By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
BCC and The Elite: The addition of Konosuke Takeshita to the Elite side was an interesting development after months of Don Callis scouting him. This is a good feud that has the potential to be great if they can beef things up from a character development standpoint. There hasn’t been any explanation for BCC’s aggressive attitude and Danielson’s turn is especially tough to buy. Babyface Danielson felt he let his family down by putting his career ahead of them. This felt logical because wrestling fans view him as a devoted family man who also loves pro wrestling enough that he jumped through years of medical hoops just to make it back to the ring. The fans feel a connection to babyface Danielson because he feels so genuine. But then Danielson returned as a heel without explanation. I get a kick out of Danielson’s “amateurs” label for other wrestlers, but his insults feel more tongue in cheek than truly personal. Babyface Danielson made it to the top of the pro wrestling business because he felt real to fans. Danielson has the ability to get there as a heel, but he has to put the work in from a character development standpoint. He can’t just expect fans to forget all of his good qualities because he’s calling other wrestlers amateurs now. He has to make his heel character feel just as authentic as his babyface character did. And that’s just one guy in this program. Omega is talking more and that’s a start, but are the Young Bucks just one dimensional sidekicks? What inspired Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli to target The Elite? And Wheeler Yuta… okay, so Yuta is actually in a better place as the ratty fourth man in a heel faction. But the point is that these wrestlers can maintain the status quo and the feud will be good and they will be lauded in the usual circles for having strong matches. But if they actually get serious and put in the character development work, this could be a truly great feud and everyone involved would be more valuable even after it concludes.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Wardlow for the TNT Title: A Hit for match quality and the fun addition of Arn Anderson to Wardlow’s corner. But I am not a fan of Hobbs dropping the TNT Title after just a 42-day reign. For that matter, it’s hard to take the title seriously when it’s changed hands five times this year and it’s only April.
Chris Jericho and Adam Cole: A good verbal exchange followed by a beatdown segment that put heat on the heels. Would The Outcasts have stayed under the ring if someone other than Britt Baker had run out to help Cole? Anyway, I like that the angle put heat on two sets of heels involved in two different feuds. I’ve seen a billion kendo stick shots in various promotions over the years. As such, a wrestler being struck over the back with seven or eight kendo stick strikes didn’t pack much of a punch, but the idea of Jericho forcing Cole to watch his girlfriend take the abuse was more effective than the actual attack.
Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho and Toni Storm: More good than bad with everyone working hard and Baker getting the win in her hometown. It felt like they tried to make this feel a little too epic with all of the kicking out of major moves, but the match reached the level of intensity that felt right for this heated feud.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Four Pillars segment and MJF’s plan: The opening segment was an insult fest that made Jack Perry and Darby Allin both look bad and probably made a lot of fans feel like they need to choose between the two. I’m fine with the idea of going with a singles title match rather than a four-way at the pay-per-view, but the idea of a three-man tournament was just plain weird. MJF drawing a name out of the hat to determine which wrestler received a first-round bye and then showing disappointment that he drew Darby’s name was ridiculous. The diabolical devil of AEW wasn’t savvy enough to lie about which name he drew out of the hat when he went unchecked? MJF’s plan of paying Sammy Guevara to lay down for him at the pay-per-view in exchange for guaranteeing him a spot in the match was dreadful. It’s even worse that his character did this on camera and no one seemed to mind.
Jack Perry vs. Sammy Guevara in a tournament match: And then came the shitty main event finish. The referee counted to eight while Perry was down at ringside. Guevara tied up the referee for several seconds while MJF struck Perry with the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but then the ref picked up his count at nine once Guevara let him go? It was a terrible finish to begin with and the referee resuming his count at nine somehow managed to make it even worse. This was one of the worst endings in Dynamite history.
Jay White vs. Komander: If you are a match junkie, then you’re probably dumfounded by this landing in the Miss section. It’s not all about match quality, folks. This was White’s first match on AEW television since he signed with the company. It just wasn’t the time for him to have a competitive match. The goal should have been for fans to come away from this match impressed by White, not to have him be outshined by his rope running opponent.
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass vs. Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager: The stipulation that The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn would be forced to join the Jericho Appreciation Society until Double Or Nothing added nothing to this match. Similar gimmick has been done too many times in AEW and they never even bothered to sell it until the match started. For that matter, Menard, Parker, and Hager attacked The Acclaimed to set up this match, so why would they still want the babyfaces in their faction? AEW had something special with The Acclaimed when they won the AEW Tag Team Titles. Why have they been stuck working with mid-card teams since then?
Jason, Do you think Tony Khan is a effective leader? With the rumor that AEW will have a brand split to keep certain wrestlers away from each other instead of the man who pays their salaries putting his foot down and making them coexist says a lot about him being afraid of his employees. Even WWE would nip this nonsense in the bud, or at least part with talent that can’t do the right thing for the company they work for.
From the outside looking in, Tony Khan should have nipped this in the bud the moment that Hangman Page went off script with Punk. He had another chance to put his foot down when Punk returned the favor. I thought Khan looked really bad when he sat by and let Punk go off at the media session, and continued to look bad when Jericho informed him that something happened backstage and Khan just kept taking questions. All of that said, I don’t pretend to know what Khan is doing behind the scenes. There are certainly moments that have made me strongly question his leadership skills, but it’s only fair to acknowledge that we only see so much.
LMAO where the f did you read the brand split (that was planned before the BS happened, btw) was to “keep certain wrestlers away from each other”? CNN? Because that’s the only place I can think of that reports BS with no facts and has people believe it…
$787.5 million
>For that matter, it’s hard to take the title seriously when it’s changed hands five times this year and it’s only April.<
I enjoy AEW, but just for me, having a title named after a television network (both of 'em) is weak and doesn't make it seem like a pretigious title in the least.
MJOSPEPHAT is the Ultimate Shill/apologist for Mr. Khan. Are you that same guy that Jason can’t stand?
So let me get this straight – two equally matched groups of wrestlers having a fight causes 45 security guards and officials to rush out and separate them, but three women beating one woman with a stick while her boyfriend is handcuffed and forced to watch is not worth their time?
To be fair Jay White’s debut at NJPW was lackluster until hit accidentally hit Jim Ross.