Performance Review – AEW Dynamite (2/10/21)

Overall Evaluation and Achieved Goals

This was a great week, like top-to-bottom favorite episode of Dynamite great. It’s fun to see the young wrestling company firing on all cylinders, spreading the love and defining characters like the Attitude Era but in a more human way that gets the most out of its’ featured acts without diluting everybody else. The quality wrestling and genuinely good backstage bits help too. That last one still surprises me.

Performance: 5.0 / 5.0 (EXEMPLARY)

Areas of Excellence Within Performance

As the Performance Review evolves, it probably makes sense to narrow this down to some actual excellent… areas of the show right now. Dynamite is pretty consistently nailing its’ pacing, variety, and actual wrestling. They know when something needs juice too — or when to just move on.

First, the pacing — or just the way they kept this moving to ensure every frame (or quarter hour because I’m in the know) had something going on. The first half hour alone went from a PWG reunion to a well-acted MJF/Sammy G bit to Cody Rhodes‘ ridiculous intro for his match where he was surrounded by nobodies who might be somebodies one day.

They slowed it down, the tag was fine, PAC squash a Ziggler, another fine tag, and then Sammy Guevara quit the Inner Circle! Thunder Rosa and Legit Leyla locked up! Darby Allin got dragged by a truck! KENTA did a double foot stomp off the stage on Jon Moxley through a table! Meanwhile Matt Hardy was recruiting Adam Page all show.

Sometimes wrestling is just about the overwhelming sensory overload and here they provided that while maintaining a defined set of stories, ensuring the right people stood out, and if all else failed just providing the variety that’s been lacking from American wrestling for a couple decades. In 2 hours alone there was a TV Title type of match, Inner Circle’s (actually good) sports entertainment, rookies showcased, a crazy brawl of a main event, one legit BIG angle, and multiple paths that can be explored in the future.

Every WWF wrestler and production team member should watch and feel shame over how good MJF dressing down Sammy Guevara backstage was. MJF is a once-in-a-lifetime promo guy and this won’t go down as his most memorable work, but it was like an actual TV scene part of a wrestling show, and… well-done. Wish Sammy’s big moment had a big crowd, but it still played hot.

Before the Cody match, we saw the first look at Arn Anderson’s Son, who’s face looks like a can of beef stew and looks like both Arn and Ole! I lost it for all of this, mostly JR and Tony getting in their lines but Arn has built up some Bigfoot-esque anticipation on his podcast around his son’s training. It’s incredible how immediately TV-ready he is too, and by TV-ready I mean TV in 1985.

The wrestling was good too, yes. Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela for the TNT Title felt very old school TV Title, so much so that it made me think it would’ve come off better in a smaller or even studio TV setting. Still very good, an entire match. Can’t believe I got to see PAC beat up the other Ziggler too, and with an amazing combo to end it: throw into guardrail, angry stomps, assess if KO’d, Black Arrow, Brutalizer.

Then Kenny Omega & KENTA (too-too-too sweet) teamed up against Jon Moxley & Lance Archer in a falls count anywhere match and though KENTA and Omega pacing side-by-side at the beginning gave off some big match puroresu vibes they went full chaotic brawl and it rocked: plenty of spots lined up to keep it moving, Archer a beast, KENTA motivated, and Omega bumping like he was trying to impress Japan again.

I was a little hot last week when Matt Hardy replaced The Dark Order as Hangman Page’s suitors, so had the stupidest grin on my face when Page ran into them backstage and John Silver tried to play it all cool. I wished for one more big Sting/Taz angle too, and we got Darby Allin dragged by a truck! Almost too big!

On top of everything, Kenny Omega is hovering around the Ric Flair approach and his promo at the golf course was the closest we’ve gotten: “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to lose, Alex Marvez.” Somehow, AEW INTERNALIZED the early concerns of them being too inside baseball or stat-obsessed and are channeling them all into making Kenny Omega the heel champion. Respect.

Suggested Areas of Improvement

It feels a little moot this week, but the introduction or even development of some of those rookies can use some care. It’s the same deal with Being the Elite… I love the world AEW has developed on Dynamite and how they use other avenues (like Dark, something I should watch) to supplement it, but Shorty Lee and Cesar Bononi aren’t KENTA – give them a little something more on TV.

Am I supposed to be unhappy that Matt Jackson just lackadaisically booked a match against Santana & Ortiz next week? Somewhere between the delivery and approach they just made that awesome match feel mandatory.

My Favorite Things

3. Shotty Lee wins!
2. The fade-out on the MJF/Jericho inset promo
1. “I THINK HE BROKE MY RIBS, CHRIS!” – MJF