SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Coming off a solid Halloween edition of Dynamite, my hopes for this week’s episode was a continuation and, more importantly, the advancement of major storylines. The importance of the company to build week to week is one of the main keys to improving the product. Let’s see if they were able to pull that off.
HITS
HURT SYNDICATE OPENS SHOW
It’s refreshing that you can do an opening promo in just 7 minutes and get the job done. The crowd appreciated MVP and he laid out his plans pretty simply to the audience and set up a match for Full Gear between Bobby Lashley and Swerve Strickland. I’m looking forward to the weeks of build and to that match as well.
MOX & THE DEATH RIDERS
I guess that’s what they are going to be called now. This was a fun opening match to the show. The fans in the building were into it as they popped for all of the hot tags. These four men really do a great job selling as Pac’s sell on the DDT was amazing and Darby being thrown into the ringpost was a cringe-worthy moment. The finish was a bummer, but at least the beatdown afterwards was on the top of the card guys and not the lower card groups they had been beating up in previous weeks.
I would have liked to have a little more explanation of Moxley’s motives as I’m still hoping there is a legitimate explanation of why he is doing what he is doing coming soon.
FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR MATCH
This was another entertaining match with some solid hardcore moments. Big Bill really stood out to me and furthers my hope for him to get a push soon or when his “Learning Tree” time is over. He can be a big star. I’m happy Chris Jericho was the one taking the pin as I was expecting Bryan Keith to be the one the entire match. Whether you like Jericho or not, he does not mind losing a match to further a story.
THE MAIN EVENT
What a fantastic match this was to finish off the show. If you were going to hold Will Ospreay out of the ring for a bit longer, there was no better choice than “Powerhouse” Hobbs as the mystery partner for Ricochet and the reason was simply explained and made sense.
What I loved the most about this match was that I could not figure out who was going to win as it went on. Nearly every near-fall got me and that was a fun way to watch. All four wrestlers did a great job as the chemistry was off the charts. Ricochet and Takeshita were great together. I was very glad they didn’t take the easy road with a dirty finish and Ricochet just got the better of Takeshita in the end which sets up their title match in the near future.
The post-match was a great way to further the Mark Davis part of the story and the return of Will Ospreay certainly got the crowd going and set up the next few weeks as we get closer to Full Gear.
QUICK HITS
– While it’s not dominating the air-time, the intensity between Jay White and “Hangman” Page is off the charts and fun to watch. Their match should be a great one.
– Christian continues to hit on all cylinders in the ring as he explained the addition of Kip Sabian to The Patriarchy while praising Hook and telling him he wished his father was dead. This guy is on another planet!
– Jamie Hayter isn’t connecting like she did before her injury, but the match against Penelope Ford was very enjoyable and the finish coming out of nowhere was a nice touch.
– Kazuchika Okada’s video package previewing the Continental Classic Tournament was so refreshing to see. It was a serious segment that lauded the accomplishments of Okada world-wide and set up what should hopefully be a fantastic tournament. In addition, the word “bitch” was not said once which makes it a complete win for all of us!
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: CLICK HERE (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
MISSES
ADAM COLE-MALAKAI BLACK
First, let me say I love Adam Cole and enjoy him on the mic and in the ring. They have done him no favors bringing him back into a storyline that was going to be a tough sell from the beginning. The match with Malakai Black was good, but the story they were trying to tell didn’t hit for me because Black has been such an enigma for years. If he was built up as a former champion who wins most of his matches, then this would have meant so much more.
Black rarely wrestles singles matches so there was just something missing with the “earn my respect” aspect of the match. Plus, Black just gave up at the end which takes some of the accomplishment away from Cole.
Cole’s reaction from the fans is polite, but not off-the-charts cheering like he has had in the past. I think it’s the fault of the company bringing him back as a babyface and expecting all the fans to love him after all he did last year. They should have done a sit-down interview where Cole could talk about how tough the last year was and gain some sympathy from the crowd. He talked about it on a podcast, so there’s no reason not to use it to help endear him to the crowds. Something is missing here and they need to fix it.
Oh, and if Cole is dumb enough to get turned on by Roddy Strong and the Kingdom, that certainly won’t help fans get behind him. If they are going to turn on him, at least have Cole expect it and get the better of them.
BRING IN ATHENA!!
This is going to be my new “Miss” every week until it happens. The Women’s Division is stacked with talent, but nobody is standing out. I’m fine with the Mariah May side of things, but Mercedes seems completely lost to me right now. She should be a badass who is walking around confident and dominating people in the ring, but she’s out there yelling at her bodyguard to hit someone with a car then trying to avoid physicality. She is better than that.
They need Athena who has been wasted on ROH for years now. She could come in as a big-time hero to knock off Mercedes in what could certainly be the best women’s match in company history.
Free Athena!!!
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.
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