Before anyone asks… yes, that is the new AEW Dynamite Musings banner for the foreseeable future. Take it in however context you wish, but that headshot is about as synonymous as that Anthem owl that Reby Hardy wanted to fuck all those years ago… and also, it amuses me greatly, so therefore, it stays… for now, at least.
Unfortunately, while a headshot of a blank-eyed Tony Khan in a neck brace brings some mild amusement, the same cannot be said for this Dynamite show, which… I will admit to watching for the explicit purpose of seeing where they go with this Tony Khan thing.
Apparently, they announced on an episode of Collision – you know, the show I don’t watch because it’s only available on a shitty TSN app up here in Canada – that ol’ TK is recovering but cannot travel, which leaves the Bucks in control of AEW for the foreseeable future and… listen, kudos to Tony Khan for selling that piledriver on that NFL Draft show. He’s at least trying to sell this thing as a dangerous move and maintain some semblance of kayfabe for the foreseeable future… even if he cant quite figure out that you’re not supposed to move your head around in a neck brace.
But I watch this show – from WINNIPEG, you idiots – and it leads to the Bucks being in control of Dynamite playing the heel authority figure for the foreseeable future… because if there’s one thing that I’ve been wanting to see come back and regurgitated to the masses in the modern day, it’s heel authority figures. And listen, I’ve got nothing against the Bucks; they’re entertaining fellows, they’re talented folks, and they’ve got a style of work that might not jive with what others perceive as “good wrestling” or whatever, but it does work.
That having been said, I watch this show and it’s almost a parody of the heel authority figure being played out. I’m watching these guys try to “run the show” and it’s ridiculous. And yet this is the driving story to try and get people to keep watching. This is supposed to be a serious thing and I’m like… yeah, no. That’s not working for me, brother. The Bucks make for entertaining heels, but that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? You’re supposed to hate these guys for running things into the ground, for running roughshod and not having to worry about consequences thanks to their “iron-clad” contracts, and you eventually want to see them get their comeupperance where they get removed from power and Tony Khan is back in control… except for the fact that the Bucks are such entertaining fellows that after a while, the crowd might enjoy having them around in the leadership roles and might want them to stick around for a good while longer.
Tony who? That guy who feared for his life because some other dude lost his shit because Jack Perry rubbed his head… apparently, rubbing your head is one of the most dangerous moves in all of wrestling, right up there with the dreaded Kevin Nash HAIR FLIP.
Yeah, no… not entirely sold on this, but it’s still early in the story. They might salvage this thing somewhat and turn it into something interesting. True that AEW needs some kind of hook to keep viewers invested week to week, but I’d want something that’s being invested in.
In other bits and bobs… Swerve Strickland’s first challenge to his newly won AEW World Title turns out to be Christian Cage, with whom Swerve had a brief partnership with and I like that they touched on that here, along with that beating of Nick Wayne… this Nick Wayne, by the way, that they made a big deal out of signing when he was eighteen and they’ve done pretty much fuck all with since then… but yeah, it’s going to be Swerve vs. Christian for the title at Double Or Nothing and… look, I like Christian, he’s quite good at being a despicable human being and we need more of those ’round these parts whose name isn’t Don Callis, but he’s not exactly a name that springs to mind when I think of “PPV contenders for the World Title.” This sounds like more of a TV match rather than a PPV main event. Hopefully, they’ve got something special planned for this Double Or Nothing PPV because otherwise this is going to be the second time I’ve skipped out on this show.
Also… this Chris Jericho thing where he’s pretending to be a fan favorite and pretty much just trolling the audience. I’m not going to be one of those folks claiming that he’s a channel changer because the numbers say otherwise, because despite generally low viewership numbers, Jericho segments are getting slight increases, so credit where it’s due. However, I’m not a fan of this trolling business. It seems like something designed to rile up the Twitter Twits and get them upset about stuff. I get what he’s trying to do and – hey, at least Big Bill gets to do something that isn’t whatever poor Ricky Starks is doing these days. All I’m saying is that I myself do not care for this.
And of course, the Kenny Omega thing… talking about his real-life health issues and then they do a bit with Jack Perry and the Bucks where he gets beaten up, put on a stretcher, and then the stretcher gets commendeered and he gets beat up some more… and this leads us to the Rampage show that aired the same night… which I did not watch. Canadian Content might be the thing that puts Rampage on TV, but it’d be nice if something happened on the show that gave me a reason to care enough to sit through a third hour of AEW television.
Yeah, I wasn’t too keen on this show. I wouldn’t call it a bad show or anything, but nothing that had me excited for next time. On the bright side, though… nice to see Serena Deeb get a PPV payday and a title shot against Timeless Toni… even if there’s no chance of her winning.
Oh well… I guess I should catch up on Impact.
dtm666 