BRM Reviews the 12/11/2019 Dynamite (GREAT!)
Posted: Dec 12th, '19, 21:47
JON MOXLEY vs. A NAMELESS JOBBER (w/his nameless friend)- squash
Not giving jobbers names and entrances is something I had hoped AEW wouldn’t copy from WWE, but no luck. Moxley beat the jobber (I assume this was Alex Reynolds because the guy on the outside was John Silver) in mere moments. He then tossed him to the outside, leading Silver to try to attack him but get laid out with the Death Rider as well.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
The Inner Circle came out and surrounded the ring. Jericho got into the ring and told Moxley he just wanted to have a “conversation.” He noted their history together, starting by claiming that when Moxley first arrived in WWE he went to Jericho and asked how to get over. Jericho mentions their WWE feud in the perfect way, which is to treat it like a serious feud because this is all real.
Jericho tried to recruit Moxley to the Inner Circle. He tells Moxley to take a few weeks to think about it (“not in front of these idiots in Dallas”). This was well-executed, but I just didn’t buy Moxley not responding with an immediate no. It felt like the only reason Moxley didn’t do so was so the story could be stretched out for a few weeks. It doesn’t feel natural.
YOUNG BUCKS VS. POUND & POWERFUL HYPE PACKAGE- great
CODY RHODES & Q.T. MARSHALL vs. THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)- 6.5/10
Tony Schiavone makes a connection between Allie getting her hair cut off by the Nightmare Collective and her turning into this evil “the Bunny.” That seems important.
They showed an inset from MJF wondering exactly what all of us are supposed to be wondering, which is how the hell Cody is going to win with a scrub as his partner. That being said, all this made me think is why MJF didn’t pick Wardlow or a member of the Inner Circle or someone else who they knew would immediately turn on Cody to be Cody’s partner. Also, doesn’t picking Cody’s partner for tonight as offered last week constitute MJF consenting to be booked against Cody?
This was good for what it was, but I think it went a little too long. Q.T. also hit an MJF-like CrossRhodes that looked a lot more devastating than Cody’s. Also… I’m not going to lie: There was a point here when I was certain that the right thing to do was to call an audible and let Q.T. get the win and turn him into an underdog cult hero in all of his matches and just let Butcher and Blade be undercard jamokes for a while. That’s how great Q.T. was in his role.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- odd
Darby Allin came out, shoving past The Blade on his way down the ramp. He extended his hand to the dejected Cody. That was nice of him, but the announcers tried to portray it as Cody finally having a friend, which is ridiculous because he’s part of the Elite and thus already has friends.
MJF HARASSES A CREWMEMBER- FANTASTIC PROMO!
He says he saw this guy laughing when Cody insulted his CrossRhodes last week. He says everything will be forgiven if the guy kisses his ring (well… now we know whose idea that terrible gimmick in ROH was). The guy does, but MJF hits him with CrossRhodes anyway. Someone- either AEW themselves or TNT- has begun muting the show whenever the crowd chants a naughty word. Hopefully future AEW crowd members are watching tonight’s show and will take heed not to say anything too naughty, because this style of editing makes the show annoying, and it’s even worse when I’m missing words in a promo because of it.
MJF then proceeded to cut a FANTASTIC heel promo. Utterly amazing pure heel stuff. He agreed to wrestle Cody, but only under certain stipulations, which he would reveal in Jacksonville. The announcers told us that this would be the first show of 2020.
THE DARK ORDER ARE SENDING ALEX REYNOLDS MESSAGES THROUGH A HOTEL TV SCREEN- Once again, this was well done for what it was, but I cannot help but be annoyed by the fact that it clashes with the way the rest of the show is shot. Everything else feels the need to explain why the camera is there. Even other Dark Order videos were presented as videos the Dark Order themselves sent in as recruitment pitches. This one, however, was full-on WWE “just pretend the cameras aren’t there because we’re making movies” style.
John Silver showed up and apparently couldn’t see or hear Grayson talking to Alex Reynolds through the TV. This would have also been more effective if they had identified these two earlier on. Also, I maybe would have saved it until next week, just to actually start an episodic thing with the Dark Order rather than doing two segments in one night, but maybe this timeline is necessary for something they have planned.
BIG SWOLE vs. EMI SAKURA- 5/10
Hikaru Shida was shown watching from the crowd. They also noted that Nyla Rose’s suspension is “probably” going to last the rest of the year, and pointed out that Rick Knox is taped up after being powerbombed through a table by Nyla last week.
This match was dragged down by the goofball sh*t. Sakura in particular looked like a total clown throughout. Thank G-d she lost this match.
JENN DECKER INTERVIEWS PAC- good
He demands a rubber match with Kenny Omega or “I will not be help accountable for what I do next.”
ADAM PAGE & KENNY OMEGA vs. SHAWN SPEARS & KIP SABIAN (w/Penelope Ford)- 6/10
You know… if the story is going to be that Adam Page has left the Elite, maybe don’t have him constantly be either teaming with the Elite or fighting their enemies.
Tully Blanchard was absent from ringside seemingly just so he could be abducted by Joey Janela. And did we really need the magically lights going out gimmick for this reveal? Janela couldn’t have just wheeled him out onto the stage?
Spears went to go save Tully, resulting in the babyfaces using a two on one advantage to win… which is also the second time this particular babyface combination has done so. In addition to this, I also wasn’t fond of Janela’s involvement here as it places him so close to Sabian and Penelope without having it be relevant at all, which is problematic simply because they spent time on a PPV having Penelope bury him and flaunt her new relationship, and now that’s just being ignored.
I did like the idea of Page tagging himself in so he could hit his own finisher and kind of steal Omega’s win, although I think the “steal” part is a little debatable here just because Kenny hasn’t really used the V-Trigger as a finisher in AEW. Either way, though, the idea of Page tagging himself in to steal the glory from is friend to help himself snap out of a funk is definitely the beginning of a story I am interested in.
BRANDI RHODES PROMO- very good
She cut a good promo on the whole division while being creepy and reinforcing her offer to Kris Statlander. Also of importance is the fact that she has a bald male member of her Nightmare Collective whose identity she is hiding from us until she feels that the time is right. When she was talking about Britt Baker and started her sentence with “here’s a drinking game, take a shot every time” I was worried she was going to go irredeemably heel and try to get fans to kill themselves by finishing her sentence with “the announcers tell you that Britt Baker has a medical degree.” Instead she just used it to make a veiled reference to Adam Cole.
SAMMY GUEVARA vs. LUCHASAURUS (w/Marko Stunt & Jungle Boy)- 5.75/10
Jericho and Hager shooed Excalibur and Schiavone away from the commentary table with threats of violence, with Jericho taking their place for this match.
Luchasaurus won, then got jumped by Jericho and Hager, setting up for Jungle Boy to run in, make the save, and get the better of Jericho in the middle of the ring. He hit Jericho with a hurricanrana and then pinned him, with Marko Stunt counting the three. Very good build to next week’s Jericho vs. Jungle Boy match.
Their next PPV will be February 29th, and will be called Revolution, which is my most-hated f*cking stupid cliché name for a wrestling show.
The plug for next week’s Lucha Bros. vs. Page & Omega match was interrupted by Jericho screaming at the announcers to tell everyone that “that didn’t count.” Also announced for next week is Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander, the ten-minute time-limit match between Jericho and Jungle Boy, and SCU defending against the winners of our…
#1 CONTENDERSHIP TEXAS STREET FIGHT: Young Bucks vs. Proud & Powerful- 8.5/10
Street Fights in AEW are Falls Count Anywhere. More importantly, they told us about it right at the beginning. Also at the beginning, Proud & Powerful and Sammy Guevara jumped the Bucks from behind with signature weapons. Brandon Cutler tried to make the save but he got powerbombed through that clearly gimmicked area of the stage. That’s the third time someone has gotten powerbomed through there. AEW really should have reinforced it by now, if for no other reason than to stop having to incur the cost of repairs.
The Bucks took Guevara out with an Indy-Taker onto the ramp, then got a nearfall with Nick hitting a senton bomb off of a set piece onto Ortiz through a table because apparently we don’t have to actually be in the ring for the match to officially start. I’m perfectly fine with that in a Falls Count Anywhere match, but I’d like to at least hear a bell.
Lots of stuff happened. The Bucks won the expected exciting carnage-fest. Some might not like them, but I felt that the factions involved made the interferences necessary, and they did a very good job of pacing them out and making them meaningful. An awesome main event. We then got the obligatory post-match stare-down with SCU, who were watching from the first row.
This a GREAT episode of Dynamite, with a lot of solid little segments, some excellent promos, and an awesome main event. The build to next week’s show has made it feel like the biggest show they have had since the first one.
Not giving jobbers names and entrances is something I had hoped AEW wouldn’t copy from WWE, but no luck. Moxley beat the jobber (I assume this was Alex Reynolds because the guy on the outside was John Silver) in mere moments. He then tossed him to the outside, leading Silver to try to attack him but get laid out with the Death Rider as well.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
The Inner Circle came out and surrounded the ring. Jericho got into the ring and told Moxley he just wanted to have a “conversation.” He noted their history together, starting by claiming that when Moxley first arrived in WWE he went to Jericho and asked how to get over. Jericho mentions their WWE feud in the perfect way, which is to treat it like a serious feud because this is all real.
Jericho tried to recruit Moxley to the Inner Circle. He tells Moxley to take a few weeks to think about it (“not in front of these idiots in Dallas”). This was well-executed, but I just didn’t buy Moxley not responding with an immediate no. It felt like the only reason Moxley didn’t do so was so the story could be stretched out for a few weeks. It doesn’t feel natural.
YOUNG BUCKS VS. POUND & POWERFUL HYPE PACKAGE- great
CODY RHODES & Q.T. MARSHALL vs. THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)- 6.5/10
Tony Schiavone makes a connection between Allie getting her hair cut off by the Nightmare Collective and her turning into this evil “the Bunny.” That seems important.
They showed an inset from MJF wondering exactly what all of us are supposed to be wondering, which is how the hell Cody is going to win with a scrub as his partner. That being said, all this made me think is why MJF didn’t pick Wardlow or a member of the Inner Circle or someone else who they knew would immediately turn on Cody to be Cody’s partner. Also, doesn’t picking Cody’s partner for tonight as offered last week constitute MJF consenting to be booked against Cody?
This was good for what it was, but I think it went a little too long. Q.T. also hit an MJF-like CrossRhodes that looked a lot more devastating than Cody’s. Also… I’m not going to lie: There was a point here when I was certain that the right thing to do was to call an audible and let Q.T. get the win and turn him into an underdog cult hero in all of his matches and just let Butcher and Blade be undercard jamokes for a while. That’s how great Q.T. was in his role.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- odd
Darby Allin came out, shoving past The Blade on his way down the ramp. He extended his hand to the dejected Cody. That was nice of him, but the announcers tried to portray it as Cody finally having a friend, which is ridiculous because he’s part of the Elite and thus already has friends.
MJF HARASSES A CREWMEMBER- FANTASTIC PROMO!
He says he saw this guy laughing when Cody insulted his CrossRhodes last week. He says everything will be forgiven if the guy kisses his ring (well… now we know whose idea that terrible gimmick in ROH was). The guy does, but MJF hits him with CrossRhodes anyway. Someone- either AEW themselves or TNT- has begun muting the show whenever the crowd chants a naughty word. Hopefully future AEW crowd members are watching tonight’s show and will take heed not to say anything too naughty, because this style of editing makes the show annoying, and it’s even worse when I’m missing words in a promo because of it.
MJF then proceeded to cut a FANTASTIC heel promo. Utterly amazing pure heel stuff. He agreed to wrestle Cody, but only under certain stipulations, which he would reveal in Jacksonville. The announcers told us that this would be the first show of 2020.
THE DARK ORDER ARE SENDING ALEX REYNOLDS MESSAGES THROUGH A HOTEL TV SCREEN- Once again, this was well done for what it was, but I cannot help but be annoyed by the fact that it clashes with the way the rest of the show is shot. Everything else feels the need to explain why the camera is there. Even other Dark Order videos were presented as videos the Dark Order themselves sent in as recruitment pitches. This one, however, was full-on WWE “just pretend the cameras aren’t there because we’re making movies” style.
John Silver showed up and apparently couldn’t see or hear Grayson talking to Alex Reynolds through the TV. This would have also been more effective if they had identified these two earlier on. Also, I maybe would have saved it until next week, just to actually start an episodic thing with the Dark Order rather than doing two segments in one night, but maybe this timeline is necessary for something they have planned.
BIG SWOLE vs. EMI SAKURA- 5/10
Hikaru Shida was shown watching from the crowd. They also noted that Nyla Rose’s suspension is “probably” going to last the rest of the year, and pointed out that Rick Knox is taped up after being powerbombed through a table by Nyla last week.
This match was dragged down by the goofball sh*t. Sakura in particular looked like a total clown throughout. Thank G-d she lost this match.
JENN DECKER INTERVIEWS PAC- good
He demands a rubber match with Kenny Omega or “I will not be help accountable for what I do next.”
ADAM PAGE & KENNY OMEGA vs. SHAWN SPEARS & KIP SABIAN (w/Penelope Ford)- 6/10
You know… if the story is going to be that Adam Page has left the Elite, maybe don’t have him constantly be either teaming with the Elite or fighting their enemies.
Tully Blanchard was absent from ringside seemingly just so he could be abducted by Joey Janela. And did we really need the magically lights going out gimmick for this reveal? Janela couldn’t have just wheeled him out onto the stage?
Spears went to go save Tully, resulting in the babyfaces using a two on one advantage to win… which is also the second time this particular babyface combination has done so. In addition to this, I also wasn’t fond of Janela’s involvement here as it places him so close to Sabian and Penelope without having it be relevant at all, which is problematic simply because they spent time on a PPV having Penelope bury him and flaunt her new relationship, and now that’s just being ignored.
I did like the idea of Page tagging himself in so he could hit his own finisher and kind of steal Omega’s win, although I think the “steal” part is a little debatable here just because Kenny hasn’t really used the V-Trigger as a finisher in AEW. Either way, though, the idea of Page tagging himself in to steal the glory from is friend to help himself snap out of a funk is definitely the beginning of a story I am interested in.
BRANDI RHODES PROMO- very good
She cut a good promo on the whole division while being creepy and reinforcing her offer to Kris Statlander. Also of importance is the fact that she has a bald male member of her Nightmare Collective whose identity she is hiding from us until she feels that the time is right. When she was talking about Britt Baker and started her sentence with “here’s a drinking game, take a shot every time” I was worried she was going to go irredeemably heel and try to get fans to kill themselves by finishing her sentence with “the announcers tell you that Britt Baker has a medical degree.” Instead she just used it to make a veiled reference to Adam Cole.
SAMMY GUEVARA vs. LUCHASAURUS (w/Marko Stunt & Jungle Boy)- 5.75/10
Jericho and Hager shooed Excalibur and Schiavone away from the commentary table with threats of violence, with Jericho taking their place for this match.
Luchasaurus won, then got jumped by Jericho and Hager, setting up for Jungle Boy to run in, make the save, and get the better of Jericho in the middle of the ring. He hit Jericho with a hurricanrana and then pinned him, with Marko Stunt counting the three. Very good build to next week’s Jericho vs. Jungle Boy match.
Their next PPV will be February 29th, and will be called Revolution, which is my most-hated f*cking stupid cliché name for a wrestling show.
The plug for next week’s Lucha Bros. vs. Page & Omega match was interrupted by Jericho screaming at the announcers to tell everyone that “that didn’t count.” Also announced for next week is Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander, the ten-minute time-limit match between Jericho and Jungle Boy, and SCU defending against the winners of our…
#1 CONTENDERSHIP TEXAS STREET FIGHT: Young Bucks vs. Proud & Powerful- 8.5/10
Street Fights in AEW are Falls Count Anywhere. More importantly, they told us about it right at the beginning. Also at the beginning, Proud & Powerful and Sammy Guevara jumped the Bucks from behind with signature weapons. Brandon Cutler tried to make the save but he got powerbombed through that clearly gimmicked area of the stage. That’s the third time someone has gotten powerbomed through there. AEW really should have reinforced it by now, if for no other reason than to stop having to incur the cost of repairs.
The Bucks took Guevara out with an Indy-Taker onto the ramp, then got a nearfall with Nick hitting a senton bomb off of a set piece onto Ortiz through a table because apparently we don’t have to actually be in the ring for the match to officially start. I’m perfectly fine with that in a Falls Count Anywhere match, but I’d like to at least hear a bell.
Lots of stuff happened. The Bucks won the expected exciting carnage-fest. Some might not like them, but I felt that the factions involved made the interferences necessary, and they did a very good job of pacing them out and making them meaningful. An awesome main event. We then got the obligatory post-match stare-down with SCU, who were watching from the first row.
This a GREAT episode of Dynamite, with a lot of solid little segments, some excellent promos, and an awesome main event. The build to next week’s show has made it feel like the biggest show they have had since the first one.