Performance Review – AEW Dynamite (8/5/20)

Overall Evaluation and Achieved Goals

It isn’t a question anymore whether AEW is the best wrestling product on TV – right now and in a while – no matter how many questionable money-making ventures or Twitter posts they make. Dynamite might have a miss here and there but man does it feel good to watch a wrestling show in this day and my age that utilizes things like subtlety and building up future confrontations and uhhhh just good wrestling.

It’s like fun TV 101 – establish your ensemble and RUN WITH IT!!!

Areas of Excellence Within Performance

The 12-Man Tag with The Elite & The FTR vs. like everybody in The Dark Order opened the show strong with a much more cohesive multi-man opener than last week even though half the participants disappeared early. Dax went down with an injury and was helped to the back by Cash and Hangman Page, another chapter in the Page and FTR friendship that is somehow balancing being a red herring that you’re not banged over the head with despite it being a pretty prominent thing.

This thing went so long they had to be proving a point, and though sometimes I’ll question it I think AEW’s passive aggression is occasionally a strength. I think they proved the point too – The Elite vs. six dudes was a fun 20 minutes of wrestling, Kenny and the Bucks having a go with Brodie Lee and Colt Cabana and the guys that used to be Player Dos and Player Uno and a pair of rookies – what is this wonderful wrestling paradise!? Page taking out the entire opposition when he returned was incredible, a run up there with some of Cesaro’s best work. The final lariat by Lee that took him out was WILD too. Give me Brodie vs. Kenny and Hangman.

The Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz was just OK enough, a fine quiet match among a couple acts I really enjoy and then OH MY GOD SANTANA & ORTIZ DESTROYED TRENT’S MOM’S SUE’S VAN!!! They took sledgehammers and graffiti to it and just TRASHED IT and then Santana looked at the camera said what up to Trent’s mom! AFTER TRASHING HER VAN!! WHY WAS IT SO PERSONAL? WHY DID THEY GRAFFITI SUE’S NAME ON HER OWN VAN!?!? This was the most I’ve been taken by a wrestling angle in years and I’m like 75% serious.

Thought Rebel or Reba or whatever it officially is did great playing the role of clumsy wrestler vs. Big Swole.

Jon Moxley is a good promo, as is Concerned Dad Jon Moxley. I liked the AEW World Title match with Darby Allin, I loved Darby’s creepy Moxley cut-out mask, but this was more a quality trailer for a bigger match down the line. It was good at that. Mox played his role well and while I appreciate Fenix’s complexity, Darby is the master of the modern day professional wrestling dive.

The Chris Jericho/Orange Cassidy DEBATE was all excellence, a silly concept within a faltering feud made completely tolerable by remembering that wrestling is ultimately really good and generally forgivable when it’s just dumb fun. The presence of Eric Bischoff on TNT gave it an air of silly importance, though I’m pretty sure he just wanted to be seen in public not wearing a mask. The build to Serious Talking Orange Cassidy was unbelievably good TV, as was Cassidy recounting actual global warming statistics (yes).

Comedy in wrestling has been done so poorly so many times that it still feels a little strange to legitimately laugh at something on a wrestling show, not because it’s something stupid or a break in the format but because it was actually meant to be funny. But on top of that it WAS ALSO EDUCATIONAL! Look guys I was just happy about the funny, but now you’re out here educating too this is GOOD.

Suggested Areas of Improvement

MJF is the GUY but the politician running for office gimmick is one of those once-in-a-lifetime runs that I’m not sure is being completely nailed. The villain politician in the Trump era as a silly buffoon is Ok, but there needs to be an equal amount of empty incompetent malice around it – we’re not there yet.

Sammy Guevera‘s table bump was awesome but Matt Hardy‘s bladejob was A BIT FUCKING MUCH. This felt less like the microwaving of a blood feud and more like Matt just being on TV in severe discomfort.

Cody & Matt Cardona vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver was every bit the Main Event on Hulu match I hoped I wouldn’t have to reference. I think Arn yawned afterwards.

Remember when Glacier was in the Double or Nothing Battle Royal? Bring Glacier back.

My Favorite Things

3. Scorpio Sky confronts Cody – great bit
2. Sammy Guevera’s table dive
1. DARBY ALLIN DIVES

Official Star Rating

4.25 out of 5 Stars

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