La Zona Muerta

Dynamite the last couple of weeks has been a bit difficult to pin down. They seem to have directions that they’re following and they’re back to PROMOTING UPCOMING SHOWS (thank goodness) but… there just hasn’t been much good wrestling the last two weeks. The people who don’t watch AEW regularly or who try to make money bagging on it HOWL about how AEW just throws on banger matches between randoms and I’m always like “I wish I could watch THAT version of AEW,” because random matches with the literal best wrestlers in the world sounds pretty dope to my ears.

No, none of that’s the problem. There are other issues. Is Jon Moxley’s paramilitary MAKAI CLUB or whatever they are cool? Yeah, I guess; they’re interesting, if nothing else. I mean, this week, when Mox cut a promo, I COULDN’T FUCKING HEAR IT since they were playing music over the whole goddamn thing, so who knows if they’re actually cool or not. This is what 185 million gets you, folks. No, they aren’t the problem, not really. The issue is the perilously geekified AEW FRONTLINE, the dorks looking to protect the company, this week armed with WEAPONS, waiting for the NWO BCC Makai Club to show up. ON NO, JOHNNY HUNGIE HAS NUNCHUCKS. The issue is the “will he / won’t he” canonization of Orange Cassidy as “leader” of AEW. I mean, I genuinely suspect that OC will take up the mantle, fail, and Darby Allin will literally be in the rafters like his wrestle dad before him, communicating solely via the medium of “bat.” I don’t mind that Tony Khan wants to do an NWO riff. He is a huge wrestling dork. I am, too! I could sit here and talk about the NWO for hundreds, thousands of words. The reason I don’t is… it’s stuff that was old and tired twenty years ago and I don’t think it’s all that interesting. It’s ground that has been trod upon to DEATH way, WAY before we got here, and I don’t need to really add my voice to that well covered ground for the few dozen of you who are kind enough to read this schlock I churn out every week.

The NWO is boring. LET’S TREAD NEW GROUND.

Other than that, I don’t really have much to say about this show. I did think the Chuck Taylor angle at the end as Moxkai Club (eh? eh? I’m a clever guy, I think of funny things) Pillmanized his neck was pretty good, I guess. He suffered a (potentially) career ending injury (for real), has been agenting (for real) and now his SECOND career has been ended? MOX, YOU MONSTER. I suppose this is karmic retribution for Sweet Chuckie T’s many years running roughshod over CHIKARA as a member of F.I.S.T. Did Taylor stretch Moxley at the Wrestle Factory or something?

Of course, we had the dramatic shot of Cassidy SMOULDERING as the show went off the air. Were I running a beans and toast blog, I might well say it was “am dram.” *chuckle* It’s fine, whatever. Effective enough.

Obviously, the dark shadow of the “Brochachos” still hangs over the show. When did we all decide we collectively hate Adam Cole? That shit wasn’t his fault. You can place like at least 90% of the blame on the other guy.

I still love you, Adam. I’m just not a fan of the company you keep

You had Chris Jericho barely eking out a victory in a ladder war (sigh) over Mark Briscoe (not Jay, JR). I’m already sick of the “Nueve,” and they have barely started calling him that yet! Wonder if he’s reupped or if he drops it back at Final Battle. Conventional wisdom was, last time TK strapped up Jericho with the ROH belt, that he possibly had a TV deal for ROH on the horizon. I’m still of the belief that when ROH was brought back, Honor Club was not the destination and there was going to be some sort of merger with the New Japan STRONG brand (hence the hiring of Rocky Romero and the weirdness about not revealing ROH plans until after Wrestle Kingdom whatever year that was), but something happened and it didn’t quite click. I SUPPOSE going to a TV exec and saying “We have Chris Jericho! Remember him? He was on Dancing with the Stars and he got punched by Mickey Rourke one time” is slightly more effective than saying “here’s another goddamn hour of wrestling content; do ya want it?” but who knows. CAN’T WAIT FOR RING OF HONOR ON TRU TV STARRING THE NUEVE, GUY GERRICAULT.

Cough.

Did anything else happen? Shelton Benjamin killed Sammy Guevara. If people actually liked Sammy, they’d be annoyed like me that Shelton is fifty, gassed to the gills, blown up and killing young guys, but since Sammy is a natural heel cast as a babyface, we have what we have. The match was fine. I didn’t immediately see the OVER praise the Lio Rush / Benjamin match got for whatever reason, but I’m sure that’s SAMMY’S fault, right? I hope Swerve Strickland annihilates Benjamin next week but obviously, it will be a distraction finish with the arrival of BIG BOBBY LASHLEY or whatever hoary cliche you have imagined. I’d rather just have Swerve show up, look at all the dorks with pipes and nunchucks and say “you want someone to take care of Mox? I’m right here” and just start the mayhem but nooooo… we have this.

Oh! I almost forgot something I truly did enjoy… the Kyle Fletcher YOU PEOPLE speech. Another hoary wrestling trope, sure, but… man, this was delivered SO well. My wife HATES Fletcher, but she was LOVING this promo, so it MUST be good. THE ACTUAL LEARNING TREE ISN’T JERICHO, IT’S DON CALLIS, AND KYLE IS LEARNING WELL. Kyle is now a BABYFACE in MY heart, since he FINALLY did something about that hideous, hideous hair of his and acknowledged that trying to look like Will Ospreay just wasn’t cutting it. I HAVE BEEN BEGGING FOR THIS GUY TO CHANGE HIS LOOK FOR MONTHS. GOTCH BLESS DON CALLIS AND THE CALLIS FAMILY. Fletcher coldly pointed out that he has followed Ospreay’s career path almost exactly and, bless him, even stopped to get digs in at the fans when they would start chanting. This was a trial by fire and the cat did GREAT, LEGITIMATELY GREAT. I’ve heard people say for AGES that this guys had the potential to be the next big breakout start and last night finally made me a believer. A tremendous segment, well worth seeking out.

Next week’s Dyna looks stronger, will probably deliver in ring and I will give AEW props for finally going back to their old ways and actually building up next week’s card THIS week. Kudos. That’s a positive direction I like to see. I just want EVERYTHING to be firing on all cylinders. They’re close, so close to making it happen. It just feels like with a few tweaks, they could be there, but that’s ultimately what’s so frustrating about AEW; it feels like we’ve said that a LOT over the last couple of years.