10 Things You Learn Re-Watching AEW Dynamite’s First Episode

10. The Atmosphere Is Immediate

Once the familiar intro ends, you're met with something beautiful: A jam-packed Capital One Arena in Washington, and some 14,129 eager fans waiting to see what AEW on weekly TV would look like. On commentary, an impassioned Jim Ross said tickets sold out in around 30 minutes, and it's believable hype.

There was such a cool buzz around AEW back then. People wanted to invest, attend and make plenty of noise. That zings off your screen immediately when re-watching the first Dynamite. Also, as a side note, there's no doubt the show benefitted from being All Elite's only TV outlet - that'd change with Rampage then Collision diluting things.

Honestly, the difference between how AEW's producers presented wide shots on-camera in 2019 is startling compared to now. In October 2019, Tony Khan could flash a proud smile as cameras showed the entire arena lit up. There were fans on that hard cam side, and plenty of them.

It's kinda sad to see how far attendances (other than specials like at Wembley Stadium) have dropped off.