“AEW Dynamite” offered a particular Christmas version of the present, that includes the ultimate block competitors matches of the 2024 AEW Continental Basic. The present was a mixture of ups and downs, because it ever is. On this article, we is not going to talk about what occurred on the present, as that is what the outcomes web page is for. I wrote the outcomes this week, and I’m not writing them once more.
From the pacing to the commentary to the reserving of the TNT Championship, there was lots to dislike. From Ricochet’s ascension, the general outlook of the event, and Toni Storm’s continued success in her “rookie” yr, there was additionally lots to like. With out additional ado, here is the cherished and hateds for the Christmas Day episode of “Dynamite.”
Liked: Toni Storm is everybody’s favourite ‘rookie’
It is not every single day {that a} star like Toni Storm will get to repeat their rookie season. It is technically not possible, however because of the magic of mind injury or amnesia or no matter is happening with the previous AEW Girls’s World Champion, Toni Storm is reliving the halcyon days of 2018, when she was certainly one of wrestling’s massive up-and-comers. And why should not she? 2018 was an awesome yr. I wasn’t in my 30s. My again did not harm on a regular basis. I had the vitality and vigor of a 28-year-old. It was a good time, and whereas I’ll by no means be the person I used to be again then, such is the character of time and the physique horror of getting older, Toni Storm is doing an entertaining job of reliving her previous.
I do not know the place the story goes and it is the type of unbalanced thought that may go teetering off the rails at any second, however for the second it is a refreshing little bit of creativity within the boringly catty ladies’s division. Taya Valkyrie additionally did an awesome job on Wednesday of big-timing Storm like a veteran to a rookie, taking part in into Storm’s odd roleplay additional.
Written by Ross Berman
On the time of writing, Daniel Garcia has been the TNT Champion for 33 days, having received the elusive first singles title in AEW at Full Gear in November; he has but to defend the title, as an alternative getting into the Continental Basic with the aim of profitable one more title, and I’m left asking what it actually did to cement him as champion. By and enormous, the Continental Basic has been an gratifying set of matches and usually talking the outcomes have helped to cement the aggressive nature between every participant. However the thought of being the champion is that you’re a minimize above that, and that wasn’t actually on show with Garcia in any respect. The event truly began excellently for Garcia, pushing Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada to his limits for a time-limit draw – he arguably would have received the title had it been only a minute longer. That was adopted by a comparatively par-for-the-course win over The Beast Mortos, however then all of the sudden adopted by a clear loss to Mark Briscoe, a survival over Shelton Benjamin, after which on Wednesday evening he misplaced – once more, comparatively clear – to Kyle Fletcher to verify not solely his elimination, however a closing positioning at fourth within the Blue League.
The TNT Champion was fourth greatest in his group and scored joint-fifth in closing factors whole for the whole lot of the group stage with Darby Allin. Briscoe, Claudio Castagnoli, Will Ospreay, Ricochet, and Kyle Fletcher all racked up extra factors than a newly minted champion with a title that feels subzero as it’s, and whereas I do take a look at that record of names for probably the most half and agree they deserved to be in rivalry, it simply appears like a nasty resolution to place somebody with their very own championship within the event, to start with. The time might and doubtless ought to have been spent on constructing tales across the title reign, with another person getting into the Continental discipline; it is definitely not just like the roster is not giant sufficient to have picked another person. It is simply one more resolution that scraped extra of the dwindling legitimacy away from the TNT Championship, a belt that after had the likes of Cody Rhodes and Brodie Lee treating it as a serious cross to reveal, rounding out a yr of fairly middling reserving round it.
Written by Max Everett
Liked: The Continental Basic semi-finals are set
Inside its personal bubble, the Continental Basic has supplied a gentle move of interconnected matches over latest weeks, spanning the whole lot of AEW’s weekly programming schedule and giving a platform for the likes of Kazuchika Okada and Claudio Castagnoli to do what they do greatest. Wednesday evening’s present noticed the conclusion of the round-robin stage, laying the foundations for the finals at Worlds Finish in a method that benefited extra than simply these advancing. The semi-finals this Saturday shall be Will Ospreay in opposition to Kyle Fletcher and Okada in opposition to Ricochet – who himself has a brand new sheen through his latest heel flip – and never solely does that in itself promise three potential barn-burners but additionally gives the logical subsequent step (hopefully, the final one) within the Fletcher-Ospreay feud. All going nicely, it even units up an Ospreay-Okada closing, which is personally the way in which to go.
However, it was how everybody certified, with nobody taking a large lead in both group and thus creating a photograph end finale; Fletcher received the Blue League, notably forward of the reigning Continental Champion in Okada, whereas Ricochet cheated his method to a Gold League win and Ospreay simply snuck his method in as runner-up having the tie-breaker over Castagnoli. It was an evening for upsets, with stand-in Komander securing his solely factors to beat Castagnoli, Ospreay himself barely surviving Brody King (himself shedding a last-gasp alternative at advancing), and Ricochet actually ticking off the Hammerstein crowd to cheese a time-limit draw out of Darby Allin. That simply helped to cement the extremely aggressive discipline and if continued can show to be the muse for everybody’s paths within the subsequent yr. Whereas I perceive it’s definitely not everybody’s cup of tea, I’ve appreciated the latest weeks for the fixed move of nice matches underneath the sports activities presentation. That is to not say the artistic has been good by any stretch, but it surely can’t be disputed that each man within the event left all of it within the ring and gave a superb displaying to shut 2024. Worlds Finish ought to show a superb fruits of that.
Written by Max Everett
Hated: Overextended Commentary Kill The Power
Excalibur gave the impression of he received kicked within the throat earlier than the present received on the air after which needed to wrestle by way of the damage for 2 hours. It can’t be a straightforward job to broadcast over two episodes of “Dynamite,” and I think about the pressure on Excalibur’s voice was super. This empathy doesn’t change the truth that it was tough to take heed to Wednesday’s episode of “Dynamite.”
The exhaustion may not have strained his broadcast companions’s voices as a lot, however Tony Schiavone and Taz’s slaphappy commentary did little to brighten up the continuing. The present was not missing in in-ring motion, extra on that in a second, it was merely missing in any type of electrical energy from the commentary workforce. There was little distinction between the audio on “Dynamite,” and the audio on a late-night WrestleMania weekend indy present. It didn’t have the gravitas that one would possibly anticipate from an evening of competitors that topped 4 semi-finalists within the AEW Continental Basic, a event that I’m advised this firm needs folks to see as an enormous deal regardless of…[gestures broadly at the rushed nature of both tournaments].
Once more, I’m making an attempt to jot down this as empathetically as attainable, as I do know that my voice would sound like I might gargled rusty nails and whiskey if I have been in the identical place, and another person could be legitimate in writing these exact same phrases. Such is the kaleidoscopic nature of the important eye.
Written by Ross Berman
Liked: Ricochet is gold.
On the December 18 episode of “Dynamite,” there was a little bit of concern about Ricochet being made to appear to be a idiot. I imply, getting completely dunked on by the Damage Syndicate *and* Swerve Strickland within the span of two hours is not nice for the ego, and to the sympathetic viewer, his antics final week might very nicely have learn because the beginnings of a burial.
I am proud to announce that Ricochet not solely goes to Worlds Finish semifinals, however he’s going to Worlds Finish semifinals because the 2024 Continental Basic Gold League’s winner, with ten Basic factors.
Whereas I understood (and proceed to grasp) that Ricochet’s clownish persona was not turning into of the intense menace we hoped he’d be as soon as he jumped ship to Jacksonville, I believe that — on this scenario — the match outcomes communicate extra to an organization’s religion in a performer than their artistic imaginative and prescient. If this clownish artistic dealing with of Ricochet was actually a burial, then I do not suppose Tony Khan would’ve put Ricochet over veritable AEW attracts like Claudio Castagnoli and Will Ospreay. He positively would not have trusted Ricochet to go toe-to-toe with Kazuchika Okada, who is just not solely the reigning Continental Champion however is extensively thought of to be the most effective within the skilled wrestling sphere. Positive, Ricochet would possibly sound somewhat bit an excessive amount of like Drake proper now, however he’s being booked to win matches. He’s being booked to win matches which have championship implications.
I’ll say that Ricochet’s time draw end in opposition to Darby Allin is a bit disappointing, and it does come off as a bit bizarre contemplating his (nonetheless doubtful) pinfall victory in opposition to Ospreay on the December 21 episode of “AEW Collision.” I do type of want he had been allowed to complete out his performances on this yr’s Gold League with a dominant end, very like Kyle Fletcher did along with his whopping whole of twelve factors. If you are going to have Ricochet win, why not do it by a bigger margin? That criticism, nonetheless, turns into much less pertinent when you think about the massive image: Ricochet is getting this monumental alternative after he was made to appear to be a bumbling fool simply seven days in the past. We must be glad that he’s being given a possibility he, arguably, has by no means had earlier than on mainstream Western wrestling programming.
Do I believe that Ricochet goes to greatest Okada come Worlds Finish? Whereas I wish to stay hopeful, I do not suppose that could be a reasonable prediction. Nevertheless, even when Ricochet is snubbed of gold come Saturday, you’ll be able to’t deny the standard of his performances on this yr’s Continental Basic. His first match within the Continental Basic led to a clear loss to Castagnoli, and he has risen from the ashes to win the complete factor. Even when Ricochet is being booked as a heel, it’s nonetheless inspiring and nearly healthful to see him bounce again.
Subsequent order of enterprise: eliminating final week’s terrible graph paper go well with.
Written by Angie Phu
Hated: I Have Written This Essay Earlier than
I’ve been in Tony Khan’s footwear earlier than.
You’ve talked up one more massive essay to your professor. The concepts you’ve are strong. The scope could also be somewhat larger than you’ll be able to deal with, however nobody ever completed something by not being bold. Then the essay is due in 24 hours and you’re nowhere close to as near executed as you need to be. You cram, you rush, you shuffle, you progress some issues round, you crank your self up on as a lot caffeine and no matter else as attainable and also you flip that nice thought into a fairly blended closing product. It’s the nature of of the beast.
The Continental Basic is now on yr two of feeling like a half-thought product. The block competitors has been so rushed, with TV episodes so overstuffed with matches, that nothing has been capable of correctly land for me, and that got here to a irritating head on Wednesday. The present featured various nice matches that each one blurred collectively, with no time for any consequence to land in a cohesive or coherent method. Will Ospreay getting a rematch with Kyle Fletcher felt like an afterthought. Darby Allin aiding Kommander in screwing Claudio Castagnoli out of the semi-finals was so convoluted that I truly need to respect it in an odd method. It was a present so stuffed that I practically choked on event matches.
Hopefully subsequent yr the event will get the respiratory room it deserves and Tony Khan lastly does what I by no means managed to do in faculty: determine the right way to handle time higher.
Written by Ross Berman
