AEW Dynamite

Live from Chris Jericho’s Rockin’ Wrestling Rager at Sea

Hosting special events like this combined with the partnership with a major name like Chris Jericho – or Le Champion, is a brilliant way for the company to turn casual fans into diehards. Fans will feel a deep, unspoken connection not only with the company but with the wrestlers themselves because of experiences like these. They will feel invested in the product for years to come.

As if it were ever that much in doubt that John Moxley would earn the No. 1 contendership for the AEW World Title – he deserves this opportunity and everything that comes with it. AEW has done an excellent job of getting its stars over rather quickly. There are also brand-new Tag Team Champions in Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page marking the first official title change in company history.

Page’s heel turn against The Elite feels as imminent as ever and due to the build-up surrounding it, it will be even bigger when it does eventually transpire. They are maintaining their roles for now as cautious allies and it feels a little awkward.

TNT has extended its TV deal with AEW through 2023. This signifies the company could potentially be around for many years to come. It makes sense because AEW has experienced a surprising amount of success in the first 3 ½ months or so of its TV deal. They have beaten out NXT on numerous occasions. The company has probably experienced so much success largely because of Chris Jericho being the company’s top guy, a role has never held before.

Many other former WWE stars have come over to AEW as well. The company has a fantastic mixed focus of leveraging current talent while also placing a priority on building homegrown stars. The company’s brilliant combination of creative wrestling freedom and owner Tony Kahn’s financial position facilitates the signing of many top stars in the wrestling industry.

Another smart tactic AEW has employed is rather than focusing on live events, they instead focus on Dynamite and making the program as interesting as possible. It’s a smart move considering it’s the source where almost all their revenue comes from.

DDP just seems to fit on TNT and not anywhere else, because his gimmick hasn’t gotten over very well since his WCW days nearly 18 years ago. He’s not bad as a performer for an old guy. MJF is also maybe the most unlikable heel in the history of professional wrestling. As JR put it, he’s, “A boil on the ass of life.”

It’s completely believable that Chris Jericho nearly took out one of John Moxley’s eyes with the AEW Title because that belt is huge. Sammy Guevara is playing the character of an absolute pig who hits on every (somewhat) pretty girl he sees extremely well.

Darby Allin and “The Bastard” Pac both deservedly got a chance to shine since they are two of the most over acts in the company. Pac is simply very good at portraying a conniving heel, but Allin will be a huge star for years to come because no one has ever had a gimmick quite like his. He creates an almost Gothic aura throughout the entire arena. It is something different and that’s why it will get over (check that, it already is).

Hangman Adam Page’s imminent heel turn is creating quite a bit of suspense; AEW is doing a good job of taking its time in revealing the final transformation. The fact that he and Kenny Omega are now number one contenders for the AEW Tag Team Championships lends itself very well towards telling the story.

In spite of the fact that two singles wrestlers became the challengers for titles (which hurts the credibility of the tag team division a little), it is still the primary bright spot of AEW.

Because Cody is a top executive in AEW, he is at a place with fans in which he can do no wrong. Because of this, he can take 10 lashings from a belt from MJF or forfeit the opportunity to ever challenge for the AEW World Championship, without having his credibility hurt too much. His mic work is superb, and he delved into the psychological processes MJF possibly went through in thinking of each one.

The women’s division in AEW is slowly but surely getting there in terms of character development. Kenny Omega will elevate the division in due time and get them the spotlight they deserve – it just had a tough time getting off the ground.

Taz will fit right in with the announcing style of Jim Ross and Excalibur. There was an emphasis placed on advancing all storylines in AEW to let fans know which superstars and which stories will be spotlighted to start the decade. The main event was somewhat disappointing because there were no real stakes in the match, so fans did not have a legitimate reason to get invested. I can’t complain much because, as usual, it was a fantastic match.

The night was started in the best way possible, with Cody defeating Darby Allin in a very captivating rematch from Fyter Fest last year which ended in a time limit draw. Arn Anderson being in Cody’s corner provides a feeling of legitimacy like Cody’s matches really matter.

The storyline surrounding Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle continues to be the story in AEW which fans are most invested in (as it should be, he’s Le Champion). He has raised the anticipation among fans for Jon Moxley’s decision by offering him a sweet car and ownership of 49% of the Inner Circle LLC. It’s almost certain that Moxley will reject the offer and keep his babyface persona for now, setting up a huge title match against Jericho at Revolution in February.

Meanwhile, Trent also received a huge opportunity in the form of a match against Moxley.

It was never in much doubt that Riho would retain her AEW Women’s World Championship in the fatal four way, setting up a showdown with Kris Statlander next week. It was a classy move on the part of the company to allow Statlander to maintain her prior commitment for New Year’s Day while still giving her the opportunity to become AEW Women’s World Champion. The AEW Women’s Division still needs some fine-tuning as far as character development.

MJF is very skilled at playing the role of an entitled brat, and in the segment from this past week he laid out his stipulations for Cody to face him at Revolution. The one that stuck out was the fact that he will have to wrestle Wardlow in Wardlow’s debut match in AEW.

Sammy Guevara desperately needed the win he picked up this week over Dustin Rhodes. He’s taken far too many losses already since joining AEW. You can’t be affiliated with Chris Jericho and be a loser at the same time – it just isn’t believable. Guevara was still a bit overstaffed by the impending clash between Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager.

The opening match of the night kicked off Dynamite in a great way with no commercials. The final episode of 2019 had a stacked card and brought a Pay-Per-View atmosphere. The night was booked very well overall. The Young Bucks could have afforded to win, but that’s neither here nor there. SCU is an excellent tag team deserving of being put over.

The emphasis on wins and losses is significantly helping AEW create a sports-style presentation. The commentary team of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur is providing excellent pacing and context to the action and fostering a comfortable feeling for fans when they tune in to Dynamite.

Chris Jericho is excellent at whining and making excuses. What he did this past week reminds me of a throwback to what he was doing about 10-12 years ago with his suit and tie. It’s also very smart on the company’s part to let the story surrounding Jon Moxley breathe.

The only question mark I have is: Since Dark Order is going to get a main event push, it seems hard for fans to wrap their brains around why AEW needs to create cult-like factions. The Nightmare Collective seems a little redundant at this point.

It’s nice Kris Statlander’s strong booking continues, and I almost forgot Riho was women’s champion. She has been away from TV far too long.

AEW has two primary focus points in the early days of the company’s existence.

Focus Point 1

The first is to provide a platform in the wresting industry that has a very real feel to it and one in which superstars can honestly and authentically be themselves. This will serve to create a level of vulnerability and relatability, and thus marketability for the AEW superstars. The characters – both men and women – appear very close to the human beings they are in real life

This seems to be working very well, as evidenced this week in the segments of superstars like Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley. For Jericho, it does not have to be explained much – all you have to do is watch him, whether it’s in the ring or during a promo – and you will see his true character. Moxley is now able to reveal the full dimensionality of his character as opposed to the one-dimensional character of Dean Ambrose at times in WWE.

All Cody wants to do is fight MJF (since he can’t challenge anymore for the AEW World Championship). Fans will be waiting with anticipation for the day Cody gets his hands on that entitled brat.

Focus Point 2

The second focus of AEW is the creation of new stars in wrestling. Chris Jericho, while he is a little older, does not like to build his act around nostalgia. An example of this occurred this week when he reminded a few fans of The List of Jericho from his WWE days for just a second, but quickly told them to go back to 2016.

Plenty of young stars have had main event matches on AEW Dynamite, including Scorpio Sky, MJF, and Darby Allin. Jungle Boy will now get a title match with Chris Jericho on December 18, the last Dynamite of 2019 (Christmas Day will be skipped), adding to the list of stars Jericho has helped establish.

It must be appreciated what AEW did on December 4 to establish its Women’s Division. Superstars like Nyla Rose and Brandi Rhodes were highlighted and given adequate airtime to further develop their storylines.

BTW – Ray Fenix is making waves as a potential breakout star.

Chris Jericho delivered A Little Bit of The Bubbly and a successful title defense on Dynamite; also, a potential showdown with Jon Moxley looks like it’ll happen sooner rather theme later – and that’s awesome!

Kenny Omega needed a victory against a credible opponent to regain some of his confidence after losing the Lights Out match to Jon Moxley, and he got exactly that by defeating Pac.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is a completely self-absorbed and entitled brat, but he is awfully entertaining. The presence of Wardlow is another irritant to fans because he enables MJF to have that level of attitude – it keeps fans coming back for more.

The men’s division in AEW – particularly the top 10 or so guys – is virtually on par with that of WWE. There are absolutely no concerns in that department. The character development of the guys in AEW is every bit as good and in some ways a little better than WWE. It cannot be argued that they have more creative freedom and room to be themselves. Two AEW guys who are great examples of this and who were also contracted with WWE in the past are Jon Moxley and Pac.

The place where AEW is lacking, to a degree, and where WWE is far and away superior is in the women’s division. AEW is in no shortage of in-ring talent in their women’s division, but they are at a shortage with the amount of attention they pay to storylines involving women.

This will surely improve in the future – the company relies more on the men’s division right now to draw eyeballs and create interest in the product. The AEW women’s division seems to have a bright future; a little patience, however, is needed.

I can fully understand why some wrestling fans gravitate toward AEW more than WWE because the content they produce is far edgier. They are basically doing what WWE did to win the Monday Night Wars. WWE used to produce content very similar to this back in the Attitude Era, but the company has gone softer (particularly in recent years) in an attempt to appeal to viewers of all different demographics and ages.

AEW provides fans with just enough familiarity with WWE (because they have at least 5-7 superstars and several other employees who worked with WWE in the past. Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE, was probably the character with a vibe very reminiscent of a superstar in the Attitude Era. And Chris Jericho, Le Champion, may be the greatest of all time after having success to this degree in two different companies.

Jericho, in my opinion, is the perfect first world champion in AEW because he has such an established reputation around the world. Fans are virtually immune at this point to growing tired of his reign as champion because he has reached a level of superstardom where fans just simply accept he is one of the greatest.

One of those employees is Jim Ross, who worked as the play-by-play announcer for WWE. He did the same job Michael Cole currently does– and he serenaded the WWE universe right through the Attitude Era. Many older wrestling fans have a sentimental soft spot for “Good Ol’ JR” because he guided the company, at least on screen, through probably the greatest Era in professional wrestling history.

As I was watching Jericho and MJF’S promo segment this week, I heard a couple of their remarks and I thought to myself, “This is exactly what WWE did in the late 90s. Why don’t they do that stuff anymore?” If they did, they would lose their audience under 12, but they would gain a lot more viewers in the 18-34-year-old demographic, which mostly drives the product.

MJF is also a budding superstar in the professional wrestling/sports entertainment industry. He appears to be much further along in his development and much more comfortable in front of a live crowd than even Randy Orton or John Cena was at age 23. It takes a whole lot of nerve to be able to command an audience that well at such a young age.