AEW Dynamite Nov. 13, 2024 - Momentum
Modern Marks is a wrestling-focused newsletter written by Rory Young. Follow Modern Marks and Rory on Bluesky.
It’s been around a month since the last Modern Marks newsletter. Not that it had established any consistent schedule in the first place, but it’s worth celebrating the effort as it is. In that month a lot happened. I took a healthy break from watching AEW because I wasn’t enjoying myself. Then the election happened and wrestling, even bad wrestling, didn’t seem so bad. Watching Konosuke Takeshita face both Mike Bailey and Josh Alexander at Maple Leaf Pro’s 2-day debut show with Mauro Ranallo and Don Callis on commentary was also reinvigorating.
Mostly, though, returning to wrestling earlier than expected was a decision I made because of community. It’s the Wednesday nights shared with groups of friends, making fun of Adam Cole’s jaundice bronzer. It’s chatting with like-minded marks on Bluesky when news like the GalaxyCon Collision venue announcement is made. It’s laughing about the Young Bucks being added to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame while Cody Rhodes and CM Punk didn’t in the Trish and Sarah Podcast discord (highly recommended). I needed a shared experience, a common joy, to step in and out of as needed. It’s working for me for now. It’s fun.
Does that mean I think AEW is any better than it was when I stopped watching? Let’s talk about it.
Wrestling First
There are many criticisms I have for AEW that capture why I felt like it was best for me to take a break. If I had to summarize all of them in a grossly politicized phrase, it’d be, “Wrestling First.” AEW has chosen both figuratively and literally since the All In/All Out PPVs not to put wrestling first. The wrestling instead has taken a backseat to extended promos, pre-recorded videos, backstage antics, and in-ring silliness, all while the matches are forgettable and the wrestlers don’t appear to be putting their best foot forward (with notable exceptions). Call it a focus on story or call it build. Say certain wrestlers deserve the TV time even if they’re only worth watching wrestle at PPVs. If I’m being kind, I’d call it dissatisfactory. If I were being honest, I’d call it inauthentic and inferior to AEW’s once well-established identity.
This week’s Dynamite started with a direct response to my criticisms. Dynamite, for the first time in a very long while, opened with a block of wrestling with no commercial breaks. From there, it smartly used promos and brawls to segue into additional matches. The first hour of Dynamite had close to 28 minutes of wrestling, but more importantly delivered a wrestling-focused product. The promos and the shenanigans were still there, but with more complementary framing around what had or would be happening in the ring. Hour two of Dynamite carried that momentum forward with and additional 32.5 minutes of wrestling, for a solid hour and more overall. Hell, MJF only briefly showed up in a video of him laughing at a match’s results. That’s worth applauding.
AEW has undeniably given fans more wrestling per hour in the past (closer to 40 is ideal), and should again in the future, but this week’s ~30-per-hour is an improvement. What matters is the focus. Wrestling opening the show, non-wrestling segments that transition directly into wrestling, and segments for wrestlers who will be or who have already wrestled are examples of putting wrestling first. AEW needs to put wrestling first. This week was a step forward.
No Bangers
Something is wrong with AEW TV. There’s perhaps no stronger example of the issue in this moment than Konosuke Takeshita. As International Champion, Takeshita has been traveling the world wrestling a diverse range of opponents. He’s had matches with Mike Bailey, Josh Alexander, TJP, Kohei Kinoshita, and Yuni in the past month. And then on Wednesday Takeshita wrestled Adam Cole for 10 minutes in what’s potentially his worst singles match of 2024. That Ren Narita G1 match was awful, too. But Adam Cole is not Ren Narita. And AEW Dynamite should be where Takeshita, one of the best wrestlers in the world, has his best matches — not his worst.
What matters most in AEW is the wrestling quality. It’s AEW’s bread and butter, what sold tickets to AEW’s first show and what will drive fan loyalty going forward. Yet wrestling quality on AEW TV isn’t reaching its potential anymore. It’s fair to say that great TV matches are fewer and further between on AEW TV. That’s not just my opinion. Averaging the scores of each Dynamite’s best matches from Cagematch shows this was the worst October in AEW Dynamite history. That’s with the Young Bucks vs. Private Party match. And at this rate this will be AEW’s worst November, too.
This week’s Dynamite was yet another striking example of AEW’s ongoing issue with match quality. It’s not a matter of talent. Wrestlers including Adam Page, Christian Cage, Jay White, Konosuke Takeshita, Swerve Strickland, and FTR were all featured. These are wrestlers who can consistently deliver exceptional performances — outside of AEW TV. Yet it’s fair to say that not a single one of them lived up to expectations Wednesday night. The Adam Page and Christian opening tag match is middling at best, the Takeshita and Adam Cole match doesn’t even deserve to be called middling, and the main event with FTR and Kings of the Black Throne was only at a level that one would hope every AEW TV match should reach. It was decent. Not great, but decent. And that was the best match of the night and the show’s main event.
This isn’t a one-off night of less-than-impressive wrestling. This is typical for AEW TV, or even better than average, whether it’s Dynamite or otherwise. There is no longer an expectation of excellent matches for TV recordings, and last night’s show would be considered a step up since All Out. If it was just a one-off disappointment, that’d be ignorable. But this is the status quo.
If anyone knows why AEW TV has stepped back from attempting to deliver consistently exceptional in-ring action, they’re not telling. But there are plenty of theories:
Perhaps the safest assumption is that Tony Khan has established various restrictions on wrestlers for TV to prevent injuries. Wrestlers thus limit their physicality and athletic efforts, use only well-practiced moves and spots, and slow down match pacing to be more deliberate. It’s unclear if this meaningfully impacts injuries, given many if not most wrestling injuries happen from routine movements and actions. Tony Khan has explicitly stated that injuries have hurt AEW’s business in the past.
Another fair assumption would be that AEW has established a “House Style” of wrestling made for television presentation. Matches are slowed down so that casual audiences at home can follow the action better, notable spots are pre-arranged so that cameras are prepared to record them, and consistency is kept match-to-match that is recognizable in a way it may not have been before. The argument is that if AEW can’t thrive with its original identity, it would start turning more toward WWE’s successful TV style instead.
Related to the effort of avoiding injuries, another growing theory is related to what may be a new effort by AEW to focus on its biggest stars. If these stars show up on television every week, it makes sense for their matches to be toned down so that they don’t exhaust themselves. Further, their lower-card opponents would have to make a greater effort not to injure them. It is true that mid-card AEW wrestlers are being given less opportunity on AEW Dynamite, fewer matches, less prominent matches, and less time overall for midcard feuds.
A favorite theory of mine is the “You’re Going to Have to Pay for That” theory. With AEW’s shift to near-monthly PPVs, and an increasing focus on profitability, it’s realized that delivering exceptional wrestling on TV may be cutting into its PPV profits. Going forward if fans want to see AEW’s best matches, then they’ll have to pay for PPVs. Further, why go all out for regular TV matches when the payout for PPV shows is so much larger and important to the business?
One last theory I want to cover is perhaps the least evidenced from a fan perspective, but is nevertheless a realistic possibility. It’s that internal changes at AEW have taken away an increasing amount of creative control for match blocking from the wrestlers themselves. It instead gives more power to producers who either have poor minds for wrestling or who do not care about high-quality wrestling. These producers could be driven by the above reasons, such as prioritizing their personal style preferences, changing styles for TV presentation, an exaggerated concern for safety, or an unneeded want to focus on and protect stars. This is perhaps the most nefarious of the theories, because how can fans criticize an aspect of AEW they never see or hear about? Instead, it just looks like AEW’s wrestlers are underdelivering on their own. And that’s what is clearly happening across the board.
My answer to all of these theories is that AEW needs to get its shit together. Good pro wrestlers like most of AEW’s roster are capable of delivering excellent matches safely week-to-week. Good pro wrestlers are trustworthy to drive the creative of their own matches. Story is meant to be used to enhance in-ring action, but great matches in AEW are so few and far between anymore that it’s clear efforts to tell stories are now detrimental to match quality and show quality overall.
AEW has to make changes to its TV so that fans are getting consistently great matches every week. And even when matches aren’t great, they should at least look like the wrestlers tried.
Full Gear Build
There’s little to be done to solve AEW’s quality issues now, so let’s shift focus to the promotion’s current priority — building to the Full Gear PPV. Few would argue that AEW hasn’t amped up its storytelling efforts since All Out. Few would also argue that not everything they’re doing is great.
What’s working from the build to Full Gear starts with the Hurt Syndicate. Both Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley have been made to look strong in AEW, even as Bobby is clearly booked as the bigger threat. Swerve is an outstanding pick for a foil, and is positioned to take an impressive loss to Lashley at Full Gear and launch Lashley onto bigger feuds. Further, MVP is fun to watch as the Hurt Business manager, especially the way he’s given out business cards to so many wrestlers. He’s laying the groundwork for future stories, hooks that can be connected to (or not) in the future. It’s simple and effective.
One build that isn’t working is the Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander build. This is a great match on paper and is very likely to live up to expectations. But Kris and Mone have no mutual charisma, in part because Mercedes’ character has so little depth. She’s annoying, and a coward, and Kris has to physically force confrontation to get her championship shot. But it’s already confirmed, and AEW hasn’t done a good job conveying why Kris is driven to continue harassing and assaulting Mercedes. The heat isn’t there. Mercedes needs to do something terrible, preferably in front of a crowd, to make them properly hate her.
Another strong build has been Will Ospreay’s feud with Kyle Fletcher. It’s a classic setup. Kyle was Ospreay’s friend and betrayed him, helping ally Konosuke Takeshita take Ospreay’s International Championship. Kyle is hypocritical in his justification for betraying Ospreay, making excuses to cover up his jealousy. Ospreay, as a proper babyface, is infuriated but holding back over torn feelings for his friend. Will the two rediscover their friendship in battle, or will this violent tension explode into hatred? This Full Gear match needs blood.
The MJF build to Full Gear is, well… it’s not correct to say it’s bad, because MJF hasn’t been there. It simply isn’t working. Building MJF vs. Adam Cole should have been an easy win. But MJF has been gone filming a couple of movies, and Adam Cole isn’t conveying babyface energy. It’s the right choice to delay the match so they can do it justice, but slotting in an MJF vs. Roddy PPV match, a middling matchup without the poor build, is a poor decision.
Most of the rest of the Full Gear card, whether it’s Moxley vs. OC, Jay White vs. Hangman, or Perry vs. Garcia, are fine enough. There’s plenty to say about each match’s build, but acknowledging it’s not necessarily worth writing should convey the point better.
Continental Classic 2024
AEW officially confirmed the return of the Continental Classic tournament on Dynamite. It starts on the Dynamite following Full Gear. Let’s do some quick theorycrafting!
S-Tier Picks — Hangman Adam Page, Ricochet, Kazuchika Okada, Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay.
Workrate Picks — Brody King, Katsuyori Shibata, Jay White, Komander, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Briscoe, and PAC.
Story Picks — Adam Cole, Bobby Lashley, Claudio Castagnoli, Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta.
Surprise Picks — Adam Copeland, Bandido, Mike Bailey, Orange Cassidy, Nick Wayne, Samoa Joe.
Unlikely Picks — Adam Cole and MJF (busy with each other), Daniel Garcia (likely to be TNT Champion), Darby Allin (likely to challenge Mox directly), Jack Perry (likely to either get involved with Mox or wait for the Bucks’ return), Konosuke Takeshita (International Belt likely to be protected so he’s kept out), Learning Tree (Jericho seems poised to take his crew to ROH).
What makes the tournament so difficult to fanbook this year is that there’s neither an obvious winner nor an obvious opponent for current champion Kazuchika Okada. That’s not only a story issue, but a larger problem with Tony Khan’s booking. It isn’t clear who in AEW matters right now and why. Many wrestlers are being given time, with few framed as more important or someone who fans should care about more. Is Adam Cole, who is framed as a top AEW guy, a good choice for the C2, though?
If I was booking this myself, picking six heels would be easy: Adam Page, Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Brody King, and Nick Wayne. Claudio or PAC are options, too, if Takeshita as International Champ is being protected or Brody King is booked face.
Face options are much more difficult to make. Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, and Ricochet all seem like guarantees. The remaining three are all up in the air. My personal picks would be Mark Briscoe, a returning Bandido, and the newly signed Mike Bailey. That leaves great options like Jay White and Katsuyori Shibata off, and Conglomeration boys Orange Cassidy and Kyle O’Reilly as alternatives. As previously noted, Adam Cole may get the rub here, too. A returning Adam Copeland is another possible wildcard.
Gold (Dynamite) — Faces: Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, Mike Bailey; Heels: Adam Page, Kazuchika Okada, Nick Wayne.
Blue (Collision — Faces: Ricochet, Mark Briscoe, Bandido; Heels: Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Brody King.
Thanks everyone for reading this week’s post-Dynamite AEW newsletter! It’s out a bit later than I’d like, but at least it was published at all. Hopefully, regular newsletters will be coming. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to read more of.
-Rory