5 Biggest Takeaways from AEW Dynamite(December 8th, 2021)
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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If AEW knows how to do one thing better than anything else, it is starting a show off hot. Once again, they delivered with the first 30 minutes being fast paced and hooking the audience with great programming. One thing I noticed they do though on the opposite end of the spectrum is beating a dead horse. They have a certain angle and will repeat it throughout multiple segments, and that is something they will have to fix. Three interviews that never even got a chance to start before being interupted is overkill, especially when 2 of them are back to back.
Some things that happened on the show are worth noting: Riho and Hayter had a very strong match that told a nice story. John Silver shined during his main event match with Bryan Danielson. Trent returned with his mother to make the save for his Best Friends and MJF and Dante Martin were the final 2 standing in the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale that saw Martin turning his back on Team Tazz only 2 weeks after joining them. With those out of the way, let us move right into the 5 Biggest Takeaways from this week’s AEW Dynamite!
#5: Fade to Black
After having one of the coolest moments of the year with his debut, Malakai Black has fallen from grace. With his non compete clause mishap on WWE’s behalf, Black’s debut could literally be the biggest shocking moment of the year. Very few, if any, saw it coming. The light’s flickering tease was brilliant and him showing up to take out Arn Anderson as he set his sights on Cody Rhodes was fantastic. It almost seemed like it would be impossible to screw this character up. The look is different from others on the roster, he stands out. His entrance is amongst the best in the business and he clearly can perform in the ring. His style separates him from the rest as well. Unfortunately, his feud with Cody went on too long and losing a match clean to Cody seemed to derail his momentum. He has since found himself in multi man matches that included Cody and has not had much direction. Now? They have him going after the Varsity Blondes and it was all started by him interrupting their interview and misting Julia Hart.
Not really the direction many would expect Malakai to be going. He is a talent that many believe should be pushed to the moon but that’s just not where they have him at the moment. This is a big step backwards and we can only hope that he is able to come out of the other end of this story with a much better direction.
#4: Young Bucks of Old
All bias aside, the Young Bucks should be allowing other tag teams on the roster to shine at this time. They had a lengthy run as champs in which they looked extremely dominant. With the titles off of them and Kenny gone from the picture, you would think this is the time for all that tag team talent AEW has to step up and get their chance. Last night showed us that that’s not the case as of right now. If they aren’t going to step aside and give teams the chance, they should at least be giving teams the rub. There were multiple times last night in which Rocky Romero could have “stolen” a victory from the Bucks and it would not have hurt them in the least. Instead, we see the Bucks racking up another victory for the Win/Loss record and allowing the Best Friends to have a moment after. I get the Bucks are over and people want to see them. I understand they are very talented individuals and entertain the masses with their matches but there are other teams that need the opportunity and there is no better time to do that than right now.
#3: Send Hook
The moment the Hookers have been waiting for. Taz announced on Dynamite that the highly anticipated debut of Hook is happening, and it is happening this Friday night on Rampage. With Rampage’s ratings being a topic of discussion as of late, with the numbers dropping, it will be very interesting to see how much of the hype with Hook is sarcasm or actual excitement. His first opponent? Fuego Del Sol. I think that’s a great first match for Hook as it gives the fans another fan favorite to watch and it is an opponent that we can believe Hook can beat. Fuego isn’t known for his wins and losses. It’s his heart and taking a loss to Hook will not damage him in any way. I am intrigued enough to tune in Friday night to see if Hook can live up to the hype. Will you be tuning in?
#2: CM Punk Has Eyes on Gold
CM Punk showed up and got people talking. He challenged Darby, had a great match and really had the fans excited for what would be next. He then spent the next several weeks having matches with talent that a lot of fans weren’t thrilled about while also doing the same promo week in and week out. Things picked up a few weeks ago when he set his sights on MJF. Leaving Max speechless for the first time that first week. He then would follow it up with the promo/segment of the year when he went to battle with MJF on the microphone. This is the Punk we had been waiting to see and he would come back next week with another great showing. Not quite up to par with the week prior but still really good content.
This week, things escalated quite a bit. Not only would he take more verbal shots at MJF in his hometown. He played up the heel stuff here, really getting the crowd to boo him. He revealed that on top of MJF, he has his eyes set on the AEW Title match next week. This means he clearly has the goal to become champion now which is a big turn around from what he has been doing with his in ring stuff. He mentioned MJF is probably watching that match as well which tells me that those two will most likely have a match that determines who Page or Bryan will be defending the title against at the next AEW PPV. The only question is, who will be holding that title?
#1: Have You Seen This Man?
What in the hell happened to Hangman Page? After the 2 year story reached it’s finale and the fans rejoiced, the AEW Title and Hangman himself have damn near become an afterthought. They celebrated his victory on week one. They had him on commentary another week and then very short and brief appearances the other 2 weeks. This week he attacked Bryan Danielson at the end of the show and he had one line. A total of 2 minutes tv time for the AEW Champion. This is not how you promote your new champion! Omega was featured while champ. Jericho was featured as champ. Mox was featured while champ. This could be very telling of how they might actually view Hangman as “the guy” with how little he has been featured since winning the big one. Another thing worth noting here is, Tony is very into the idea of ratings. Since Page won, the ratings have been very underwhelming and one has to think, how much of that will fall on Hangman?
I want to make one thing clear here, this is not a hit piece on Hangman. I think he’s great and could be a very good champion for AEW. The issue here is how he is being booked because it has been very bad. Does this change after Winter is Coming? I certainly hope so. It would be very upsetting to see the plug get pulled on him so soon due to their own issues with portraying him as their number one guy. I will hold off on any solid judgment until after next week because the reign as champ is still very early and things can change very quickly for him. Give us some real Cowboy Shit, this is what the fans have been waiting for!
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