La Zona Muerta

As much as I’ve come to hate the term, there is something to be said about “restoring the feeling.” I don’t think you have to look much further than last Saturday’s episode of Collision… a show that garnered near universal praise (at least as near as one can these days) and last night’s Dynamite, a show where the vibes felt off and the show felt flat. Crowds weren’t the issue; Saturday had the Jacksonville faithful crowded into Daly’s Place, Wednesday had a fairly up for it mob in Knoxville… no, it was the feeling, the vibes, that certain undefinable je ne sais quoi. There are still two AEWs inside you, struggling to get out.

More to the point, Saturday had Samoa Joe come back, take a little offense and then kill the vile Nick Wayne, but not in a way that renders Nick Wayne as an unbelievable opponent. Saturday reminded us that AEW really is where the best wrestle, throwing on a six man tag with Adam Cole, Roddy Strong and Kyle O’Reilly against the returning 2.0 and Daniel Garcia. Saturday cemented Konosuke Takeshita as the ace more than one company should be built around and proved that Katsuyori Shibata can still WRESTLE, brain or no brain. Saturday had fan favorite Yuka Sakazaki earn a title shot. For better or worse, Saturday had Toni Storm reverting to type, which while not for me in the least, had the crowd going absolutely MENTAL.

Wednesday, by contrast, had Jay White STRUGGLING to overcome Wheeler YUTA for ten minutes. Wednesday had FTR Bald, in his weird, rambling way talk about how he AGREED with the Death Riders (again) but how he couldn’t tolerate them beating up elderly Ricky Morton, which is clearly a BRIDGE TOO FAR. Wednesday had the Death Riders GANG UP on Jeff Jarrett, when it’s ridiculous that any of them save maybe YUTA would need help to beat him. Claudio can’t get that doin’ done on his own? And where are Jarrett’s dudes? Wednesday had Yuka take a shot at Mercedes Moné in a so so match with no stakes since the outcome was so obvious.

I guess whether or not you enjoyed the main event would probably really color your perception of the show. I like Yuka Sakazaki a lot. Actually, come to think of it, out of AEW’s original joshi contingent, I probably like her and maybe Emi Sakura the best… but did one soul on this planet think she had a chance against Moné? “So, Convoy,” you might say, “I knew she had no chance so I just sat back and enjoyed the wrestling!” Okay… I didn’t think it was anything special. I didn’t think ANY of the wrestling on the show was particularly special. It just fell flat for me.

There were also a bunch of weird choices on the show… recap segments where none were necessary, promo packages (oh boy, the GUNN CLUB is back. Feeling restored. *cough*), a clip of a Jon Moxley interview that according to some online solved all of the problems with the Death Riders storyline (spoiler; it didn’t, he merely explained why the belt has been absent) and just some weird agenting or layout things in general. That’s not to say there weren’t good things on the show; the first match with Will Ospreay and Brian Cage was good (if not great), even if it culminated in yet another long heat segment. It’s STUNNING how hot this program feels compared to the main event scene. Hangman Adam Page stalked around backstage and had another encounter with MJF (and MJF’s appearance on this show was the first time in a long time where I haven’t flat out wanted to change the channel). AR Fox REALLY stood out in a match with Ricochet, and Swerve Strickland, of course was tremendous. Dude elevates everything he’s involved with, taking some I didn’t particularly want to see (Ricochet who I’ve never been a fan of) and now I want to see their match.

The record will show that I LOVE Wheeler YUTA. However, Jay White, former IWGP champion should not be struggling with him, YUTA getting the heat for 90% of the match. White, if anything, should be the one going after Mox, not EDGE.

Jeff Jarrett… I know tensions are running high due to his age and that frankly unforgivable misogyny battle he had with MJF two weeks ago… but I was looking forward to his match with Claudio and it simply didn’t deliver. I don’t truly care that he got beat up after the match (he clearly didn’t want to take that second Neutralizer, since he took it on his knees and it looked ROTTEN)… but I DO care that the Death Riders are supposed to be these bad asses forging 1,000 Jon Moxleys out of the roster or whatever and have deranged people like PAC on board… but they have to gang up three guys (and a gal) deep to beat a fifty seven year old man? And one of the main good guys going after them AGREES with them? Meanwhile the VERY faithful AEW hardcore fans lament that fans today have no patience. LET IT PLAY OUT. THEY COOKIN’.

That’s shit 2019 Stockholm Syndromed WWE fans would say. That’s shit ROMAN REIGNS would say in interviews (he LITERALLY had an interview where he talked about how fans had no patience, and that they were used to hamburgers, but he was cooking up STEAKS). The problem with the Death Riders stuff isn’t the impatience of fans… the problem is that the angle has been RUNNING SINCE SEPTEMBER WITH FEW, IF ANY, DEVELOPMENTS. The problem is that the motivations are sort of defined but don’t match the in ring actions! That ain’t MY fault!

Sigh.

Feeling? Not especially restored.

A so so Dynamite, or even a bad one is not the end of the world. After all, they have Saturday to try again. And next Wednesday, and so on, ad infinitum. I’m just a bit bummed and the show left me with a sour taste in my mouth, that’s all.