What did you think of AEW Dynamite?
MJ - usually an AEW mark who is always over complimentary.
Feedback on main event only. What is italicized was typed before the match ended as I wanted it to capture how I felt in real time watching this 20 minute main event:
This is overbooked, sloppy, lacking of any story, and self indulging crap that is either super meta story telling by Cody to be heel by being everything I don’t want to see in AEW…or unintentionally 3rd hour of Raw level cringe that has me checked out
Now after that finish I have one question….Why was there a flaming table at the end of a plunder match with no real story or heat (see what I did there John) between Andrade and Cody. Just giving away that stunt in a meaningless match? Cody didn’t even stoop to that level vs Black. This felt WCW 2000 but again, Cody could be telling a multilayered character story.
Andrew from Cape Breton
So Dynamite started out pretty good. Great match between Danielson and Angels but then it took a bit of a turn. I assumed the Punk/Moriarty match was going to be a launching pad for Moriarty and if you were in the crowd, you would probably believe that. But MJF practically killed Moriarty while trying to take shots at Punk. It seemed that Excalibur and Tony were working overtime to try and put the match over. It was also strange that they just had Adam Cole walk out and join commentary for a weird segment. Dynamite doesn’t typically seem that disorganized.
And of course, the main event. From Arn falling off the ramp, to Jose winning the Scott Putski Award, to Cody’s skin falling off and Cody landing on a flaming table set by his wife, it seemed like it was something that looked good on paper but was poor in execution. I’m also fine with some WWE references here and there, but I’m getting Voodoo Kin Mafia vibes with Cody’s love of the pedigree, sledgehammers, and golden shovels. Hopefully, he doesn’t call out Levesque and Hickenbottom to meet at the Alamo.
Hey guys, solid show tonight. Danielson/Alan was great and continues the path to Hangman. Lee Moriarty shined in his match with Punk and Ruby/Statlander was really great. The only thing that I can complain on this episode is Cody’s story, the match was sloppy but I’m confused as to what is Cody’s arc. Is the end goal to turn heel, if he does isnt that what the crowd wants and isnt going to generate boos when it happens but instead cheers. Also Brandi returns and giving off heelish vibes despite Cody trying to be a face. it just feels like they are either overthinking this story or feels aimless. Question, what do you think about the TNT specials going forward, do you see Fyter Fest, Winter is Coming and Fight for the Fallen being the names for the TNT specials going forward or all the specials being named “Battle of the Belts”
Brian from New Jersey.
I thought they went above and beyond in the main event, though I get some of the booking concern within the feedback thread. At least by the end of the matxh, I learned what was on Cody’s back was some flame retardant material. It distracted me all match, but I’m glad he had it on because he took most of that flaming table spot.
My big highlights of the show were early on, with the continuation of the Page-Danielson story, Danielson vs. Angels, Punk vs. Moriarty, and more MJF trash talk, though the Britt Baker talk seemed odd, seemingly solely based off of an after-the-show bit last week where Punk came out in Baker’s jacket. If MJF wants to be an even bigger heel, he would cook Larry and serve him to Punk. I also enjoyed Emo Facepaint Father & Son vs. The Ass Boys.
Chris from Melbourne.
That was a wild, weird episode of Dynamite but I’m all for it.
Darby looked like he landed terribly on his first dive outside, and the whole head of blood visible on the second dive confirmed it.
Disappointed that Statlamder isn’t progressing further in the tournament, but I’m blown away at how great the matches have been so far. Bring on the semi finals!
My Fite feed cut out with 15 minutes to go, so I missed a lot of of the Cody/Andrade match, and when it came back, it was Cody holding a golden shovel. From that point on I wasn’t sure if I was having a fever dream or not. The table spot did nothing to help this.
Both guys were still on fire during the pin! Hopefully the stream is fixed so I can go back and watch the main event properly later tonight, to try and make sense of the little I saw.
After a couple of weeks of particularly strong shows, this one felt a little uneven. I’m all in favour of guys like Angels and Moriarty getting good offence in against big names because it reflects what often happens in actual sports: teams and people that get taken for granted are often much tougher than anticipated.
MJF deciding to drag Britt Baker into a “locker room talk” line is something I could have done without. I understand that Britt was cool with it but it’s just a questionable look for a company with some notable fumbles in the way they’ve handled their women’s division. Would have been better to err on the side of caution here. That said, they did give us a very good women’s match and the TBS tournament is without a doubt the strongest thing they’ve done with the division in two plus years.
I really feel that they need to give more definition to Cody’s storyline right now. He doesn’t have to be a face or a heel but he needs some kind of arc or larger purpose. Right now, it feels like he’s having the same feud over and over (Ogogo, Black, Andrade) with no real benefit or development. I’m all in favour of letting things evolve slowly and telling complex stories but this feels like they’re not moving at all.
Jay from Colorado
Above average show tonight with the standouts being Danielson vs Angels, Soho vs Statlander, and the street fight. The Miro segment was fantastic as always, and I’m curious where you see him going from here. I Wouldn’t mind seeing him feud with Punk after the MJF feud.
I found the Team Taz and Lio Rush angle to be a little awkward. Something just seemed to be off. But I’m really enjoying the ongoing story of Hook always having a bag of chips to share. People who share chips are among saints, and I’m convinced Hook might be the biggest baby face on the show.
Also, what do you think was all over Cody’s back tonight? My first though was a sunburn peeling, and then maybe thought it was Sauerkraut, but whatever it was I’m glad it wasn’t flammable. Maybe it was something to prevent serious burns?
The whole of tonight’s Dynamite felt a little lesser than the sum of its parts. On one hand, Danielson/Angels, Punk/Moriarity and Soho/Statlander were strong matches and on the other hand, MJF’s follow-up promo (and using Britt Baker as a punchline) was a letdown compared to last week and Cody’s uphill battle in getting back in fans’ goodwill continues with a flaming table spot and some easter eggs from the competition. It was One Night Stand all over again.
NB: I loved Lee’s MF DOOM tribute. It was dope.
I hated the match. Cody doing over produced matches and spectacles of sports entertainment while the crowd boos is his way of representing the other company and being a heel. All the Hunter references need to lead to an ultimate forbidden door match.