Allo, allo, allo! With John and Wai currently flying to Japan, Braden and I are taking over Rewind-A-Dynamite this week. Please leave all your feedback for this “New Years Day” edition of AEW! Ahoy!
Great show. Could be their best so far. Cody and Darby were awesome. Thought they should have given the belt to shida since she lifted nyla TWICE. Fun match. Mox vs trent was a solid njpw match. Moxley is a GD superstar. Pockets on pockets vs orange Cassidy. Nice mixed in interviews setting up future matches. Dustin is 50 f n years old. Main event will kill and I haven’t even seen it yet. Get that post wrestling credit card out and buy yourselves some tees at pro wrestling tees 20% off. Happy new year!
Brandon from Oshawa
This was easily the best and most complete episode of Dynamite. It had everything that I want in a wrestling show. Great matches, great crowd, great promos. I love this building for events. It looks so different. I’m glad they finally started going backstage for promos. They just need to work on that audio issue.
Star of the show was Sammy Guevara, who made great use of the picture in picture and I’m so happy he won that match and should go over Daniels next week too.
John from Montana (Proud BDE Patreon member here),
This felt like the most complete episode to date. Super hot opener with Cody and Darby.
The women’s match was great, especially loved Hikaru Shida body slamming Nyla Rose. I think her and Statlander are the breakout stars in the division in 2020.
Loved Sammy G using the cue cards during the picture in picture segments (Sorry Canada if you didn’t see those)
The backstage segments were good for the most part, but they still haven’t figured out the audio as both the Private Party and Jurassic Express promos had audio issues…
Taz on commentary was great, Taz and JR feed off eachother well. I would love to eventually see a commentary team of Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz.
Best show since October. 8.5 Taz Suplexes out of 10
WHAT UP DOE My NXT friends,
First off happy new year to all, ok now I earn my heat, I am not a fan of Cody at all, like why does he need so many legendary co-signers, arn at ringside was just weird an him telling Cody to put the knees up was kinda heelish isn’t he a “baby face”, but ok show to say the least the ladies still need work that finish was a little out of nowhere an brit baker is the shits. How many times have we seen the bucks an the lucha bro’s? And if the Rhodes beat the lucha bro’s next week I’m done for at least a week, 7 out of 10 Taz was awesome
Paul from New Jersey
A lot of good wrestling tonight. Really enjoyed the women’s match and I hope AEW does a better job with this division as well as Riho herself. Moxley saving his announcement next week went over like a fart in church, but I thought Taz brought a lot to the show.
P.S. BRAYD said on an episode of UpYours available on the BDE Patreon, that Rick Martel was not only a bad worker, but that he wasn’t good looking. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. Rick Martel is my cartel.
Andrew from Cape Breton
AEW definitely made a very good comeback tonight after a controversial final show of 2019. One big critique I heard was that the putty patrol members of the Dark Order beat all the top guys, so it definitely seemed like tonight was a restart for the top babyfaces in the company. People may argue they should give a guy like Darby Allin the win, but at the moment, it was more important for Cody and everyone else in the Elite to get over and win their matches. The show was pretty much perfect from top to bottom except for one issue which might just be my own. I don’t get Riho. I don’t want to feel like this old man who is concerned about the size of the wrestlers, but Riho is insanely small. I’m a fan of Marko Stunt being in the company because he’s this underdog who you can get heat on. It feels like Riho is like Marko Stunt, but the supposed top woman of the company. I did think it was the best women’s match AEW has had yet, but sometimes it looks like Riho’s double stomp would feel like a minor inconvenience instead of a devastating move. This is also in contrast to someone like Hikaru Shida, who isn’t the biggest woman in the match, but she was throwing people around like it was nothing. She looked great. Anyway, great show, 9 out of 10, AEW is off to a great start in 2020.
This is how AEW should be. Hot matches, hotter crowd. It’s a god damn shame that the main roster WWE overshadows all the quality coming out of AEW and NXT.
upNXT, welcome to the dark side! What an episode you guys got to review this week, dare I say PERFECT! Every match was at least very good, Taz was awesome, and top guys went over. Fingers crossed this course correction is permanent and AEW will be what we all wanted it to be.
Ryan from Pa.
Happy New Year, Brandon and Davie.
I watched the Cody vs Allen match with my wife who is in no way a wrestling fan. While this didn’t match didn’t turn her into a fan; she was eagerly watching it and asking questions about both of the wrestling while watching. Have known my wife since first grade, about 30 years and she has never even show this much interest. I think this bodes well for AEWs chance of catching a more broad audience.
The dark order video having the “paid for by the dark order” took me back to really early NWO. Any chance ted dibiase is backing the dark order???
Loved having Taz on commentary.
I also love the way the setup looks with the smaller stage setup and ramp to the ring. I have always found that the elevated ramp adds to the possibilities of what can be done on the outside. Do you guys think they should keep this kind of setup to further break way from the look of the WWE product?
Over all great show 8 Taz complaining that Orange Cassidy stole his gimmick color out of 10.
Alexander from Portland
Alright episode. I found the women’s match underwhelming. I was hoping for a stand-out match, one that could really elevate the division. Here’s hoping we get that match next week when Statlander wins the strap. Riho isn’t bad, but AEW seems unwilling to give her a platform to develop a character. It’ll be interesting to see what AEW’s take on a steel cage is.
Question: do you think Orange Cassidy could work in NXT?
Jay from Colorado
Just want to say Sammy Guevaras silent promo during the commercial break was one of the best damn things I’ve seen in wrestling this year.
Why did Cody’s entrance look so crappy and low budget?
Also where they in a high school gym? It looked tiny
No please no OG in NXT. We need no comedy on that show not a guy whose gimmick is not giving a shit
What’s going on, brothers!
I hope you gentlemen had a good new years eve. And speaking of new year’s, to paraphrase an old song; “All is quiet on New Year’s Day. When the world of Dynamite gets underway”. What a difference a year makes, boys. Tonight’s show was a welcome palate cleaner after drinking the skunk beer of a show that Raw served up to close out 2019.
Aside from some production flubs, I thought it was a really solid episode feat. strong in-ring work & some much-needed story advancement. My low-key favorite moment of the show was seeing the much-maligned Britt Baker sow the seeds for a heel turn by calling out Rhio for missing shows while she finds time to wrestle & run a dental practice! I think heel Britt Baker D.D.S. could end up being my favorite part of the AEW women’s division…Dr. Isaac Yank-Her, if you will (that was for you, JoPo!).
All in all it was a fun show to start 2020 with. 8 “I will be with you agains” out of 10! 
Nas from NYC
What up BDE? Happy New Year to you both. I see that you’ve left us and moved up (or lateral) to the main roster. Hope you bring some of that main roster rub when you are back on the other side.
Anyways, as you two might have realised by now, I’m an NXT guy and watch it live every Wednesday. I DVR Dynamite and will always listen to John and Wai review it. And then maybe I’ll go back and watch anything of note. Usually the Jericho segments are awesome. But I’ve been doing it less and less as my interest has genuinely waned in the last few months.
So as NXT was taped and you two fine gentlemen were reviewing Dynamite, I decided to watch it live for the very first time.
Honestly I loved the show. Esp the set was awesome. The commentary was good. The pacing of the show to the production, everything excellent. I’ll still watch NXT live every Wednesday. But I’ll definitely put in more of an effort to watch Dynamite going forward.
My only complaint will have to be Cody Rhodes having a coach ringside. Didn’t Cody and co brand themselves as the Elite? Isn’t Cody supposed to be one of the best wrestlers in the world? Does he really need a coach on the ring apron to tell him something as basic as getting his knees up to counter a high flying maneuver off the top rope? I don’t imagine Adam Cole or Jonny Gargano ever needing a coach by their side. Just seemed so so odd. Only complaint.
You guys are awesome.
Great show tonight, big bounce back after a few down weeks.
Cody and Darby was great, I hope they keep Allin as a face though.
Probably the best women’s match in AEW history, great action and Shida especially looked really good.
Trent and Moxley, again very good even if I think they maybe gave Trent a bit too much. Really enjoyed it though and it was super stiff.
Guevara was a star all show, loved his sign thingy during the break and the match with Dustin was also good. Dustin can still go and looked great. Guevara reminds me of a more charismatic Syxx in the nWo and really shone on the mic and ring tonight.
MJF was money on the mic, no surprise there. That is a heel reaction and the heat he gets just isn’t possible in WWE/NXT.
Main event was fun, no complaints there. Incredible bounce back show and overall one of the best Dynamite episodes ever
Hope Tazz is a permanent commentator for AEW. Get great feelings of SmackDown nostalgia.
Overall a good show and nothing to really complain about. They had issues with audio again though, mainly when transitioning to and from backstage. Omega in the show intro was too try hard and over dramatic, nothing he does comes off as natural. The finishes for the Cody/Darby match and the women’s match came out of nowhere and not in a good way, especially after Darby kicked out of Cody’s finisher. It would’ve been better if Cody picked Darby up, after giving him the knees, and delivering another Cross Rhodes. Arn Anderson being with him makes no sense either. Trent going toe to toe with Moxley was interesting, Trent in line for a bit of a push? No one from “The Elite” even addressing the beat down from The Dark Order was a bit of a continuity issue in my opinion. It wasn’t great but I’d much rather they didn’t pretend that it didn’t happen. The Janella stuff was bad. Britt Baker needs to drop the dentist gimmick, it’s not helping her, it’s holding her back. I don’t like the characters of either Private Party member but I though Adam Page came out of this episode with his stock higher, a lot more interested in what’s going on with him. I like MJF but I don’t get this “he’s destined to be one of the greats” feel from him like a lot of people. He’s a good midcard, obnoxious, chicken shit heel whose not that great in the ring. He’s Miz with a scarf.
Sounds like I had a lot of problems with the show… but it’s more a case of a lot of small problems rather than anything that ruined the show. Overall a solid 7.5/10.
So, he’s not allowed to help his client, just because he’s a face? The point of a manager is to help their client. Telling the guy to defend a move, is not a heel thing.
I guess Bill Belichek should tell the Patriots to just allow the Titans to score on them next week, instead of coming up with plays to help his team.
The jumping up on the apron seemed borderline heelish, but the Ref ended up not getting distracted, even though he was heading toward Arn at the time of the Coffin Drop. But yeah him calling out to Cody to put his Knees up isn’t heelish, we just aren’t used to coaches in wrestling. Most valets and managers we have known are there either just as eye candy, to interfere on behalf of their client, or just as a mouth piece (or some combination).
1 Like