What did you think of the debut episode of AEW Dynamite?
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Absolutely incredible. Exceeded expectations for a first episode.
The ending blew away the Nitro and the Luger debut. Having a former WWE Champ (which Luger never was) show up whose amazing active MMA fighter was a moment that will never be forgotten. The entire audience chanting “We the People” gave me goosebumps.
Started better than Nitro. Let’s hope it ends better
Hey dudes,
Good start for AEW. I really loved the production, it felt like a MMA show for wrestling and they let the show breathe. Only real criticism is that there were points where there was too much downtime and it was easy just to focus on NXT. Cody and Sammy was good, Page and Pac was better than I was expecting, and I enjoyed the main. Moxley is the best thing they have right now. That said, Swagger is an incredibly underwhelming addition.
This show was well worth the $5 to watch it on TSN Direct. They had me at “with TV time remaining.” That guy in the purple Macho Man shirt… bless his heart. The only negative was the crowd chanting “We The People.” North American wrestling crowds just have to show how smart they are.
**strong Paul from New Jersey
What can I say? This was a wrestling show. Mind not blown. Enjoyed MJF. PAC is great. Happy for Riho, but was surprised. That was a bit of a botch fest and Britt Baker had the personality of a dry piece of wood on commentafy. Moxley is red hot. Glass spot was fun. NXT was far superior. AEW has their work cut out for them.
**
Pretty good first show. It was paced pretty well and it didn’t feel like they were doing any hot shotting that reeked of being desperate.
First thing I noticed was how great the commentary was. Tony Schiavone was tremendous and as two veteran play-by-play guys, Schiavone and JR managed not to step on each other’s toes.
My two major critiques of the show would be first, the MJF vs. Cutler match came off flat. Second, Jake Hager feels like the most like bringing in an ex-WWE guy for the sake of it move AEW has ever done. It also didn’t help that the beatdown at the end went too long and Hager looked kind of nervous looking at the hard cam.
But if AEW can learn from what didn’t work here, then, this show could get really good.
Andy in Columbus
Very good, not great. Strong start with Cody and Guevara, and a nice surprise to see Riho take the title.
What on earth was that main event? Good action, but how do you justify that match continuing after the Moxley interference? And Jake Hager is your Lex Luger? Nothing against the guy, but that’s not going to play well over the next week.
Enjoyed it, looking forward to more, but the last twenty minutes was puzzling.
Good start and lots of potential. Great production values and damn I didn’t realize how much I missed Tonys voice. Still lots of room to improve but I’m into it.
Got my 72 year old parents to watch, dad: “good show” mom: “what a match”
Jay and Silent Bob at ringside was my HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT.
Overall a great show especially considering it was their first live TV episode. The hot angle at the end matched the red hot crowd. The women’s match was the highlight for me. Riho and Rose told an exciting David versus Goliath story with the only downside being the timing of the commercial break. Speaking of which, the production seemed much improved from their prior pay-per-views with those poorly timed commercials and Brit Baker on commentary being the only hiccups. They have really started out with a bang and I can’t wait until next week.
Good show, not blow away. I used to enjoy watching NXT on Wednesday’s but I’m Canadien so I’m thankful for TSN getting AEW.
Really dug the opening and closing, and having Tony talking about commercial breaks really brought me back to the mid 90’s. Negatives were production, coming back from commercial to shots of empty seats was a bit silly, the women’s match was a stinker saved by the crowd and that Kevin Smith segment was just confusing.
I’ll continue watching.
Steve from Cambridge ON
Not bad for a debut. The announcing is awesome. Had a few weird hiccups where people didn’t seem to know what to do at times.
This was my very first time watching AEW. They’ve got my interest. Feels big league.
Really enjoyed the show overall, I think there was some awkwardness in tone in the first hour, the kevin smith thing seemed weird to me, but I’m hopeful they will find what works for them in the coming weeks.
I think the opener should have been hangman and pac. Cody draws eyes, but not sure the panda dude warrants the spot yet.
Other matches were fine, totally enjoyable. I think it’s a tough sell when story lines aren’t in play yet, so I have to be patient.
The last match was amazing. It made up for anything lacking earlier in the night.
Oh, and the commentary team was great, I like the energy and the different vibe they bring.
Sean from Toronto
Solid debut episode that demonstrates that AEW is all about presenting a great wrestler product, without relying on scripted promos or pretaped segments. I was amazed that we had entire matches on the show without commercial interruptions, which is now a rarity in WWE.
The cameo by Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes was a bit random, other than it being a way to plug Smith’s new movie. I was also confused why the Jon Moxley run-in didn’t result in a DQ since the rules of the match weren’t very clear.
Still, a solid TV debut for AEW
Holy shit where do I start. I never saw cody in wwe but the dude is a bonafide STAR. what an entrance. What reactions from the crowd. Wasnt too interested in the womens match but the tail end of that match was beautiful. booker T mentioned on his podcast that jake hager would debut with aew. Your thoughts on that. Spoilers for the opposition ok? Great show. Haven’t had this much fun watching since 2001.
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Very solid show, the best part was that it slowly built up to bigger and bigger angles, surprises, and storylines.
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Nick from NYC
I have not felt this way about a weekly product in a very long time. Everything was so fresh, the commentary was smooth, no one overstepping each other for the most part. I like what they’re doing with commercials (from America watching on TNT) with full ad breaks for downtime and then picture in picture when ads take place during matches. For sure the moment of the night was that lifting DDT through the glass table. Popped so damn hard for it. Also Jake Hager is here and got a We the People chant which kind of ruined the moment, but oh well. Also very happy Riho won the Womens championship, I had expected them to have her in a long chase but I was pleasantly surprised to see her win. Very happy I watched this live, would watch it again. AEW has something special here.
2 Likes
Joey from Queens,
This was a very good first show for aew, i was lightly switching between nxt and aew and I can say it felt like aew definitely took week 1 in the “Wednesday Night War.” Even though nxt loaded the card for tonight, aew still felt bigger than nxt, which maybe be an unfair criticism but one I still felt when watching both shows.
Cody is a mega star to this audience and he knows how get the best reaction out of them even if he can’t keep up athletically with someone like Sammy Guevara. The PAC Page match was, while not PPV quality, was a fine enough TV match. I was very impressed by Riho in the Women’s championship match especially considering the joshi matches didn’t necessarily impress me in the PPV’s, and seeing Jake Hager run in during the main event made me moderately mark out, I just hope the “We The People” chant doesn’t stick.
Overall Grade: 8 out of 10
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Refs in AEW have all different personalities which is something they’re trying to get across. And Rick Knox, for pretty much all of his career, has never been one to call off matches.
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Kyle from Ohio
Good episode, looking forward to next week. I liked when they did the entrances and introductions and then had the match start after the commercial break.
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