January 17, 2021 - Evan Luebbe

AEW Dynamite 1/13/2021: New Year’s Smash Night 2

January 17, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

The Build to Darby Allin-Brian Cage over the past 8 months was a much better story than the match which didn’t have a pop to it.

Thankfully, the match didn’t need to be great as Sting saved Allin by evening the odds and allowing him to pick up the improbable victory

The feud between Brian Cage and Darby Allin has been a well-thought-out, long-term story that has manifested over the past 8 months. It actually began in January – because Cage signed up with AEW then, but unfortunately, he found out soon after signing that he tore his bicep. Cage logically needed some time to heal from that injury before making his debut at Double or Nothing in May 2020, where he would go on to win a ladder match to become the number one contender for the AEW world championship. This was the beginning of his on-screen rivalry with Darby Allin, which was built with multiple tag matches over the next several months and also at All Out in September.

For the most part Taz – and to a lesser degree Ricky Starks (only because he has not been around for that long. This guy, however, might be the best promo in AEW) – are the reason Brian Cage is over the way he is. Taz is contributing to the business and leaving a legacy in the form of Cage and putting a new title belt on him. Cage already challenged Jon Moxley at Fight for The Fallen on the July 15 Dynamite where he was defeated for the AEW world championship.

Darby Allin just has a cool, unspoken vibe to his personality that neither I nor anyone else can adequately put into words. There is just some quality about the energy he puts into the world that nearly everyone can resonate with. It significantly helps that Allin has a small stature to him and creates the feeling that he is always the underdog – these two qualities make his character extremely easy to root for.

Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers, The Elite for the week, dominate as Omega teases dissension between him and The Young Bucks; The Lucha Bros assert themselves into the AEW World Tag Team Championship hunt, and Jon Moxley rates the next chapter in the rivalry between him and Kenny Omega over the AEW World Championship

Kenny Omega teased some dissension again within The Elite by talking backstage like he was going to team with The Young Bucks but instead chose to tag with The Good Brothers – Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows – and calling themselves The Elite. It will be interesting to see what the next steps will be for integrating the partnership between AEW and Impact Wrestling – Kenny Omega is already scheduled to appear at the next Impact Pay-Per-View Hard to Kill. He and Don Callis are taking creative command of the professional wrestling business with the goal of shocking people so they never know what to expect.

An Invasion angle may not be the route to go because it was already done between WWE and WCW/ECW in 2001 – and it didn’t work all that well (in fairness it could have if Vince McMahon would have allowed The Alliance to get the upper hand on WWE once in a while – the foundation of a good storyline is when each side wins some. If one side is crushed all the time, fans will soon lose interest).

Jon Moxley is going to meet Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship most likely at Revolution so Tony Khan has at least one opportunity to get his top two stars on Pay-Per-View where they can make the most money for everyone. This is the feud Khan likely had in the back of his mind as the primary rivalry he would build to when Moxley and Omega were first signed to AEW. The emergence of this rivalry is the culmination of several years of work to get this company going.

The Lucha Bros may be subtly hinting toward reigniting their rivalry with The Young Bucks. This story hasn’t been visited in close to two years. The Bucks defeated Penta and Fenix for the AAA World Tag Team Championship in early 2019 at Rey de Reyes and had a rematch at the first ever Double Or Nothing Pay-Per-View, which was won by The Bucks. Rey Fenix couldn’t get it done last week against Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship, so he is immediately turning around with his brother to go after the next best thing and to further solidify the AEW tag team division as the best in the world.

Chris Van Vliet’s interview with Don Callis really struck me as very poignant in terms of the way Don approaches life in general. He thinks on a deeper level that seems like a healthy lens through which to look at the events of life. From another perspective, this may seem a little arrogant, but the most important thing is that Don is happy with himself; and it seems he is very much so with a very introspective worldview. It is a loose perspective that does not put many limits on what is possible, not only in the wrestling business but in life. Callis’ goal is not to change how people behave but rather to change the way they think about the wrestling business.

I personally view the world as a mirror in which one of the primary goals is to understand oneself at a deep fundamental level (which unfortunately not many people take the time to do the necessary introspection). Ultimately, if this is achieved, you can eventually get to a point where you understand yourself so well that you see every person as a reflection of some aspect of yourself. One tactic that provides aid in this process is meditation/visualization – the benefits of this are incredibly underrated. Ever since I have started meditating, not necessarily every day but as much as I feel called to do it, it has been lifechanging, but one should not pressure oneself into meditating.

Each human being has the option to be in full control of his/her destiny if they so choose, but that does not come without having to earn each new set of circumstances one attains. No one gets anything just because he/she deserves it; the new set of circumstances is more rewarding anyway, at least from my own experience, when you legitimately earn it.

Lance Archer might join either Death Triangle or Eddie Kingston’s Mafia-style Family

Eddie Kingston could most likely sell people on his matches if he did nothing in the ring because he is one of the best on the microphone in wrestling. He has finally found his home in Jacksonville after bouncing around different companies for 18 years prior to that, and even challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship in November at Full Gear.

Pac was forced to be away from AEW back home in the UK for about 8 months before finally being allowed to return to the United States and AEW. That’s why Death Triangle was on hold – because it was formed in March 2020 immediately before the pandemic started – AEW did a fantastic job in finding stories for The Lucha Bros to engage in during that time. When Pac was able to leave WWE and embody a more authentic presentation is when he was able to flourish – he looks to be enjoying life right now and that’s extremely encouraging.

Lance Archer is still not sure whether to trust Pac at the moment, but he is teasing an alliance with Death Triangle in the future.

The Ever-Consistent FTR gets a Victory over Two Young Stars of the Future

FTR vs. Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt was a much better match than most would have expected. AEW fans already knew what to expect from Dax Hardwood and Cash Wheeler as they have been unbelievably consistent since debuting in AEW in mid-2020, delivering classic matches with the likes of Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page at All Out to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship and losing the titles two months later at Full Gear to The Young Bucks.

AEW places a heavy emphasis on their quality of tag team wrestling – and has shown that to FTR through regularly featuring them on Dynamite, giving them adequate time for their matches, and pairing them with manager Tully Blanchard. So overall Hardwood and Wheeler are most likely much happier with AEW than they were with their former employer WWE, a company that does not place nearly as much emphasis on its tag team division.

Jungle Boy has what it takes to go with anyone – it doesn’t matter if he is small because he is more than capable of adapting to any style. We saw a classic example of that when he went toe-to-toe with Chris Jericho on December 18, 2019. Marko Stunt has also proven over the past two years that he is more than just a gimmick guy to accompany Jurassic Express. He is more than capable of holding his own in the ring with much bigger guys.

Things are looking up for the AEW Women’s Division with plenty of young Talent taking their time to get Accustomed to the Atmosphere of the Company

Serena Deeb, similar to FTR, has been incredibly consistent in AEW and NWA as the Women’s World Champion since October. The one thing that could use some work is her character development, but that will surely happen with time because a wrestler cannot be a champion for long without some sort of character development. Tay Conti, along with Anna Jay, has shown significant improvement on the microphone and in the ring over the past couple of months. At this rate, she could become a women’s champion within a couple of years. Things are looking bright for the AEW women’s division in the future; Britt Baker also has a major match coming up.

Miro looked dominant against Chuck Taylor, and he needed it. Best Friends have quite a bit of momentum built up after being booked favorably in 2020 – partially because of AEW having to rely so heavily on time in March – May with only one third of their Roster and being kicked out of Florida for about a month. To the credit of the Best Friends and Orange Cassidy they took the ball and ran with it

There will need to be some extra creative energy put into the presentation of Chuck Taylor in order to keep him afloat so he does not lose much momentum while Trent is healing from injury; maybe Chuckie T. can team with Orange Cassidy some weeks to fill this hole. Miro was the focus in this match as he should have been. He needed a victory to look strong in his presentation because he has been unable to get his sea legs underneath him since coming to AEW in September 2020.

The storyline with Kip Sabian getting married and Miro being the Best Man feels somewhat awkward and a little forced, so it might require at least a slight pivot; it doesn’t necessarily need to be scrapped altogether, just give Miro a little more TV time to develop his personality. That is if Tony Khan and the rest of the AEW executive are serious about presenting him as a star.

Mic Work is a Lost Art as New Forms of Media Amplify Wrestler’s Promo Voices

January 17, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

Mic work is a bit of a lost art which largely contributes to professional wrestlers not being able to get over as easily as they once did, but they are doing their best to leverage the various platforms on the Internet as well as television in order to get themselves over and make more money for themselves and for their company which is all that can be asked.

Promo work/character development is one aspect of professional wrestling that has suffered as the business has evolved over the last 30 – 40 years. It is a little bit counterintuitive because with the emergence of podcasts (WWE superstars such as The New Day and Alexa Bliss have their own podcast exclusive to them), YouTube as well as social media platforms in addition to the WWE Network. One might be inclined to think that the business should be in better shape than ever with all of these options for wrestlers to be able to promote themselves.

Unfortunately, professional wrestlers across the world have suffered largely due to Vince McMahon promoting professional wrestling to be presented just like a TV show since purchasing WWF from his father in 1984, emphasizing the entertainment aspect and setting the bar for other companies within that niche. As a result, many wrestlers are simply not given the adequate amount of time in front of viewers to make themselves into stars and get to the point where they control their own destiny in the business.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, WWE use to have an entire day devoted solely to cutting promos and in the process superstars developed their character for a more authentic presentation. This would make the company as well as the performer more money in the long run because, if a performer has the ability to sell a match based on the story, then the audience is instantly more hooked because they have an aspect of the performance to emotionally become invested in. The end result is that more viewers are likely to buy what is being presented in front of their faces and that benefits everyone. It comes down to the story.

People like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Hulk Hogan back in the day were given an entire day out of each week from 9 AM to 6 PM to do nothing but work on their promos, so everyone in the mix became excellent at it. If they were given that much time to work on it, they could not help but get better. There are people in the business today who are excellent on the microphone, but it’s not everyone like it used to be.

A true testament to how great the someone is in this department is when they can significantly elevate the status of a match or feud that is not very good or well put together. Unless you are someone like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre or Kenny Omega, there is not quite enough TV time for people to be able to shine; that’s why they need to continue to leverage any and all platforms on the Internet to further their characters, and, in the process make more money for themselves and for the company they work for.

Nakamura and Cesaro as Singles Competitors Once Again?

January 17, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

It’s an Exciting Potentiality to think of Nakamura and Cesaro as Singles Competitors Once Again

When in singles, that’s where both of these guys are at their best from an athletic standpoint; maybe not in terms of character-sizzle, as Mr. McMahon calls it.

Shinsuke Nakamura turned heel in 2018 at WrestleMania 34 in a dream match with AJ Styles for the WWE championship (Nakamura won the 2018 men’s Royal Rumble match in January). It might be rather poetic then for him to turn babyface in another encounter of a potential dream match with Daniel Bryan in the gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for the Universal title at Royal Rumble 2021 on the January 8 SmackDown. If WWE were to move forward with this plan of turning Nakamura face, the tag team between him and Cesaro would likely split. Their tag team is a heel team, so it doesn’t make much sense to keep them paired together through a face turn.

The team of Nakamura and Cesaro was formed at the end of 2019 to serve as backup for Sami Zayn because WWE didn’t have anything else planned for these three men. Nakamura and Cesaro won the SmackDown Tag titles at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules in July and would hold the titles until October when they dropped them to The New Day – Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

The idea of Nakamura potentially turning face as a singles competitor opens the door for the possibility of Cesaro becoming a singles competitor also and establishing himself as a legitimate threat for the Universal championship. Even if this does not come to fruition, Cesaro could be expected to stand up to the Head of The Table for attacking his friend within the next couple of weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble 2021.

While the door has absolutely been open for Nakamura to be positioned as a top babyface contender to Roman Reigns’ Universal championship going forward, Adam Pearce is being positioned as the challenger for the title at Royal Rumble. While Shinsuke would be the choice if Mr. McMahon were purely booking the event for the better match, Pearce undoubtedly provides the more intriguing story and draws more eyeballs to the company. The five-time NWA world heavyweight champion/former PWG world champion on the independent scene should be able to provide a decent match at 42 years old.

Pearce is currently playing the role of a subordinate employee who does not have much more power than is being given to by higher-ups in WWE. He was introduced as an on-screen authority figure in the summer of 2020, and he has executed his heart in the story well. This upcoming Universal title match against Roman Reigns was most likely the primary reason Adam Pearce agreed to participate in this on-screen storyline; because anyone would relish in the opportunity to work with the top superstar in WWE.