SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.
-A hot start to the show with an action-packed eight man tag team match that was stocked with talent. These guys went spot to spot to spot with ease and it got the energy flowing in the building.
-The Acclaimed continue to be red hot and got the pop of the night by my analysis. The Full Gear match against Swerve In Our Glory instead of FTR is the right call to keep that momentum strong. At some point, the focus and charm of the act will have to move away from Billy Gunn, but nothing wrong with riding the hot wave until it’s burned out.
-A good interview with MJF. He really framed up his mission for Full Gear and made winning even more important than just the world title. I’ll say it now, if this is all a swerve, then this segment is particularly awful looking back. If Tony Khan pulls the trigger the right way — the only way — then this segment will age successfully as one that was a nice chapter in making MJF a bigger star.
-On the flip side, Jon Moxley’s in-ring promo very much addressed all the content of MJF’s promo. Moxley did it with his tone and stayed likable even when deriding MJF as a person and his mission to win the world title. Moxley gets the business at hand and others in the locker room should bend his ear to learn, cough cough, Britt Baker.
-Stellar production work on the Stokely Hathaway vignette. That’s top notch work. Maybe a little late? Better late than never I suppose.
-The AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament is stocked with mid-card guys, making it very difficult to truly buy-in to what the company is trying to do. Nobody in the thing is beating Moxley or MJF. In and of itself, that’s ok, but there should be some attempt to get the top guys in a tournament for the world title. Nothing wrong with Ethan Page, but he isn’t that. Even Ricky Starks isn’t there yet, though he is the biggest potential star the tournament has to offer.
-For the love of god, why are we turning Samoa Joe heel on Wardlow when Wardlow is in the first phase of working with Powerhouse Hobbs? This was pointless and ineffective for all three talents involved. Big miss.
-Ok, here we go. A promo segment like the one we saw this week between Saraya and Britt Baker should not have made air. It hurts to hear, but it’s true. Both women were all over the place and seemingly driving their story down two totally different roads. As the heel, Britt Baker was far too truthful and ok with fans nodding along and cheering with her. Saraya didn’t have much of choice when faced with responding to Baker’s misguided work, but looked unlikable as a babyface that was running down star power in a company that the audience clearly loves. This should have been a layup for Tony Khan. Saraya’s return is a big deal and Baker scoffing at the prospect of her coming back would have firmly painted her as a heel that was trying to get heat to shine Saraya up. Saraya overcomes in the end. Not complicated, but effective. This missed on all accounts and missed badly. Not only did it show bad judgement on the part of the talent, but a lack of control, focus, and execution on the part of Tony Khan.
-Jeff Jarrett is still doing his thing at the bottom of the card. To that end, thumbs up on him this week.
-Jaime Hayter vs. Toni Storm feels ice freaking cold and the third biggest thing happening in the AEW women’s division. This is the world title, folks. Not good.
-Look, here’s the deal. I enjoyed Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara. I did because I like good wrestling. A stark observation that came out of the match in my eyes, though, was we have a directionless Bryan Danielson on our hands. He’s feuding with Wheeler Yuta a bit, he also has the Jericho thing going on, he’s hovering around the ROH Championship, too. The thing is, we haven’t heard from him enough about any of those programs. Example, if Danielson wants the ROH World Championship in an effort to restore honor to that company, he needs to be given the time to speak on it in detail in front of fans. If that is the story, tell it. Why are we tip toeing around this stuff?
CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S WWE NXT RECEIPT 11/8: Breakker and Wagner head into match with flat promo
AEW is a mess