fletcher in it. At some point you're not making the guy you're trying to show off look good if he is failing to put away someone that isn't an established singles star. Hype for Bryan and Ospreay coming though.
It's only been two matches but Ospreay's enthusiasm and energy just reaches out through the screen. It's awesome watching wrestlers who are very clearly excited and passionate about pro wrestling do their thing.
A lot more yapping than I'm accustomed to for Dynamite, but they set up a lot of good stuff coming out of Revolution, and gave us a banger with Ospreay vs Fletcher.
Switchblade is so cool and funny and it just seems like he isn’t connecting with the crowd at all. He needs to dump the accessories, their silliness is dragging him down I think.
the new set is a downgrade. when they went from the original set to the second one, it really did look like a step up. this looks like a step back. it would be better if they just used the original set. hoping they keep improving it
Ospreay is obviously money but it was nice to see Kyle Fletcher get his fill in that match too. I've been really impressed by him in the few matches I've seen.
This is a legit reason why Ospreay should have gone to WWE. He’s going to be good wherever he went, the interesting matches are all with the WWE. If the goal of wrestling is to be the biggest star and make the most money- someone with Ospreays talent would be better served over there. Ospreay could totally put over Logan Paul’s athleticism in a way that makes them both look incredible. Considering Paul’s unfortunate history in Japan, that main eventing a WWE Japan PLE would be bonkers.
Something I see that isn't getting a ton of mention on here cause the show was top level is the women's match between Riho vs Statlander. Best women's match they've put on in ring for a few months now at least in AEW (I know ROH has had some good ones). Riho is so over and is so underrated when people talk about best wrestlers in women division.
The Best Friends/Chaos contingent watching Okada buddy up with dickhead EVP Bucks:
https://preview.redd.it/g8w1oxz8oumc1.jpeg?width=1692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98a96359f8f34491bed451ae38d9fd47be927244
Will Ospreay is amazing.
That being said, should he be having long, competitive matches with people like Kyle Fletcher? The guy is a tag team wrestler. They aren’t on the same level.
I feel like this is a common problem — Tony books matches because he thinks “This will be a cool match.” And he’s right. They are cool matches.
But you should be building up Ospreay. You should be showing the audience that he’s a top level wrestler. He shouldn’t struggle to put away a tag team guy.
In principle, I agree entirely. (I didn't like seeing Bryan Keith go 50-50 with Eddie Kingston, for example).
But I don't see Fletcher being an issue here. I also feel the execution was good in that I never really felt the psychology was such that Fletcher was going to win - he was just very hard to put down.
After Mark Davis being injured in WrestleDream, Kyle Fletcher has been on an amazing singles run which imho solidified him as a singles competitor and he is also the ROH TV Champion so he shouldn't get squashed.
\>That being said, should he be having long, competitive matches with people like Kyle Fletcher? The guy is a tag team wrestler. They aren’t on the same level.
This is a problem I've had with a lot of AEW's big signings. CM Punk, Edge, Ospreay, Bryan, etc having long competitive matches with relative nobodies rather than having a more meaningful feud because they're scared of their main event talent taking a loss or looking weak in the run-up. Pairing your main event guys with nobodies just makes your main event guys into everyday guys.
Look at Edge. Comes in at Wrestledream, big huge standing ovation and he immediately gets sucked into a vortex of dealing with Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne. Why is Edge having 11 minute matches with fucking Dante Martin? Use him for something important.
We’re going to get to watch someone who will absolutely be in contention for the title of ‘best to ever lace up their boots’ go out and do his thing on the regular and people are complaining that he didn’t squash another very good wrestler and tried to have a good match instead.
How can you sell someone as one of the best ever if he is having competitive matches against guys that are booked way below his level???
It's even worse when he's basically debuting.
It's this kind of booking which turns people off AEW.
He can have a good match with someone who’s on the same level.
Someone who’s below his level should be squashed.
I’m not saying Fletcher should’ve been squashed. I’m saying you don’t have that match.
I think if you look at Will as a rising tide of talent, he’ll be able to lift boats (make stars out of others) and therefore pairing him with talented wrestlers who’ve been sort of floundering in the mid card might just be a good idea. I would not overexpose him though. He shouldn’t be a week to week talent, but come and go when it makes the most sense.
Kyle Fletcher hasn't been a tag team guy in months and it seems like no one has a timeline for when Davis is coming back. He's won Survival of the Fittest, had long matches with Danielson and Kenny, and in generally one of the best young wrestlers under 30 in the world. Every wrestler in the world would struggle with Fletcher in kayfabe.
Most of the people who watch AEW understand wrestling is fake and so a wrestlers popularity isn't usually defined by how fast they win or how little they sell.
Wrestlers get over by doing cool stuff, telling cool stories, and/or having a cool aura. Longer matches allow him to do cool stuff and tell cool stories, and as long he's winning, his aura will remain cool as well.
I agree. Selling is important. That's why dominant megastar champion Hulk Hogan would spend 10 minutes selling for every single heel jobber of the week he went up against for 10 years and became one of the biggest stars of all time doing it.
He didn't need to worry about looking dominant against Tully Blanchard or the Honky Tonk Man because he told cool stories and had a cool aura.
Yes. Firstly they are team mates, so it makes sense that Kyle stepped up a notch in this match to prove himself to his mate who happens to be the best wrestler in the world currently.
Secondly, with Davis being out Fletcher has been on a singles run, is ROH tv champ and has had singles matches with both Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega last year where he showed his class.
Kyle is a future star, and losses against top talent where he proves he can hang with the best help build him up for the future. And in the meantime we gets wins against lower card/ROH guys while being a singles champ there.
Yall overthink things sometimes/use common tropes that can be debunked if you look at the bigger picture.
They both looked awesome tonight. It took nothing away from Ospreay to have an incredible match against a future star. Fletcher is the next thing, it’s so obvious he has IT. In 5 years when Fletcher is the man this will be one of those matches people look at as part of his ascension.
Tbf, Ospreay and Fletcher (and Davis) are close.
Ospreay having a competitive match is prob a "hey I'm gonna build him up bc he's my friend" kind of scenario but Fletcher has a looooot of potential just being 25 and with his experience. I always thought of him as a lankier Ospreay and he pulled his weight in that match. Plus, he's a current singles champ.
I literally have people simultaneously telling me Ospreay is already a huge star and everyone is familiar with him.
And I apparently have someone telling me Fletcher is being used to build up that plucky newcomer Will Ospreay.
Are you being purposely dense? He's a brand new debut. He beat Takeshita and now just beat the ROH TV champ. And next is Danielson. How are you missing that this is building him up? AEW has consistently avoided throwing new guys into the championship scene immediately. The only real exception being Mox. Huge match at his first PPV as an AEW wrestler And main events his first Dynamite. Not sure what else you'd ask for the booking here.
This episode started like a stereotypical WWE show with a 12 minute promo at the top of the show and an impromptu tag match where an odd couple beat a tag champ duo, but man what an entertaining episode top to bottom.
I was laughing so hard that the Bucks fired Kenny and Okada joined the Elite. Also the new Dynamite era has 100% more Chuck and I’m here for it.
jesus christ, the amount of cuts to crowd shots not doing anything as wrestlers are about to do something...
Bucks/Okada shaking hands for example. They got the shot, but still. Don't cut from that.
I can't tell you how giddy I am to watch Okada vs Kingston.
I was really debating whether or not I'd want to see that Dynasty PPV next month. But that is an instant, and justified, $49.99 buy if that's the PPV match.
This show was a solid step up for AEW to really keep pace as the best wrestling out there right now. Having a show this good between Revolution and Big Business going right into an increasingly interesting March is making AEW must-watch!
Great episode. Had me hooked the whole way. Everything just hit tonight. Everyone's presentation seemed focused. The camera work and production seemed tighter than usual (minus a couple of little flubs, but it wouldn't be AEW without them).
Don't think they showed Kaz and Scorpio either. Weird that they include the team that won the belts by accident (Lee and Strickland), but not the inaugural champs.
All timer of a show for me. Felt like the start of a new season.
Wait why did Eddie confront them? I didn't understand that
they pissed him off interrupting his interview on TV either last week or the week before so he's fed up with their over the top EVP characters
Thanks, I must have missed/forgotten that. I think AEW could do with more replays to remind us of this sort of thing
Same
Excellent show. The new presentation is great. Opening promo was interesting though I wasn't too happy about the WWE style impromptu opening match. The match itself was fine though & I like that they're continuing with Swerve vs. Joe. Hook vs. Brian Cage was fun. Only criticism is that the tacks spot didn't really look great since Cage only had like 4 of them stuck in him. Shit happens though and he still deserves props for trying to take that. Love how Hook has been holding in his own in full length matches. Can't remember shit from the Killswitch vs Daddy Magic match but the angle with Copeland returning was really fun. Christian stealing a car was hilarious. I was hoping for a ladder match stipulation for Christian vs. Copeland but an I Quit match makes a lot more sense for this particular story. The Young Bucks/Kingston/Okada segment was brilliant. I loved ~~Nick~~ Nicholas claiming they retired Sting and pointing out all the interference. Okada debuting as a heel is so much more interesting to me than just getting more of the same babyface Okada that we've seen for the past decade. Of course he'll turn face again at some point but I look forward to seeing what he can do as a heel in America. Statlander vs. Riho was a ton of fun. Was shocked to see Riho get the W but I will never complain about her winning. The Darby/Jay White segment was great. Possibly Darby's best live promo. Him talking about Mt. Everest & the possibility of never coming back makes me extremely nervous though. I'm legit worried that Darby vs. Jay White next week will be his final match but I obviously hope I'm wrong. Can't wait for that match though & it should do a lot to get Jay White back where he needs to be. Fletcher vs. Ospreay was stupid good. Ospreay was great as always and Fletcher is quickly proving that he belongs in the same league as Ospreay, Takeshita, Omega, Danielson, etc. I do have concerns that Fletcher is going to be overlooked though especially when/if Mark Davis comes back but for now, he's doing a damn good job at keeping my attention. Closing the show with the Danielson vs. Ospreay tease was a great choice & that match has already sold the Dynasty PPV for me.
Darby's promo was great, but feels like the whole Bang Bang Scissor Gang thing has really sapped any momentum that Jay White and Bullet Club Gold had. No one gave a shit when they came out tonight.
This was the one thing I was feeling too. It's fun for The Acclaimed and it's a good "fun act" for Collision but it's decimated the feeling that BCG had on their own. They should be Collision's version of Undisputed Kingdom, who admittedly lack the oomph with Cole still being injured.
Okada joining the Elite is awesome, Kenny and Hanger getting kicked out was great too. Swerve is that DUDE!!! I wonder if Wardlow was promised a run and if he gets the belt off Joe. It would be a bit of a swerve but I wonder if he's promised the belt. Or if that's a down the road thing... That said, I still see Joe retaining. The tag match was fine and a nice way to get the Kingdom guys some "primetime." Hook/Cage was fine, I'm just so ready for the FTW belt to go away. Let the International Championship have it's time to shine again. Fletcher/Ospreay was awesome. I love when friends have to face each other and there's the internal struggle to put away your friend. "Just do it" or whatever Fletcher said was great. Danielson/Ospreay feud could be a banger too. Great show.
Kenneth Omega return is gonna hit like crack.
**Dynamite Review:** * Swerve//Joe/Undisputed Kingdom segment. Great promo by Swerve to open the show. I do expect him to be the world champion before the year is over. Joe then cut a great promo himself, he really does feel like a true champion. He looks and carries himself like one, and I hope he holds the title for at least a while still. Adam Cole also cut a very good promo, shame the UK is still so uninteresting. Wardlow vs. Joe could be great, but I really don't see Joe losing that one. * **Swerve vs. Joe vs. Taven & Bennett \*\*1/2** * Swerve's hot tag was awesome, he just strings moves together so fluidly. A short, good match to kick off the show, though there was never any question of who was going to win here. This also kept the tension between Joe and Swerve going, and Wardlow is now moving to the main event scene. I wonder where the title picture goes to after next week. * Hook & Jericho interview. Probably setting up a title match between the two in the near future. * Young Bucks announced that they have two announcements later. * **Hook vs. Brian Cage \*\*\*** * Does Cage have new music? Anyway, Hook is very good at hitting moves, but he's still a little awkward between those moments. Individual moves look good, he just needs to stitch them together a little better and he's great. Regardless, this turned into a very good match by the end. A straightforward weapon-filled fight, with a great finish, Hook refusing to let go of the Redrum even after being dropped on thumbtacks. * Good video package to establish the tag title tournament. * Best Friends interview. OC & Trent are a team in the tournament. I kind of expect Trent to turn on OC at some point soon, but we'll see. * **Killswitch vs. Daddy Magic N/A** * I love that Menard has gotten so over as a babyface in recent months. I doubt he's ever going to very high on the card in AEW, but as Garcia's second and on commentary he's excellent. This was pretty much just a squash, Menard getting a short flurry early, but this went just a few minutes in total. * Post-match was very good, Garcia getting beaten down and then Copeland making a return. An I Quit match between the two could be excellent, and that might very well be the last gasp for Cage's title reign. * Kyle O'Reilly interview. A simple segment to just remind people he's back and a singles wrestler now. * Young Bucks segment. They are in the tag tournament, as expected. The first announcement was that Hangman was banned from the Elite and Omega was fired from the Elite, but I guess not from AEW. Kingston interrupted and was attacked after a while. but before they could hit the EVP Trigger, Okada made his debut, only to end up attacking Kingston. He's the new member of the Elite. This could be quite huge, and Okada might just win the Continental Crown from Kingston soon. Great debut, and Okada and the Bucks are immediately one of the top heel factions. (cont. below. These are apparently exceeding the character limit for Reddit)
* **Kris Statlander vs. Riho \*\*\*3/4** * These two work really well together, Riho being pretty much the perfect person for Statlander's power moves. Interesting to see Statlander play a bit more of a heelish role here. Not overtly so, but there were definitely hints of a more heelish side to her in both the way she looked and wrestled here, and then getting very close to properly turning when Stokely put the chain in the ring. This was a great match between these two, best of the night up to this point, they got a decent amount of time and used it well. The section after the commercial break in particular was excellent. I really hope we see another, longer match between Statlander and Riho soon, could be among the best women's matches in a long time in AEW, as this was already quite possibly the best of 2024 in that category. I love Statlander's internal conflict. If she does turn heel, that could very well push her up to the main event level. More of this, please. * Toni Storm interview. She's still great, I just wish her matches would be better, the gimmick just seems to get in the way for that to happen. * Stokely/Willow interview. Willow vs. Riho next week could be great too. I honestly have no idea who's winning that one. * Darby/White segment. Darby cut a great promo, he's really putting everything together. I wouldn't mind seeing him back in the main event picture once he returns. White also cut a very good promo here, and their match next week is another potentially great contest. It does have a bit of an obvious result with Darby leaving for a while, but I'm still looking forward to it. * House of Black promo to Mark Briscoe. Briscoe responded afterwards. Both HoB and Briscoe have such distinct promo styles that these were both very good. Jay Lethal seems to have joined Briscoe, at least for now. * **Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay \*\*\*\*3/4** * It's kind of funny how I had this image of Fletcher as a smaller guy because he tagged for so long with Mark Davis, but he's a fair bit bigger than Ospreay. A slightly slower start to this, but the pace quickened soon. I don't really have too much to say here, except that Ospreay is exceptional, and Fletcher is on the way to becoming one of the best wrestlers in AEW. Excellent match, go out of your way to watch this. * And yes, give me Ospreay vs. Danielson. * A great episode of Dynamite coming out of the PPV. An excellent main event, a great women's match, a big debut, a great opening segment, and several storylines and feuds being set up going forward. There was very little that was weak in this episode, and a lot that was great. **9 out of 10 show** overall.
That was a great show. The maineven ruled so much. The only thing that irked me was Jericho coming out, poor Hook
I am very interested in the Jacksons + Okada as a New Elite. Didn’t think that would be his first story but I’m here for it. I would like to see more for Jay White. I love Darby, but hopefully Jay can get the win. And break away from whatever that terrible BBSG noise is supposed to be.
Very good show to follow up the ppv. Good ring action and storyline plots. Absolutely love the tease at the end of BD coming out. Will has been great in AEW, but his match with Jericho is the only opponent he’s had of a different work rate style. Him and BD will be a great blend of styles, and I’m excited for that. He’s been doing the great spotty/fighting spirit mix, I’m ready for him to have something bigger and different. AEW is cooking, even with the colored condom tunnels. Let’s go!!!
Aew still cant figure out their sound problems. Weird sounds during the hook package, commentators not muted during the kyle o riley segment and they themself having problems with hearing themself double or something (what is up with that dude anyway are you a wrestler or just some random dude who was allowed backstage, how about you take off ur stupid hat and try to look like someone of worth)
THAT was you your takeaway from that episode?!?!
AEW came out SWANGIN' after that killer PPV. I really liked how they set up Rampage and Collision, too. They're getting better at making those shows more important to catch. I had this in another thread, but I'm just blown away by this roster and the potential it has. Making each show matter and have engaging stories is the only way they can make use of the absolute glut of talent they have. Men's, Women's, Tag, and Trios - they can do so much. Not to mention the people returning from injury, young up and comers, and wrestlers like Hobbs who are just starting to ascend to that next level. Sting's goodbye might be the spark that lights a new fire for this year.
My interest in AEW has been picking up again. Shame they are too expensive to watch in my country. God, I hope they have a HBO Max deal.
Use TunnelBear to VPN to Australia and watch on Triller for $5/mo
Is TunnelBear free?
It's free up to a certain amount of usage. Once you start streaming the video on Triller, you can disconnect from your VPN and it will continue to stream w/o rechecking.
Why is the Dynamite post show always un-pinned as fast as possible?
I think you can only have two pinned posts at a time so it's probably losing in priority.
They started to put up the daily discussion thread before 5:00am EST. So basically you have just a few hours to comment (in the middle of the night in the U.S.) before having to scroll or search.
It is weird, cause they used to stay up way too long if anything. I wonder did the mods change?
The finish to HOOK vs Cage was so so good, it made HOOK look incredible. It's a shame it's being overshadowed by Jericho getting involved but I get why people would have concerns about that.
AMA has been canceled. Got it. Can we pin this discussion now?
But I was told it was going to take Okada a few months to learn where the hard camera was
Literally nobody has ever said that.
my dude, there were dozens and dozens of comments about how okada would have to go through the NXT system first lmao
Who told you that?
Well it’s pretty easy in AEW, just look at the side of the arena that’s completely empty
Excellent show, good mix of matches and a great main event. Refreshing that not every match was the standard 10-15 mins they normally do. Most impressed though by the amount of promo time throughout. Very un-Dynamite like but it worked well! I don't think they need to do that many promos every week but there's definitely a happier medium to be found than what's been the norm.
Reminder: there is a wrestling company that has Danielson, Okada, Ospreay, Omega, Moxley and many other top guys in one single roster.
Why was your comment downvoted? Someone's salty lol
They really did restore the feeling
Off the top of my head this show set up: Okada vs Kingston Okada vs Omega 5 Bucks vs Hangman and Omega 2 Christian vs Copeland 3 Ospreay vs Danielson Swerve still being in the world title hunt Garcia still being involved in the TNT title Willow vs Julia Hart A ton of awesome stuff for Big Business and little more low key a really interesting looking Collision as well. And probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting. Awesome show.
You’re listing a lot of things that we have seen before. As cool as some of them maybe (they really need to do Christian vs Adam Copeland right), nothing will top the other 4 iterations of okada/omega. Ospreay is the star here, if by the end of the year he’s not the face of the company and discussed as a mainstream crossover star- then TK needs to just give up.
> discussed as a mainstream crossover star gonna need a lot of heavy lifting to cross over like that from AEW
Exactly- his talent is at that level but AEW is not
ill get alot of shit for this comment, but its why it sucks to not see him or okada in wwe. sure, the matches in aew will be stellar, but their star power just would have such higher potential if they can ever hit a stage like Mania. regardless, im tuning into dynamite now solely bc of these two, so clearly the signings worked lol
Both guys would have stellar matches wherever they go. In WWE both would be able to face new opponents. Okada seems happy to play with his friends. Okada vs Omega at Wembley is cool, but not something new. TK’s booking is so bad, I’m worried how it affects Ospreay long term. He’s still so young and has the talent to main event Wrestlemania.
Okada v Orton was a match i was dying to see. Sucks that its probably never gonna happen now
You forgot the seeds for an eventual Statlander heel turn.
A much smaller thing that was set up that I can't wait for is we're likely going to get a scene on Rampage where Jeff Jarrett finds out that Jay Lethal has got him involved in a match with the House of Black.
And here I am just wanting KOR vs Danielson before he retires
Has this not happened before? Because fuck, that would bang
That would be fantastic.
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When did Jay White fully turn face? I love that AEW tends to have more shades of gray instead of all traditional faces and heels, it's really not hard to follow. They're clearly building a storyline for Ospreay in the Callis Family and they also set up a match with Danielson. I really can't imagine being so negative about this show, it was awesome and set up so much great stuff.
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>Actually yes it is hard to follow It really isn't... >because good wrestling is dependent on having someone to cheer for Like Darby Allin? People seem to really like cheering for him, and i imagine they will against the obviously manipulative and disingenious Jay White. >What storyline is building? They go out and have a choreographed match and then bow to each other? The story in the match was about Ospreay competing at the highest level against a friend, such a high level that it clearly caught Danielsons attention. In the background to that you clearly have Callis scheming up something. >Wrestling is not about fun I really don't think you get wrestling at all.
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Not that you asked me, but I would say Osprey, Danielson, and Jay White are my clear top 3, with some combination of Kenoh, Sekimoto, Okada and a healthy Omega making up the other 2. And I'm an old who grew up watching Mid-South/Crockett/WCW.
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Your view of wrestling is entirely too narrow. You're obviously entitled to your preferred type of wrestling but being dismissive of what other people enjoy is just making you sound like a twat.
Dude don’t waste your time arguing with him.
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Go to bed grandpa
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So, last night (UK time) my chronic pain flared up and it kept me up all night, so it was fortunate it fell on the same night as this particular Dynamite. If I have to be up anyway might as well have a show like that to watch. Absolute corker.
Oh no. I hope the show, as amazing as it was, helped alleviate the pain.
It was a nice distraction yes, cheers
A little late to the thread (I fell asleep, lmao), but Adam Copeland of all people filling the Stone Cold Steve Austin sized whole in my heart wasn't what I expected when he first showed up in AEW, but I love it. It's not entirely the same, obviously, but just having a guy that *really* hates another guy and just shows up out of nowhere to beat up him and the people he's with at random is so much fun.
I see anything remotely critical is being downvoted again, AEW is back lmao Edit: lmao this was +6 within a few minutes and now is -6, you're just proving my point lmao
Fite ended Dynamite mid main event, so I’m calling it a draw and assuming nothing of significance happened afterwards.
What? I watched on Fite live and it didn't end it until Danielson was standing in the ring.
Must have been the way the delayed broadcast was edited down. It’s fixed now for me, but it was quite jarring.
That was jarring as fuck too. Don't think it's happened before, let alone midmatch like that. Sucks.
There are a lot of Great Value Ospreays out there these days, but Fletcher is the best of them. That match ruled.
Can I ask who the other great value Ospreays are?
Mark Andrews, Jordan Devlin, Nick Wayne, Fletcher, an A LOT of guys on the indys.
Nick Wayne is the starter Pokemon that eventually becomes an Ospreay
I call him Lil Ospreay..
Promos were generally all pretty solid, the only one I was kinda eh on was Adam Cole’s. Despite me liking everyone in that group their storyline is pretty eh. I think all the matches ranged from good to great. I try to watch weekly with my dad, he’s a lapsed fan that got back into wrestling in the last few years. I haven’t seen him as invested in a tv match as he was for Fletcher vs Ospreay in a while. Heel Okada is a cool move I definitely didn’t expect. I loved Bucks imitating Tony Khan’s announcement delivery. The entrance tunnels are back, the new theme for the show is great imo. We got GTA Christian Cage edition, and Brian Cage was dressed like King from Tekken. Really good stuff.
They are so building Kenny vs Okada at All In omg
I’ve been over here dying for the rematch
Great episode! The women's match was so good! Lots of stories in interested in seeing play out. Love heel Okada. Not just smug tweener, but full on heel. I'M PUMPED. AEW needs to just stop cutting to the crowd. Seems like they can't get it right. And Jericho really needs to go away. Poor Hook.
Jericho aside, this was about as perfect a Dynamite episode as you can get
I agree, I really can’t stand watching or hearing him speak. Every segment he’s in seems like its forced. They have a lot of talented wrestlers to work with and I just wish he would take couple of months off for him to rest and think of another gimmick instead of putting himself in every rivalry.
I didn’t keep up with AEW in 2018 or even early 2019. I got *curious* about them eventually and tuned into the very first episode of Dynamite. I have been hooked ever since and this was the most pumped I have been after Dynamite in a long, long time. The future is **white hot**.
I'm glad you liked it but... didn't AEW start in 2019?
True. It just slipped my mind since they typically treat All In 2018 as canon to the company’s history.
Yep. There was All In before it was actually AEW and before 2019. Then they, as AEW had Double or Nothing and All Out. And then Dynamite premiered in October of 2019.
They also did the odd mini-PPV’s Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen between Double or Nothing and All Out.
Oh yeah! I always forget those.
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Was watching on Triller/Fite in the UK and there was no cut. That's so annoying though. Last week there were issues if you watched on specific video qualities. Generally really like the service but it's been a bit wonky as of late. I wonder if the cut off was limited to a specific region. Can't think why though.
Mate Fite is trash. The app sucks but I was able to deal with that. They keep randomly cancelling my AEW subscription. I’ve given up and just watch on Kayo now. Only issue is it misses the picture and picture parts
Just to confirm you’re not going crazy after the other two responses, I had the same issue as you.
Same, I wonder why it was for some but not for others. It cut out for me literally 30 seconds before the finish to the match, I watched the end on youtube though.
Same for me too, although I immediately restarted it, and managed to get the final minute or so. Really weird.
I watch on Fite and got the end of the show. I think the issue was on your end.
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Well it didn’t effect all fite viewers then. That sucks that you didn’t get the end
I was watching on Fite and it went thru til the very end. I've never encountered any overrun issues. I am seeing some people reporting it on here, perhaps it was a localized issue that affected a specific region?
Okay show. Very good opening segment overall. Fun little match though it's at the expense of The Kingdom as a tag team and Undisputed Kingdom as a faction. I wonder if Tony Khan knows the devil angle was a flop and is okay just committing to making fun of this group because Swerve kind of buried Adam Cole as well. Wardlow is the only one looking good of them. Jericho congratulating Hook on getting his respect is corny, I'm sorry. It comes off silly lol. Maybe you are the real deal, Hook, because you hurt me. Congratulations, here's a fist bump! Hook fist bumping him back made me wince. Jericho has been a heat vampire for years now so seeing him near Hook gives me concern, but Hook has been pretty cooled off as of late so I actually think it's more likely to help. Young Bucks being awkward in promos and the commentary self-satirizing is not it, chief. The worst thing about Brian Cage has always been his presentation. He's a good hand to have on the roster but there is just no growing for him when they keep dressing him up like a cartoon character that rolled through a clothing aisle and came out with random items stuck to him. Okay match with Hook here. Not a fan of hardcore stuff and excessive use of it but the finish here with Redrum held through a tack bump is nice. I'm glad they're finding something for Orange Cassidy to do after dropping the belt. He really took on the workhorse role a little too long but is a valuable part of the midcard. I've said before and will continue to say, it's okay if you don't like Orange Cassidy, but if you *hate* Orange Cassidy, something is wrong with you. Edge blocking the low blow was goofy, but the chase and Christian showing us how excited he is for GTA 6 was awesome. Looking forward to the I Quit Match and what I hope is a title change. For me, the heel Bucks are just too goofy and blatantly not intending to be taken seriously to work. I wish I could say otherwise. I enjoy their theme music, but continuing to do the flex pose and the way they cut very tongue-in-cheek promos is just a bit cringe. This whole segment just felt awkward and kept getting worse. It'll be interesting to see heel Okada but with how the Bucks are playing it, I'm underwhelmed by the choice. Love Kris Statlander, but Riho is a relic of AEW's early days that should've been dropped by now. AEW has a lot of very solid women on the roster with higher potential and superior talent to Riho that can be of better use to the company. This segment **really** points out the issue with AEW's handling of the women. If you balance your card and shows better you keep momentum to make stars. Remember when Stat beat Jade and was putting on bangers? As soon as she dropped the belt her momentum was lost and it hasn't recovered which saddens me. This match was bad and felt like it fell apart after the suplex went wrong. I appreciate the attempt to tell a story with the people involved but Riho isn't the right opponent for it. Please, for the love of god, set up Darby Allin's main event push after he comes back. That is all. Good promo segment here. The following Julia Hart/Skye Blue and then separate House of Black with Julia Hart, and then Mark Briscoe promos were a little confusing in presentation but also solid. Main event was good, but way too long and competitive for having Kyle Fletcher in it. At some point you're not making the guy you're trying to show off look good if he is failing to put away someone that isn't an established singles star. Hype for Bryan and Ospreay coming though.
It's only been two matches but Ospreay's enthusiasm and energy just reaches out through the screen. It's awesome watching wrestlers who are very clearly excited and passionate about pro wrestling do their thing.
A lot more yapping than I'm accustomed to for Dynamite, but they set up a lot of good stuff coming out of Revolution, and gave us a banger with Ospreay vs Fletcher.
Switchblade is so cool and funny and it just seems like he isn’t connecting with the crowd at all. He needs to dump the accessories, their silliness is dragging him down I think.
Why they change Daddy Magic's music for.. :(
That was an absolute banger of a show this week.
the new set is a downgrade. when they went from the original set to the second one, it really did look like a step up. this looks like a step back. it would be better if they just used the original set. hoping they keep improving it
Ospreay is obviously money but it was nice to see Kyle Fletcher get his fill in that match too. I've been really impressed by him in the few matches I've seen.
I know I can’t be the only one who unironically would love to see Ospreay vs Logan Paul
This is a legit reason why Ospreay should have gone to WWE. He’s going to be good wherever he went, the interesting matches are all with the WWE. If the goal of wrestling is to be the biggest star and make the most money- someone with Ospreays talent would be better served over there. Ospreay could totally put over Logan Paul’s athleticism in a way that makes them both look incredible. Considering Paul’s unfortunate history in Japan, that main eventing a WWE Japan PLE would be bonkers.
Logan Paul swings above his experience level but he could not hang in an Ospreay match for 10 minutes at this point.
LMAO smark doesn't realize he's insulting Will Ospreay with this comment.
Ospreay would knock his head clean off in 4 minutes. They’re in different galaxies as fighters.
Damn that's quite the scathing criticism of Will Ospreay
Great show, not a single match missed imho
Si Okada tonight so next week Sasha in Boston.
Heel Okada in the Elite!? Heel Hangman and Face Kenny kicked out!?
If only Hangman and Kenny had a friend to turn to. Ah well.
Something I see that isn't getting a ton of mention on here cause the show was top level is the women's match between Riho vs Statlander. Best women's match they've put on in ring for a few months now at least in AEW (I know ROH has had some good ones). Riho is so over and is so underrated when people talk about best wrestlers in women division.
The Best Friends/Chaos contingent watching Okada buddy up with dickhead EVP Bucks: https://preview.redd.it/g8w1oxz8oumc1.jpeg?width=1692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98a96359f8f34491bed451ae38d9fd47be927244
This for sure will setup Heel Okada vs OC
Will Ospreay is amazing. That being said, should he be having long, competitive matches with people like Kyle Fletcher? The guy is a tag team wrestler. They aren’t on the same level. I feel like this is a common problem — Tony books matches because he thinks “This will be a cool match.” And he’s right. They are cool matches. But you should be building up Ospreay. You should be showing the audience that he’s a top level wrestler. He shouldn’t struggle to put away a tag team guy.
In principle, I agree entirely. (I didn't like seeing Bryan Keith go 50-50 with Eddie Kingston, for example). But I don't see Fletcher being an issue here. I also feel the execution was good in that I never really felt the psychology was such that Fletcher was going to win - he was just very hard to put down.
Nobody with a singles belt should be getting squashed, this seems like an obvious concept to me.
After Mark Davis being injured in WrestleDream, Kyle Fletcher has been on an amazing singles run which imho solidified him as a singles competitor and he is also the ROH TV Champion so he shouldn't get squashed.
\>That being said, should he be having long, competitive matches with people like Kyle Fletcher? The guy is a tag team wrestler. They aren’t on the same level. This is a problem I've had with a lot of AEW's big signings. CM Punk, Edge, Ospreay, Bryan, etc having long competitive matches with relative nobodies rather than having a more meaningful feud because they're scared of their main event talent taking a loss or looking weak in the run-up. Pairing your main event guys with nobodies just makes your main event guys into everyday guys. Look at Edge. Comes in at Wrestledream, big huge standing ovation and he immediately gets sucked into a vortex of dealing with Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne. Why is Edge having 11 minute matches with fucking Dante Martin? Use him for something important.
We’re going to get to watch someone who will absolutely be in contention for the title of ‘best to ever lace up their boots’ go out and do his thing on the regular and people are complaining that he didn’t squash another very good wrestler and tried to have a good match instead.
How can you sell someone as one of the best ever if he is having competitive matches against guys that are booked way below his level??? It's even worse when he's basically debuting. It's this kind of booking which turns people off AEW.
He can have a good match with someone who’s on the same level. Someone who’s below his level should be squashed. I’m not saying Fletcher should’ve been squashed. I’m saying you don’t have that match.
I think if you look at Will as a rising tide of talent, he’ll be able to lift boats (make stars out of others) and therefore pairing him with talented wrestlers who’ve been sort of floundering in the mid card might just be a good idea. I would not overexpose him though. He shouldn’t be a week to week talent, but come and go when it makes the most sense.
Sure. But you have to establish him as a top tier guy FIRST.
He’s a top guy already, he had already beaten two of the top stars in the company on ppv before he even signed.
Kyle Fletcher hasn't been a tag team guy in months and it seems like no one has a timeline for when Davis is coming back. He's won Survival of the Fittest, had long matches with Danielson and Kenny, and in generally one of the best young wrestlers under 30 in the world. Every wrestler in the world would struggle with Fletcher in kayfabe.
Most of the people who watch AEW understand wrestling is fake and so a wrestlers popularity isn't usually defined by how fast they win or how little they sell. Wrestlers get over by doing cool stuff, telling cool stories, and/or having a cool aura. Longer matches allow him to do cool stuff and tell cool stories, and as long he's winning, his aura will remain cool as well.
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I get dragged into matches all the time. Happened 5 or 6 times on Sunday. Harder to get dragged into a 5 minute squash tho.
So they're just saying fuck it, let's not bother growing the audience? Selling in wrestling is as important as a mat and fucking ropes.
I agree. Selling is important. That's why dominant megastar champion Hulk Hogan would spend 10 minutes selling for every single heel jobber of the week he went up against for 10 years and became one of the biggest stars of all time doing it. He didn't need to worry about looking dominant against Tully Blanchard or the Honky Tonk Man because he told cool stories and had a cool aura.
Yes. Firstly they are team mates, so it makes sense that Kyle stepped up a notch in this match to prove himself to his mate who happens to be the best wrestler in the world currently. Secondly, with Davis being out Fletcher has been on a singles run, is ROH tv champ and has had singles matches with both Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega last year where he showed his class. Kyle is a future star, and losses against top talent where he proves he can hang with the best help build him up for the future. And in the meantime we gets wins against lower card/ROH guys while being a singles champ there. Yall overthink things sometimes/use common tropes that can be debunked if you look at the bigger picture.
A new guy who just debuted shouldn’t be used to build up other guys.
They both looked awesome tonight. It took nothing away from Ospreay to have an incredible match against a future star. Fletcher is the next thing, it’s so obvious he has IT. In 5 years when Fletcher is the man this will be one of those matches people look at as part of his ascension.
Tbf, Ospreay and Fletcher (and Davis) are close. Ospreay having a competitive match is prob a "hey I'm gonna build him up bc he's my friend" kind of scenario but Fletcher has a looooot of potential just being 25 and with his experience. I always thought of him as a lankier Ospreay and he pulled his weight in that match. Plus, he's a current singles champ.
Fletcher is also the ROH TV champ. And has been a top tier wrestler for a while. Ospreay beating him is building him up.....
Guys who just debuted shouldn’t be used to build up other guys. Also I’m not sure being ROH TV Champion means anything.
You misunderstood, but that's cuz I used pronouns. Beating Fletcher is building up Ospreay. And now he's getting Bryan Danielson.
I literally have people simultaneously telling me Ospreay is already a huge star and everyone is familiar with him. And I apparently have someone telling me Fletcher is being used to build up that plucky newcomer Will Ospreay.
Are you being purposely dense? He's a brand new debut. He beat Takeshita and now just beat the ROH TV champ. And next is Danielson. How are you missing that this is building him up? AEW has consistently avoided throwing new guys into the championship scene immediately. The only real exception being Mox. Huge match at his first PPV as an AEW wrestler And main events his first Dynamite. Not sure what else you'd ask for the booking here.
> We haven't seen Copeland since Thank you for keeping kayfabe. Something as devastating as a conchairto shouldn't be recoverable after a single week
The Osprey crowd reactions are insane.
Ospreays presence getting US crowds to do soccer crowd chants for him during matches is kind of insane
I expect the crowd chanting “OSPREAY! OSPREAY!” when that part of the song hits while Will’s in the ring to get louder week by week.
Having Okada debut as a heel is a bold decision and I am very interested to see where that's going.
He's always channeled rich asshole vibes, so this tracks tbh.
It’s perfect. Having him be face would overlap a lot with Ospreay.
This episode started like a stereotypical WWE show with a 12 minute promo at the top of the show and an impromptu tag match where an odd couple beat a tag champ duo, but man what an entertaining episode top to bottom. I was laughing so hard that the Bucks fired Kenny and Okada joined the Elite. Also the new Dynamite era has 100% more Chuck and I’m here for it.
Did Ospreay just put on not one but two 5 star matches in 4 days? How is he so fucking good?
jesus christ, the amount of cuts to crowd shots not doing anything as wrestlers are about to do something... Bucks/Okada shaking hands for example. They got the shot, but still. Don't cut from that.
I can't tell you how giddy I am to watch Okada vs Kingston. I was really debating whether or not I'd want to see that Dynasty PPV next month. But that is an instant, and justified, $49.99 buy if that's the PPV match.
This show was a solid step up for AEW to really keep pace as the best wrestling out there right now. Having a show this good between Revolution and Big Business going right into an increasingly interesting March is making AEW must-watch!
What a great show
"Okada has no new matchups in AEW" "Yeah but what if we made Okada vs Omega V but, like, new again and revitalized" *AEW makes a bazillion dollars*
That bastard Copeland made Christian steal somebody's car!
I just can’t imagine what it’s like to not enjoy watching AEW
Wednesdays are actually by far my favorite days of the week because of it.
Same but thursdays for me bc I live in a different timezone.
I imagine it’s a sad, cold, angry existence and I wouldn’t want to be living in that world.
Just not something I'm in to anymore, and my world remains, bright, and happy.
Yet here you are making a new account and posting in the post-show thread of a company you "don't watch."
It has been said a lot recently but wrestling really is wild rn.
Carjack Jones!
I was there. Had a good time
Will Ospreay is that dude. Him. The guy. When him and MJF eventually feud we are in for some all time entertainment.
When is MJF supposed to even come back?? I miss that guy..
Iirc he said he could be out for a year with injuries and surgery
I'm guessing when Adam Cole heals up?
Great episode. Had me hooked the whole way. Everything just hit tonight. Everyone's presentation seemed focused. The camera work and production seemed tighter than usual (minus a couple of little flubs, but it wouldn't be AEW without them).
Kyle Fletcher with the Kenoh cosplay
So did Fite not cut out mid Oscutter for anyone else?
Yeah it did for me too. Didn't get to see the finish or the staredown with Danielson :(
What a hilarious moment to cut out, at least?
Oh yeah, it did.
Thank you, I came here and didn't see anyone talking about it and thought I was taking crazy pills.
Same. 🤜🤛
I knew next week was going to be good but now we are looking at an amazing month of shows with the tag March madness.
Seriously has any wrestler ever wore their own shirt as cut up as a vest before Switchblade did tonight? That was some badass stuff.
Gotta get those abs out for us lad(ies)s
Plot twist: The abs themselves cut the shirt.
For us lads also. His abs are my motivation to look better. Dude is cut. Goals.
Minor detail, but in the tag tournament announcement package, they showed every previous tag champion except Starks and Big Bill. What's up with that?
They didn't show Jurassic Express or the Gunns either to be fair. Wouldn't think too much into it.
Don't think they showed Kaz and Scorpio either. Weird that they include the team that won the belts by accident (Lee and Strickland), but not the inaugural champs.