IN LAIMAN’S TERMS #452
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Thoughts on AEW: Dynamite – October 4th, 2023
1. It’s Wednesday night, etc. We start off with another Jericho/Omega interview with Renee, because the two segments they got on Saturday weren’t enough. I do get why they chose those two for the four year anniversary. It’s an AEW interview though, so who’s going to interrupt it? Ah, it’s Adam Copeland! Kenny drops the word “edge” in a joke, so we’re getting some good HAM early. This is more what I wanted from these two teaming up.
2. Now we’re going for the opening AEW match we know and love, the International title defense. Nick Jackson comes out first, getting one of his two title shots earned in the last week. I heard Fenix was hurt, so I hope he’s gonna be all right to go here.
3. Title jinxes are the thing now, and they’re reflecting a lot of what NFL players say about how everyone’s hurt on some level. Stockton is hot already, though I’m sure the home state trunks on Jackson don’t hurt.
4. Fenix is selling the back already, or maybe not selling and just wrestling through it. Either way, they’re incorporating it into this match. Nick tries to sunset flip him over the top rope, what a guy.
5. On the outside, Fenix kicks Jackson on the apron which causes Nick to plant his head right on the apron. That looked both nasty and extremely well executed.
6. The crowd is rallying behind Fenix despite the home-state advantage, and Jackson is wrestling a bit like a heel. They have a really fun spot where Nick does his kicks, Fenix kips up, another kick, and they each kip again. Third kick gets the big cheer as they’re both down.
7. The match keeps escalating, and they’re so into it. The International title keeps its reputation in its title matches and timeslot. They can’t resist ending yet another match in a roll-up though, so that slightly takes away from it, but not much. Fenix sneaks out a win despite being in pain.
8. AAAAAAAAADAMMMMMM! Now there’s at least three Adams on the roster. We get a pre-tape with Adam Cole talking to the camera, and even in a pre-tape there are interruptions. They got him his own wheels, one of those leg injury scooters. They have some kind of race and also a stuffed giraffe. I’m guessing because neck. They brought him over but they’re trying to make him move furniture, wow.
9. Slow motion moving shots ensue, the Kingdom doing nothing to help. We’ve all been there, your friend who is faking a neck injury asks you to move furniture for you while his two perfectly able-bodied friends sit there and watch. They continue to abuse the relationship and not let Adam take care of himself. I again will treat the injury as a shoot until proven otherwise, but…
10. Griff Garrison already out in the ring, and ohai Wardlow, welcome back! Not sure why you were gone, but glad that’s no longer the case. Poor Griff, he never had a chance. Maybe the break will help Wardlow get some of that heat back. The third powerbomb he drops is really awful-looking. After four, Wardlow still hasn’t had enough. Perhaps he heard there was a MEATsterpiece and had to lay down a meat card. The fifth powerbomb KOs Wardlow, and he leaves through the crowd. He looks super pissed.
11. The recap of the TNT title match and Adam Copeland’s debut has a much clearer clip of “you think you know him.” I wonder if they had to modify that last word to make it legal or something.
12. Back to work with Renee, as she’s got Don and Takeshita now. Somehow Sammy winning meant that he got declared unfit to perform? All right. But it does mean we’ll get Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher tonight, so that’s good.
13. They re-air the Adam Cole/Roddy segment because TBS had audio issues. Not on FITE’s end, but I heard there were some last week too. What on earth…
14. Butcher, Blade, and Kip Sabian had an entrance that took place during the commercial. They’re facing the Acclaimed, so… Trios titles will be retained. The rap is… well, it existed. Crowd is hot for the Acclaimed though, so that’s what matters, I guess.
15. The crowd starts chanting “We Want Daddy,” so someone lost that game of Don’t Wake Daddy pretty badly.
16. They better have matches less obvious than this next week if they have any hope of competing with their rival programming. After the huge shot to the arm that was WrestleDream, they need to keep it going.
17. Just as I say that, Swerve vs. Danielson is announced. So is Mox vs. Fenix for the International title, adding on to Copeland/Luchasaurus and Shida/Saraya. That’s better.
18. The Acclaimed win, because of course they did. They need to add something to this, it feels like a holding pattern.
19. Everything else can stop existing for a few minutes, because we’ve got more Toni Storm. RJ gets to be the less weird one. Toni is being Toni, yet somehow the volume has been turned up even more. She realizes that she’s timeless, and she’s shaking so much that I wonder if someone’s Quantum Leaping into her as she’s speaking. Timeless Toni Storm premieres tonight. That was on the northeast corner of Batshit and I loved every second of it.
20. Danielson emotionally recaps his match with ZSJ, while Zack is salty about it. Danielson turns up the HAM and it immediately gets cut off. We also get a Swerve recap too. Shit there are a lot of recaps tonight.
21. Now for a third straight recap. What the hell is this, RAW in 2012? Now it’s the MJF/Jay White interaction.
22. Here comes Bullet Club Gold with their Blues Brothers entrance theme. They don’t even have Cardblade, that’s a mistake. Just because the second best Jay White gets attacked doesn’t mean you leave the first at home too.
23. The three of them mock both Adam Cole and MJF, including that the best thing MJF could come up with was “tofu.” It worked though. Juice grabs the mic, and it’s just this side of Nic Cage in The Rock (no Dwayne) saying “I’d take pleasure in guttin’ you… BOY!” I’d say Juice continues to be a national treasure, but one Nic Cage reference has already been made.
24. MJF comes out to address BCG, and apparently someone said something to him enough to make him stop for a few seconds. He’s not above playing into the Danhausen chant for the Gunns, and he calls Juice a “talentless taint.” Juice, being Juice, yells back that he’s got a rock hard taint, which… that’s a thing that was said. MJF makes the crowd sing “Ass Boys, Talentless Taint,” because he really can make them chant anything.
25. MJF decides to list off his accomplishments in four years of Dynamite, then calls out the crowd for not popping loud enough because he’s a raging narcissist. Can’t fault his honesty, I suppose.
26. He makes a good argument though, he’s been brutally honest about everything except when he wanted to gain Punk sympy points. Why would he lie about attacking Tofu, when it was so clearly RETRIBUTION. He’s about to make a suggestion, but then the white spinny circle of death returns, JBLdammit.
27. It finally comes back with MJF laid out. Thanks for being shit again, Internet.
28. None of them believe anything that comes out of his mouth, and… yeah, can’t blame him. What was it he said with those aforementioned sympy points? “I’m a snake.” Juice, for emphasis, says “we mean it, we hate you!” loud enough to pick up on camera.
29. We get the main event of Full Gear booked, Jay White vs. MJF for the AEW title. Juice was somehow the best part of this segment no matter what anyone else was saying.
30. Renees back to work again, and she’s interviewing Orange Cassidy, Hook, and his chips this time. Hook suggests that it should be him instead of Mox, OC agrees. Renee feels awkward. Whatever. Hook offers Renee chips.
31. I heard that Mark Davis also got hurt at WrestleDream, so I’m glad Kyle’s getting something to do here. The commentators for several seconds try to figure out what best to call Callis, and they come up with “garbage water.” I think “bin juice” would’ve been better, but okay.
32. Callis says that Omega is “0 for 2” against Takeshita and they’re trying to make it 0-3. Um… sir, do you math? All In, All Out, and WrestleDream… this would be 0-4. Unless they’re saying WrestleDream doesn’t count because Guevara got the pin? I don’t know.
33. Callis keeps arguing with the commentary team, except for Taz who is in full kiss-ass mode. They ask him about what Edge said, and his response is “Adam is Adam.” Okay then. They’re a bit awkward tonight, eh?
34. Takeshita and Fletcher have some really nice moves with double pin attempts. For how the attempt to capture the AC/MJF magic has gone, the matches have been good, and this is no exception. Will Jericho and Omega be able to co-exist though? They should really think of establishing that a bit.
35. They all go HAM with the strikes and moves on each other, and all four end up laid out in the ring with Aubrey checking on each of them. Stockton is loving this show and they’re letting everyone know.
36. Jericho and Fletcher end up in a boo-yay on their knees, and then knock each other back down. This takes the show into a second PiP, so more weirdness on commentary is imminent.
37. Jericho gets in the Walls while Don yells to pick the ankle. It’s during a commercial though, so something’s gonna happen to break it up. The kick attempts from Takeshita fail to get Jericho to move like he’s Sting or something, so Takeshita kicks him right in the fuck. This leads Takeshita and Omega to get in the ring to take over. They go back to the corner to get the tag, as if that’s mattered at all in this match.
38. Fletcher and Omega get in their own boo-yay exchange, and Omega gets a near fall with a running knee. Omega gets a definitive win with Fletcher taking the fall, to which Callis claims they were screwed because of course.
39. Suddenly from behind… Powerhouse Hobbs? I mean I guess this means he’s out of QTV, mercifully, but to join another stable… at least it’s this one which is determined to elevate everyone in it. Assuming Guevara isn’t gone for a long time, we’ve now got Takeshita, Guevara, Ospreay at times, Fletcher maybe, and Powerhouse Hobbs? Possibly adding Danny Garcia too? I dig it.
40. Hobbs throws Omega into the seats and then uses the barricade like a futon frame of death.
41. Yo Edge? You were down with them earlier tonight, where you at?
42. They bring out the duct tape. Jericho tries to protect him and fails miserably. After taping him up, Callis does a full on unprotected chairshot to the head. The commentators call it out as something from another era, which is where that should’ve stayed. It worked though. Glad if Hobbs has to be with a stable, it’s this one. Makes way more sense than the previous.
43. Renee’s busy again, and now she’s with MJF while Max Caster cuts it off. There’s apparently something on social media this stems from, MJF freaks out and calls Max a stalker. Okay. He calls Adam because he can’t do it alone anymore. Cole doesn’t answer, and it breaks his heart. What just happened? This doesn’t make me miss being on social media, I can say that much.
44. We come back to Samoa Joe in a suit with a cigar and drink talking about being hungry to be a champion. He has to regain the hunger, and MJF earned his respect. All right, so Joe’s still gunning for MJF too? I think?
45. Next, Skye Blue is out, let’s see if the Mist has any adverse effects. She’s facing Toni, who has a big announcement. Now she has the Timeless moniker, so I don’t know what that’ll add, but everything with this has been awesome so far. Her makeup is smeared, she’s got a coat that makes me think she’s joined the Night’s Watch, and she’s throwing Skye around by her hair. Skye shoves her back and she yells “how dare you?” I love it.
46. One thing remains true, the hip attack looks devastating. Toni wins to the surprise of no one. I’m not sure what the Timeless added, but it’s still ridiculous and fantastic.
47. They preview Rampage, which very much looks like a Rampage card, and then Renee is with someone yet again. This time it’s Stokely. Now comes the Collision preview and then Title Tuesday. They add Hobbs/Jericho and Switchblade/Hangman. Damn, this does look like a fun show.
48. Adam Copeland finally comes out after being promoted all night. His social media still has the other name in it, so I think it’s okay to mentioned it that way. I liked Kenny’s way of sliding it in too.
49. Even Tony seems to be geeking out about it, as he should be. Adam says that his voice was the soundtrack to his childhood, how sweet, then throws him out of the ring. His voice sounds slightly off, and he laughs at the chant for “Adam” as 25 years later, I imagine that would be different.
50. He says he wants the AEW title and the first-time matches he could have, and then calls himself out for speaking in the third person. They’re just letting him vamp on this one, or at least it seems that way, and it’s pretty endearing. He then says that his kid said that he should go have fun with Uncle Jay, so he calls out Christian.
51. For the younger fans who don’t know, these two began their careers together. I didn’t need another reason to feel old, but I suppose that tag team did end 22 years ago. Oof.
52. Christian’s out here looking like a damn professor in that jacket. Turns out it was him standing over Sting that set him off, because Adam remembers Christian wanting to get his hair cut like him. Now here’s the promo fire from Adam Copeland I was hoping for. He says that Luchasaurus and Nick are gonna drop him as soon as they get all the info from his brain. Are they manifestations of Brainiac or something?
53. He says it’s time. Is it time? It is time for them to team together again, and that’s what the people want, so Christian’s gonna break some hearts. I’m sure it’ll happen eventually but I don’t think it will be yet. Christian’s way too hot with his current gimmick to go this route just yet.
54. Christian takes the mic and then hugs Adam and says “go fuck yourself.” Wow. I don’t know if they bleeped it on TBS, but they sure didn’t here. He then bails to the top of the stage and reminds him of what Adam will be up against on Tuesday. Nick Wayne also comes out in an inkblot sweater. This entire show felt like a preview for next week in many ways, this included. Weird note to end on.
55. The highs of this show were really high, but it felt disjointed as hell. Not the strong follow-up to WrestleDream I was hoping for. I think they put all their eggs in the Tuesday basket, because this one felt like buying time until then, because damn there sure were a lot of recaps, pre-tapes, and Renee interviews. What a card that’s shaping up to be though, credit where it’s due.
Lots of options, but Toni had multiple HAM segments on the show, so she’s taking this one.
1/4/23 – The Gunns
1/11/23 – Daddy Magic
1/13/23 – Danhausen
1/18/23 – Sonjay Dutt
1/20/23 – Stokely Hathaway
1/25/23 – Tony Schiavone
1/27/23 – Danhausen
2/1/23 – Jade Cargill
2/3/23 – Ethan Page
2/8/23 – MJF
2/10/23 – STIIIIIIING
2/15/23 – Ruby Soho
2/17/23 – Dustin Rhodes
2/22/23 – Chris Jericho
2/24/23 – Matt Hardy
3/1/23 – Big Bill
3/3/23 – Jungle Boy
3/5/23 – MJF
3/8/23 – Anthony Bowens
3/10/23 – Riho
3/15/23 – MJF/Darby Allin/Jungle Boy/Sammy Guevara
3/22/23 – STIIIIIING
3/29/23 – Juice Robinson
3/31/23 – Eddie Kingston
4/5/23 – MJF
4/7/23 – Darby Allin/Julia Hart
4/12/23 – STIIIIIIIIING
4/14/23 – 2.0/Biff Hager
4/19/23 – Sammy Guevara
4/26/23 – MJF
5/3/23 – Triple J/Mark Briscoe
5/5/23 – The Firm Deletion – All of it
5/10/23 – Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta
5/17/23 – Toni Storm
5/24/23 – Jay White
5/28/23 – Darby Allin
5/31/23 – Juice Robinson
6/7/23 – MJF
6/9/23 – Ethan Page
6/14/23 – The cardboard cutout of Saraya
6/17/23 – CM Punk
6/21/23 – Adam Cole/MJF
6/23/23 – Anthony Bowens
6/24/23 – Powerhouse Hobbs
6/25/23 – Will Ospreay
6/28/23 – Keith Lee
7/1/23 – Andrade
7/5/23 – Adam Cole/MJF
7/7/23 – Daniel Garcia
7/8/23 – Samoa Joe
7/12/23 – Jack Perry
7/17/23 – Ricky Starks
7/19/23 – MJF and Adam Cole
7/22/23 – Ricky Starks
7/26/23 – Jeff Hardy
7/31/23 – Samoa Joe
8/2/23 – Swerve
8/4/23 – Kris Statlander
8/5/23 – Christian Cage
8/9/23 – MJF and Adam Cole
8/11/23 – Orange Cassidy
8/12/23 – Ricky Starks
8/16/23 – MJF and Adam Cole
8/18/23 – Ruby Soho
8/19/23 – Toni Storm
8/23/23 – Billy Gunn
8/25/23 – Kris Statlander
8/26/23 – Eddie Kingston
8/27/23 – Nigel McGuinness
8/31/23 – Toni Storm
9/1/23 – Claudio Castagnoli
9/3/23 – Samoa Joe
9/6/23 – Roderick Strong
9/9/23 – Cardblade
9/13/23 – MJF
9/16/23 – Prince Nana
9/20/23 – MJF/Adam Cole
9/27/23 – Paul Wight
10/1/23 – Christian Cage
10/4/23 – Toni Storm