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Dynamite (11.17.21)
Two nights of next to no sleep in a row because I'm a dumbass but I got to see a coworker's bone today! You win some, you lose some.
Sleep deprived rambling about wrestling to follow. That's all I got until tomorrow happens. Whenever that may be.
Opening the National Cowboy Shit Day show on the Elite was a CHOICE, and I have THOUGHTS, mostly SAD ONES. But also hopeful? I like how they didn't explicitly address the multitude of injuries Kenny's been playing through for so long now, keeping things about Hangman in his moment of triumph; we all know why Kenny's really leaving, and that's enough. There's something really bittersweet in his attitude here; it's like dropping the belt instantly restored so much of the man he really is, he's still clearly fucked up and broken, but he's so much more recognizable as Kenny than the warped Collector persona we've seen from him all year. Matt's face once again doing a lot of heavy lifting here (as it did both on Friday and Saturday), oh he is NOT looking forward to Kenny finding out about what they did. The tensions between Kenny and Adam continue (CLEANER, I GOT THIS LOLOLOLOL), Adam's perpetual attempts to make himself king shit of every fuck mountain he comes across are on full display, and oh man when Kenny comes back (probably not for a good long while if the reports about what he's dealing with are accurate and oh my god man just REST for a while, PLEASE), things are going to look VERY different and I cannot fucking wait for all this Elite soap opera bullshit to unfold.
AND THEN THE COWBOY CELEBRATIONS BEGIN!! AEW almost always opens its shows with a match, really hits the ground running, and it makes it feel really special when they open on something else instead, so I liked this a LOT. Also Hangman's 'one last lie to myself' speech from after Full Gear almost made me cry, so including a snippet of it here was dirty pool. God he just looks so good with that belt!! It feels so right, but also after waiting for it for so long, still kinda doesn't feel real?? This feud with Danielson will hopefully help on that front, he slotted so easily into the role of bad guy here (also his actually saying the word WrestleMania somehow felt even more taboo than when he dropped an F-bomb in his match later). I am just loving sassy, confident Hangman so much, he DID earn this, damn it!! Also he directly alludes to a song off of his in-character playlist like a giant fuckin' nerd, wrestling is just LARP, I love him.
Bryan Danielson vs. Evil Uno: Uno hung in there for a pretty impressive amount of time, man Bryan was looking MEAN in there. We saw shades of this in the build towards his eliminator tournament match with Eddie, but I think I enjoy him much more as a heel. Anyway, after they announced his match against Colt in Chicago next week, I checked the touring schedule and the next show after Thanksgiving is in Georgia (where 5 is from), and the show after that is in Long Island (where Silver is from) and oh my god Danielson is just gonna murder every single member of Dark Order in their own hometowns on the way to his title shot, isn't he?? THAT IS THE MOST ICE COLD BOOKING IF IT HAPPENS, HOLY SHIT. Now let him fight Anna too, you cowards.
A very fire emoji MJF promo. I still hope he's not the guy to take the belt from Hangman, though, as much as everyone treats it as a foregone conclusion; I kinda think he'd be a terrible champion as is? He's obviously got the skills to be the top guy, both in-ring and on-mic, but he barely wrestles and it's seemingly a part of his character. He's a great presence in PPVs, but something would fundamentally have to change in how he's presented week-to-week for him to be ready for that role IMO.
Eddie promo that gets all stepped on by 2point0 and their son and wow, hey, I've really missed having these idiots on Dynamite, they really ingratiated themselves on me quickly. I am so very, VERY here for a brief Kingston/Garcia program based solely around 'two angry guys from New York being angry for no good reason'. I'M GOING TO CATERING. >:[
The Butcher & The Blade vs. Orange Cassidy & Tomohiro Ishii: The Best Friends all just being in CHAOS now hasn't stopped being hilarious to me, and it was fun to see Ishii come out with that NEVER Openweight belt after just watching him win it from Jay last weekend at Battle in the Valley, all this continuity between different promotions is so dang neat. This HFO feud has been going on for approximately eight years now, so it's nice to see the babyfaces occasionally being able to outsmart the heels' deeply predictable ringside shenanigans, you go Rocky! Commentary continues to namedrop Okada a LOT, when are they gonna get to the Rainmaker factory??? Also, the new 'Best Friends as skeletons' shirt is apparently also a towel now and I NEED one, when's that damn Black Friday sale start.
Apparently the messy Malakai/PAC/Cody/Andrade/FTR/Lucha Bros story tangle was just leading to... an eight-man tag? Somebody please save Malakai from Cody's vortex soon, he's still entertaining as fuck, but come on now, this is getting ridiculous.
I liked that they gave Tay a little post-Full Gear hype reel here; imagine a woman not just immediately disappearing from TV for months the instant her current angle is over! The Britt interview that follows was more of the same from her, but I am looking forward to more Jamie (even if she feels a little like Wardlow 2.0 while Wardlow 1.0's story is still playing out; they should team up OH NO I IMAGINED IT AND IT'S TOO SEXY).
Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida (TBS Championship Tournament Quarterfinals): Shoutout to the dude in the crowd with the 'BOOK >1 WOMEN'S MATCH ON TV' sign, shout it from the goddamn rooftops. Anyway, this slapped, though it felt a little slower paced than their previous meetups? Maybe that's what let Nyla take the win this time around (though obviously the story with Serena and Shida's knee played a big part, too, goddamn AEW is obsessed with setting up trilogies lately). She also took a couple of really fucking gnarly-looking bumps, like damn girl, and we have our first semifinalist in the tournament! I still don't know which way this is going! If I had to guess at this point I'd say... Rosa vs. Jade and Nyla vs. Ruby, then Jade vs. Ruby for the final? Although if Jade loses either way (please), having her lose to Rosa and then Rosa losing to someone Britt has already beaten helps keep her close to Britt's level since I still want her as the next women's champion. But I still really want Red Velvet to notch a win against Jade, too, UGH THIS IS TOO HARD.
More MJF (this time with Wardlow being effortlessly sexy and Spears trying VERY VERY hard to get on that level but also sitting and eating a protein bar or something for a little while on his emotional support chair lol I love him), but this time Punk comes out to stare him down and ignore his greetings and mmmm yes this should be a very tasty feud indeed. I hope MJF's not the guy to hand Punk his first loss, but that kinda feels like where we're headed. Quiet, calm, 'getting under your skin' Punk gives me such whiplash after the bloody unhinged Punk that his angle with Eddie gave me, but in a good way. The man contains multitudes! And they're all VERY dilfy!
And then Gunn Club roll up on Darby, which: lol he's gonna kill you, old man, but also this episode does such an efficient job of following up on every single person who had shit going on in Full Gear, it gives that show a real season finale feel and now we're fully clearing the decks for what's next. "I like turtles."
SuperKliq promo about how Jungle Boy almost murdered Matt lol, but the real takeaway here is Adam Cole continuing to bring Bobby Fish into things, and it feels pretty clear where this is all heading in Kenny's absence, especially if/when that Kyle O'Reilly guy shows up like everyone expects. When he was with the Bucks back in the day, Adam always wanted to be in charge, the top guy of the gang, but could never make it happen. Bullet Club, the Elite, whatever, he could never quite fully weasel his way in there, the Bucks' bond with Kenny was just too strong. Then they ultimately murdered him because of it and he went to the Fed, where he WAS the top guy, he WAS the leader of the Undisputed Era, he finally got everything he wanted (until he turned on them or something? idk I ain't watching WWE), and now he's back and as much fun as he's having with the Bucks, he's not about to just be subservient to Kenny all over again. He knows he's not gonna get the Bucks to turn on him (even at Full Gear, they did what they did for Kenny's sake even more than Hangman's), so instead he's just gonna bring his OWN guys over and into the group and put himself on top THAT way. Undisputed Era (or whatever they're allowed to call it in AEW) vs. Elite when Kenny gets back, maybe? SOAP OPERA SHIT, I LOVE IT.
The Acclaimed vs. Dante Martin & Lio Rush: Another excellent showcase for this new Dante/Lio pairing, Dante's such a goddamn freak, man, and it's nice to finally see Lio get the chance to show what he's got after all the drama getting him there. I'm just not sure where this is going! Team Taz come out and remind him that he's got an offer with them on the table and sorry about your dead grandma Lio, and surely it's all leading to Darius' return SOMEHOW, but... ???
Christian Express reply to the SuperKliq callout and god, it's so unsettling to see Jungle Boy leaning into embracing that final Conchairto while Christian tells him how proud he is. He has successfully corrupted his new jungle son! How deep can it go! Also where the fuck is Marko??
Lucha Bros promo to go with the earlier FTR/Andrade interview and Malakai creepiness ahead of next week's custerfluck, and I mostly just remember Fenix being adorable?? Precious little lucha cat of a man.
Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Jay Lethal for the AEW TNT Championship: Real good! I thought the people worrying that Lethal might actually win it going in were being ridiculous, but by the end, I was kinda holding my breath through a couple of those sequences! Sammy got to do some PROPER acting on the sidelines there, selling that rib injury like a champ, and it just got worse for him from there until he pulled it out in the end. Truly the best thing to come out of that snoozer of a street fight at Full Gear.
In a fair world, Jade vs. Velvet would be the main event on Friday okay I should do some actual work now byeeeeeee!
Sleep deprived rambling about wrestling to follow. That's all I got until tomorrow happens. Whenever that may be.
Opening the National Cowboy Shit Day show on the Elite was a CHOICE, and I have THOUGHTS, mostly SAD ONES. But also hopeful? I like how they didn't explicitly address the multitude of injuries Kenny's been playing through for so long now, keeping things about Hangman in his moment of triumph; we all know why Kenny's really leaving, and that's enough. There's something really bittersweet in his attitude here; it's like dropping the belt instantly restored so much of the man he really is, he's still clearly fucked up and broken, but he's so much more recognizable as Kenny than the warped Collector persona we've seen from him all year. Matt's face once again doing a lot of heavy lifting here (as it did both on Friday and Saturday), oh he is NOT looking forward to Kenny finding out about what they did. The tensions between Kenny and Adam continue (CLEANER, I GOT THIS LOLOLOLOL), Adam's perpetual attempts to make himself king shit of every fuck mountain he comes across are on full display, and oh man when Kenny comes back (probably not for a good long while if the reports about what he's dealing with are accurate and oh my god man just REST for a while, PLEASE), things are going to look VERY different and I cannot fucking wait for all this Elite soap opera bullshit to unfold.
AND THEN THE COWBOY CELEBRATIONS BEGIN!! AEW almost always opens its shows with a match, really hits the ground running, and it makes it feel really special when they open on something else instead, so I liked this a LOT. Also Hangman's 'one last lie to myself' speech from after Full Gear almost made me cry, so including a snippet of it here was dirty pool. God he just looks so good with that belt!! It feels so right, but also after waiting for it for so long, still kinda doesn't feel real?? This feud with Danielson will hopefully help on that front, he slotted so easily into the role of bad guy here (also his actually saying the word WrestleMania somehow felt even more taboo than when he dropped an F-bomb in his match later). I am just loving sassy, confident Hangman so much, he DID earn this, damn it!! Also he directly alludes to a song off of his in-character playlist like a giant fuckin' nerd, wrestling is just LARP, I love him.
Bryan Danielson vs. Evil Uno: Uno hung in there for a pretty impressive amount of time, man Bryan was looking MEAN in there. We saw shades of this in the build towards his eliminator tournament match with Eddie, but I think I enjoy him much more as a heel. Anyway, after they announced his match against Colt in Chicago next week, I checked the touring schedule and the next show after Thanksgiving is in Georgia (where 5 is from), and the show after that is in Long Island (where Silver is from) and oh my god Danielson is just gonna murder every single member of Dark Order in their own hometowns on the way to his title shot, isn't he?? THAT IS THE MOST ICE COLD BOOKING IF IT HAPPENS, HOLY SHIT. Now let him fight Anna too, you cowards.
A very fire emoji MJF promo. I still hope he's not the guy to take the belt from Hangman, though, as much as everyone treats it as a foregone conclusion; I kinda think he'd be a terrible champion as is? He's obviously got the skills to be the top guy, both in-ring and on-mic, but he barely wrestles and it's seemingly a part of his character. He's a great presence in PPVs, but something would fundamentally have to change in how he's presented week-to-week for him to be ready for that role IMO.
Eddie promo that gets all stepped on by 2point0 and their son and wow, hey, I've really missed having these idiots on Dynamite, they really ingratiated themselves on me quickly. I am so very, VERY here for a brief Kingston/Garcia program based solely around 'two angry guys from New York being angry for no good reason'. I'M GOING TO CATERING. >:[
The Butcher & The Blade vs. Orange Cassidy & Tomohiro Ishii: The Best Friends all just being in CHAOS now hasn't stopped being hilarious to me, and it was fun to see Ishii come out with that NEVER Openweight belt after just watching him win it from Jay last weekend at Battle in the Valley, all this continuity between different promotions is so dang neat. This HFO feud has been going on for approximately eight years now, so it's nice to see the babyfaces occasionally being able to outsmart the heels' deeply predictable ringside shenanigans, you go Rocky! Commentary continues to namedrop Okada a LOT, when are they gonna get to the Rainmaker factory??? Also, the new 'Best Friends as skeletons' shirt is apparently also a towel now and I NEED one, when's that damn Black Friday sale start.
Apparently the messy Malakai/PAC/Cody/Andrade/FTR/Lucha Bros story tangle was just leading to... an eight-man tag? Somebody please save Malakai from Cody's vortex soon, he's still entertaining as fuck, but come on now, this is getting ridiculous.
I liked that they gave Tay a little post-Full Gear hype reel here; imagine a woman not just immediately disappearing from TV for months the instant her current angle is over! The Britt interview that follows was more of the same from her, but I am looking forward to more Jamie (even if she feels a little like Wardlow 2.0 while Wardlow 1.0's story is still playing out; they should team up OH NO I IMAGINED IT AND IT'S TOO SEXY).
Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida (TBS Championship Tournament Quarterfinals): Shoutout to the dude in the crowd with the 'BOOK >1 WOMEN'S MATCH ON TV' sign, shout it from the goddamn rooftops. Anyway, this slapped, though it felt a little slower paced than their previous meetups? Maybe that's what let Nyla take the win this time around (though obviously the story with Serena and Shida's knee played a big part, too, goddamn AEW is obsessed with setting up trilogies lately). She also took a couple of really fucking gnarly-looking bumps, like damn girl, and we have our first semifinalist in the tournament! I still don't know which way this is going! If I had to guess at this point I'd say... Rosa vs. Jade and Nyla vs. Ruby, then Jade vs. Ruby for the final? Although if Jade loses either way (please), having her lose to Rosa and then Rosa losing to someone Britt has already beaten helps keep her close to Britt's level since I still want her as the next women's champion. But I still really want Red Velvet to notch a win against Jade, too, UGH THIS IS TOO HARD.
More MJF (this time with Wardlow being effortlessly sexy and Spears trying VERY VERY hard to get on that level but also sitting and eating a protein bar or something for a little while on his emotional support chair lol I love him), but this time Punk comes out to stare him down and ignore his greetings and mmmm yes this should be a very tasty feud indeed. I hope MJF's not the guy to hand Punk his first loss, but that kinda feels like where we're headed. Quiet, calm, 'getting under your skin' Punk gives me such whiplash after the bloody unhinged Punk that his angle with Eddie gave me, but in a good way. The man contains multitudes! And they're all VERY dilfy!
And then Gunn Club roll up on Darby, which: lol he's gonna kill you, old man, but also this episode does such an efficient job of following up on every single person who had shit going on in Full Gear, it gives that show a real season finale feel and now we're fully clearing the decks for what's next. "I like turtles."
SuperKliq promo about how Jungle Boy almost murdered Matt lol, but the real takeaway here is Adam Cole continuing to bring Bobby Fish into things, and it feels pretty clear where this is all heading in Kenny's absence, especially if/when that Kyle O'Reilly guy shows up like everyone expects. When he was with the Bucks back in the day, Adam always wanted to be in charge, the top guy of the gang, but could never make it happen. Bullet Club, the Elite, whatever, he could never quite fully weasel his way in there, the Bucks' bond with Kenny was just too strong. Then they ultimately murdered him because of it and he went to the Fed, where he WAS the top guy, he WAS the leader of the Undisputed Era, he finally got everything he wanted (until he turned on them or something? idk I ain't watching WWE), and now he's back and as much fun as he's having with the Bucks, he's not about to just be subservient to Kenny all over again. He knows he's not gonna get the Bucks to turn on him (even at Full Gear, they did what they did for Kenny's sake even more than Hangman's), so instead he's just gonna bring his OWN guys over and into the group and put himself on top THAT way. Undisputed Era (or whatever they're allowed to call it in AEW) vs. Elite when Kenny gets back, maybe? SOAP OPERA SHIT, I LOVE IT.
The Acclaimed vs. Dante Martin & Lio Rush: Another excellent showcase for this new Dante/Lio pairing, Dante's such a goddamn freak, man, and it's nice to finally see Lio get the chance to show what he's got after all the drama getting him there. I'm just not sure where this is going! Team Taz come out and remind him that he's got an offer with them on the table and sorry about your dead grandma Lio, and surely it's all leading to Darius' return SOMEHOW, but... ???
Christian Express reply to the SuperKliq callout and god, it's so unsettling to see Jungle Boy leaning into embracing that final Conchairto while Christian tells him how proud he is. He has successfully corrupted his new jungle son! How deep can it go! Also where the fuck is Marko??
Lucha Bros promo to go with the earlier FTR/Andrade interview and Malakai creepiness ahead of next week's custerfluck, and I mostly just remember Fenix being adorable?? Precious little lucha cat of a man.
Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Jay Lethal for the AEW TNT Championship: Real good! I thought the people worrying that Lethal might actually win it going in were being ridiculous, but by the end, I was kinda holding my breath through a couple of those sequences! Sammy got to do some PROPER acting on the sidelines there, selling that rib injury like a champ, and it just got worse for him from there until he pulled it out in the end. Truly the best thing to come out of that snoozer of a street fight at Full Gear.
In a fair world, Jade vs. Velvet would be the main event on Friday okay I should do some actual work now byeeeeeee!