AEW Dynamite

Tony Khan must be a fan of the movie Old School – because it seemed to be his primary intention to re-create the debate scene from the 2003 film, with Orange Cassidy in the place of Will Ferrell. Chris Jericho was in the midst of doing his absolute best to embarrass Orange, and then Eric Bischoff – who was making his first appearance on TNT in 20 years since WCW was bought out, that did blow my mind so Jericho wasn’t lying – asked a question relating to global warming, which had absolutely nothing to do with what Jericho was talking about.

This was just for comedic effect, and it worked perfectly. It was also the same general question Will Ferrell – or Frank in the movie – was asked in Old School in the debate scene to which he answered very intelligently to everyone’s surprise, just like Orange Cassidy did. Cassidy displayed his mic skills for the first time in AEW – or at least the first time I remember. Jericho has single-handedly put the finishing touches on the effort to transform Orange into a star for years to come in AEW.

There was a lot of positivity that transpired on the July 29 Dynamite event, Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder) made his surprise debut in AEW after being officially released from any contractual obligations with WWE on July 15. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet a couple months ago, he informed wrestling fans that he was told about his WWE release in April (right after Wrestlemania). Cardona expressed that he was simply happy to be free to experience his prime years in wrestling with whatever company he chose (although he is extremely grateful for his 15 years with WWE). Matt just turned 35, which is usually the time in a wrestlers’ journey for them to peak in terms of both understanding the psychology of appealing to wrestling fans along with obvious physical maturity; testosterone is a much slower acting hormone than estrogen.

Ricky Starks also stood out because he showed a significant amount of charisma on the mic, and it also grabbed the audience’s attention when Darby Allin put thumbtacks through Starks’ back. Something about this visual instantly grabs the attention of whoever is watching. A picture is truly worth a thousand words (as Cody experienced on July 22).

There was a lot of continuity with the exact time and people with whom Cardona debuted. He was the self-proclaimed Internet Champion of WWE in 2011 – and Warhorse is essentially the 2020 version of that because of his immense following on social media.

The Dark Order is receiving a significant amount of attention by becoming affiliated with three prominent tag teams – including having a match with the AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page. This comes after The Dark Order took a back seat on Dynamite for a couple months after Double or Nothing. This was when Mr. Brodie Lee last received an AEW World Championship match against Jon Moxley (which he obviously lost – Moxley is still Champion, but Maxwell Jacob Friedman had something to say about that).

I had no idea Mr. Brodie Lee was quite this talented on the microphone because he unfortunately never got the opportunity to talk very much in WWE.

The women’s division in AEW appears to be hitting its stride after a process that lasted about five months to establish its stars, but they now have an abundance of capable women in the ring who are also familiar to the audience.

MJF stood out from the rest of the pack on July 29. Tony Khan might want to strap a rocket ship to this 24-year-old “prodigy” as MJF calls himself and see how high the company can go with Maxwell Jacob Friedman as the face. It takes a certain aura which cannot be taught to be able to command an audience like that at such a young age.

That was the biggest stage MJF has received since Revolution on February 29 in his grudge match with Cody (despite the fact that it was not the main event of Dynamite or the top of the hour segment). This kid might be able to draw more than Jon Moxley simply because he talks more; I personally have always been more of a fan of heel champions because they tend to draw more interest and get people talking more about the product.

If MJF does indeed become AEW World Champion, and if I were Tony Khan I would happily consider it, his career would take a similar trajectory to Randy Orton in WWE. Randy became the youngest World Champion in WWE history in 2004; turns out he lacked the maturity necessary to be a champion at the young age of 24. Nonetheless, even if MJF doesn’t win the title right now, he will still be a many-time world champion over the next couple of decades. He is the perfect man to play the Maxwell Jacob Friedman character so convincingly.

As far as this particular segment goes, it was absolutely genius to orchestrate for MJF to conduct this segment as if it was a political press conference (State of the Industry Address), especially given that there is an election scheduled to take place toward the end of 2020 (Dictator Jon is almost guaranteed to get over just like Chris Jericho a few weeks ago calling himself the Demo God).

Respect to Cody

The reason what Cody has done since winning the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing is so commendable is because he is deliberately making an effort to work on the one aspect of himself as a wrestler that has been criticized at times. This proves that Cody has listened to his critics, taking a hard look at himself in the mirror, and come to the conclusion that the critics have been right to a certain degree. The American Nightmare has therefore taken those remarks to heart and responded by diligently working on the in-ring part of his game. That has to be respected because almost no one would have the integrity to cross-examine themselves honestly like that.

Another thing Cody is doing which is very admirable is that he has recognized that he has such a positive reputation in the professional wrestling business that he has the ability to essentially put over rising talents like Eddie Kingston and elevate them without actually losing his TNT Championship. Not only is he recognizing that but he’s doing it and in the process helping to raise his own stock as well as a young talent.

It’s amazing to watch Matt and Nick Jackson Work

Another reason why many wrestling fans appreciate AEW so much is that the company is willing to do more rugged, workmen-style schemes and include them in the production of Dynamite. That was on display on July 22 when The Butcher and The Blade began their Falls Count Anywhere match with The Young Bucks in a kitchen resembling a butcher shop. If every member of the creative team is talking about an idea and they think it sounds cool, they are willing to try it out. The worst-case scenario is that it doesn’t work – and if that is the case, the idea it is thrown away and the company never has to use it again. But if it does work, the idea is kept for future reference – and sometimes it’s even a home run unexpectedly.

Fight for The Fallen

Let’s begin with the main event – Jon Moxley defeated Brian Cage, which was a smart decision given that Cage has only been around for about two months (he debuted at Double or Nothing). He is still a little too new to become AEW World Champion, however he definitely will be sooner rather than later. One thing I will say is that quarantining for a couple of months and not being featured at all on Dynamite hurt Moxley’s character to a degree because of the lack of exposure to the audience. However, there was nothing Moxley could do about that – it’s not his fault that his wife came down with the virus. It’s totally understandable because he was just doing what he had to do.

This virus has at least partially made people realize just how fragile life is and that there are some elements that people simply cannot control (Kobe Bryant’s death earlier this year made people come to the same realization, and the virus is kind of reinforcing that message). Take advantage of time with the people you love – because you never really know what direction it’ll take.

This could be the Beginning of a Shift in Character for Cody

I half wonder if this will be the very beginning of a shift in character (heel turn) for Cody. The reason I say that is because he employed a much more aggressive in-ring style against Sonny Kiss (especially with that unique piledriver in which Cody dropped Sonny right on his head). This could prove to be the very beginning of a gradual shift in the demeanor of Cody’s character. It just might be the avenue he needs from the AEW fan base to turn heel.

Orange Cassidy could be an Absolute Superstar in the Making

It’s a brilliant idea for Tony Khan and the rest of the team at AEW to orchestrate a full-length program between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy (which started July 15 with The DemoGod and the rest of The Inner Circle being doused in OJ). Orange has benefited in a massive way from being associated with Jericho over the last couple of months in particular and looked like an absolute star in the making in their match last week (despite losing). Sometimes in a match the wrestler who suffers the defeat benefits the most, and that may have very well been the case with Orange on July 8. This is a prime example of the primary goal of AEW – Create New Stars.

I have already written about the number one reason AEW is such a success (which is their collaborative management strategy – I wrote about that earlier this year). Having said that, additional reasons for the success of AEW on top of that are:

• The company continues to keep the bulk of its focus on in-ring competition instead of placing too much focus on segments containing an exorbitant amount of talking and creating ridiculous scenarios that are not very believable. The storylines are instead kept simple and rooted in reality.
• AEW as a company is taking on the characteristics of its biggest star in Chris Jericho. The major thing that Jericho is known for throughout his career is not using nostalgia as part of his appeal. He uses a gimmick for as long as it works and discards it when the gimmick first begins to not elicit as much of a reaction from the audience. AEW is doing the same thing and it is working incredibly well because no one is growing tired of the product the company is putting on week to week.

The presence of a true legend like Jim Ross on commentary has to provide legitimacy to the company as well. He and Excalibur do an excellent job of rotating the play-by-play duties – with JR calling the slower-paced action and Excalibur taking the reins when the pace speeds up (the transitions between these moments on commentary are seamless). Tony Schiavone also adds a great deal of humor, particularly with his somewhat awkward relationship with Britt Baker.

It was a great idea to put Chris Jericho on as a guest commentator. In addition to being one of the all-time greats, Jericho is showing that he is legitimately a great commentator. Because he is still a performer, he can accentuate others’ personality traits even more than a traditional announcer would be able to do. As a result, Jericho makes wrestlers in AEW look like even bigger stars (Orange Cassidy is the primary beneficiary of that right now, and to a lesser extent Pineapple Pete).

To begin the night, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus got a tag team victory over MJF and Wardlow. This match could have gone either way – it makes sense because Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are more established stars at this point in time. With that being said, fans already know what these two guys are capable of. The same can be said for MJF – and as a result, Wardlow is the man who stood out most in this match. Not a whole lot of people realized he was quite as versatile as he showed – including me.

Penelope Ford is someone who has stepped up in a huge way for AEW in the last few months since the pandemic hit the United States and the company dwindled down to about 1/3 its normal size. She capped off this stretch with an incredible athletic performance against AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida. This was a classic example of the phenomenon “you don’t necessarily have to go over to get over.” Penelope Ford unselfishly gave herself to the business and Tony Khan took notice by giving her a major push as a result. It goes to show that life will give a person rewards based on exactly how much effort they put in. You reap what you sew – and Penelope planted some beautiful seeds over the past few months by being of great service to others – that’s what life is all about.

At the top of the hour, Cody successfully defended the TNT Championship (AEW’S version of the television championship) against Jake Hager

It’s interesting because Cody pinned Jake in classic heel fashion despite being a babyface which might mean a shift in attitude for Cody in the coming months. This would make sense because Cody has been a face ever since Dynamite started in October 2019.

It was probably the greatest pure wrestling match Cody has had on Dynamite since it started nine months ago, and definitely for Hager.

Private Party defeats Santana and Ortiz – Earning an AEW World Tag Team Title Shot

These guys are more and more impressive every time I see them. Marq Quen caught the eyes of the wrestling world in his TNT Championship match with Cody, and Isaiah Cassidy jumped off the screen immediately from the first night Private Party appeared on Dynamite. On the flipside, this was not a very good night at all for Chris Jericho and the rest of The Inner Circle – three of Jericho’s four stablemates lost.

Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page successfully defend the AEW World Tag Team Championships against Best Friends

Best Friends have stepped up in a huge way during the intensive lockdown period with the pandemic (along with Orange Cassidy who most likely benefited more than anyone). I legitimately suspected that Best Friends would reap the fruits of their labor over the past few months by winning the tag team titles. Omega and Page have been champions for almost 6 months so I figured it might be time to switch the titles to another team. However, no one can complain about this decision because Omega and Page work so well together.

FTR are the latest former members of the WWE roster to come over to AEW and make an immediate name for themselves (we all know what that name could stand for). They are obviously looking to become a more edgy tag team, and Tony Khan will likely give them the creative freedom they are looking for. They began their AEW careers by getting a win over The Butcher & The Blade. After the match, they teased an eventual showdown with The Young Bucks.

Next, AEW proceeded to showcase the skill of its women’s division, which is going strong, even without arguably its most “over” woman in Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. She is nursing an injury and simultaneously appearing every week on Dynamite. She has similarly used what Chris Jericho did in WCW in 1998 when he portrayed himself as a role model. She’s put her own spin on the concept.

The Inner Circle (Jake Hager, Santana and Ortiz) demolished Best Friends & Orange Cassidy with the assistance of Chris Jericho and his bat which he hilariously named Floyd for some reason, along with a 20-pound sack of oranges.

Matt Hardy endorsed Sammy Guevara as the future of AEW, which he most likely is because he’s a homegrown talent who has improved significantly over the last 8 or 9 months since Dynamite began.

Brian Cage is an absolute animal, and this is a very creative way to include Taz in the production of Dynamite each week. His legendary trash-talk fits in very nicely with Cage’s no-nonsense approach to wrestling. Jon Moxley is also the perfect man for them to work with because he can sell everything effectively and do most of the heavy lifting around promo work.

Cody is legitimately a great leader in AEW. He is directly addressing the one area in which he has been heavily critiqued throughout his career: in-ring, and that has to be respected. In terms of his persona, I would liken him to AEW’s version of Triple H because a lot of their attributes are the same. They are both executives for their respective companies, they both frequently have super elaborate entrances, and they both are accompanied to the ring by family members. Cody is now rebooting a concept pioneered by Vince McMahon and John Cena with the WWE United States Championship open challenge. One slight difference is that Cody is putting his TNT Championship on the line each week with the pure intention of improving his in-ring skill.

Surely Cena had this same intention throughout his entire career, but he never stated it so directly. Cody has a quality where he is so peacefully detached from the outcome of actually getting better and rather just enjoying the avenues his life and career are taking him down. As a byproduct, he is naturally guided down a lifepath in which he naturally achieves his goals.

As far as the actual match itself this past week between Cody and Marq Quen goes, I had no idea Quen was that good. He did about 8 moves during the match that were flat out ridiculous, and this was all with a bad ankle. This is a great way for AEW to highlight the talent of some of their lesser-known stars, by having them work with a top-level name like Cody. He will look to elevate Jake Hager at Fyter Fest.

One thing that has me appreciating Dynamite is that everyone cooperates to get as many wrestlers as possible TV time so not one second of the two hours is wasted.

There were 2 matches at AEW Double or Nothing that really stood out from the rest – everything else was fully anticipated to happen. Those 2 matches were:

1. The brand-new, and very innovative, Stadium Stampede match between The Inner Circle and The Elite (which The Elite won with Kenny Omega’s One Winged Angel on Sammy Guevara from about 15 feet in the air); and
2. Hikaru Shida winning the AEW Women’s World Title from Nyla Rose.

It makes sense for Shida to take hold of the Women’s World Title for a couple reasons. First of all, she is much more experienced than Rose, who is only six years into her career. Rose will get better. If she is already this good, imagine what she could be in 4 or 5 years. It theoretically makes perfect sense to make someone who is that big and dominant over everyone else champion pretty early in the company’s life. She is just not quite experienced enough to set the pace for the entire women’s division this early in her career. Shida on the other hand, has been wrestling for 12 years and is much closer to her ceiling. That said, she will still probably get better considering she is only 32 years old.

The Stadium Stampede match featured everything fans could possibly want out of a brand-new concept. The company is very lucky that it’s owner also happens to be a co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It featured many very creative wrinkles:

• Matt Hardy in the pool switching around his character and which incarnation of Matt Hardy he was about 8 times
• Nick Jackson driving white streaks over Jericho

And, “Hangman” Adam Page riding a horse through the Stadium and engaging in a bar fight with Jake Hager.

While WWE appears to be stifling its audience to a certain degree with so much talent it’s almost impossible for the company to manage all of them. AEW is doing the exact opposite – to its own benefit -and also the benefit of the company’s employees.

AEW produces one weekly television show in Dynamite and all employees use a collaborative approach to make it the best show possible every week. It’s one two-hour show. While it’s not a lot of content, it’s still plenty of content to chew on for a week. While AEW may not have quite as many employees as WWE, the employees they do have are deeply committed and invested in the success of the company.

Just look at Cody, getting a neck tattoo to show how committed he is to this endeavor and seeing it through (I’m just speculating – I really don’t know exactly why he got it, but I have a feeling it will grow on wrestling fans as time goes on). Another example is commentator Jim Ross, who described on AEW’s Unrestricted podcast on the company’s YouTube channel how he is the happiest he has been working in the wrestling industry in about 20 years. It creates a family atmosphere when everyone works toward the same goal.

The lighter travel schedule for the AEW staff absolutely supports the long-term success of the company and likely the health of wrestlers also. Every employee benefits from this – particularly the talent who performs in the ring. They can take valuable time to recharge their “proverbial” (as JR would say) batteries every week rather than trying to run their bodies into the ground. Not just the talent, but also the ring announcers and commentators get a break each week.

It is extremely impressive to see just how much the company has evolved in a rather short amount of time, and fans should look forward to the company’s next stage of evolution. They have an old-school approach and committed employees who are willing to get their hands dirty. All AEW employees, executives, and people at the top or bottom of the corporate ladder see each other on the same level as human beings. There is no real hierarchy, which fosters a very collaborative work environment. No one is the boss per se – instead everyone has an entrepreneurial attitude.

This attitude is very similar at many successful companies. Google is a prime example.

The presence of AEW is bringing WWE’s primary issues to light. None of it is Triple H’s fault even though he is the man who got demoted. AEW provides a mainstream alternative to the formulaic product WWE provides that is very teamwork-oriented and everyone affiliated with AEW is committed to presenting the best possible product each week.

The primary issue with WWE right now is that they are recruiting too much talent for Vince McMahon to employ the centralized, micromanaging strategies he prefers. NXT used to permeate the field of an attractive alternative to WWE when it was on the WWE Network, but it’s been replaced by AEW. The new mindset Tony Kahn has introduced serves as a breath of fresh air to the wrestling world.