This is the first Dynamite since news came out that Cody and Brandi Rhodes were leaving AEW.

Think they'll acknowledge it tonight?

They might say something on commentary about wishing him well but I doubt it. Best thing is to just move on.

CM Punk kicking things off with a throwback.

We're getting the Dog Collar Match, eh?

Punk/MJF in a dog collar match? I can get behind that.

I'm looking forward to both Mercedes Martinez/Thunder Rosa and Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin.

Danielson/Moriarty should be a pretty good match up as well. In fact, the only match that might not be good/great is Wardlow/Caster.

Feb 17, 2022 1:10:56 GMT Lony said:

I'm looking forward to both Mercedes Martinez/Thunder Rosa and Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin.

Rosa's ready for sure.  She's channeling The Bride from Kill Bill in her attire tonight.

What's the point of having two battle royals? Isn't that why they have rankings?

Shouldn't the top two teams automatically be the ones challenging Jurassic Express by default.

This ladder match is gonna be loaded with a lot of beef.

Wardlow advances.

I'm guessing if Wardlow wins the ladder match, he'll take the TNT Title off of Guevara. Afterwards MJF demands that Wardlow gives him the title, only for Wardlow to refuse and The Pinnacle turn on him.

Looks like tonight thread is suffering without Cody.

Well I am glad the Undisputed Elite stuff is back in effect.

Huh?? Rope break in a No DQ match??

Still a pretty good fight. I liked Mercedes's Spider German.

Great episode. Lots of good wrestling, Eddie is back, and Mox and Black gave some excellent promos.

That was a lot of fun. I’ll review more closely when I have more time.

- CM Punk certainly knows how to sell a match, we all know that. WWE has diminished most gimmick matches by just having them at a fixed time in the year for the sake of having them. Throw them out there for the sake of it. AEW also does this, to a lesser extent. But I'm glad that AEW, through this CM Punk/MJF feud, is bringing back a more logical reason to have a gimmick match. A wrestler decides the match, and he has a great reason for doing so. Really selling the match type, and what it can do to the wrestlers involved.

- MJF comes out. He looks shaken, nervous afraid. It would be great if his character was actually feeling that was, but knowing MJF, it's a ruse, and he's going to be joking around and grinning in no time, right? Oh no! He walks to the back! He has nothing to say! Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

- Speaking of selling matches, I love how Danielson barely appeared after his loss to Hangman Page, a more subtle way of acknowledging a big defeat. Great to see him back, and immediately he's back to being a cocky arrogant prick. He can afford to be like that against almost every wrestler on the roster. He's so great that, even though he's one of my favourite wrestlers, I really want to see Lee Johnson slap the shit out of him. Fantastic match.

- I understand we can't have this every week, but what a treat it is to open with CM Punk doing what he does best for 10 minutes, then Brian Danielson doing what he does best for 20 minutes.

- Speaking of people doing what they do best, what a brilliant response from Jon Moxley.

- How is this Dynamite thread so quiet? It's absolutely amazing so far. I know it can only go downhill from here because we've had three of the best guys in the company, but that doesn't excuse the fact I've just seen 30+ minutes of flawless pro-wrestling TV.

- Has Keith Lee always been "Limitless" or is it a moniker he came up with for AEW that's being shoved down our throats?

- Max Caster is the rapper, and he's great, but I ought to point out that Bowens' facial expressions are always on point. He has a pro-wrestler's face. Menacing and super erxpressive. I listen to Caster, I watch Bowens.

- Fun match. Like the shenanigans, and they did a great job in convincing me Wardlow would lose. Shawn Spears trying to cost him the match is very curious.

- Am I supposed to know who that random man is who appeared at the end of Britt Baker's promo? I don't think Mercedes Martinez knows. Also I have a feeling Britt Baker's world is going to crash around her in the near future.

- Interesting verbal exchange between Adam Cole and Adam Page. I liked what I saw, but I wish they left it at Adam Cole leaving after his positive words, keeping his intentions ambiguous, instead of immediately doing yet another Elite gang beatdown. I would have liked to see that scenario ferment some more: does Adam Cole really respect Adam Page, or is he just a snake? He did a great job at convincing me at the former.

- Speaking of Hangman, I like the guy, but he's really struggling to hold his own on the mic against these guys. He is holding his own, but barely. More often than not he gets outwitted and goes to the fisticuffs. People have said this before, but even though he's the World Champion, he doesn't feel like the most important wrestler in the company.

- Liked the Inner Circle tag match. Had the appropriate level of intensity. Didn't like the finish though. I appreciate non-finisher moves ending matches, but Jericho kicked out of their double team finish then gets pinned by a discus clothesline? A bit odd.

- Wrestling fatigue kicked in at this point, so I skipped the Rosa/Mercedes match. That random guy is in the crowd again. Has anyone told me who he is? Has he been mentioned by the announcers? Does he matter? The aftermath was not surprising, but doesn't make it bad either. Rosa and Mercedes will make a fearsome alliance.

- Good match between Sammy and Darby. Intriguing match because both guys could conceivably lose. Should have seen that intereference coming a mile away but I didn't.

- Remember that awesome spot where the referee called MJF's victory against Punk, then he saw the tape or whatever it was and restarted the match? Look what happens here. Referee sees Darby go to the top rope. He gets distracted. He returns to the match, sees Darby mysteriously KO'd on the top rope. Andrade is stood on the ramp, right in front of him with a tablet in hand. Doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to put two and two together. Nope, ref does nothing, Sammy hits his finish, match over. Seriously, what did the referee think happened? Darby somehow headbutted the steel post and knocked himself out? Give me a fucking break.

Look, I'm not surprised that referees are smart and reasonable only once in a blue moon when the plot calls for it, but are by default intelligence-insulting morons. Not surprised, just disappointed.

Fantastic show.

Feb 19, 2022 12:22:56 GMT Emperor said:

- CM Punk certainly knows how to sell a match, we all know that. WWE has diminished most gimmick matches by just having them at a fixed time in the year for the sake of having them. Throw them out there for the sake of it. AEW also does this, to a lesser extent. But I'm glad that AEW, through this CM Punk/MJF feud, is bringing back a more logical reason to have a gimmick match. A wrestler decides the match, and he has a great reason for doing so. Really selling the match type, and what it can do to the wrestlers involved.

- MJF comes out. He looks shaken, nervous afraid. It would be great if his character was actually feeling that was, but knowing MJF, it's a ruse, and he's going to be joking around and grinning in no time, right? Oh no! He walks to the back! He has nothing to say! Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

- Speaking of selling matches, I love how Danielson barely appeared after his loss to Hangman Page, a more subtle way of acknowledging a big defeat. Great to see him back, and immediately he's back to being a cocky arrogant prick. He can afford to be like that against almost every wrestler on the roster. He's so great that, even though he's one of my favourite wrestlers, I really want to see Lee Johnson slap the shit out of him. Fantastic match.

- I understand we can't have this every week, but what a treat it is to open with CM Punk doing what he does best for 10 minutes, then Brian Danielson doing what he does best for 20 minutes.

- Speaking of people doing what they do best, what a brilliant response from Jon Moxley.

- How is this Dynamite thread so quiet? It's absolutely amazing so far. I know it can only go downhill from here because we've had three of the best guys in the company, but that doesn't excuse the fact I've just seen 30+ minutes of flawless pro-wrestling TV.

- Has Keith Lee always been "Limitless" or is it a moniker he came up with for AEW that's being shoved down our throats?

- Max Caster is the rapper, and he's great, but I ought to point out that Bowens' facial expressions are always on point. He has a pro-wrestler's face. Menacing and super erxpressive. I listen to Caster, I watch Bowens.

- Fun match. Like the shenanigans, and they did a great job in convincing me Wardlow would lose. Shawn Spears trying to cost him the match is very curious.

- Am I supposed to know who that random man is who appeared at the end of Britt Baker's promo? I don't think Mercedes Martinez knows. Also I have a feeling Britt Baker's world is going to crash around her in the near future.

- Interesting verbal exchange between Adam Cole and Adam Page. I liked what I saw, but I wish they left it at Adam Cole leaving after his positive words, keeping his intentions ambiguous, instead of immediately doing yet another Elite gang beatdown. I would have liked to see that scenario ferment some more: does Adam Cole really respect Adam Page, or is he just a snake? He did a great job at convincing me at the former.

- Speaking of Hangman, I like the guy, but he's really struggling to hold his own on the mic against these guys. He is holding his own, but barely. More often than not he gets outwitted and goes to the fisticuffs. People have said this before, but even though he's the World Champion, he doesn't feel like the most important wrestler in the company.

- Liked the Inner Circle tag match. Had the appropriate level of intensity. Didn't like the finish though. I appreciate non-finisher moves ending matches, but Jericho kicked out of their double team finish then gets pinned by a discus clothesline? A bit odd.

- Wrestling fatigue kicked in at this point, so I skipped the Rosa/Mercedes match. That random guy is in the crowd again. Has anyone told me who he is? Has he been mentioned by the announcers? Does he matter? The aftermath was not surprising, but doesn't make it bad either. Rosa and Mercedes will make a fearsome alliance.

- Good match between Sammy and Darby. Intriguing match because both guys could conceivably lose. Should have seen that intereference coming a mile away but I didn't.

- Remember that awesome spot where the referee called MJF's victory against Punk, then he saw the tape or whatever it was and restarted the match? Look what happens here. Referee sees Darby go to the top rope. He gets distracted. He returns to the match, sees Darby mysteriously KO'd on the top rope. Andrade is stood on the ramp, right in front of him with a tablet in hand. Doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to put two and two together. Nope, ref does nothing, Sammy hits his finish, match over. Seriously, what did the referee think happened? Darby somehow headbutted the steel post and knocked himself out? Give me a fucking break.

Look, I'm not surprised that referees are smart and reasonable only once in a blue moon when the plot calls for it, but are by default intelligence-insulting morons. Not surprised, just disappointed.

Fantastic show.

I was going to review the show myself but I have nothing to add to this.

Feb 20, 2022 3:36:55 GMT jumbomask said:

Feb 19, 2022 12:22:56 GMT Emperor said:

- Interesting verbal exchange between Adam Cole and Adam Page. I liked what I saw, but I wish they left it at Adam Cole leaving after his positive words, keeping his intentions ambiguous, instead of immediately doing yet another Elite gang beatdown. I would have liked to see that scenario ferment some more: does Adam Cole really respect Adam Page, or is he just a snake? He did a great job at convincing me at the former.

- Speaking of Hangman, I like the guy, but he's really struggling to hold his own on the mic against these guys. He is holding his own, but barely. More often than not he gets outwitted and goes to the fisticuffs. People have said this before, but even though he's the World Champion, he doesn't feel like the most important wrestler in the company.

Great overall review but this caught my attention and I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way.  Hangman Adam Page sucks on the microphone. I said it.  uhhh uhhh uhhh.  Okay he doesn't actually suck.  He's very good, but I'm starting to uhhh, get uhhh, bored. 

Edit: I seem like a super bitter person right now and didn't mean to.  I do love Adam Page and the episode of Dynamite was one of the best wrestlingt shows I've seen in ages.  I feel what Emperor is saying in that Adam gets upstaged on the mic.  uhhhh....

I think Page is good on the mic, just not great. Which is ok. He sounds natural and believable and that’s enough sometimes. Doesn’t have to blow me away every time he opens his mouth.

As for not feeling like the most important wrestler in the company, I mean, I guess it feels that way now because he’s facing someone who has been a pretty big star for a long time, but let’s not forget he pinned Bryan Danielson like a month ago. And he survived a bloodbath against Lance Archer. He’s not going to get the super spotlight every single week.

- Am I supposed to know who that random man is who appeared at the end of Britt Baker's promo? I don't think Mercedes Martinez knows. Also I have a feeling Britt Baker's world is going to crash around her in the near future.

Long term story-telling.

It's so weird that the only reference on the show was Dr Britt Baker wearing a Cobra Kai T-Shirt. If you don't watch the show (I don't) or kind of get the drift you'd have no idea.

But Cobra Kai the forbidden door fwooooahhhhh.

Feb 19, 2022 12:22:56 GMT Emperor said:

- Speaking of selling matches, I love how Danielson barely appeared after his loss to Hangman Page, a more subtle way of acknowledging a big defeat. Great to see him back, and immediately he's back to being a cocky arrogant prick. He can afford to be like that against almost every wrestler on the roster. He's so great that, even though he's one of my favourite wrestlers, I really want to see Lee Johnson slap the shit out of him. Fantastic match.

- How is this Dynamite thread so quiet? It's absolutely amazing so far. I know it can only go downhill from here because we've had three of the best guys in the company, but that doesn't excuse the fact I've just seen 30+ minutes of flawless pro-wrestling TV.

- Has Keith Lee always been "Limitless" or is it a moniker he came up with for AEW that's being shoved down our throats?

- Am I supposed to know who that random man is who appeared at the end of Britt Baker's promo? I don't think Mercedes Martinez knows. Also I have a feeling Britt Baker's world is going to crash around her in the near future.

- Speaking of Hangman, I like the guy, but he's really struggling to hold his own on the mic against these guys. He is holding his own, but barely. More often than not he gets outwitted and goes to the fisticuffs. People have said this before, but even though he's the World Champion, he doesn't feel like the most important wrestler in the company.

- Liked the Inner Circle tag match. Had the appropriate level of intensity. Didn't like the finish though. I appreciate non-finisher moves ending matches, but Jericho kicked out of their double team finish then gets pinned by a discus clothesline? A bit odd.

That is probably due to rotation more then anything.

Cody wasn't around so people weren't as invested. Plus wrestling is more entertaining to talk about when some is bad instead of good.

He was limitless in nXt and probably indies before that.

You are suppose to know him from the karate kid and cobra kai. I didn't know who he was either but I think the announcers said he was from Cobra Kai.

He isn't even in the top 5 most important. And usually barely breaks the 20 in searches.

I didn't like the finish either. If they were going for a strike using a spinning backfist or back elbow.

It's funny when they bring in celebrities that a lot of young people wouldn't recognize. Like Karate Kid came out the year I was born, 7 years before Britt Baker was born. I watched that movie a few times when I was a kid and I wouldn't have recognized that dude except for the fact I just happened to start watching Cobra Kai a week ago by total chance.

They're locked in at winning the 18-49 demo every week and they bring in that guy for a weird promo? I don't get it.

Jericho is a sore loser! I smell a heel turn.