BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Mar 26th, '21, 14:18

IS MATT SYDAL WINS, HE EARNS A SHOT AT HE AEW WORLD TITLE: Matt Sydal vs. Kenny Omega- 8.5/10
Don Callis was on commentary for this match. Sydal is apparently 12-4 in singles matches this year, and 7-1 in his last eight singles matches overall. I don’t think ANY of this took place on Dynamite.
Ross failed to remember the key storyline detail that Don Callis is a representative of Impact Wrestling and doesn’t work Tony Khan/AEW.
This was one hell of an opener. I’m also fine with Sydal not winning here, as it keeps these situations from feeling too predictable. It’s important to zag every once in a while.

ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWS THE DARK ORDER- bad
Silver has a title match tonight. The Dork Order were goofs. Once everyone left, Page told Silver not to be nervous because his friends would be proud of him either way. It’s good that Page is being realistic about Silver’s chances and subtly encouraging Silver to do the same, but this segment did nothing to make me want to see the main event, and did quite a bit to make me want to not see it by portraying the challenger for the TNT Title as a clown.

ADAM PAGE vs. CEZAR BONONI- 3.5/10
This was good for the time it got, but I’ve seen Bononi for years now in both NXT and AEW, and I have yet to see him have anything other than a short match.

LANCE ARCHER PROMO- great!
He cut a great promo on Sting while also hitting on the fact that he’s upset about not getting attention from AEW management. My only issue here is that I’m worried that a match between these two won’t be able to deliver.

THUNDER ROSA VS. BRITT BAKER VIDEO PACKAGE/THUNDER ROSA PROMO FROM AFTER THE MATCH- great

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS DR. BRITT BAKER, DMD- awesome!
THIS is how a heel recovers from a loss!
Also, I’m now curious if they’ve gotten their hands on some female legend to put Britt over (because Britt really does need a big win at some point soon).

DASHA COMES UPON CHRISTIAN CAGE BEING FRIENDLY WITH SOME OF THE YOUNGER WRESTLERS- meh to bad
The conversation was good and natural…but the fact that the camera was in place to catch it before Dasha showed up made it feel staged. This was a “WWE just pretend the camera isn’t there” segment on a show that doesn’t operate that way.
Dasha asked them what they were talking about? Really? That’s your question? Would you have had anything to ask if Christian had just been futzing around on his phone rather than talking to people?
This was soon interrupted by Kazarian, who thinks Christian stole his catchphrase. If its your catchphrase, why haven’t I ever heard you say it before?
Kaz was supposed to come off as heelish here, and while he did succeed at that a bit, he did make a very valid point which was that for a guy who says he is here to “outwork everyone,” Christian hasn’t actually done any working yet. Apparently Christian’s first match will be next week, but he doesn’t have an opponent yet, so he and Kaz will wrestle. Kaz takes a shot at WWE and then suggests that Christian watch his match on Dark: Elevation. He also plants the seed that Christian might be rusty.
This… wasn’t terrible or anything, but as I’ve said in the above paragraphs, it did have some problems. This felt like a WWE segment with the presentation issues and bad interviewer, but with the wrestlers were allowed to talk like normal people.

DANTE MARTIN & THE VARSITY BLONDS vs. THE PINNACLE (Shawn Spears & FTR) (w/Tully Blanchard, MJF, & Wardlow)- good squash

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- very good
Wardlow beat up Brian Pillman Jr. Then Tony Schiavone showed up to interview the Pinnacle. Good but unnecessary promos were cut. MJF challenged the Inner Circle to come out and fight them, knowing full well that the Inner Circle wasn’t here because they were injured. Said he had a gift for the Pinnacle next week.

TEAM TAZ PROMO- good
Taz claimed that they were all back on the same page and that Cage apologized to everyone. Cage’s facial expression let us know that either this was a lie he had agreed to go along with, or that he actually did apologize but didn’t like doing so.

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS Q.T. MARSHALL- very bad
He’s upset because:
1) He thinks AEW doesn’t value him for the work he does
2) Cody (allegedly) treats him like a servant and makes him do busy work… which Cody seemed to confirm when he came out to respond to Q.T.
3) Cody (again, allegedly) is something of a hypocrite when it comes to his “do the work” motto.
4) He thinks everything he has gotten from AEW has been because he as “Cody’s friend” rather than because his own merits were recognized.
He wants an exhibition next week against Cody to prove that he can hang with Cody because he’s not going to take “meaningless bumps” that “jeopardize my quality of life” if he is going to be stuck in Cody’s “shadow.”
Cody came out with his arm in a sling and said that he totally understood Q.T.’s feelings so he will agree to the match. He appointed Arn Anderson as the referee, and then went on to tell Q.T. that he got Q.T. in a submission, he would let the hold go, or that if he hooked Q.T. for the CrossRhodes, he wouldn’t hit it. In other words, Cody is telling Q.T. that he doesn’t view Q.T. as any sort of threat at all, to the point where he won’t even bother to take the opportunity to put him away because he’s so sure Q.T. will never be able to hurt him. WHAT A F*CKING DOUCHEBAG!
And, in the greater narrative of things:
1. This doesn’t really feel like it follows from anything that has come before it in this Q.T. Marshall heel turn. I guess you could argue that him walking out in the battle royale at Revolution plays into the idea that he doesn’t think anything he earns will mean anything because he will always be seen as just “Cody’s friend” (and, from the insider POV, that he is getting pushed just because he’s Cody’s friend), but that doesn’t mesh with him eliminating Gunn Club from the battle royale and what he said to Dustin when he was arguing with him about it, which is what led to Q.T. walking out of that match.
2. This would be the second example of a close friend of Cody’s turning on him (you could even argue it’s the third, but I’m not counting the MJF one because I don’t think we were ever supposed to think that MJF was really Cody’s friend) in less than two years. To paraphrase Steve Corino’s immortal heel commentary line on Davey Richards, “Cody’s best friend just on him. Again. You know that means: Cody is an awful friend.”
Yes, Corino was a heel, but I do think that if someone keeps getting turned on, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that maybe that person actually is grating in a way that we don’t see on screen but the people who know him best do see. And with Cody in particular, he has come off as a complete douchebag on this show on a relatively frequent basis, so this should be even more of a concern.

LUCHA BROS. PROMO- This was good, but it would have been a lot less confusing if they had let us know about Pac’s injury before this promo rather than after it.

THE YOUNG BUCKS & BRANDON CUTLER vs. LUCHA BROS. & LAREDO KID- 7/10
During this match, Jim Ross was possessed by Dave Meltzer and claimed that the recent Rey Fenix vs. Nick Jackson match was “one of the best matches I remember seeing on TV in a decade or more.”
Laredo Kid got the win, pinning Cutler. The match was spotty, but quite good.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- most excellent
Kenny Omega came out and attacked Laredo Kid, then grabbed a mic and cut wonderfully manic promo saying that he chose to come to AEW instead of going to WWE or staying in New Japan so he could be with the Bucks, but now that Bucks were not choosing to be with him against Moxley. He insisted that they Too-Sweet him but they left. Kenny shouted that they were “DONE!”
When Kenny turned around, he ate a double-superkick from Lucha Bros., followed by a double-stomp/package piledriver combo. When the Good Brothers came out to check on him, he had some very fake-looking blood on his chin.
I thought the stuff with Kenny and the Bucks was excellent, but didn’t really like the stuff with Lucha Bros. I get that it builds to some future matches, but I really don’t need more heel vs. heel in this company.

JADE CARGILL VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- AWESOME!
That being said, I think that Jade needs to win this match against Red Velvet (they’re both apparently undefeated in singles match) clean and then that’s it for the feud.

CODY & BRANDI HAVE A NEW REALITY SERIES COMING TO TNT- uch
As if their egos weren’t big enough already.

EDDIE KINGSTON & JON MOXLEY PROMO- GREAT!
They want revenge on the Good Brothers for injuring Kingston’s ankle. So I guess it’s just the Young Bucks who don’t get injured too badly by Pillmanizers.
Speaking of the Young Bucks, Moxley told them that if they are going to be involved in this feud, they have to be 100% on Moxley and Kingston’s side.

TAY CONTI vs. NYLA ROSE (w/Vickie Guerrero)- 6.25/10
We haven’t seen Conti on Dynamite in MONTHS (not even in the freakin’ background of Dark Order segments) and now all of a sudden she’s the top-ranked wrestler in the division? If you’re giving someone a winning streak, is it really that hard to find three minutes and have one of those wins be a squash on Dynamite?
The Dark Order came out to stand on the ramp before the match, but then left, so I guess she’s still in the group.
The match was good. Conti won clean, but Nyla kicked out at 3.1, which I didn’t like. If you’re going to put her over, put her over. I also thought that the BJJ expert winning with a DDT was kind of weird.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
Vickie grabbed Conti’s leg to distract her, allowing Nyla to attack her from behind. Hikaru Shida came out to make the save with her Kendo stick. The Bunny came out and grabbed the Kendo stick and beat up the babyfaces. Matt Hardy came out and cut a promo saying that the Women’s World Title Eliminator was a “sham” because The Bunny wasn’t in it. This would have worked better for me if The Bunny had actually been wrestling since she became The Bunny. The post-match attacked also felt forced, like it was done just to have a reason for Shida to come out so that The Bunny could then attack Shida.

VIDEO GAME GEEKS VS. GOOF PATROL VIDEO PACKAGE- passable

SCORPIO SKY VIDEO PACKAGE- good stuff
He’s got a match against Mike Sydal on Dark (or Dark: Elevation, maybe), and he dared Matt Sydal to get involved.

AEW TNT TITLE MATCH: Darby Allin(c) vs. John Silver (w/the Dark Order)- 7/10
This was great, especially considering that Silver apparently injured his elbow during the match. In between this match and Scorpio Sky video packages, I watched video packages for the opening match on this week’s episode of ROH.., and I think AEW really needs to take a page out of ROH’s book, because those video packages are exactly what is missing for so many characters in AEW. Silver had a great showing hear, but it was hard for me to care because we have no idea who he is other than “Adam Page’s goofball friend.”
The one thing here I didn’t like was Five shoving Silver out of the way of a dive, allowing Silver to get the advantage. Aren’t the Dark Order supposed to be babyfaces now? Why are they cheating? Thankfully, Sting came out to keep them in check.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
Matt Hardy and pals come out to attack the Dark Order, and we get a schmoz.


This was an awesome episode of Dynamite. Omega in particular had his best show… ever, maybe? The wrestling here was very good to great (and the opener was awesome), there were some GREAT promos (again, Omega’s stands out), and the stories moved along in what was generally a positive (or at the very least, inoffensive) way.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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XIV
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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by XIV » Mar 27th, '21, 00:30

Things I’ve learned AEW does well:
- Building the card the first the next show, on the current show. They’ve learned how to do this pretty well, instead of WWE’s “nothing is booked, everything gets booked for later tonight” situation. It makes for a more professional feel.

Things I’ve learned AEW does badly:
- Allow Excalibur to remain on commentary. I’m sorry, I know everybody thinks he’s the best announcer of all time, but I just don’t get him, he just shouts “oh-ho-ho” 50 times a show and screams random move names no-one has ever heard of. He’s not for me, Don Callis is right, get that stupid mask off too. He was never a famous Lucha. So fuck him. I don’t think he’s good at all. For me, AEW’s whole commentary team lets them down. Except when Taz is present.

But that aside, pretty decent show. I don’t think the Omega stuff is interesting at this time, I’m not caring where the he and Young Bucks thing is going and he just needs to pick a feud and stick with it. In the last few weeks he’s had face offs or issues with The Bucks, Moxley, Kingston, Sydal and Christian Cage. And no it doesn’t present as “everyone wants the champion” it presents as “we don’t know what the fuck to do next because we’ve built zero viable contenders”

The Pinnacle stuff is good.
Hikaru Shida is growing on me, but I can’t help feeling her title reign feels like nothing at the moment.
Britt Baker is awesome at the moment, hope this momentum continues.

And my final thought is on the QT Marshall thing, it’s been poorly booked, there was no slow build or hints towards his feelings, he just walked out of ringside one day and now has this gripe that isn’t culminating in a proper match or any kind of heat. It’s boring, just like QT in general.
Have A Nice Day!

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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Mar 30th, '21, 00:49

XIV wrote: Mar 27th, '21, 00:30

But that aside, pretty decent show. I don’t think the Omega stuff is interesting at this time, I’m not caring where the he and Young Bucks thing is going and he just needs to pick a feud and stick with it. In the last few weeks he’s had face offs or issues with The Bucks, Moxley, Kingston, Sydal and Christian Cage. And no it doesn’t present as “everyone wants the champion” it presents as “we don’t know what the fuck to do next because we’ve built zero viable contenders”
The Bucks/Omega stuff is the sort of thing that doesn't really interest me, but I thought it was executed well this week.

As for the "pick a feud and stick with it" thing, I strongly disagree. My favorite world title reigns have been the ones where the champion has multiple issues going on at the same time. Dragon had Joe, Cabana, Nigel, and Homicide all chasing him at once, and all while building up for a big match with KENTA, too. Nigel had Tyler, Dragon, Steen, and Claudio all chasing him at the same time. Aries II had Tyler, Delirious, Dragon, Petey Williams, and Omega all chasing him. Without that, any time the champ defends title against anyone but his/her one current challenger, the match loses something because everyone knows the title won't change hands.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by Thelone » Mar 30th, '21, 04:17

Big Red Machine wrote: Mar 26th, '21, 14:18 IS MATT SYDAL WINS, HE EARNS A SHOT AT HE AEW WORLD TITLE: Matt Sydal vs. Kenny Omega- 8.5/10
Don Callis was on commentary for this match. Sydal is apparently 12-4 in singles matches this year, and 7-1 in his last eight singles matches overall. I don’t think ANY of this took place on Dynamite.
Ross failed to remember the key storyline detail that Don Callis is a representative of Impact Wrestling and doesn’t work Tony Khan/AEW.
This was one hell of an opener. I’m also fine with Sydal not winning here, as it keeps these situations from feeling too predictable. It’s important to zag every once in a while.
Did anybody really expect Sydal to win or even go to a draw?
ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWS THE DARK ORDER- bad
Silver has a title match tonight. The Dork Order were goofs. Once everyone left, Page told Silver not to be nervous because his friends would be proud of him either way. It’s good that Page is being realistic about Silver’s chances and subtly encouraging Silver to do the same, but this segment did nothing to make me want to see the main event, and did quite a bit to make me want to not see it by portraying the challenger for the TNT Title as a clown.
This Page/DO stuff is yet another example of a top guy (or in this case, a guy they're supposedly building up to that level) being brought down by silliness instead of the other way around.
THUNDER ROSA VS. BRITT BAKER VIDEO PACKAGE/THUNDER ROSA PROMO FROM AFTER THE MATCH- great

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS DR. BRITT BAKER, DMD- awesome!
THIS is how a heel recovers from a loss!
Also, I’m now curious if they’ve gotten their hands on some female legend to put Britt over (because Britt really does need a big win at some point soon).
I just don't know about this division anymore (and frankly, never did). Yeah, you can say that the Rosa match raised Baker's stock despite losing yet again, but there's nothing left for Shida to do and since Rosa is still signed to the NWA, she's the only credible option left. But hey, gotta waste more time with Conti and the fucking Bunny now to keep this ice cold reign on track, and I actually like Cherry Bomb/Allie!
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- very good
Wardlow beat up Brian Pillman Jr. Then Tony Schiavone showed up to interview the Pinnacle. Good but unnecessary promos were cut. MJF challenged the Inner Circle to come out and fight them, knowing full well that the Inner Circle wasn’t here because they were injured. Said he had a gift for the Pinnacle next week.
Let me guess : he'll give them all gold watches or something and make fun of Jericho for giving him his crappy bubbly wine, out of stock merch, and audio cassettes of Fozzy when he joined the IC.
TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS Q.T. MARSHALL- very bad
Oh man, I...

... can't really make a snide comment or anything. Who gives a single shit about QT MARSHALL?
CODY & BRANDI HAVE A NEW REALITY SERIES COMING TO TNT- uch
As if their egos weren’t big enough already.
Last made a good point on Cornette's podcast about how shit like this might start some internal conflicts between Cody and the Bucks/Omega. I actually believe that the Elite guys think that whatever they've been doing is how pro wrestling should be presented nowadays (even though it's mostly just the same old shit, but you know) while Cody only seems to care about branching out and getting away from wrestling.

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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by XIV » Mar 30th, '21, 13:33

Big Red Machine wrote: Mar 30th, '21, 00:49
XIV wrote: Mar 27th, '21, 00:30

But that aside, pretty decent show. I don’t think the Omega stuff is interesting at this time, I’m not caring where the he and Young Bucks thing is going and he just needs to pick a feud and stick with it. In the last few weeks he’s had face offs or issues with The Bucks, Moxley, Kingston, Sydal and Christian Cage. And no it doesn’t present as “everyone wants the champion” it presents as “we don’t know what the fuck to do next because we’ve built zero viable contenders”
The Bucks/Omega stuff is the sort of thing that doesn't really interest me, but I thought it was executed well this week.

As for the "pick a feud and stick with it" thing, I strongly disagree. My favorite world title reigns have been the ones where the champion has multiple issues going on at the same time. Dragon had Joe, Cabana, Nigel, and Homicide all chasing him at once, and all while building up for a big match with KENTA, too. Nigel had Tyler, Dragon, Steen, and Claudio all chasing him at the same time. Aries II had Tyler, Delirious, Dragon, Petey Williams, and Omega all chasing him. Without that, any time the champ defends title against anyone but his/her one current challenger, the match loses something because everyone knows the title won't change hands.
I’m okay with that stuff if it’s obvious what they’re doing, but it’s not, the Mexican wrestler he attacked this week is going after his title, nor are the Bucks or Kingston. Only Moxley & Christian have made any notion about getting the title. So, if they’d built it that way, I’d be okay with it, but they haven’t, they’ve just have Omega doing random bits with non-contenders.
Have A Nice Day!

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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by NWK2000 » Apr 1st, '21, 08:33

Big Red Machine wrote: Mar 26th, '21, 14:18
This was an awesome episode of Dynamite. Omega in particular had his best show… ever, maybe?
I get the point you're trying to make here is "Manic Omega is better than Kenny Omega who just stands around in garish suits and lets Don do most of the talking for him", which is a completely valid point but I think the reason why this stood out is because of how Kenny has been acting on other Dynamites. Kenny Omega is a spoiled brat with an influential "uncle" and big tough friends who can bail him out of trouble, bur when that support structure starts to unravel, we see what lies underneath that exterior. What I'm saying is, if we got manic Kenny every week you'd quickly grow tired of it.
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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 3/24/2021 Dynamite (THIS is the Kenny Omega that AEW needs!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 1st, '21, 10:08

NWK2000 wrote: Apr 1st, '21, 08:33
Big Red Machine wrote: Mar 26th, '21, 14:18
This was an awesome episode of Dynamite. Omega in particular had his best show… ever, maybe?
I get the point you're trying to make here is "Manic Omega is better than Kenny Omega who just stands around in garish suits and lets Don do most of the talking for him", which is a completely valid point but I think the reason why this stood out is because of how Kenny has been acting on other Dynamites. Kenny Omega is a spoiled brat with an influential "uncle" and big tough friends who can bail him out of trouble, bur when that support structure starts to unravel, we see what lies underneath that exterior. What I'm saying is, if we got manic Kenny every week you'd quickly grow tired of it.
It wasn't the fact that he was manic that was good, but the fact that it made sense in the situation. Your analysis here isn't wrong. I'm just saying that I don't think we're going to get manic Kenny every week.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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