I had hoped to review the debut episode of Dynamite last week, but ran out of time, so instead I’ll cover the first two episodes and share some thoughts. I’m on the fence about writing a weekly review, but the show is still so fresh and exciting that maybe it warrants capturing some thoughts on these early days of the company. I love the fact that live wrestling is back on TSN. I haven’t been this excited to watch weekly wrestling in honestly over 10 years. The last time I excitedly tuned into Raw regularly was likely around 2008.
There is so much to love about All Elite Wrestling Dynamite right now. It is a straight up, two hour wrestling show. It’s not a show about wrestling, but an honest to goodness wrestling show. Great matches, great announcing, minimal segments, clearly established titles – all of this is a recipe for a fun show. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d highly recommend you do so. The two hours breezes right by and both episodes have left me feeling excited and thrilled for next week’s show.
AEW Dynamite #1
Washington, DC
Capital One Arena
October 2, 2019
The moment that fans have been waiting for since 2001 finally arrived – the debut of a legitimate number 2 wrestling promotion on prime time TV. First off, AEW’s production values are phenomenal! Beautiful sweeping camera work, a brightly lit and sold out arena, and a minimal and stylistic entrance way. Part of what greatly turns me off of the WWE in recent years is all the bullshit screens and displays and colorful garbage that is so distracting. AEW actually LOOKS like a wrestling show!
The weekly commentators are Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony F’N Schiavone! Again, one of my hugest complaints (among many) is the horrendously bland commentary of the WWE, which greatly devalues even excellent matches. Ross and Schiavone were wonderful to hear again, and the three of them sound like real people, and they have more of that classic “sports style” of commentary that I love so dearly. Clearly they are enjoying themselves and the product and Schiavone sounds as awesome as he did back in the early 90s of WCW.
1) Cody (w/Brandi Rhodes) defeats Sammy Guevara (11:53)
Great match to kick off the Dynamite era! Here’s a novel idea – how about pushing wrestlers that the fans actually like and want to cheer for. Cody is beloved by the AEW fan base and despite some criticisms about his ring work and lack of star power, they’re going with what the fans want and pushing Cody as the current top face. It makes sense to go with more established talent early, especially when debuting a show on TNT. Cody and Sammy worked hard, pulling off some amazing shit. The molten hot appreciative crowd is one of the greatest things in AEW currently. No one is trying to hijack matches or are sitting bored and disinterested on their phones. These are real wrestling fans that want real wrestling, which is what AEW’s delivering. Cody wins, as he’s on the road to clashing with Chris Jericho.
Sammy extends his hand to Cody after the match, but it’s a distraction as Chris Jericho hits ringside and lays an awesome beating on Cody. Great simple way to build up the top feud heading towards the November pay per view!
2) Maxwell Jacob Friedman defeats Brandon Cutler (2:55)
Some funny mic work as MJF buries Cutler on the mic for his love of D&D and being a loser. MJF is the perfect dick heel, but maybe the time is not right for that, as the fans love his mic work. Simple TV win for MJF.
SCU – So Cal Uncensored – come out for an interview putting over the tag team title tournament. AEW has really been pushing tag team wrestling hard and stressing that it will be one of the focal points of the company. See – you don’t need a fucking six-sided ring to stand apart from your competition. Lucha Bros show up to argue and a brawl is on.
3) PAC defeats Adam Page (13:02)
PAC is being pushed hard as one badass heel, and it feels legit, as he’s got a serious mean streak in the ring, really taking it to Adam Page. This was an important match as Page had just lost to Jericho at All Out in the championship main event. Myself and most others on the net, don’t really feel like he’s top face material just yet, so cooling him off a bit is a good plan. Pac is pretty great, but man I wish he had a better name. Good hard work and another solid win for Pac, in a company where they keep stressing the importance of wins and losses.
4) AEW Women’s World Title Match: Riho defeats Nyla Rose (13:26)
Great long battle to crown the new women’s champion! So far, the ladies division needs the most work to develop, but I’m sure that will come in time. This was an excellent match, with the much bigger Nyla wearing down the plucky Riho, who is just adorable and loved by the crowd. Despite the mismatch, Riho kept finding counters and ways to kick out and battle. Gotta love that fighting spirit! In quite a surprise, Riho captures the title, earning a humongous pop from the crowd.
5) Chris Jericho, Ortiz & Santana defeat The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (12:29)
Man! What a main event for the debut show! Chris Jericho and the former LAX from TNA against the Elite, the guys this company was founded by. This match was all action to start, but then the crowd went nuts as JON MOXLEY returned from injury! He brawled with Kenny Omega, who effectively left this match. They battled into the crowd and the backstage area. The fans were going bonkers! In a truly insane spot, Moxley drove Omega through a fucking GLASS coffee table, which just exploded to pieces! Holy shit!!! One big spot you easily establish to Moxley as an insane son of a bitch! Back in the ring, the match was a three on two beat down, the Bucks kept finding ways to battle back. The Bucks unleashed a flurry of offense, but it was Jericho landing the Judas Effect back elbow to score the pin.
After the match all hell broke loose as Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz kept beating the hell out of the Bucks. Cody raced down, but Sammy Guevara ran down to join the heels, who were absolutely laying waste to the good guys. Dustin Rhodes ran down, and the crowd was seriously losing their shit! The crowd excitement was so infectious that I was practically jumping off the couch!
Everyone was waiting for the “Lex Luger moment” on Dynamite, the infamous moment on the debut episode of Nitro that has been talked about for 24 years. Well fans got it, as jumping out of the crowd was Jake Hager, the former Jack Swagger. Immediately AEW differentiated themselves from the stink of TNA, as they acted like they new exactly who Hager was, and but him over huge as a current undefeated Bellator MMA star. I just loved how they handled this! Jericho and his cronies beat down Rhodes and executed an awkward hard slam on the time keeper’s table. Hager was an absolute monster, and Jericho and his new stable of heels stood tall over a pile of bodies. MAN! What a show!
In the days after Dynamite, AEW also launched a free one hour Youtube show – AEW Dark – which features Tony Schiavone in a control centre, discussing all the big moments from Dynamite and showing exclusive matches also taped that night. Holy shit do I ever love this idea! I haven’t watched AEW Dark yet, but what a simple and amazing to build the brand!
AEW Dynamite #2
Boston, MA
Agganis Arena
October 9, 2019
The second episode of AEW Dynamite was even better than the first! I haven’t felt this much excitement from a weekly wrestling show since probably 2001. Holy fuck do I ever love Dynamite!
I like that they’re booking smaller arenas to start, as these buildings half more of a unique look and feel and a much hotter atmosphere than the usual cavernous arenas that the WWE runs. Smaller buildings are just made for weekly wrestling!
1) AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Private Party defeat The Young Bucks (13:39)
Holy fuck – this match was PHENOMENAL! The established Bucks and the upstart Private Party simply tore down the house, defying the laws of gravity with impeccable timed high flying moves and balls out insanity. This match was just insane, and was all action from bell to bell. I was blown away from this, and the crowd were just losing their minds with each and every more amazing super move. Party not only kept up with the Bucks, but really took it to them at points. And, much to my delight, were SELLING their asses off. This was so fucking great! In a truly shocking moment, Private Party pulled off a massive upset and defeated the Bucks to eliminate them from the tag team tournament! Holy shit!
Up next was the best promo I’ve seen in forever. Chris Jericho lead out his new group – Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz – to address their formation last week. This was simple, effective, and downright fucking awesome. Jericho came across like the biggest star in wrestling today, Jericho put over each member of his team, explaining why he brought them together. When the fans started chanting “We The People” at Jake Hager, Jericho said that was dead and buried and stupid idea from bad creative! Man… letting wrestlers be themselves on camera… fucking awesome. Jericho was on fire, putting over Hager as a legitimate current undefeated MMA star, a real deal. He put over Santana and Ortiz as a couple of psychos and brawlers, and Guevara as a cocky heartthrob and great wrestler. Collectively, they are the Inner Circle. Holy shit – this was an honest to goodness AMAZING wrestling promo!
2) AEW World Title #1 Contender Match: Darby Allin defeats Jimmy Havoc (10:00)
This match was to determine who would get a shot at Jericho next week on Dynamite. I’ve been critical of Havoc, but he delivered more in this match than previous efforts. Darby Allin is no doubt a star in the making. I was reading that AEW has been building up a huge teenage fanbase, which is exactly who a star like Allin would appeal to. This was a great match between two dark psychos. Allin is so unique in his skills and ability and his weird personality. An nontraditional wrestling character that will no doubt be getting over huge. Allin won with his truly insane coffin drop back elbow finisher. Great match.
3) Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Riho defeat Bea Priestley & Emi Sakura (8:40)
This was a match to showcase the two top stars of the ladies division currently – Riho and Dr. Britt Baker. And to continue the feud between Baker and Priestly. Lots of of hard work by the ladies, and Riho is looking more and more like a star by the week. I like that they give all these matches time, but not too much time that it feels like things drag. The pacing for Dynamite has thus far been incredible. Big win for the good guys, and I stand by the fact that champions should almost always win their matches. That is one of the most sickening aspects of the WWE is that champions are made to look like losers all the fucking time and they just literally shrug it off and smile, as they’re just there to have a good time. Fuck right off with that shit.
4) Jon Moxley defeats Shawn Spears (w/Tully Blanchard) (11:52)
Holy shit – Jon Moxley is pure star power. The man looks and carries himself like the biggest star in the world. What an amazing transformation from the hapless fool that Dean Ambrose became. Moxley is a pure reinvention and looks like a motivated insane killer out there. Shawn Spears and Tully are also a great pair, and I’ve thus far been a big fan of Spears as a mid card heel. Solid hard work from both wrestlers, with Mox looking particularly great. They were just punishing each other out there and working hard. Another great TV match on a show full of them. Spears used a sick looking death valley driver into the barricade at one point that made my neck hurt! Moxley eventually put him away for the convincing win.
After the match Kenny Omega shows up with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and a broom wrapped in barbed wire. Their feud has been outstanding, but both wrestlers are clearly baby faces. How to solve this problem? PAC was doing commentary, and as the fans were chanting holy shit at this face off, Pac attacks Omega from behind with a chair. Moxley decides against beating on the fallen Omega. This company is fucking great! Such classic wrestling storytelling!
5) The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) (w/Jake Hager) defeat Adam Page & Dustin Rhodes (13:27)
A real hot main event to close the show! Like every match on this show, the guys worked hard and this was all action. Jericho and Guevara were awesome and Hager was a menacing presence at ringside. Page looked a lot better this week compared to last week. I enjoyed the hell out of the main event! In true heel fashion, Hager leveled Rhodes with the ref distracted, leading to Jericho landing the Judas effect to score another decisive pinfall victory.
Much like the week before, all the big excitement was saved for after the match. The lights dimmed, then CODY was in the ring! The crowd went BERSERK for Cody as he tore into Jericho. It was all out chaos as soon Ortiz and Santana hit the ring and the Inner Circle were beating down Cody. MJF raced down to the ring, and Jericho held Cody, inviting MJF to blast him with a chair – which everyone has been expecting. But instead MJF proved his friendship to Cody by going after the Inner Circle, only to get beaten down. The Bucks raced down to further even the odds as things were in complete chaos. As Jericho taunted Cody from the floor, Darby Allin fucking SKATEBOARDED down the ramp and nailed Jericho with the board! Holy hell this is all great! What an insane and exciting finish to this show. They’re clearly defining feuds and alliances, faces and heels, and I want MORE of it! Can’t wait for next week!
the RepoDan Wrestling Institution 