IN LAIMAN’S TERMS #466 – Thoughts on AEW: Dynamite

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Thoughts on AEW: Dynamite – February 7th, 2024

1. We’re going to open up with Swerve and Hangman? Damn, there’s gonna be some shenanigans here.

2. They both get dramatic blue-light pre-entrances. I really like this vibe, it makes it feel like a bigger deal.

3. They’re almost certainly making this a triple threat for the title at Revolution, right? I can’t see any scenario where it makes sense that they don’t.

4. The big fight feel is immediate. I can’t help but see Hangman’s mustache and think Armand Goldman.

5. Swerve seems to be getting marginally bigger reactions, which is not a surprise. He feels like such a huge star, I’m just nervous of something derailing it.

6. I said it last week, but they have really stacked this card the whole way through.

7. How do you raise the stakes from home invasion and going all LeStat on someone? They’ve somehow managed to do it by just both wanting the world title.

8. The pace at which they’ve both been going in this match makes me think there might be a time limit draw. They’re really taking their time, not complaining, but noticing all the same.

9. Hangman goes for a moonsault to the outside but comes up empty, only to eat a Flatliner on the floor. That looked so damn fluid.

10. Swerve connects with a Buckshot Lariat, and the diving stomp, but Hangman still kicks out. Somehow. Even I bit for a second, a clean win like that would’ve been a huge surprise.

11. I guess we can just use tables now. All right, that’ll be as generous as the ring count. No worries, Paul Turner is on it.

12. Swerve starts smiling as he’s getting hit, and somehow that’s something “I don’t agree with at all” according to Tony. Tony… doesn’t agree with smiling when he’s getting hit? What does that even mean?

13. Swerve does a tree of woe ghetto stomp on the ring apron, and the force of it is so strong that it makes Hangman go right through the table at ringside after he takes a cat nap on it. Whoops. He most certainly was the table.

14. This is a phenomenal match, and they’ve just pointed out the five minute call. Hangman then does a non-Buckshot Lariat, followed by an full-Buckshot Lariat that looks like it goes right in Swerve’s face. Swerve just gets the ropes for a big count break on Swerve’s side.

15. Nana trying to revive Swerve through the power of dance is glorious HAM.

16. Hangman hitting Nana with a chair gets some serious heat. He gets a chair kicked right in the fuck for his trouble. Swerve hits another stomp but is selling the ankle. Hangman continues wrestling like a heel and it’s working.

17. Swerve puts Hangman through the second table with a Deadeye off the apron, which again, I guess is just fine for a regular match.

18. Swerve gets the time limit draw just after the two-count, the Adam Cole/MJF ending, but damn if it wasn’t so good. And hey, speaking of the Adam Cole/MJF ending, Swerve demands five more minutes. Hangman starts laughing his ass off and saying that he didn’t beat him? So that means it’s over?

19. Tony takes a mic and interrupts Hangman’s gigglefest to say that, yep, three-way match for the title. I wasn’t expecting the Hangman turn here, but I suppose it’s natural given the circumstances. We were gonna end up here and it was obvious, but damn it was fun doing so.

20. Samoa Joe is standing by with Renee, thinking about how he is, in fact, Samoa Joe. Renee’s overalls dress is freaking adorable. Joe goes angry HAM, cool Joe has left the building. That draw done pissed him off something fierce.

21. Deonna’s music hits, damn is it 20 minutes into the second hour already? She’s on commentary, which means Toni Storm isn’t, which is tragic for everyone.

22. Toni walks out there quick, she’s got some Oraetta Mayflower bursts of quirky energy tonight.

23. Red Velvet’s entrance video has some BCC-like lettering and color, that’d be an interesting crossover. To be in Your Mama’s Kitchen, you gotta Bleed in Your Mama’s Kitchen.

24. “Taz and I get each other.” That’s some different delightful energy in the commentary booth and I’m all for it.

25. Toni hits the hip attack and a DDT, but Velvet just kinda rolls out of the pinfall? That looked awkward.

26. Look at Toni busting out the ankle lock! Great addition to it with the foot on the head for leverage too. Toni wants that weekly HAM award so she starts sniffing just as she promised. Can’t fault her for dishonesty.

27. Orange Cassidy is back with Renee, so there’s considerable denim in the room. Trent continues being moderately dickish. Renee calls them back in for a somewhat apathetic bring-in. I love the rapport she has with OC. She gets actual full sentences out of him. Between he and Hook, they’re often embroiled in a lowest total word count contest, so that’s saying something.

28. We’ve got the BCC vs CMLL now, just because Mox pissed them off at ringside last week. Danielson and Hechicero on Saturday though, holy shit Collision has become must-see television again.

29. This is the pure kinda cross-promotional fun that seemed impossible not so long ago. We shouldn’t take it for granted that shit like this just happens now.

30. This match is chaos in the best way, and the crowd is so into it. Funny how Bryan can be his pure babyface self here while on the other show simultaneously being a conceited prick to Eddie Kingston. I love this dynamic so much.

31. Hechicero is JBLdamn incredible. I’m beyond impressed with the work I’ve seen.

32. We get a weird ref-bump/low-blow finish that was an awkward end to an otherwise great amount of fun. Other CMLL wrestlers jump the barricade, and again Team Losing on Rampage evens the numbers. That continues to be weird.

33. The Undisputed Era has time for Chuck Taylor? Okay then. Yes, I know it’s part of the Roddy buildup, but still…

34. Major announcement that is not about Mercedes at all incoming. AEW Big Business in Boston, the new Triple B. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but… we know. We all know.

35. Now it’s time for Chris Jericho continuing to be a face against Takeshita. It’s bad enough he went over clean on him elsewhere, please don’t let that be a repeat occurrence tonight.

36. Callis goes all Prodigy on Takeshita and smacks him up to get his attention. He must enjoy Death staring him in the face.

37. I’m trying really, really hard to care. I can’t care about face Chris Jericho, and the booking of the Family has been so inconsistent. As have their appearances been in general. I want Takeshita, Hobbs, and Fletcher to be World-Beaters, maybe they’re waiting for Ospreay? I don’t know, it’s annoying.

38. There’s a Jericho chant after Takeshita counters the Lionsault. This is two weeks in a row of very generous, very loud AEW crowds. This must be a huge surprise for everyone who predicted the death of the company for the 492nd time this past fall.

39. Takeshita loses his grip on Jericho, but still manages to recover for a… some kind of inverted deadlift German Suplex? I don’t even know what to call it, move names are not my speciality, but even Johnny Lawrence would say it was badass.

40. Takeshita slipping under the ten punch and then hitting the Avalanche Blue Thunder Bomb was sick, but somehow the invincible Jericho still kicks out despite the ugly whiplash on the fall.

41. Takeshita needed the help of a double distraction and a screwdriver to switch the advantage, and Takeshita locks in the Walls of Jericho. That’s STILL not enough, but Takeshita regrips and finally gets the win.

42. Takeshita shouldn’t have needed the help to win. The way Darby bumped around for him in January obviously wasn’t going to happen, at least to that degree. Fine enough.

43. I really don’t want the tag titles taken off Ricky here. I’d rather see the current version of the Young Bucks screw over Sting and Darby in order to help one of the younger stars end Sting’s undefeated run. I’ve loved the run of Sting, but I really would like to see him put someone over before he hangs it up, and let’s be honest, the Young Bucks don’t need that to do what they do. Ricky has been screwed out of so many big moments in the last year-plus, I’d love for him to have this. And Bill’s career resurrection has only gotten better since the seemingly-random team-up with Ricky. They deserve something huge. The retirement match doesn’t need the titles.

44. They announced an overrun for this show, which most of them seem to have as of late. I’m surprised this match would go this long, I imagine there’s something else going on at the end.

45. Sting’s just hanging out up there as Darby fights off Ricky and Bill two-on-one. Sting jumps off a very high thing and thank JBL they caught him before his head hit that concrete floor.

46. Big Bill, on a night of awesome, fluid counters, puts in his own by countering a Tope into a spinning slam on the floor.

47. Considerable attention is put on Big Bill’s Big Mintgreen Timbs. I don’t know what makes it harder getting beat by a Big Bill with Big Mintgreen Timbs, it’s not like it’s a Mintgreen Buick Skylark outside the Sack O’ Suds department store. I’m not sure Vinny Gambini could jump high enough to punch him out for ya anyway.

48. Big Bill took a damn Code Red from Darby. Unbelievable.

49. Sting locks in the Scorpion Death Lock as Big Bill tries to walk in the ring with Darby on his back. Unintentionally hilarious images I never knew I needed. Also they ended up going through the table.

50. Slick Ricky got the buckle pad off, and almost has second thoughts. Sting King Kongs up, but a spear isn’t enough to take him down.

51. Well, it got a massive pop. Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop, they win the tag team titles. It will include the tag team titles. The match was a lot of fun, but I really don’t think this angle needed them.

52. Oh, now the Young Bucks come out there, attacking Sting and his sons with white bats. Darby’s bleeding all over the matching white suit. Holy shit that’s a lot of blood very quickly.

53. All that universal respect Sting has, and there’s no one willing to stop this? They got Menard and Parker running out to stop CMLL from taking out the BCC but not this? That’s strange.

54. EVP Trigger. Okay, that’s freaking hilarious.

55. While I don’t necessarily like the direction in which they went, this show was as hot as the crowd pretty much all night. Revolution and Big Business both look huge. Since the Continental Classic, it’s felt like they’ve been in recovery mode, and I like the way things are going.

LARGE HAM

I gotta give it to Nana, inspiring Swerve to recover through the power of dance was legendary.