SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW was back in Tony Khan’s hometown of Champaign, Ill. for Dynamite coming off a successful All In in London this past weekend. The show was fantastic with over 50,000 fans super engaged in all the matches except perhaps two of them. Long-term stories were paid off and there were returns and debuts that should help launch the company into the fall. The company’s first opportunity to build on the momentum was this show. Let’s see how they did.
HITS
JON MOXLEY’S NEW “SOMETHING”
What you want in pro wrestling is something to keep viewers watching week to week. Moxley coming out at the start of the show (not to his usual “Wild Thing” music) gave us that. I heard Chandler Bing in my head saying: “Can you BE more vague?” Now, I’m not sure if this is going to be something that’ll grab viewers or if it’ll have a good payoff, but it’s a new direction for Mox, which was needed, and it is intriguing. It was a bit hokey with the promo in the backstage segment later in the show, but I’m here for whatever this is and hope it pays off.
UNHINGED HANGMAN (AND SWERVE)
If you’ve been reading this column or listening to The All Elite Conversation Club podcast, I have been a big fan of the unhinged “Hangman” Page for the past couple of months. After a fun, hard-hitting match with Ishii, Hangman continued to add layers and layers to his character and storyline in his face-to-face with Swerve. His obsession with Swerve is not healthy, but he can’t help himself and Swerve correctly pointed out it has made him vulnerable and he has lost more matches than he should have due to his hate.
Swerve also didn’t miss a beat proving he does not need the World Title, but making it very clear that he expects to regain it down the line. Despite the loss to Bryan Danielson, Swerve has not lost any of his confidence and setting up a cage match with Hangman for All Out which should be the highlight of the show.
MJF AND GARCIA
This was another intense segment with two guys who hate each other and have a backstory to explain why. I love that MJF made it clear to Will Ospreay that their feud is not over and, sometime down the line, Ospreay will need to look over his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Daniel Garcia got a great reaction as he came in to attack Max and showed some big-time intensity in their mic battle. Speaking of mics, Garcia showed he could have been a quarterback as he fired that microphone at MJF with the accuracy of Patrick Mahomes!
Even if the timeline may be a bit off, I liked that Garcia admitted to stealing the diamond ring which, again, shows some storyline planning that AEW is doing more and more in the past months. The All Out match between the two is another that, thanks to a solid backstory, will make for an intense battle.
Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
BRYAN DANIELSON’S PLAN
Danielson’s plan for the remainder of his full-time career was expected, but delivered very well. It looked like the emotion on his face was real. It makes perfect sense for him to take on all comers while he has the belt and when he loses it, he can move to a part-time schedule. This should make for a bunch of great title matches that will always have stakes. Now every time he has a big championship match, there is something in the back of fans’ minds whether this will be it.
I like Jack Perry as Danielson’s first opponent as it can be a quick build for a match in two weeks and may lead to another match down the line with another member of the Elite which should be amazing.
QUICK HITS
– I’m over The Learning Tree stuff, but give me more “Bad Apple.” There is something there with Bryan Keith.
– Nice job with the Ricochet introductory video package early in the show to preview him for later. Ricochet had a great match with Kyle Fletcher.
– Excalibur to Taz: “It wouldn’t be a Wednesday if I didn’t [correct you].”
– Mariah May is still doing a great job with her character and is becoming someone who will be easy to boo despite her abilities.
– Great video package for Takeshita showing highlights of him in the G1. I hope they give him a big push now that he is back.
– I loved Pac taking out Ospreay on the ramp. It’s just something he would do. And he did it. It’ll be yet another great match for All Out which is shaping up to be a very good show despite the quick two week build.
MISSES
GYV BACK TO BACK
It still frustrates me when simple production-oriented things fall through the cracks. First, it seemed like the announcers were not told exactly what they were throwing to when they went to the backstage video of the Grizzled Young Vets and the Young Bucks from All In. It was a fair segment, but there should have been some video of them coming out at the end of the tag match to give viewers some context.
Then they go right to a “live” backstage promo where the GYV promote a match for Rampage and repeat their catchphrase for the second time in about 45 seconds. This is the kind of thing that can’t happen. There needs to be communication backstage on whoever is putting these segments together to let everyone know the order of things. It still happens too much on AEW television.
MAKE OKADA SERIOUS… PLEASE!
I’ve certainly enjoyed aspects of Okada’s heel character and comedy since he joined AEW. I know many fans have not enjoyed any of it and wanted Okada to be the serious NJPW Okada who wowed fans for years with amazing matches. I see AEW wanting to give him a character being on TV week after week, but he is so much better than popping in for 10 seconds in a silly backstage skit to say “bitch” and then dance.
I am fine with him being a heel, but get him in the ring and make him resemble the guy from Japan and please do it quickly.
MORE FANS PLEASE!
I give credit to those in attendance in Champaign for making as much noise as they could and they were into many of the segments, but coming off of 50,000+ people in London, it just looked minor league to be back in a small arena that was far from filled (WrestleTix reported a day-of-show total just over 2,000). I believe this is a good product and something worth getting into, but the crowds week-to-week do not show that so it’s up to AEW to do something to improve the look of TV week to week by getting more people in the building.
So lower ticket prices first. You can make the same amount of money if you charge less but get more people in the door. (I should have majored in business!) Seriously, though, lower prices and do a better job promoting your shows in the areas you are going to in order to fill these arenas. Once the fan reaction to the product returns to what it once was and demand becomes higher, feel free to raise prices a bit, but if you are able to make this affordable for all, it’ll make such a difference.
Going to a live wrestling show is a blast, but if it’s too pricey, it’s easy for fans to be fine sitting at home watching on a big TV screen that costs just as much as a night paying for tickets, parking, and food at an event.
I thought it was a good Dynamite coming off of All In with several builds to All Out. The top of the card looks good and I’m looking forward to the next few weeks to get us set for what I hope will be an exciting fall.
Don’t forget to check out the weekly free podcast I’m part of, “The All Elite Conversation Club” that typically drops on Fridays the PWTorch Dailycast lineup. Joel Dehnel and I have a great time breaking down all things AEW! Search “pwtorch” on your podcast app to subscribe. Send questions and comments to allelitecc@gmail.com.
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Dynamite results (8/28): Barnett’s live review of AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson addresses his future, Ricochet vs. Kyle Fletcher, Jamie Hayter vs. Harley Cameron
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.