As much as I didn’t want to write this article, as it will probably sound petty and repetitive, it must be pointed out how much drek on this week’s edition of Dynamite represents the utter lack of direction or structure that continues to permeate the organization. Yes, the usual disclaimer, Tony Khan is a great guy that legitimately cares about his roster, and that’s genuinely wonderful because the business could use more people like that in the industry, but that certainly doesn’t make him a qualified booker or a successful promoter, especially after five years of the role.
At this point, I don’t care how many star ratings or booker of the year awards Tony Khan wins, this show is so slapstick and disjointed that there’s not a true reason to tune in, other than the random mess that might yield some entertaining athleticism by complete coincidence.
The show opened with Will Ospreay vs. Brian Cage. Cage is a part of the goon squad so obviously, he’s not winning the match, and of course, there will be post-match shenanigans with a series of run-ins. The Callis family has a decent collection of talent, but as I’ve pointed out previously, after more than a year out of action because of diverticulitis, is this really how Kenny Omega should be used? He’s doing the same thing now, working the same feud that he was in 2023. Quite simply, there are better uses for Kenny Omega, especially after the series of injuries and the health scare that he had. It probably took a few years off of his career so why not maximize the scenarios that you can put him while he’s still healthy and wrestling?
Furthermore, as I’ve also said before since the narrative around All Elite Wrestling rarely changes, Will Ospreay should be the franchise guy to AEW the same way that AJ Styles was the true representative of TNA in its heyday. At 31, Ospreay is in the prime of his career, and he works a high risk style so give him the ball and let him run with it as far as he can to truly establish the brand of the company.
Why isn’t the British grappler the one tasked with saving the world title from Jon Moxley?
Listen, I think Don Callis is a hidden gem of the pro wrestling business, and Konosuke Takeshita is another guy that you can truly cement as a part of the foundation of the organization, but this isn’t a scenario where Ospreay/Takeshita are spotlighted in the main event for the championship. If you remember, that match was given away in a one-off scenario last year because Tony needed those star ratings in The Wrestling Obsever newsletter to boost his confidence so that he can be assured that his E-fed booking style on the internet works for a national television audience.
Instead of the flag bearer for All Elite, Ospreay is put in a tag match with Omega for Grand Slam in Australia, an event that sold so poorly that it went from a potential pay-per-view in a stadium to being down scaled to a TV taping in a much smaller venue. Again, the biggest issue isn’t the amount of talent involved, Ospreay, Omega, Takeshita, and Kyle Fletcher are tremendously talented performers, but rather the way they are being utilized, or in this case underutilized is frustrating to say the least.
The Jon Moxley drek and the entire premise, as flimsy as it is, of his stable is so flat that it makes you want to change the channel. I’ve said this several times, Moxley was an MVP of the promotion, he carried the company on his back when All Elite needed it, but in the process he was overexposed. Despite several promos, what’s the point or the direction of any of this? Is All Elite under siege? Is he holding the title hostage? Why exactly should the audience care if Moxley has the title? He hasn’t threatened to destroy the company, or hasn’t really made anything else clear, despite almost six months of this faction’s existence so why should the audience be invested in it? If it was something as simplistic as, “if Moxley remains the champion, this could be the end of AEW” at least there would be a focal point to follow as far as where the storyline goes next.
There’s none of that, and if I had to guess, Tony Khan probably doesn’t have a destination for the storyline yet, either.
Speaking of the world title, a few weeks ago, Jeff Jarrett cut a promo to announce that 2025 would be his final year as an in-ring competitor and he pledged to win the AEW championship before he hung up the boots. A 57-year-old world champion isn’t exactly a part of a youth movement, but the narrative has its place as the old gunslinger wants to win one more time before he rides off into the sunset. The story more or less writes itself. Keep in mind, ECW’s first pay-per-view was based around 53-year-old Terry Funk winning the title. The Revolution pay-per-view garnered the best buy rate for AEW last year with the retirement of the 64-year-old icon, Sting.
While I would legitimately get a kick out of Double J Tennessee two-stepping his way to one last championship run in signature old-time pro wrestler style, I’m not necessarily saying that’s the only way to honor him for a retirement. However, when you have the baby face cut the promo and proclaim his intentions, it’s setting up a level of expectations from the audience. Claudio beat Double J, who would’ve gotten a title shot against Moxley if he won. The baby face failed so at this point, the storyline is more or less done. Sure, there’s the MJF tie-in, but should feuding with a legend near the age of 60 be how MJF is used on this show? Unless, there’s a grand plan for Jarrett to actual win the belt before he retires, and clearly, Tony Khan isn’t known for long-term planning, there’s no reason for the audience to believe in the baby face. The simple way to avoid this is just don’t book it in the first place, it would be much easier for Jarrett to work with MJF as the sleazy heel than to put Double J in a position where he fails in the quest for the championship. Why sacrifice Jarrett’s credibility as a baby face right before he’s presumably going to work with MJF? Why should the audience care when Double J already failed on his declaration to win the world championship one more time?
Ricochet beat AR Fox, and Jay White beat Wheeler Yuta. It was cannon fodder, but every program needs some cannon fodder. The issue was that this was cannon fodder between segments that didn’t have a point so it wasn’t used to pace anything on the show.
Mariah May’s promo was the bright spot on the entire show, despite the woefully low bar that was for this episode of Dynamite.
The main event was a textbook example of why Dynamite typically doesn’t maintain ratings into its second hour. Yuka Sakazaki, who returned from an injury last weekend on an episode of Collision, won a four-way match to get a title shot. The problem with this has nothing to do with Sakazaki’s talent, but rather her status within the organization. She was rarely on television before she was injured, and she returned on a show that has roughly half the audience of Dynamite. It’s not unrealistic if the vast majority of the viewing audience for TBS this week either forget she was on the roster or didn’t know who she was at all. Sure, Mercedes Mone has a level of star power, albeit a diminished level of star power compared to her run in WWE, but the bottom line is, if a match with an obvious result is booked for the main event segment, it doesn’t give the audience a reason to watch the rest of the show. They can change the channel because nothing of importance is going to happen. If it’s a title match and the audience knows that the relatively unknown opponent doesn’t have a chance to win the belt, what’s the reason to watch the segment?
It’s disappointing and frustrating to say this, but AEW is a subpar program with lackluster booking. The amount of talent on the roster isn’t in question, and maybe that’s the most frustrating part of this entire situation, there’s more than enough talent in the company to be a legitimate alternative to the corporate sports entertainment organization. But, it’s more about Tony Khan playing Vince McMahon than anything else. It’s a vanity project, and unfortunately, this is still the best chance the business has at some level of competition. Make no mistake about it, if Tony Khan decided to fold AEW, and he won’t, it would set the industry back at least two decades. However, just because All Elite is the best chance at competition, that doesn’t automatically make it good product. The reasons for why AEW has hit such a skid are numerous, but if I had to underscore a specific mishap, it’s the fact that revenue and profit, the barometer for success in any business venture, isn’t a priority for Tony Khan because money is no object. Outside of the Khan family continuing to fund Tony’s vanity project, unless something drastically changed, and it probably won’t, it wouldn’t be surprising if All Elite becomes a specific niche product that just happens to be on national television.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
