LogFAQs > #928284411

So, folks here, especially if they also frequent the Discord, know that I've been probably more bullish on AEW's chances of success than the vast majority of fans. That goes back to last year, before AEW was technically even a thing, where I was one of the first people I saw saying that All In would not only sell out but sell out quickly and convincingly. I was right on that prediction, just as I've been right more recently with how well the AEW PPVs have done. So with all that being said, I hope I'm proven very, very wrong on the sorts of things I'm about to say.

Much of my optimism for AEW, both as a product that would appeal to my personal wrestling tastes and as one that could be a legitimately strong competitor in the market, has been based in the idea that they would be the first real alternative to WWE that mainstream audiences had ever really seen. WCW was not truly that different from WWE. Their "win condition," so to speak, was being "WWE, but better." TNA, no matter how much they claimed otherwise, was the same thing. Promotions like ECW and ROH never had the financial backing or production value.

Tony Khan has been saying all the right things to make me believe that AEW was really going to break the mold. Win/Loss records, which I've wanted some promotion to commit to FOREVER. He hates screwy finishes and wanted to limit the BS in matches in general. He doesn't like the "invisible camera" backstage segments. They have, for the most part, practiced what they preached on the PPVs. The only fuck finish has been the Brandi/Allie match at Fight for the Fallen, which I don't think anybody cared about anyway because Brandi Rhodes will never be a thing.

But then we get to Dynamite.

- Cody/Sammy was a very good match that the crowd was into and I can't overstate how thrilled I am that Guevara is getting an opportunity on a stage like this after years of me watching him in mediocre Texas indies wondering why nowhere big wanted him. But the longer this went, the more annoying things happened. Brandi gets taken out on a suicide dive because she was standing by Sammy for no freaking reason. So we have our first instance of attention being drawn away from the two guys actually wrestling, for however brief a time. Then, while the ref's back is turned, she hits Sammy with a shoe or whatever. It doesn't lead to the finish, at least, but I also don't get why it was necessary. Then, we have Sammy kicking out of all these big moves and losing to a rollup. A very clear hierarchy had been previously established here. Sammy lost to Kip Sabian on the DON preshow, who then lost to Hangman Page, who then lost to Chris Jericho, who Cody is challenging for the world title. The rollup finish is WWE bullshit already - why does the first title challenger have to use one to beat a guy like Guevara?
- So, to recap, the very first match that AEW decided to show to hundreds of thousands of first-time watchers included a) a manager spot, b) manager interference, and c) a rollup finish. The only reason this isn't true of 75% of WWE TV matches is that they don't use managers. Meanwhile, NXT has Cole vs Riddle in a straight, no-BS wrestling match. Don't like those optics.
- Jericho attacks Cody after the match. No problem with this. Good segment.
- Cutler/MJF, again, exactly what it should've been. MJF got a live mic, did what he does, and won a quick match. I'm not as in love with MJF as most are, but they clearly see a star in him and so I'm glad that they're committing to presenting him like one. That's how you build stars.
- The segment with Los Gueros del Cielo and the B-list celebrities in the front row was not good. That's more WWE-esque shit. At least it was short, though. Chris Van Vliet should never be in the position of hype man. He's a good interview guy, keep him there.
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